The City of Billings has been awarded a $27,000 grant from the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) for the Aronson Connector Trail project. The City applied in August 2012 for the RTP. This trail project was approved as a Community Transportation Enhancement Project (CTEP) in the 2011 CTEP cycle to connect the existing Aronson Trail and Alkali Creek Trail to the east and out to the Swords Bypass Road so users can connect with the sidewalk over to the Main Street Bike/Pedestrian Underpass (See attached map). The trail in this corridor runs through public parkland. Since the grant is to be used for City trail improvements, the City of Billings must accept the RTP grant and the Mayor must sign the grant agreement.

The City Council may:

• Approve of the RTP grant agreement and receive the funds for the Aronson Connector Trail; or
• Not approve the RTP grant agreement and not receive this funding for the Aronson Connector Trail. Not accepting the grant will mean the City must rely on more CTEP and local private funding to complete this project.

The RTP grant was written to provide funding for the Aronson Connector Trail. This grant provides reimbursement after monies have been expended and requires a 20% local match, or $5,400. The match can be provided from CTEP funds already approved for this project and local matching funds of approximately $5,000 that BikeNet will provide. Overall, this $27,000 grant will reduce the amount of CTEP and local funds needed to complete this project. The total cost of this project is $237,350.

Staff recommends that Council approve acceptance of the $27,000 RTP grant and authorize the Mayor to sign the RTP agreement for the Aronson Connector Trail.