Advisory panel advances multiple mini‑grant recipients; committee opts for roll-call on substantive blocks

The advisory committee moved a sizable block of mini‑grant (mini‑grant/mini‑RTP/mini‑CPR) recipients into the next round after reviewing evaluator scores and holding roll‑call votes on blocks of projects. Committee members said they favored projects with strong community engagement, readiness (shovel‑ready), and in some cases regional draw. Members used a color‑coded scoring printout during deliberations; staff explained green highlights signaled missing scores and blue highlighted administrative flags. Committee members asked staff to provide lists of non‑funded or partially funded applicants and requested more consistency in budgets where small rural applicants listed in‑kind donations or pending federal matches. Roll call votes were used for several blocks; the committee advanced three RTP projects, 11 mini‑grants scoring 20 or higher when consolidated, and multiple CPR mini projects. Members emphasized they would revisit lower‑scored projects and consider partial funding should program dollars be available later in the year.