LADC recommends grant for ball fields

By Brent Shrum, Western News Reporter

The Libby Area Development Co. approved a grant proposal from the Libby Youth Baseball-Softball organization, a set of guidelines for business loans and the Kootenai River Development Council¹s 2004-2005 budget at a meeting on March 17.

The baseball-softball group is seeking a $30,000 grant to construct permanent restroom facilities at the Libby ball fields. Installation of the facilities would allow Libby to host baseball and softball tournaments at the fields.

According to the group¹s grant proposal, a recent District 6-B basketball tournament in Libby brought more than $100,000 into the community.

The LADC¹s recommendation will be passed along to the Libby City Council. The council has the final authority to approve or reject all LADC recommendations for funding through the city¹s $8 million federal economic development grant.

Also at last week¹s meeting, the LADC adopted loan guidelines based on the Small Business Administration¹s 504 Loan Program. The guidelines will require businesses seeking loans from LADC-administered funds to provide 10 percent of project funding in cash with 50 percent coming from a lending institution and 40 percent from the LADC. The bank would be first in line and the LADC second if the borrower were to default on the loan.

The lending institution will review applications and make recommendations on whether or not they should be funded. Basic application materials will include three years of financial statements and tax returns, two to three years of financial projections in lieu of historical cash flow, personal financial statements from company owners and a written history of the business along with future plans.

A guideline of $50,000 per new job created will be used to determine loan limits.

The LADC had also planned to consider guidelines for grants for community development projects but tabled the issue to allow further discussion.

The $159,633 2004-2005 KRDC budget is for the final year of a three-year plan approved in 2002. The proposal approved in 2002 for the organization then known as the Lincoln County Economic Development Council included a $149,250 budget for the first year, $154,312 for the second and $159,633 for the third.