GREAT FALLS — The Montana Department of Commerce announced a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant to help plan community development programs, and the town of Cascade was one of nine communities that will be utilizing the grant.
Montana communities are asked to update their growth policies every five years.
This process can be expensive, costing over $30,000 in some instances. With this grant, 75 percent of the cost will be covered for the town of Cascade. Cascade’s growth policy will be looking into the growth of tourism and balancing it with residential growth.
Jodie Campbell, Finance Consultant with the Montana League of Cities and Towns, said, “We have a shortage of housing for teachers and people that work at the school and, within the community that, you know, or just people that want to live in the community. There's just such a shortage of housing because of some of these other factors that… it needed to be addressed and updated.”
The other communities who will be benefiting from the grant are Bridger, Fairview, Geraldine, Golden Valley County, Jordan, Richland County, Sidney, and Thompson Falls.
