County returns again to the trough for CARES funding

By Holly Dabb hdabb@pinedaleroundup.com
Posted 10/22/20

Same applications resubmitted.

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County returns again to the trough for CARES funding

Posted

Sublette County

Commissioners approved at their Oct.

20 meeting going back to the State Land

Investment Board to request an additional

$608,000 for eight projects related to COVID-

19.

Sublette County Commissioners submitted

a grant requesting $1.6 million in October

for COVID-19 expenditures but the state

approved only $889,022 at its Oct. 1 meeting

as part of the Coronavirus Relief Grant

Program.

County Administrator Matt Gaffney

said all eight of the projects approved by

commissioners during the Oct. 20 meeting

have been previously submitted to the state

and were rejected.

After listening to the October SLIB

meeting, Gaffney said he understood better

the types of projects that have been approved

and he beefed up the applications to make the

requests more relevant to the pandemic.

County returns again to the

trough for CARES funding

Among the items that were denied included

an ambulance, monitoring equipment,

reimbursement for delivering library materials,

replacing lost revenue while the senior centers

were closed, general equipment replacement,

sewing machines, tables and chairs for the

Southwest Sublette County Pioneers Center

and a digital billboard.

The reason for denying those requests

was stated as “Items denied either are

only tangentially related to COVID-19,

not allowable per CARES Act or can’t be

determined necessity.”

Sublette County’s request was one of

37 submitted by counties, municipalities,

hospitals and state agencies.

Of the $11.2 million requested, the SLIB

denied more than $5.1 million in the previous

round.

The new request will be considered at the

SLIB’s Nov. 5 meeting.

Gaffney said any new requests could still be

added for the state’s Dec. 3 meeting. However,

he added, time is getting short because the

funds must be spent by the end of the year.