By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Buchanan County continues to visit with many community residents as it determines how best to spend the $17 million in federal funding coming its way through the American Rescue Plan.
Presiding County Commissioner Lee Sawyer says the county is considering allocating money to the Hillyard Technical Center in St. Joseph to enhance its career development program.
“There’s real opportunity, both for young people who are looking to get into certain types of work and there’s a lot of opportunity for those businesses that really want to try to expand their workforce and grow and develop,” Sawyer says.
Other possibilities, according to Sawyer, include water and sewer infrastructure and other long-term expenditures.
“We just want to make sure that we get as much bang, if you will, for the dollars that we have,” according to Sawyer. “So, we’re talking to a lot of different folks.”
Some of the folks the county has been talking to are those at Mosaic Life Care, which has proposed locating a Children’s Discovery Center in downtown St. Joseph. Mosaic Life Care Foundation officials say the center could occupy between 35,000 and 50,000 square feet to incorporate core exhibits, traveling exhibits, a space for newborns and toddlers, plus a gift shop and café. No firm cost has been set for the center. The county is considering using as much as $4 million from the American Rescue Plan to help finance the center. The City of St. Joseph, which is receiving nearly $40 million in American Rescue Plan funds, could pitch in to fund the center.
Sawyer does say a lack of communication from the federal government and incomplete guidelines have hampered the county’s efforts in deciding how to spend the money.
Sawyer says the county commission wants to focus on infrastructure improvements.
“There’s some sewer district needs at Lake Contrary and that’s an area that we feel like fits very well with the idea behind the Rescue Plan money, the guidance that we’ve been given,” Sawyer says.
Broadband expansion might also get some funding.