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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Stutsman County Commission has approved to become the flow through entity for a grant of $150,000 from the State.

The commission was informed of the potential grant for James River cleanup during their Tuesday meeting. Stutsman County Interim Auditor Nicole Meland informed the commission that the original grant of $50,000 had been bumped up to $150,000, but needed a decision by October 18th; the following day.

Stutsman County Commission Chairman Mark Klose expressed concern with the matching grant, stating that the county had already completed their budgets and didn’t know who would be providing the matching $150,000.

River Cleanup Task Force Member Joan Morris says as invoices come in, the South Central group would request funds from local matches. Mayor Katie Andersen says that she and City Administrator Jeff Fuchs had some preliminary discussion on grant matches, but didn’t have enough information at the time to make an informed decision.

Chairman Klose stated that the commission was sort of caught off guard with the one day notice. His concerns stemmed from who would provide the match to secure the funding.

Morris said it would be a shame if the county and city didn’t try to work something out to secure the funding.

The commission approved to be the flow through organization with no financial obligation. Discussions will take place between the county commission and City of Jamestown to find potential matching funds to secure the grant to clean the James River.

Later in the meeting, Stutsman County Emergency Manager Jerry Bergquist reported that they had been approved for an FY 2017 Homeland Security Grant Award. He says they would help pay for mandatory classes for call list and command.

Bergquist says the classes may be held in January or February 2018 and invite all city and county officials to the courses. The commission unanimously approved.