By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Federal money, a lot of federal money, is coming to St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
How it will be spent has yet to be determined.
Both the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County will reap millions from Congressional approval of the latest coronavirus relief and stimulus package.
St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Patt Lilly notes the city is expected to receive $39 million with the county set to receive $17 million.
“My hope is that we will look at long-term kind of investment opportunities in the community that will bear fruit over a longer period of time,” Lilly tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “I mean, this is going to be a one-time event. Of course, the money is going to come in in two different fiscal years. This is going to be a one-time opportunity for both the city and the county. I thought the city and the county did a nice job early on in the pandemic with the money they received.”
Lilly suggests that if the city and county combine forces, the money would have a bigger impact.
“I really hope that the city and county work together,” Lilly says. “I think when you take those two figures and add them together, it’s a significant amount. It’s over $50 million. And I think there’s some real opportunity where they can work together on some things.”
Lilly says the Chamber has some ideas on how the money could be spent.
“Obviously, from an economic development standpoint, workforce is a critical issue in our community and we just don’t have enough capacity particularly on the vocational-technical training. Could there be something happen there?” Lilly asks. “Could there be something you could do in some of these older neighborhoods of the community to establish a program that would allow people to more easily invest in some of these older homes?”
Lilly says, if spent wisely, the money could have a profound impact on the future of the community.
“It would be nice in 10 years to say, ‘We spent this much money on this and it’s had this kind of positive outcome for our community,’ versus ‘Well, what did they spend that money on 10 years ago. I don’t remember.’ You’d hate to find yourself in that kind of situation.”
This latest federal allocation has fewer strings attached and can be used for infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, even broadband. The money from Washington will come in two installments over the next two fiscal years.