Commission debates how to prioritize roughly $19M in Outdoor Adventure infrastructure funds; seeks objective-based scoring and regional input
March 31, 2024 | Utah Outdoor Adventure Commission, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Government Divisions, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah
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Commissioners spent a sustained portion of the meeting discussing a prioritization model for the Outdoor Adventure infrastructure restricted account and how the commission should provide recommendations to the legislature.
The chair noted that HB 384 created the restricted account and that, for the current fiscal year, roughly $19,000,000 is available for allocation; the commission must recommend how that money should be spent. Members discussed several procedural options: (1) establishing regional councils (incentivized by grants or staff support) to recommend local priorities; (2) adopting objective-based scoring that matches project proposals to the strategic-plan objectives; and (3) creating statutory language that preserves a vetted prioritization against last-minute legislative alterations.
One commissioner asked whether the commission should simply prioritize and forward a ranked list to the legislature or seek authority to approve grants directly; members noted the political difficulty of removing legislative oversight and recommended mirroring existing 'shall prioritize' language in statute. Commissioners also flagged timing and implementation issues: typical legislative appropriation timing (July 1 start) can misalign with construction seasons, and some projects require multi-year or matching funds.
Several members urged that the commission design the process to capture 'gap' projects that do not fit existing grant boxes. Patrick (project inventory lead) reported an ORI list of large federal-jurisdiction projects, including multi-million-dollar proposals, and suggested the commission coordinate to capture regional leverage opportunities.
Next steps: commissioners supported using the plan's objectives as the basis for a scoring/prioritization tool and asked staff to draft a submission process so applicants and regional partners can begin preparing proposals for this fiscal year.
The chair noted that HB 384 created the restricted account and that, for the current fiscal year, roughly $19,000,000 is available for allocation; the commission must recommend how that money should be spent. Members discussed several procedural options: (1) establishing regional councils (incentivized by grants or staff support) to recommend local priorities; (2) adopting objective-based scoring that matches project proposals to the strategic-plan objectives; and (3) creating statutory language that preserves a vetted prioritization against last-minute legislative alterations.
One commissioner asked whether the commission should simply prioritize and forward a ranked list to the legislature or seek authority to approve grants directly; members noted the political difficulty of removing legislative oversight and recommended mirroring existing 'shall prioritize' language in statute. Commissioners also flagged timing and implementation issues: typical legislative appropriation timing (July 1 start) can misalign with construction seasons, and some projects require multi-year or matching funds.
Several members urged that the commission design the process to capture 'gap' projects that do not fit existing grant boxes. Patrick (project inventory lead) reported an ORI list of large federal-jurisdiction projects, including multi-million-dollar proposals, and suggested the commission coordinate to capture regional leverage opportunities.
Next steps: commissioners supported using the plan's objectives as the basis for a scoring/prioritization tool and asked staff to draft a submission process so applicants and regional partners can begin preparing proposals for this fiscal year.
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