Columbus City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night to use $500,000 of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding to buy new equipment for the public works department.
The CARES Act is an economic stimulus bill signed into law by then-President Donald Trump in March 2020. A portion of that law gave $339.8 billion to state and local governments. The city’s allotment was about $556,000.
Public Works Director Casey Bush came to the council with a request for $539,231 in equipment needs: $267,507 for a new boom truck; $121,987 for a backhoe loader; three 60-inch zero-turn mowers, totaling $36,036; six commercial weed eaters, totaling $3,660; four commercial backpack blowers, totaling $2,040; and four F-250 crew cab trucks, totaling $108,000.
He has previously addressed these needs generally in council work sessions and regular sessions, but on Tuesday he came with cost estimates to fill his request.
Bush has said multiple times that one of the biggest difficulties public works faces is old, outdated equipment. He asked the council for $600,000 to buy equipment and to repair some older equipment, including an aging excavator that is heavily used.
“I think I can get by with the excavator we have,” he told the council. “I am more in need of a boom truck. … Two of the three boom trucks we have went down today. Hopefully we can get them back up tomorrow.”
Bush estimated the two boom trucks in question were bought in 2013 and 2014. He figures the other is a 2017 model.
“They are not going to last,” he said of the two oldest trucks. “They are in dire need of being auctioned off just to try to get some money for them. They’re not holding up. We’re constantly spending money to try to keep them out there.”
Bush said the old pickups he has are 1998 and 1999 year models. Some of the zero-turn mowers go back to 2013.
“We take a lot of heat from public works, and this young man is coming up here and asking for help,” said Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens. “I don’t think we can do anything but help him. People are complaining about how the wards look, and he’s telling us what he needs.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart agreed.
“We have had this discussion for weeks and months,” Stewart said. “… You can’t sit here and say you want Columbus to be beautiful, and you have no way to clean it up.”
Chief Financial Officer James Brigham said money was not in the budget to buy the equipment.
“If you’re asking me if the money is in the budget, the answer is no,” he said. “… You can use the CARES Act money for any kind of services in the city. We really don’t have any money we can move to use for this unless you take it from (CARES Act or American Rescue Plan Act funds).”
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene moved to table the issue.
“I’m all for giving you what you need to get the city clean, but this is a whole lot of money,” Greene said. “I want to table it until we can get a plan where we know we can get this done. … I want to explore every avenue and make sure we have a plan, and if it turns out this is the best way then I’ll be 100 percent behind it.”
Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco seconded Greene’s motion, but Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones then moved, with a second from Stewart, to give Bush $500,000 from the CARES Act account.
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard said the total price tag for Bush’s wish list was $531,000, and “he’s going to miss three zero-turns for that.”
“He can drop a truck or do whatever he needs to do,” Mickens said.
“I would rather not drop a truck,” Bush said. “The trucks we really need.”
“The budget’s coming up,” Jones said. “You could probably get a new truck then. You’ve waited this long, wait a little longer and maybe we’ll find some more money for that truck.”
Jones’ motion passed 4-2, with Greene and DiCicco voting no.
Reclaiming Our Youth
The council also unanimously set aside $50,000 in CARES Act funding to establish the Reclaiming Our Youth Initiative.
Chief Operations Officer Jammie Garrett suggested the program, which would offer a six-week daytime program for children ages 13-17 and a six-week night program for children of all ages.
“This is to fight some of the crime that we’ve seen, but also to build character and opportunity,” she said.
She expects to serve about 50 students, and the day program will teach them life skills, civic education and financial literacy, among other things. The evening program will provide more fun activities at local parks.
“We don’t want to stop at the end of the summer,” she said. “We want to continue with programs for our kids, because if we pour back into our kids they’ll pour back into the community.”
The money will mostly go toward renovating the activity center at Propst Park, food costs and paying an instructor.
Garrett estimated the total cost of the program to be $63,000 but asked for $50,000 to get started.
Greene asked if there was any money in the park budget to help out, since the building was at Propst Park.
“It’s really tight,” Garrett said. “We only have a few months left in the fiscal year, and we don’t know if other buildings will need repair.”
DiCicco asked about sustainability.
“What happens if we don’t have any more CARES money if we establish this?” DiCicco asked.
“I think we need to invest in our children,” Garrett said. “Creating a youth program for the city should be just as important as public works. It makes no sense to clean the streets if our children are dying on them.”
Jones moved, seconded by Beard, to approve $50,000 from the CARES Act money.
“When we interviewed (Garrett) one of the things that stuck out was that the youth program she established in Hazelhurst,” Beard said. “Everybody on the committee was adamant about that program. Since she’s asking for that program for our youth, I would be crazy not to support that.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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