RIVER FALLS — Merchant McIntyre, which has had a partnership with the city since 2022, gave an annual presentation at a June 9 meeting to update City Council on its work toward acquiring federal funding for ongoing projects.

“We have experienced significant success with the city since we began our partnership in 2022,” Merchant McIntyre Vice President Tristan Southard said. “Really encouraged to see that this partnership has secured more than $6.16 million over the course of our partnership but want to do more.”

In collaboration with the city, Merchant Mcintyre has $50 million in pending applications for funding. The two sides worked together on funding applications for the Kinni Corridor Project. Over the last year, Southard said they have pushed hard for federal funding for the Main Street Redevelopment project. A $24 million award application was filed in February for implementation of that project, with results expected to be announced soon. The board has also recently reviewed the Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan, which the city received a $200,000 planning grant for. Since then, the city is in the application process for another $21 million to help implement some of the ideas written in the plan.

“Depending on the outcomes of those grants, there will be additional opportunities in the programs for us to think through,” Southard said. “We feel very confident in the applications we developed. These are also just extremely competitive programs that sometimes you have to apply to a couple of times to get funding, but overall, we’re extremely happy about the work we’re doing on Main Street.”

Kinni Corridor Project

The Kinni Corridor Project, which has been a top city priority for years, is being aided by outside funding.

“With the feasibility study phase of the Kinni Corridor now complete, our efforts are focused very much so on securing the actual federal dollars to carry out that plan. Ensuring that it moves into that implementation phase from the feasibility study phase where it currently is,” Southard said.

A request was submitted with Senator Tammy Baldwin for $1.85 million for design, engineering and the beginning of work. The project would move forward in 2027 if the money is awarded.

“We are looking for trails grants or any sort of recreational projects that we can find funding for to accompany the Kinni Corridor Project and the dam removal so we can throw everything at that project all at once,” Government Relations Associate Fiona McLeod said. “We’re trying to make a coordinated effort here so that we can have a community-wide funding strategy.”

An important piece to the federal funding sources that the city must keep in mind is that they must match some of the funds from certain programs.

“Our strategy is still to go forward even if we don’t have every dollar of the match identified at this point. Our strategy has been go, go, go. It’s a good problem to have if the federal government says, ‘We’re ready to spend the money, where’s your money,’” City Administrator Scot Simpson says. “It will be 35 cents on the dollar for everything they spend.”

Funding sources like DNR grants can contribute to that local match.

Going through the Army Corps. Of Engineers for the project comes with some positives and negatives according to Simpson. He said they seemingly get the job done no matter the hurdles they face, as it is a part of their mission to finish what they started. On the flip side, the timeline may not be as fast as it would be if the city was running the show.

“It’s worth waiting for. It’s going to be done, it’s going to be done well,” Alderperson Diane Odeen said. “We just have to be patient.”

Additional Targets

The city received $430,00 for portable radios and equipment for the emergency services team and $1.4 million for the fire station renovation from Congressionally Directed Spending. They also received $4 million in federal funding for the library renovation and $2.2 million for the St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center.

Merchant McIntyre is monitoring for potential funding for a Regional Dispatch Center that the city is exploring.