The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors fleshed out some more of its plans for spending its roughly $11 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding during a work session after its regular meeting Monday morning.
Last month the board put together a rough draft of its spending plan, with $5.4 million set aside for water and sewer, $3 million for unrestricted government services and $3 million for nonprofits, tourism, and for possible matching for a city blight elimination program.
While water and sewer work accounts for the lion’s share of the county’s plan, the legislature had not, as of Monday morning, made any decision on how it would allocate matching funds. That left the supervisors with little idea how to make any decisions, and eventually the board opted to hold another work session after its next meeting to discuss that, hoping there would be some concrete information to go on by then.
In other arenas, there were a few additions.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, who presented the original draft in March, added $1,000 payments on Monday for essential workers, which comes to a total of $350,000. He also added about $300,000 for the sheriff’s office and $1 million for HVAC and ventilation upgrades across the county.
He also recommended adding $10,000 per year for three years to Artesia for its festival, and adding grants in the amount of $175,000 for Last House on the Block; $150,000 Habitat for Humanity; $300,000 for Community Counseling; and $100,000 for Contact Helpline.
Finally, Brooks’ plan set aside $350,000 for the city of Columbus’ blight elimination program, contingent on the city presenting a viable proposal. The city had previously said it would match the county’s allotment, up to $1 million.
District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders questioned the payments for essential workers.
“How are we going to say that every single employee was essential?” Sanders asked. “They all got paid while they were working.”
“I said essential workers. Some call it premium pay,” Brooks said. “You can look at it different ways. The city of Columbus plus other cities have done that. … In the scheme of things it’s not a lot and it’s a good symbolic gesture.”
Sanders said he would support it as long as there wasn’t an area where the money was needed more. He did imply premium pay would be a political move, however.
“We’ve already paid them, and they got their overtime and their regular pay,” Sanders said. “The federal government gave them a bonus. Why do we need to, too? … I know it’s all about being elected officials and we need their votes.”
Brooks said it wasn’t about that.
“It enhances the morale,” he said.
Brooks said that, even with the additions, the county still had about $1 million that had not been allocated.
The board agreed that it was at the stage where it needed help from the Horne Group, the firm it hired to do ARPA consulting work. County Administrator Jay Fisher said he would contact the Horne Group and ask them to come to the next work session to talk about how viable the county’s plans are.
The work session is set for the board’s next regular meeting, which is April 18.
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