By Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – Last week on July 18th, the Minnehaha County Commission authorized the use of close to a half a million dollars for various projects; however, most of that money is coming in from outside grants earmarked for those projects.
County Administrator Tom Greco had to get final approval from the commission to utilize the funds, even though they already authorized using these grants if the county received them.
The largest amount, $247,800, is to be paid to the University of South Dakota for work on various projects, including data analysis, project management, community engagement strategies, etc.
Two-thirds of that money ($165,000) came from the MacArthur Foundation as part of their Safety and Justice Challenge Grant.
As it was a “matching grant,” the county is responsible for $82,800 from the general fund.
Also part of MacArthur Foundation grant money is the $47,000 authorized for the Think 3D Leaders of Tomorrow Project.
As Greco explained, this program is to assist formerly incarcerated individuals between the ages of 18 and 50.
The idea behind this is to get these people to invest more in their own personal development and “carve out a clear path to success.”
Other money not from a grant, but just from the county’s general fund was $47,000 for Urban Indian Health to “provide racial, ethnic equity” and Native American cultural programming.
Commissioners also authorized a $20,200 payment from the general fund for the USD Juvenile Justice Coordinating Committee for technical assistance and data reporting with Rural Health Improvement.
And the grant money didn’t stop there.
Minnehaha Highway Superintendent Steve Groen reported on three Bridge Improvement Grants that were recently awarded to the county.
The first was an 80/20 matching grant for $920,400 to be used on a bridge south of Baltic over the Big Sioux River.
The second grant in the amount of $455,200 was for a bridge southeast of Garretson.
And the third was a $502,400 grant for a bridge southeast of Dell Rapids.
Another project where grant money is available but still needs to be applied for is a $60,000 project north of Hartford. Groen needed commission approval to apply now that the final design has been made.
One of the last items came from Deputy Auditor Susan Beaman getting permission to publish a notice of a public hearing on the FY2024 budget on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
