736-007-0030 County Opportunity Grant Program The County Opportunity Grant Program shall be administered as follows: (1) Eligible projects — Grant funds are to be used specifically for the acquisition, development, rehabilitation, and planning of county park and recreation areas that provide camping facilities. (2) Matching requirements — Grants from counties 30,000 population and under shall require a 25 percent local match. Grants from counties over 30,000 population shall require a 50 percent local match. Matching funds for specific projects may be reduced or eliminated as determined by the Director, based on demonstrated need for the project, lack of local funding, and upon recommendation by the Advisory Committee. Local funds may include local budget funds, federal revenue sharing funds, local agency labor or equipment, other grants, donations of land, labor, equipment, or any combination of the above. (3) Application procedure: (a) On or about July 1 of the first year of each biennium, the Department shall make an estimate of revenues available to be distributed through the Grant Program during the biennium and shall notify each county of the estimate. Estimate shall include unassigned moneys from previous bienniums and project cancellations and underruns. (b) By October 1 of the first year of each biennium, grant applications shall be sent to the Department on forms supplied by the Department and shall contain: (A) Program Narrative — including all information necessary to determine the criteria under section (4) of this rule or other items as the Department requires; (B) Vicinity Map; (C) Park Master Plan/Project Boundary Map; (D) Ownership Statement; (E) Cost Estimates; (F) Preliminary Title Report (if applicable); (G) Environmental Assessment; (H) Local Project Timeline; (I) Other documentation that may be required by the Department. (c) The Department shall perform a technical review of all applications. Eligible applications shall be forwarded to the Advisory Committee. Ineligible applications shall be returned to project sponsor. (4) Grants Prioritization Process: (a) The Advisory Committee will meet during November of the first year of each biennium. Each project sponsor shall be allowed a presentation under a procedure established by the Committee. The Committee shall review all applications using project selection criteria, including, but not limited to, the following: (A) Extent the project meets the recreation needs identified in SCORP; (B) Extent the project meets the recreation needs identified in the local comprehensive land use plan; (C) Extent the project satisfies the following: (i) Demonstrates user benefit, public interest and support; (ii) Increases outdoor recreation opportunity in the service area; (iii) Financial considerations, including cost/benefit ratio; (iv) How well the project’s design accommodates people with disabilities. (D) Extent the county demonstrates exceptional need, such as a limited parks operating budget, the lack of public overnight camping opportunities within the county, or the overall lack of county parks and recreation areas and facilities; (E) Analysis of sponsor’s past performance in completing and billing projects and maintaining existing facilities. (b) The Committee will recommend funding priorities to the Director for all eligible projects submitted. The Director shall establish the funding priorities taking into consideration the Committee’s recommendation; (c) A signed state/local agreement shall constitute project authorization. It shall be executed by January 31 of the first year of each biennium. No project may begin without authorization from the Department unless a waiver of retroactivity has been issued by the Department. Projects not authorized within this time frame will be cancelled. Funds recovered from cancellations shall be reassigned to other projects on the priority list. (5) Project Administration: (a) Sponsors shall have one year from the date of authorization to begin substantial work (e.g., the award of contracts or completion of at least 25 percent of the work, if done by force account). Projects not conforming with this provision will be cancelled; (b) All projects shall be completed and billed within two years from the authorization date. Projects will be inspected and audited by the Department or its designate prior to final grant payment. Partial payments up to 90 percent of the grant amount may be billed during the project for work completed; (c) Project amendments that increase the project cost will generally not be allowed; however, amendment requests based on extraordinary circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 390.117, 390.124 & 390.134 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 390.134 History: PR 5-1995, f. & cert. ef. 7-2-96 PR 3-1994, f. & cert. ef. 4-22-94 PR 2-1984, f. & ef. 1-20-84