City Secures Millions In Grant Dollars For
Montrose Community 

Montrose, CO — The City of Montrose was awarded over $2.2 million in state and private foundation grant funding in 2018. According to the city's annual grant funding report, these funds supported approximately $22.1 million in city and community projects.   

Kendall Cramer, the city's Grant Coordinator, told city councilors and staff Monday during a work session that approximately $2,245,442 has been awarded for historic preservation initiatives, new recreational amenities, community engagement programs, health and wellness initiatives, capital infrastructure projects, and police department programs.

For local housing, the city received a $500,000 grant for the Woodgate Trails development currently under construction at Woodgate Rd and Townsend Ave., directly east of City Market's south location. For local education, the city secured a $600,000 grant for Maslow Academy of Applied Learning and $110,000 for Columbine Middle School's new playground. 

The city was awarded a $500,000 grant for the renovation of Holly and Riverbottom parks, a project in conjunction with the Montrose Recreation District set to begin in September. To address the removal of invasive plant species along the Uncompahgre River corridor the city received $27,000 to fund work by the Western Colorado Conservation Corps. 

"I would say that the grants have been a pretty worthy pursuit for the City of Montrose," Cramer told the council. "The city has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in grants over the past decade, and we continue to get a number of grants."  

Cramer also reported the Montrose Police Department was awarded many grants to help with new bulletproof vests, digital forensics investigations, victim assistance and public programs including Click It or Ticket and DUI Enforcement. 

Notably, the city was awarded nearly $35,000 for a renovation plan for the historic Montrose County Jail and $4,000 when selected for the 2018 Governor's Healthy Community Award. 

Cramer told the council the city is becoming well known for collaboration with local non-profit organizations in applying for and receiving grant funding. 

"These grants help support a variety of community projects when we partner with our non-profit organizations," Cramer said. "They offset the costs to complete capital projects and provide services. They also make our local tax dollars go further and they recapture tax dollars that may have otherwise left the community.”

In 2017 the city was awarded $2.4 million in grant funding that supported $4.9 million in community projects. The majority of funding in 2017 came from a $2 million grant for the Connect Trail project currently underway, and a $300,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the brownfields assessments. 

So far in 2019, the city has been awarded more than $500,000 in grants for the city's Historic Preservation program, the Uncompahgre River Project, police department funding and Opportunity Zone prospects. 

For more city news visit CityOfMontrose.org.

(Video clips for this report are available upon request)

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