After months of work on Porter County's ARPA spending plan, the county council has only agreed to approve part of it. Council members voted six-to-one Tuesday to approve the appropriations recommended by the infrastructure and county COVID response subcommittees totaling over $10 million. But they held off on approving the almost $9 million requested for behavioral health and nonprofits.
Andy Bozak cast the lone opposing vote, but only because he wanted to approve the entire request. "We said this is the process. Now, you say, 'Well, hey, this commissioner and this person on the council are fighting, so screw this process. We're going to pass what we want to pass tonight.' And now, we're in a political battle," Bozak said.
While the plan was approved by the commissioners in early August, the council didn't even put it on last month's agenda. But the issue took on another layer of urgency, after it became clear that the delay had pushed back a storm sewer replacement in the Carriage Hills subdivision to next year. Nikole Hutten lives next door to a house where a sinkhole partially swallowed a vehicle earlier this year.
"Home is supposed to be your safe place, and I'm scared to death to drive on my driveway. Every day. And something has to happen, or something's going to have to happen," Hutten told council members.
Council President Jeremy Rivas blamed the delay on one of the commissioners and the rejection of most of the county's initial ARPA plan several months ago. "That money was there in the wintertime, and it was requested by a commissioner we take it out. So then, the process was created, and here we are," Rivas said.
While funding for that and other infrastructure projects has now been approved, council members want to discuss the proposed 2023 budget and the county's internal needs with the commissioners, before they approve money for outside agencies.
