Local nonprofits approved for CARES Act funding

Sheila McGuire, Herald Reporter
Posted 1/13/21

Coverage of Uinta County Commission

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Local nonprofits approved for CARES Act funding

Posted

EVANSTON — The Uinta County Commissioners have held two meetings in recent weeks — a special session on Dec. 30 and the first regular meeting of the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The special meeting on Dec. 30 was to award CARES Act funding to local nonprofit agencies that have provided goods, services or payments to the public related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uinta County was allocated just under $450,000 to distribute to qualifying nonprofit agencies that applied for the funds. The sub-grantees awarded on Dec. 30 included Evanston Child Development Center and Uinta Senior Citizens, both of which received $50,000; Evanston Youth Club, which received $60,000; SAFV Task Force, which received $12,000; and Evanston STARS!, which received $9,913.

As those awards only amount to $181,913, or about 40% of the funds allocated to the county, and since the deadline to expend CARES Act funding was extended by Congress, the county is now looking to award the remaining funds to eligible nonprofits.

According to a notice issued by the county, eligible charitable organizations are “nonprofit entities, including churches, which qualify as tax-exempt under either section 501c(3) or section 501c(19) of the Internal Revenue Code and which provided goods, services or payments to the public related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.”

Additional information, including rules, qualifications and a more comprehensive list of reimbursable items, is available on the county’s website. To apply for funds, organizations must submit a sub-grantee certification (template is available on the county website), along with a detailed narrative of how the organization provided services at no cost to the recipients, the amount being requested, the date the funds were spent and an itemized list of purchases, and invoices or receipts.

Grant applications can also include requests to make up for donations or revenue lost as a direct result of COVID-19 interruptions. Such requests must include documentation of the losses, minus any state or federal loans, grants, business interruption stipend program funds or other relief program funds issued as COVID-19 relief.

Any questions should be referred to Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson at (307) 783-0305 or amhutchinson@uintacounty.com. The deadline to apply is 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

At the Jan. 5 regular meeting, commissioner Eric South was again named as commission chair and county representative to the Wyoming County Commissioner Association. Commissioners then made numerous board and other appointments.

Adrian Hunolt, Chad Spackman, Gordon Robinson and Weston Maxfield were appointed to the weed and pest board. County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson was named as the county’s civil rights compliance officer, and county employees Gary Welling, Brenda Morrow and Josh Davis were appointed to the county grievance board, with Rowdy Dean and Jerri Crompton as alternates.

Jon Conrad and Jesse Lind were appointed to the economic development commission, Pete Lym to the fair board, D’Andrea Chichester to the healthcare trust board and Elizabeth Wyatt to the library board. Additional appointments included Tony Gillies to the Lincoln-Uinta Revolving Loan Fund board; Mark McGurn and Curtis Rex to the planning and zoning board; Sharden Miner to the predator management board; and Stephen Fowler, Vicki Norwood and Wes Moon to the veterans board.

Commissioners themselves were also appointed to various board positions. Mark Anderson was appointed to the Uinta County Human Services Building Joint Powers Board, the Evanston-Uinta Airport Joint Powers Board and the Bridger Valley Water Joint Powers Board. South was also appointed to the Bridger Valley Water Joint Powers Board, as well as the Uinta Fire and Emergency Services Board. New commissioner Brent Hatch was appointed to serve on the Uinta County Human Services Tri-partite Board, the Uinta County Economic Development Commission and the Uinta County Fair Board.

In other business, commissioners designated former commissioner Craig Welling as the agent of record for the Uinta County employees’ deferred compensation plan, a position Welling held prior to his lengthy term on the commission. Commissioners also opted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Bureau of Land Management to establish a cooperating agency relationship for the county regarding the BLM’s Pacific and Atlantic Soda Project Environmental Impact Study. County planner Kent Williams indicated he found it unlikely the EIS would impact the county; however, he said he believes it prudent to establish the cooperating agency relationships when given the opportunity to do so, which allows the county the opportunity to weigh in should projects impact the county in the future.

Finally, commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between the county and the Wyoming Department of Health setting the terms and conditions regarding the utilization of approximately $250,000 in grant funds that will be used to cover payroll costs for COVID-19 surveillance and testing employees through June 20 of this year.