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PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg City Council will consider reallocating pandemic assistance dollars and new guidelines for deciding how American Rescue Plan Act funds are spent when it meets Tuesday.
The regular council meeting at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building will be preceded by a meeting of council's Stormwater Committee and followed by an Urban Renewal Authority session.
One resolution on the council agenda would amend the Community Development Block Grant budget to move unused funding the city received early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city received $529,739 in CDBG funds for COVID relief in the spring of 2020. The council at that time allocated $300,000 to a Small Business Relief Fund that offered forgivable loans to businesses with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. The rest was put in a Family Relief Fund, offering emergency payments for up to 90 days for low-to-moderate-income individuals or families facing homelessness or utility cutoffs.
Development Director Ryan Barber said the Small Business Relief Fund aided 31 businesses in the city and helped create or retain 161 jobs, while the Family Relief Fund assisted 56 families.
"When we stood those programs up, there was really nothing of its kind," he said.
But the implementation of an eviction moratorium, stimulus payments and other programs better addressed those needs, so there is more than $220,000 combined remaining in the funds, according to council documents.
"The need, I think, was addressed," Mayor Tom Joyce said.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released more flexible guidelines for the funds so they can be put toward "building resiliency" and preparing for future pandemic events, Barber said. Toward that end, the administration has proposed allocations to six agencies, many of which deal with making improvements to buildings to improve things like ventilation.
The proposed allocations are:
* $80,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg for energy efficiency upgrades.
* $50,000 to SW Resources for heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.
* $26,700 to the Children's Home Society for facility enhancements.
* $25,300 to the Family Crisis Intervention Center for HVAC upgrades.
* $25,000 to the Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley for Americans with Disabilities Act facility enhancements.
* $15,847.49 to Wood County Recreation for a Youth Scholarship Program promoting outdoor activities.
"They've all been good partners," Joyce said.
Another resolution would require the city to hold three public hearings before appropriating any more ARPA funds, place all proposed appropriations before the appropriate council committee and make all proposed appropriations "subject to consideration by City Council in order to enable a full and complete assessment of all qualified projects eligible for the funds."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.
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Meeting Notes
Tuesday's Parkersburg City Council meetings
* 6 p.m.: Stormwater Committee, executive conference room, Municipal Building.
* 7:30 p.m.: City Council, council chambers.
* Immediately following: Urban Renewal Authority, council chambers.