[Editor's Note: This is part 2 of a multi-article series on the Commission work session on April 11, as well as on the regular meeting on April 13, 2023. This covers the second work session presentation.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The second presentation at the Grant County Commission work session on April 11, 2023, commissioners heard from Rosalinda Natividad, founder and chief executive officer of Incite Network LLC talking about the Grant County Comprehensive Grants Plan.

"We are working together on this plan for the use of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding," Natividad began. "We want a continuing conversation. We prepared a grant plan and three grant applications for your review, as well as multiple potential grants. We also in the plan talked about whether you should hire a full-time grant writer or work with a contractor. We put in an overview of your goals. We brought in feedback from the different departments. You'll also see thoughts of potential projects."

She said the county showed a desire for consensus in how to prioritize grant applications and how to determine how much match funding is available for those projects. "Some of the key considerations that came forward include that county management might want to create a cost-share policy, and you need to make sure you have the infrastructure for administering the grants. We erred on the side of quality of potential projects rather than quantity. And to make sure that measurables are identifiable and identified at the end of the project report."

Natividad said in their review of grants that the county is already managing, she noted that they totaled about 42, amounting to about $15 million, that the county is already overseeing in various stages through January 2026. "This could provide an overall award base over the course of the next three years at an amount of about $15 million, while ensuring that about 70 percent of the grant applications are to support and, where possible, fund current initiatives and direct service providers in Grant County or maintain at least a 50 percent conversion rate for grant applications submitted. You want to make sure that all grant applications are at a high quality."

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings said he went through the plan quickly. "I'm seeing information about county departments. How much more do we need to study to reach conclusions?"

Natividad said there are many different applications suggested in the plan. "We've highlighted the opportunities. From our perspective, we don't believe you have enough capacity for a full-time grant writer. A contract writer might be more beneficial. Most of the grants seem to go through the Planning Department, and a lot of the opportunities are typically annual grants. Some other priorities in your goals could use funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, but we've been concentrating on the use of ARPA funding.

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne said the commissioners hadn't received the comprehensive plan in time to read through the entire document. "If there is not enough for a full-time grant writer, would the conclusion be different if we pursued other opportunities?"

Natividad said: "You have had success with the Detention Center and the Community Development Department. "I think we need to make sure all departments are included. But, if you had a full-time grant writer, would the Planning Department have the bandwidth to administer all of them? I work with contractor grant writers as well as full-time ones. You have to make sure you have the post grant support administration in place."

Browne asked if a full-time grant writer could also do the administrative part.

"Compliance requires a different set of skills from that of a grant writer," Natividad replied. "We wrote the plan as if you had a grant writer on board and another person to oversee the administration portion. We've just found it is very hard to have the same person do both. I want to make sure the county and the commissioners are comfortable with what we propose."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce noted that the county has more than 539 miles of trails, many of which are in the national forest. "Has anyone gotten with the Forest Service to determine how they are repairing the trails before we do more work on our part? Perhaps we need to look at the demographics. I don't think we need to increase the number of miles of trails."

County Manager Charlene Webb said she knows the Forest Service is working on a plan for trails. "Randy (Hernandez, planning director) and I met with the Gila National Forest, and I think we are not necessarily thinking about increasing trails. We're waiting for the Forest Service internal plan on improving and enhancing their trails."

Ponce noted he didn't mind working on county trails, such as the one at Bataan, but "I don't want to go into doing anything with Forest Service trails."

Natividad said the trails should be county-owned to be able to go out for grants on them. "We've seen partnerships for connection trails. And in answer to Commissioner Browne, a full-time grant writer is good for working with others."

She noted that applications to the state Economic Development Department are good for planning purposes.

Billings said that because the plan began with the trails' priority, he had the same questions. "Another issue is about the Forest Service's intended closure of the Grapevine Campground. The concern among many residents is that the Forest Service isn't maintaining the trails and is wanting to close camping opportunities. Do we have any influence there? I'd like to see more camping opportunities. I would also like to see the Forest Service improving their trails and campgrounds. And on the county level, I think we need to pay more attention to our departments, such as the Detention Center, IT and our parks. We need to prioritize and decide which direction we need to go."

Natividad said there is a survey of the departments with their programmatic issues. One issue is that they lack the dedicated staff to do applications for grants or the administration of them.

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said that on the trails and open spaces, a lot of focus is on the ones close to town and to other trails. "We link trails specifically to economic development and partnerships with other entities that have trails, but we do not encourage the county to put the focus on federal trails. The emphasis is on the close-in trails. We have to think about how they interact. We include outdoor recreation and others that have the opportunity to increase county revenue. This is the kind of thing that shows the need for us to have a strategic planning session. This is not a static document. I'm in favor of hiring a county grants awards administrator now. I agree there is a different skill set from writing grants. I would recommend we do our grant writing with a contractor, which is more flexible. I think we should have strategic conversations on priorities."

Natividad said because the county has different priorities when it comes to better roads, IT and the Detention Center, it would be good to hire a contract writer with the subject matter expertise.

"What we need to be thinking about are our top three priorities in roads, in IT, in the Detention Center," Edwards said. "I think we will have a plethora of information."

Ponce, on the Grapevine Campground issue, said the problem with working with the Forest Service is that they plan for everyone and "they tend to forget the local people that like to camp at Grapevine. The Forest Service seems to be taking the camping opportunities away from the locals, who like to sit at the side of the river and soak their feet in the water. The Forest Service is taking camping away from us. They don't look at the whole perspective and take the locals into account."

Edwards said: "There's a lot of stuff swirling around. I heard the Forest Service is considering a 200-space campground. Who wants to camp with 199 other people?"

Natividad said she believed the commissioners had taken the plan to another level. "We talked about IT and vulnerabilities, but you're talking about adding equity into the outdoor area. I will integrate equity into the plan."

"That's exactly what I wanted to do with our trails plan," Browne said. "It's not about new trails. We made clear we want trails that equitably address locals. The trails are not connected. I would like to see emphasis on equitable access."

Ponce noted that he approved the Wild and Scenic designation for sections of the Gila River, "but how does it matter if we can't get close to the river. How can we protect a river we can't access."

Browne said he agreed completely. "I was on the Jemez River. The campgrounds were full. It was perfect. In our trails plan, we definitely talk about equitable access."

Ponce said: "I don't see the Forest Service doing that."

Browne asked: "What is a cost share plan?"

Natividad said it referred to the Las Cruces plan, which had several departments working together with a cost share plan. "Las Cruces would see all these grants coming in, so they created a policy on this is 'how much cost share we have and no more.'"

Browne said: "So it is a budget issue and a policy issue."

Natividad gave an example: "They applied for $11 million in grants, which had a $4 million match. They asked for approval. There are different forms on policy, but 'what we don't want is policy to create more bureaucracy.'"

District 2 Commissioner Eloy Medina commented on the 200-place campground. "There used to be a large campground in the Mimbres Valley full of campers. Now a lot of the development is in Catron County."

Edwards asked: "Do locals have enough gas money to get to Catron?"

The next article will begin with county reports.

For the previous article, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/77696-grant-county-commission-work-session-held-april-11-2023-part-1