Money to work with
Commissioners to decide on final ARPA priorities
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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners are expected to begin formal planning to review more than 73 applications seeking pieces of the remaining $7.4 million the county has from its $38.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
As of Sept. 6, the county had more than $23 million in requests to consider, and that amount could grow.
Board President Denny Malloy expects to ask his colleagues to begin individually reviewing all of the applications that have not been sent to law firm Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Matthews for review. He also will ask them to determine what categories they believe are the most important to consider when allocating funds.
"We will have a public hearing to delineate how much to spend in each category," he said.
Commissioners will try to agree on a hearing date this week, Malloy added.
Malloy emphasized he personally wants at least half of the remaining money to be divided among the villages, townships and small cities.
Malloy said he was elected commissioner because township residents wanted their concerns to be addressed.
"I intend to keep that promise," he said.
SORTING OUT PROJECTS
Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa wants a good portion of the remaining funds to be spent on broadband expansion.
"We have made great strides in addressing utility deficiencies when it comes to water and sewer expansion, but broadband has become the utility of the future with an ever-growing focus on remote access for jobs and schools," Cantalamessa said. "The digital divide does exist in Trumbull County and these funds allow us an opportunity to bridge that gap.
There are large swaths of unserved and underserved areas of Trumbull County that need addressed and this money can be used and leveraged to do just that."
Commissioner Niki Frenchko said the commissioners need to, on their own, eliminate projects they know will not fit the federal guidelines without sending the information to the law firm for evaluation.
She said the board needs to make sure all townships have assistance, and look at those that have not yet had projects funded in their communities.
As far as project requests from social organizations, such as churches, museums and community organizations, Frenchko suggests the commissioners ensure the projects assist the entire community and not simply the particular organizations or churches.
Frenchko suggests Cantalamessa and Malloy have been "driving the bus" on the allocation of the ARPA funds and expects them to continue.
"I've been making suggestions," she said.
Malloy said he would like all of the awards to have been identified and given out by year's end.
If some money is returned to the county because an applicant's expense projections were too high, the commissioners then will have another round of awards sometime next year, Malloy said.
Commissioners paused awarding ARPA money in early August shortly after being told by attorney Jim Misocky that there was $459,000 remaining in the program's general fund and another $5 million under its revenue loss category.
Under revenue loss, the county could use a portion of the ARPA funds to replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced because of the pandemic.
Misocky, the county's special projects administrator, was in charge of sending ARPA requests to the county's outside law firm for review to ensure they meet federal government requirements.
WATER AND SEWER
The county, so far, has allocated most of its ARPA funds to water and sewer projects.
Commissioners have approved $2,849,325 to five water projects that are expected to address water needs of 2,795 properties. The total projected cost of the projects is $13.6 million.
These projects include Southington's Blueprint Contract K waterline extension, $275,000; and Braceville's Blueprint Phase 2, engineering study, $435,000.
Commissioners approved $1.3 million to be used on Bazetta's Elm Road water project, which will provide water for 30 residential structures and 30 businesses. The project's total cost is projected at $3,038,650. The remaining money will come from a $750,000 Ohio Public Works Commission grant and a $966,575 Ohio EPA Water Supply revolving loan.
ARPA funds are expected to reduce assessments from about $200 per front foot to less than $50 per front foot.
A Braceville / Champion water regionalization project was approved to receive $350,000 for its design engineering contract. The project, which will provide 16,500 linear feet of water mains for approximately 100 residential structures in Champion and Southington, is estimated to be $5.1 million.
The commissioners approved providing $5,176,000 for 11 sewer projects. The estimated cost of these projects is $52,957,986. Once completed, these projects will provide sewer services to 2,102 properties.
They approved using $2.5 million to cover the design engineering for all phases of the $22.6 million Meadowbrook sanitary sewer improvement that will serve 700 properties in Warren Township.
About $571,000 will be used to provide sanitary sewer services to 77 residences and businesses in Weathersfield as part of the Heaton Chute sanitary sewer improvement. The approximate project cost is nearly $3.6 million.
Hubbard's Maplewood Park sanitary sewer study, a consent decree project that will provide service for more than 800 connections, was provided $250,000 to complete its preliminary engineering study. The total project cost is estimated to be more than $20 million.
Cantalamessa notes the infusion of the ARPA money is allowing the county to address required consent decree (an agreement that resolves a dispute) projects as well as other challenging projects.
"We will ultimately make these projects more affordable by lowering the capital charges to our users and help to share the costs of providing theses services by adding more users,"he said.
"Consent decree projects were most important to address," Frenchko said. "Scott Street in Newton Falls, Maplewood in Hubbard and Meadowbrook in Warren Township were court ordered to be addressed and were priorities to me.
"Water and sewer projects are difficult to finance. ARPA funds defrayed the projects' costs and made utility assessments and overall costs to the county affordable,"she noted.
COUNTY FACILITIES
Trumbull County courts, which include its family court, common pleas and the law library, received $2,428,211 of the county's ARPA funds, primarily for repairing and upgrading buildings.
Trumbull County family and common pleas courts are having work done on their chillers. Common pleas replaced its cooler and the law library had work done on its heating and air conditioning system.
The most costly of the projects is the $1.4 million used to purchase and install the chiller and cooler in the Trumbull County Courthouse. Unlike the water and sewer projects, ARPA provided either most or all of the money needed for court projects.
The Trumbull County Board of Elections received $1,045,174 for four projects, including two grants for roofing.
Cantalamessa said a portion of the money being used to structurally improve county-owned buildings is addressing issues identified during the pandemic.
"Improved air quality through upgraded HVAC systems and installment of bipolar ionizers have been a top priority," he noted. "If the board wants to continue to provide essential services, we need to have safe and secure buildings as a means of making good on those commitments for our employees and general public."
Frenchko added the ARPA money is allowing the county to address some long-term building maintenance issues.
"I saw we could use funds for the board of elections as a response to COVID, and helped the BOE, Trumbull County Fair Board / Agricultural Society and our maintenance department craft ARPA requests in a fashion that would cause many maintenance projects that were ignored over the years to be covered in the response-to-COVID category," she said.
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
The county hired Valley Economic Development Partners to distribute $2 million in grants and $1 million in loans using ARPA money.
Partners Executive Director Teresa Miller said the organization distributed up to $10,000 each in grants from Trumbull's ARPA funds from May 2022 through October 2022 to 214 companies that showed they had declines because of the pandemic.
Earlier this year, Valley Economic Development Partners used Trumbull ARPA funds to provide loans to 11 companies. As the loans are repaid, Partners will use the principal and half of the interest earned to create loans for new applicants.
"The best part of the revolving loan program is, we will be able to provide loans in perpetuity, so long as they are repaid," Miller said. "Money from the revolving loan program has created or assisted in the retention of 51 jobs in Trumbull."
"Aiding businesses that were adversely impacted by COVID was a priority for me," Frenchko said. "I opposed the government interfering with business and shutting Ohio down, and businesses pay heftily into federal taxes that funded ARPA. So it was only right to help them."
Cantalamessa said the county first worked with Partners to establish loan and grant programs in 2020 when it received funds from the CARES Act.
"We were one of the first counties regionally to begin what was known as the CARES 4 Trumbull Grant Assistance Program," he recalled. "All told, with both CARES Act and ARPA funds, we were able to assist 321 Trumbull County small businesses.
"This has been helping start-up businesses and entrepreneurs with low interest loans and ultimately more capital to ensure success," Cantalamessa added.
Commissioners also will consider requests from various churches and community organizations that have not yet been funded, such as Downbeat Musical Arts, which requested $30,000; Braceville Community Foundation, which is requesting $264,000 to create an African-American museum; Youngstown / Warren Urban League, which is requesting $1.5 million to assist in the building of a community resource center; and Niles Historical Society, which is requesting $63,050 for roof repairs.
"There are so many worthwhile nonprofit programs that affect positive change in this county," Cantalamessa said. "Many of those nonprofits need funding for new and existing programming that assist so many individuals and families. There is still a portion of those remaining funds that may be left to assist those nonprofits."
Trumbull County ARP dollars
• Total American Rescue Plan Act grant: $38,454,129
• General: $28,454,129
• Revenue loss: $10 million
• Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds: $103,164.88
• Total general allocated: $21,135,613.27
Total general remaining to be allocated: $7,426,880.61
Total revenue loss allocated: $7,049,472.75
Total revenue loss remaining to be allocated: $2,950,527.25
Sewer and water projects
• Blueprint Contract K waterline extension, $275,000, Southington
• Meadowbrook sanitary sewer improvements, $1.5 million, Warren Township
• Maplewood sewer study, $250,000, Hubbard
• Heaton Chute sanitary sewer improvement, $571,000, Weathersfield
• State Road Phase 2 sanitary sewer improvement, $230,000, Champion
• Elm Road water project, $1,322,075, Bazetta
• Diamond waterline, $167,250, Howland
• Stillwagon water, $250,000, Weathersfield
• Blueprint Phase 2, engineering, $435,000, Braceville, water
• Scoville Drive, Vienna, sanitary sewer improvement, $350,000
• Braceville / Champion water improvement / design, $350,000
• McKinley Heights Phase 3 sanitary sewer improvements, $350,000, Weathersfield
• Stateline Road sanitary sewer, $90,000, Brookfield
• Smith Stewart Road sanitary sewer, $335,000, Newton Township
• Scott Street sanitary sewer, $900,000, Newton Township
• SLAP Program, $600,000, countywide, sanitary sewer
Courthouse improvements
• Chiller for family court, $177,500
• Family court boiler,$423,000, community improvement
• Family court digital radios, $37,609.50, revenue loss category, public safety
• Family court transfer switch, $27,280.07, revenue loss category, community improvement
• Judge Ronald Rice court, windows, $11,675
• Courthouse chiller and cooler, $1.4 million
• Law library HVAC, $63,475, community improvement
• Law library steps, $350,000, revenue loss, community improvement
911 projects
• Generator / CAT & Becdel, $51,284, community improvement
• Phone stations, $132,255.24, revenue loss, community improvement
• Mobile command post, $1 million, revenue loss, public safety
• Request for MARCS radios, $588,821, revenue loss, public safety
• MARCS tower, $875,000, public safety
Business programs
• VP Small Business Loan Program, $2 million, countywide
• VP Small Business Grant Program, $1 million, countywide
Board of elections
• Roof replacement, $558,459, revenue loss, capital improvement
• Entrance remodel, $446,762, community improvement
• Roof stacks, $25,115, revenue loss, community improvement
• Electrical work, $43,800, community improvements
Administrative
• Accounting firm, $250,000, administration
• Attorney, $250,000, administration
Sheriff
• Vehicles and equipment, $936,415.55, revenue loss, public safety
• Salaries, $2,990,797.46, revenue loss, public safety
Others
• Wean Building demolition, TC Land Bank, $2 million, community improvement
• Ag Society structure improvements / repairs, $1,239,068, community improvement
• TNP Emergency Home Repair Program, $1 million, low to moderate income housing
• County Engineer building on North River Road, HVAC engineering costs, $38,625, community improvement
• Planning Commission roof replacement, $430,000, revenue loss, community improvement
• EMA vehicle, $58,620.20, public health
• Trumbull County Historical Society, $280,000, museum/history society
• Mesopotamia Museum, $65,000, museum / history society
• Jobs & Family Services windows, $7,600, community improvement
• Flood plain issues, $400,000, flood management
• Bloomfield Community Commons, $94,000, greenspace
• Cortland Community Foundation, $35,000, greenspace
• Second Harvest, $370,000, nonprofit, food
• Oak Hill Digital Advantage Project, $159,500, nonprofit, digital issues
• ACTION food truck, $250,000, nonprofit, food
• Ridgeview Tours, $65,000, tourism
• Healthy Hearts and Paws, $25,000, nonprofit, animal shelter
• Johnston EMS, $26,000, public safety
• Johnston Township, $27,099, greenspace
SOURCE: Trumbull County Auditor