The City of Billings applied to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the Recreational Trails Program Grant for the year 2009 for completion of the trail development through Swords Park, Phase 2. This trail segment will connect the existing Swords Park Trail to the west of the park with the bike/pedestrian Airport Road underpass that was built as part of the Airport Road project. The trail in this corridor runs through public parkland. The grant application was approved by the City Council and submitted in June of 2009. The grant award was for $28,000 and requires a 20% match or $5,600 that can be matched with the Energy and Efficiency Conservation Block Grant. Since the grant is to be used for City trail improvements, the City Council must accept the Recreational Trails Program Grant and direct the Mayor to sign the agreement.

The City Council may:
1. Approve of the grant and direct the Mayor to sign the grant agreement
2. Not approve  the grant and direct the Mayor to sign the grant agreement. If the City Council does not approve the grant, the $28,000 in grant funds may not be provided to the City for the project and other funding sources will be needed to complete this project.

This Recreational Trails Program Grant was submitted to provide $28,000 in funding for the second phase of the Swords Park Trail. This grant provides reimbursement after monies have been expended and requires a 20% match, or $5,600. The match can be provided from the Energy and Efficiency Conservation Block Grant, which the City recently received and has allocated a portion of for completion of this project.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the grant and direct the Mayor to sign the Recreational Trails Program Agreement for a total of $28,000 in reimbursement for the second phase of the Swords Park Trail Project.