Council seeks ways to spend the money

Capital projects could see a good chunk of federal cash

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There appears to b e strong support in the City Council for using a significant portion of the City’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for capital projects.

During Monday’s Finance Committee meeting, the council received an update on the status of nearly $6 million the City is receiving from the federal government.

The City previously approved ARPA funding for a number of programs, including an embedded social worker, police body cameras and IT support, upgrades to the council chambers and audio/video equipment, lodging tax funding/replacement, and utility assistance. Those expenditures total about $1.76 million.

The council expressed support in the meeting for a finance software replacement, a resource/COVID navigator (0.5 FTE), business and nonprofit grants, a community outreach program, and additional funds for City IT infrastructure. The numbers discussed for these programs are subject to change and in some instances were just placeholders.

The City will have a projected $3.1 million remaining in ARPA funding after the previously budgeted items and the programs that received support in Monday’s meeting.

Capital projects generated strong support