City Council Moves CARES Act Money
By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews
WARSAW – The City Council worked Monday night, Dec. 7, with the pandemic shaping much of its focus.
With city hall working under tighter restrictions, only three city officials worked from inside council chambers and on-camera while other elected officials, department heads and media participated via the internet.
Much of the meeting involved approval of shifting money to correctly document the spending of CARES Act money from the federal government to use for COVID-related expenses.
The city has received about $484,742 in CARES Act money and approved with two votes an additional appropriation of $285,039 from that total in preparation of finalizing paperwork before the end of the year, according to Mayor Joe Thallemer.
The city used the money for personal protection equipment, testing, online permitting and public safety, among other things.
The city also assisted Baker Youth Club with $7,000 and Cardinal Services with about $28,000 to help the agency with a staffing crisis, Thallemer said.
The city plans to use about $166,000 on public safety wages.
The prescribed uses of the money were deliberate and restrictive, Thallemer said.
Whether municipalities can count on another round of assistance from the federal government remains unclear.
“The state did not want cities leaving money on the table,” Thallemer said. “This may be the only direct stimulus that cities and towns will appreciate in this pandemic. leaving funds on the table could potentially cause problems in future consideration for the same thing.”
A public hearing was conducted as part of the process and the city once again sought input from the public who were watching online by texting their thoughts to a city hall phone number. The service has been used at least three times, but nobody took the opportunity Monday night.
The new limits on in-person participation at city hall come as Indiana and much of the country see significant spikes in the number of cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations and deaths.
Health officials are urging people to wear masks, limit contact with people outside of their immediate social circles and avoid crowds during the holiday season.
On Monday, City Council member Diane Quance said she thinks more people are using masks in public.
“When I’ve been out and about I’ve seen increased compliance at stores, the library, the post office – various places – even walking the trails … I would like to say thank you to those citizens that are working to protect themselves and citizens in our community,” Quance said.
Other council members, including Jack Wilhite, agreed. “It’s the courteous thing to do,” he said.
In another matter, the council approved nominations to retain four existing board members on three boards. Those include a new four-year term for Dan Smith on the Board of Zoning Appeals and one-year terms for Rick Snodgrass and Michael Klondaris on the redevelopment commission and Cindy Dobbins to the WCDC.
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