By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph's American Rescue Plan citizens committee has finished its weeks long work of reviewing proposals on how to spend the city's allotment of more than $39 million in federal COVID-19 relief.
That committee will now present its work to the St. Joseph city council at a Monday work session.
St. Joseph city manager Bryan Carter says the committee finished reviewing applications and proposals this past Tuesday.
"It should have a broad impact on some of our communities' needs," Carter said on KFEQ's The Hotline. "In fact, we have scheduled a work session to present their recommendation to the city council this upcoming Monday. So, we'll do that there."
The American Rescue Plan Committee was formed earlier this year to review applications from entities and individuals who are eligible to receive this federal funding.
The job of the committee, Carter says, is to recommend what they believe are the best ways to allocate the $39 million.
"We'll be working in an obligation to make sure those funds are spent in accordance with federal guidelines," Carter said. "But, we'll also be including some provisions with each recipient that generally make sure that the funds are distributed in a way that achieves the objective. To make sure these funds have the impact on the community that they're envisioned to have."
Any business, entity or household within the city that has been negatively impacted by the pandemic was eligible to apply for this funding. The money can also go toward water, sewer and broadband infrastructure as well.
The city has until the end of 2024 to allocate all of this money. St. Joseph has already received the first half of its $39 million allotment. The second half will come as early as May or as late as July of 2022.
Carter says projects funded by the American Rescue Plan will start being worked on very soon.
"From a functional standpoint, the earliest point we're probably looking at is 6-8 weeks away," he said. "However, with each project, I would anticipate there will be disbursements over time to make sure the funds are used for the stated purposes."
Monday's work session is scheduled for 4 p.m. at city hall.
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