Missoula County postpones Lolo Street Bridge interlocal after federal grant officials change savings rule

Missoula County commissioners postponed approval of an interlocal agreement for the Lolo Street Bridge project after county staff said federal officials told them any savings on the project must be returned to the Federal Highway Administration.

County staff member Shane Stack told commissioners the change came in a phone call the morning of the meeting, when FHWA informed staff it had a new draft grant agreement requiring a share of any project savings be returned to the federal government. "They did mention that any savings that we see on the project has to go towards the federal funding," Stack said. He said that language contradicted the county's draft interlocal, which had prioritized returning savings to the city first, and that he had already sent a revised draft to the city.

The change prompted a procedural action during the consent agenda: "Item 2 is postponed," a commissioner said, and another commissioner moved to approve items 1 and 3 on the consent agenda; a second commissioner supported the motion and the board voted "Aye." The motion text on the record was, "I move that we approve items 1 and 3 on the consent agenda." The transcript does not identify the mover or seconder by name.

Stack described next steps and the project schedule to commissioners. He said the county is finishing the first phase in June or July, anticipates completing final engineering and advertising for bid in late winter 2025, and expects construction to start in April 2026 with completion by the end of fall 2026, "at a minimum of '26." He also said the county does not have funding to proceed without the federal grant: "I can't guarantee you, we don't have the funding in our budget. I can't speak for the city, but I would guess they don't have it either."

Stack also summarized the county's local match and prior allocation language: he said the county has $500,000 in state funds to provide as match, and that under the prior interlocal language local savings would have been shared with the city first. He told commissioners the federal requirement meant the interlocal needed at least one rewritten component to align with the FHWA grant terms: "we just had to rewrite the interlocal, just a 1 component of that interlocal to reflect that."

Stack told the board FHWA had received a draft agreement and was willing to send it to the county; he characterized that as a promising sign but said the county must sign a grant agreement amendment before obligating phase‑two funding. He also cautioned that if federal funding does not come through, the county lacks the budget to carry construction forward on its own.

The board's decision at the meeting was procedural: commissioners approved two consent items (1 and 3) and postponed item 2, the interlocal agreement for the Lolo Street Bridge, so staff can reconcile the county's interlocal language with the FHWA grant terms. Staff indicated they had already sent a revised draft to the city and will return with amended paperwork for formal consideration. The meeting transcript does not record a later date for reconsideration.