County staff briefed commissioners Aug. 5 on recent changes to the state flexible infrastructure funding program and the related Prairie Dog funding, and urged townships and county project sponsors to prepare applications ahead of tight deadlines.

Staff said the legislature reallocated about $15 million into the program and restructured funding into several buckets: direct allocations, a county grants bucket (including a bridge grant stream), and a township grants bucket. Townships will receive a direct allocation formula tied to road mileage rather than a flat rate, staff said. The bridge bucket covers federally inspected bridges — those with spans greater than 20 feet — and staff said the county ranked federal bridges last week and will submit priorities to the state.

For county and township grants, staff described a non‑oil county/city grant stream, a township grant stream for minor structures and other road infrastructure, and a separate bridges stream. Staff highlighted that “minor structures” generally include crossings less than 20 feet and urged townships to identify top priorities. A change in the statutory definition of oil‑producing counties also expanded eligibility to additional counties and townships, staff said.

Key deadlines and next steps: staff asked townships to contact county staff immediately if they have projects to pursue; applications require cost estimates and the county must serve as the pass‑through for township applications. Staff said township applications and county projects must be submitted by Sept. 19. The county committee will gather township priorities, rank projects, assemble cost estimates and present recommended applications to the commission in a special meeting proposed for Aug. 26.

Why it matters: the restructured program shifts how small counties and townships access state infrastructure money, imposes a compressed timeline for applications and may require local cost‑share decisions to maximize scoring. Ending: County staff will meet with township officers, compile top priorities and return to the commission with ranked projects and cost estimates for formal authorization to apply.