Library, airport, two towns seek .09 funds for projects

Four applications were submitted to Whitman County in search of a share of the $100,000 in .09 economic development funding available for public projects.

The funds derive from a .09 percent share of the state’s portion of sales tax revenues to use on projects that will bolster the local economy. Awards are determined by the county’s citizen Blue Ribbon Advisory Task Committee.

Applications were submitted by the Uniontown Public Development Authority, the city of Tekoa, the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport and the Whitman County Rural Library system.

Uniontown PDA wants $56,554 in .09 funds to help fund a $148,055 purchase and renovation of a building across from the town store on Highway 195. They seek to provide a space for Grandma Lela’s, a burgeoning oatmeal business based in Uniontown.

The PDA plans to renovate the building, to create production and shipping space in the rear of the building for the business.

Grandma Lela’s owners Cheryl Waller and Kathy Stilwell were awarded $6,000 in the Port of Whitman County’s business plan competition in April.

The frozen oatmeal is made from Waller’s grandmother’s recipe and is being stocked in several area stores. Now, the two are making batches of oatmeal in the kitchen of the Churchyard Inn, but would like to expand.

The PDA’s funding application predicted the company would have as many as 10 employees in the next three years if the agency could provide it space. If not, the application said, Grandma Lela’s may be forced to look for space in Lewiston.

One complication is the PDA’s request to use .09 funds awarded to a project last year.

The BRATC gave Uniontown PDA $30,000 last year to renovate a loafing shed at the Dahmen Barn into an agricultural museum.

The $30,000 award has not been used to date, and the PDA has asked permission to instead use that money to help renovate the Highway 195 building. The $30,000 would be listed as a secured source of funding.

County commissioners Monday decided the transfer was a no-no, and directed the BRATC not to allow the agency to count last year’s .09 funding in the project application.

Whitman County library requested $75,000 in .09 funding to help pay for a $504,450 project that would turn the former Hamilton Drug building on Main Street into a “Whitman County Enrichment Center and Business Incubator.”

The library used a private endowment to purchase the building, which sits just south of the library’s Colfax branch building.

Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick in the application said they plan to remodel the space to allow artists and craftworkers space to make and sell their wares.

The .09 funding would be used to finalize architectural plans and replace the facade, windows and front and back doors on the building.

Kirkpatrick said the space would allow area residents to turn their hobbies into businesses and would benefit the Colfax economy by bringing in tourists and foot traffic to an otherwise “empty storefront.”

The Colfax Chamber of Commerce has committed to lease space and help staff the center, and the city’s Arts Council will staff the center, as well.

The library plans to submit a federal grant application for the project later this month.

Tekoa submitted a request for $26,775 to repair and renovate a business incubator building on Crosby Street.

The incubator was started and run by a public facilities district until the district was dissolved. The city then took over the building, which currently houses Melton Fabricators.

The plan is to paint and replace concrete on the exterior of the building and to insulate, upgrade the wiring and heating system inside and to put new asphalt on the parking lot.

The upgraded building, the city’s application said, will allow new businesses space for a low cost start up.

The Pullman-Moscow Airport seeks $15,000 to help fund a $400,000 emergency communication system.

Airport Director Tony Bean said the current radio system is “unreliable and inadequate” to meet the airport’s goal of increasing commercial air traffic.

The project already has funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port of Whitman County and Avista.

Whitman County typically receives around $400,000 a year for local development projects.

Since .09 funding began coming from the state in 2000, the county has made a portion of those funds available to local communities for development projects. That funding has paid for renovations to the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown, the Garfield Cafe, Tekoa’s Empire Theatre and Rosalia’s Texaco Station Visitor’s center.

The county currently has more than $1 million in saved .09 funds. Commissioners for the past several years have been withholding money to pay for infrastructure development at Boise-based Hawkins Companies’ proposed stateline strip mall. Earlier this month, commissioners decided to increase the county’s share of public infrastructure costs at the site from $9.1 million to $15 million.

County commissioners in 2002 issued $2.7 million worth of bonds to pay for new windows and a new heating system in the courthouse. Those bonds were guaranteed with .09 money. Final payment on the courthouse bonds is due in 2015.

The projects will pitch their case before the BRATC for funding at a meeting next Tuesday, June 12.