By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Kosciusko County’s American Rescue Plan Act Committee has approved spending $1.2 million of the county’s ARPA funds on projects connected with the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program.

The committee approved the expenditure at a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 29, at the Kosciusko County Courthouse. Kosciusko County Commissioners and the Kosciusko County Council will next decide whether to approve the spending.

Kosciusko County was one of a handful of communities selected by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to participate in the HELP initiative. HELP is meant to assist Indiana counties and communities with spending their ARPA funds on projects to better their communities in four specific areas: Advancing E-Connectivity; Enhancing Quality of Place; Promoting Community Wellness; and Strengthening Local Economies.

Through HELP, the county has a community coordinator, Amy Roe, who is helping guide those in the area through the process.

She and OCRA are to help Kosciusko gain additional funding sources to further the monies for projects. To help with deciding on what projects the county will implement, committees have been formed, with there being one committee for each of the four above topics that projects can fall under.

Part of the committees include representatives from four towns in Kosciusko County, which agreed to participate with the county in the process. Those are Etna Green, Milford, Mentone and Pierceton.

Monday’s meeting focused on what the county could implement in terms of projects, with leaders of the four committees reporting on narrowed-down project focuses. Leaders didn’t approve any specific projects on Monday.

The committees were able to gauge narrowed-down categories for projects based on discussion amongst themselves at meetings as well as from community input at several special events and an online survey.

Giving reports Monday were Bill Holder, Suzie Light, Dr. Kevin Roberts and Todd Davis, who represented the Advancing E-Connectivity, Enhancing Quality of Place, Promoting Community Wellness and Strengthening Local Economies committees respectively.

E-Connectivity

Holder noted the county overall is getting pretty good internet coverage due to Kosciusko Rural Electric Membership Corp. building out fiber for its customers.

“Probably 75% of the county footprint is sort of taken care of by that REMC project,” said Holder.

He said the committee uncovered some areas in the county, which could still use help with internet. Those are “up by Milford and to the west of Milford, around the Burket/Palestine area … and then there’s an area down by Sidney.”

Holder said the committee chose those areas for potential projects due to them being near “planned or existing builds” for internet infrastructure.

“They’re in underserved areas and they’re spread around the county,” added Holder of additional reasons why the committee was suggesting them for projects.

Quality of Place

Light said her Enhancing Quality of Place committee narrowed down their project focus to three areas.

One, which committee members dubbed “Ride + Walk Kosciusko Active Transportation & Recreation Planning,” deals with walking and biking and trail connectivity throughout the county and outside it.

Another project focus the committee called “Countywide Blueway Planning & Preparation” is centered on blueways or bodies of water in the county and connecting them for activities.

The last project focus the committee looked at was ensuring that smaller communities in the county had adequate community center facilities, especially for winter activities.

Community Wellness

Roberts noted his Promoting Community Wellness committee considered projects in six areas.

One was deemed “Food Access and Education.” It would work to combat obesity and “food insecurity” by helping establish “community gardens, greenhouses and food markets in our rural communities,” said Roberts. The project would also include working with organizations to educate people about healthy food choices.

The second and third projects the committee looked at were creating outdoor activities for people throughout the county and providing indoor facilities for people to exercise in.

The fourth project focus is aimed at mental and physical health integration, including helping make mental health resources available in the same spots as those dealing with physical health.

The fifth project focus the committee looked at was helping Kosciusko County residents improve in areas such as social and financial well-being.

Roberts said the committee last looked at helping improve access to child care in the county.

Local Economies

Davis said one of the projects the Strengthening Local Economies committee looked at was creating a Kosciusko Elected Leader Academy. That would help both those running for local office and newer elected officials train for the role.

The committee also looked at helping young entrepreneurs in the county. Davis noted that there already appeared to be “momentum (for that) to happen,” with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce planning to start a youth chamber of commerce next year.

The committee’s project in that area could include having an event where startup money is awarded to young entrepreneurs, offering entrepreneurship classes and providing space for high school students to run a business.

Davis said the third project the group looked at involved a focus on green or environmentally sustainable business practices. That would include examining how green businesses locally function, inform customers of them and perhaps award a “Green Business of the Year.”

The fourth and fifth projects the Strengthening the Local Economy committee came up with included promoting diversity in the workforce through promoting bilingual initiatives and helping employers hire those from different backgrounds and those with special needs.

The four towns participating in HELP are to have similar presentations as the county’s at their own meetings, which the public is welcome to attend.

Those will be: for Milford, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, at Milford Town Hall, 121 S. Main St.; for Pierceton, 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, at the Pierceton Community Building, 105 W. Walnut St.; for Mentone, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Mentone Town Hall, 201 W. Main St.; and for Etna Green, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Etna Green Town Hall, 106 S. Walnut St.

As for the next step in the HELP process for the county, Kosciusko County Commissioners’ President Cary Groninger, who also serves as the head of the county’s ARPA committee, said OCRA was to meet with leaders next month to narrow down the projects more before they could be approved.