Last week members of the Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Initiative asked the County Council to consider funding for quality of life projects.
Jerry Chavez, President and CEO of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation explained that several of the projects are countywide. There are approximately 50 projects in all spanning 10 categories: housing, quality of place, arts and culture, transportation and trails, workforce development, industry, growth and entrepreneurship, health and wellness, education and training, diversity and inclusion and leadership capacity building.
The projects came from public sessions within the communities of Marshall County. Local residents were able to discuss the quality of life projects that are needed.
Those 50 projects have a total value of $18 million and local match would be about $3 million.
Committee member Ginny Monroe from Culver said the funding request is for countywide initiatives, are service projects for health and wellness like a trail so a trail study is on this list built on the quality of life plan. A regional trail system through the county is being considered connecting all the trails together. There are several other projects on the list that the county can be included in.
The community projects already have the local matching fund support from their municipalities but Monroe said told the council with their $400,000 over the next four years the can leverage another $1.2 million to complete projects if they county is Stellar designated.
The County Council discussed the plan and proposal and the approved their support of $400,000 to bring more quality of life projects to the county. They will provide a letter of support to include in the Regional Stellar application that is due today.
