Commissioners allocate $3.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds
NEW PHILADELPHIA — Commissioners have allocated more than $3.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to a variety of public and private groups around Tuscararawas County.
The money can be used to respond to the negative economic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on households, small businesses and non-profits, or industries like tourism, travel and hospitality.
It can also be used to offset revenue losses directly related to the public health emergency and make necessary improvements in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.
The county received about $17.8 million in funding.
Allocations approved Monday included:
$1.2 million to the engineer's office for road improvements.
$350,000 for work on the Red Barn at the Norma Johnson Center. The barn, built in the 1860s, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
$400,000 to make improvements to the Brandywine Center (the former Brandywine Grange building near Dover) to convert it into offices for the county parks department.
$400,000 to the recorder's office for the scanning of documents.
$466,950 to the auditor's office for a human resources payroll system.
Two grants to the Tuscarawas County Juvenile Court for the Tuscarawas United Feeding our Future (TUFF) Bags program: $94,650 for the purchase of a box truck and related costs and $213,726 for food purchase and materials.
$311,234 to the village of Baltic for waterline replacement on Maple Street.
$62,354 to the village of Tuscarawas for water treatment plant improvements.
Two grants to the Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau: $14,599 for sewer line replacement and relining and $70,000 for the Travel Tuscarawas ticket program.
$30,000 to the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum for Polar Express handicap access.
$78,000 to the Newcomerstown Historical Society for the Lenape Diaspora Memorial, a project that will tell 500 years of American Indian history.
$32,820 to Historic Schoenbrunn Village for a Schoenbrunn Village trailhead.
$2,753 to the Tuscarawas County Public Library for automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for the Bolivar and Strasburg branches.
Two grants to Noah's Hope Child Advocacy Center: $45,000 for parking lot improvements and $5,000 for computer and related technology equipment.
The allocations were made on the recommendations of Julian & Grube, a consulting firm hired by the county to assist in the process.
Commissioner Al Landis said the consulting firm makes its recommendations to a local committee that reviews the applications. If the committee gives its approval, the requests are sent on to commissioners for final approval.
"Our goal is to start releasing funds by August, and here we are Aug. 1 and we've met that," he said. "We have a tremendous team working on this, including the auditor's office and the committee from the various other departments.
"We feel very confident moving forward that the process is working. So we're very excited to get the taxpayers' money back into the system."
In other action, commissioners approved an agreement with ADR & Associates for engineering services to study potential capital improvements to the existing sewer facilities in Midvale and Barnhill and to look at providing service in Roswell, Brightwood and the Kerr/Baltzley Valley area.
The company will also do a study to look at providing sewer service to several areas in Mill Township, including N. Second and Third Street extensions, Maple Grove, Gatchell Road, Superior Road, Wardell Hollow and the Newport/Clay City area.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Commissioners allocate $3.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds
