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Fergus County sets Aug. 11 hearing after farm project seeks CDBG sponsorship
Summary
After a presentation by Thomas Peterson seeking county sponsorship for a CDBG application to build a house and workshop, commissioners set Aug. 11 as the first public hearing and directed Snowy Mountain Development to publish notice; the grant application is due Sept. 17.
Fergus County commissioners voted July 10 to set Aug. 11 as the first public hearing for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applications after a local farming project requested county sponsorship.
Thomas Peterson, who introduced himself as executive director for the Heart Montana Farm in The Dell, asked the commission to sponsor a CDBG application to build a roughly 4,000‑square‑foot house and an adjacent workshop. Peterson said a grant writer from Sowing Mountain Development (transcript variant) has agreed to assist and that the application deadline is Sept. 17. "We're gonna be asking for funds to build not only the house, but also a workshop," Peterson said.
County staff and counsel clarified the CDBG process: the first hearing gathers community input on needs; the commission then may decide whether to sponsor an applicant; the second hearing is where the county announces which project it will submit. Snowy Mountain Development offered to help with grant writing and to publish the required notices on the county’s behalf.
A commissioner moved to set Aug. 11 as the first CDBG public hearing and to direct Snowy Mountain Development to publish the notices; the motion was seconded and approved on a voice vote. Peterson said he will provide a detailed site plan by the end of the week and requested to meet with the county attorney to discuss lease language, noting about 23 years remain on the current lease and that his organization is considering a longer or differently worded renewable lease to protect roughly $1.5 million in planned investment.
Officials said siting, lease adjustments and other land‑use approvals would be handled later in the process and would not be decided at the initial hearing.
