Council OKs funds for Turner, port authority
By Brent Shrum Western News Reporter
The Libby City Council on Monday approved a $302,000 grant for the Turner Mountain ski lodge project and a $12,000 loan to the Lincoln County Port Authority for improvements to a building at the former mill site.
The grant and loan approved this week will bring the balance of the city¹s economic development fund, started four years ago with an $8 million federal grant, to around $1 million.
The Libby Area Development Co., which reviews proposals and makes recommendations to the city council on the use of the fund, had recommended forgiving an existing $110,829 debt and granting another $200,000 to Kootenai Winter Sports for the lodge project. The council voted for a lump-sum grant as originally requested by the group, reasoning that while the city¹s fund would take a bigger hit up front the interest from a certificate of deposit being used to secure the existing loan would result in an ultimate savings of $12,000.
Reacting to the dwindling amount of money in the fund, the LADC board had directed the ski hill group and representatives from the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease, who are seeking $250,000 to facilitate the development of a research center, to retool their proposals as loans rather than grants. The LADC relented on the Turner Mountain project after determining that it was not feasible for the organization to go further into debt.
The money Kootenai Winter Sports already owes to the fund represents the remains of a $128,000 loan taken out in 2001. At that time, the LADC and city council approved a $92,000 grant for the group combined with the purchase of a $128,000 certificate of deposit to secure a loan. The grant and loan funded improvements including the replacement of a T-bar lift with a chair lift.
The group plans to construct the 40-by-50-foot, two-level lodge this fall. The lodge will feature indoor plumbing, a commercial kitchen and seating for nearly 100 people and is expected to increase Turner Mountain¹s marketability to skiers from outside the local area.
The second award approved by the city council on Monday, a $12,000 loan to the port authority, will finance improvements to the old motor shop at the former Stimson mill site. Several businesses have expressed an interest in leasing the building if the necessary improvements are made, Kootenai River Development Council secretary Debi Davidson said at Monday¹s meeting.