The Porter County Council is holding off on approving the county's ARPA spending plan. The county commissioners approved a plan for much of the county's $33 million share of federal American Rescue Plan money in early August, but it wasn't placed on last week's county council agenda.
Council President Jeremy Rivas said there's still time to consider the plan before the 2023 budget is finalized. "If we've got more internal problems than I ever thought, then we definitely, in my opinion, need to give pause and make certain that we're taking care of other things before we hand money out, just like the rest of the communities around us," Rivas explained during last week's council meeting.
Some council members expressed concern that a significant amount of funding was dedicated to nonprofit groups, but nothing was allocated to renovate the county's Memorial Opera House.
Mike Brickner said he'd vote against the ARPA plan in its current form. "We own the damn building. We own it. We have ordinances in the county to where if people don't fix their dilapidated property, we go out there and send a code enforcement officer to enforce our county ordinance. We own this building," Brickner said.
Council member Andy Bozak felt that Brickner should have raised his concerns sooner, before the nonprofit groups went through the lengthy funding request process. His motion to place the issue on this month's council agenda was voted down by a vote of five-to-two, although Rivas may still choose to add it.
Meanwhile, ARPA funds that have already been appropriated by the council continue flowing to Porter County's townships. The county commissioners Tuesday approved an agreement outlining the terms and conditions for Center Township's more than $134,000.
County Auditor Vicki Urbanik said the township plans to use some of the money to pay its social worker for the next two years, give township employees premium pay and allocate money to non-profits. ARPA money will also be used to provide assistance to households, including gas cards, grocery vouchers and V-Line fares.
