Board asks staff to return with loan‑forgiveness criteria after Mountain Meadow Farms request

Mountain Meadow Farms owner requested forgiveness of a Community Development Block Grant microenterprise loan, and the Board of Supervisors directed staff to return with formal criteria and options at the board’s next meeting.

The request came during a planning department item about the county’s microenterprise loan program. Senior Planner Ben Goger said recipients may request forgiveness after one year of payments and that Bridal Ostrom of Mountain Meadow Farms had asked for forgiveness after more than a year of payments and compliance with CDBG rules. Goger explained how CDBG program income is collected: loan repayments are deposited into a program income account that must be used for CDBG-eligible activities such as planning, public services, housing, infrastructure or economic development.

County Administrative Officer Joe Lynch told the board that the program lacks a pre-established framework for forgiveness and recommended against making a single-case decision without a formal policy, noting a risk of inconsistent outcomes. “When the participants received the loan … we have no framework in which to operate,” Lynch said, urging a standardized approach for fairness and consistency.

Public commenters described differing views. One business‑community leader said the loans had been promoted as likely to be forgiven, and urged including unforeseen, uncontrollable circumstances in any criteria. The county’s economic development representative urged a framework that would allow forgiveness where appropriate. Owner Bridal Ostrom described business losses she attributes to unrelated livestock attacks and urged the board to recognize those consequences; public testimony also stressed concerns about legal liability and whether liability or restitution avenues had been exhausted before forgiveness.

After discussion the board gave staff direction to prepare proposed criteria and options — including possible partial forgiveness amounts and precedent safeguards — and to return at the next available meeting (the board and staff identified the April 1 meeting as the target) with recommendations and a proposed process for applying any forgiveness. Planning staff said six microenterprise loans had been issued and that related program income is tracked under CDBG rules.

The board did not approve individual forgiveness at the meeting; instead it asked staff to develop consistent standards so future requests can be resolved with a clear, auditable policy.

Board members and staff said they intended the forthcoming item to include sample approaches used by other counties, draft eligibility criteria for forgiveness tied to verifiable negative external events, and recommended implementation language so the board can evaluate options with consistent information.

Ongoing steps: staff will return with draft criteria and a recommended path for review of individual requests, and will include a separate item addressing Bridal Ostrom’s specific request so she can receive an answer at the next board meeting.