Commissioners sorting through ARP fund requests

Out of 80 applications: 5 approved, 2 denied, others waiting for review

WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners officially reviewed all of the 80 American Rescue Plan Act applications sent to them so they could indicate which ones they unanimously support moving forward, which ones they need more information for and those they do not support.

The county has $10,372,207 of ARP funds remaining to allocate and $19,397,007 in requests from 80 organizations. Five requests were approved by the commissioners' counsel prior to a pause the county instituted in August. It had 13 requests that have a combined value of $2,484,522 that were submitted to counsel prior to the pause, but were not reviewed and returned to the commissioners.

Two road project requests turned in by Kinsman and Vernon townships were denied by the commissioners prior to Tuesday's meeting.

During Tuesday's workshop, the commissioners said they could support nearly half of the requests submitted through the county's ARP portal. However, the majority of the requests still must be vetted through the county's attorney to ensure they qualify under federal regulations before the commissioners give the final vote to provide the money.

While some projects, such as Bristol Township Park's $16,100 request to promote tourism and outdoor recreation received unanimous support, the commissioners provided qualified support for Bristol Township's $160,000 project to build a structure to house its township vehicles.

The commissioners want to make sure it can be approved under the federal guidelines.

The commissioners, in general, supported a majority of the requests submitted by various historical societies, including $20,0000 from the Mineral Ridge Historical Society for the creation of a walkway and memorial to recognize black band ore and coal mining in Mineral Ridge.

It approved a $264,000 request from the Braceville Community Foundation's effort to create an African American Community History museum through a collaboration with the Trumbull County Historical Society.

"It is a good feeling that all three commissioners saw the importance of history and each community supporting their history," Gwendolyn Shavers said. "We want to work with other historical societies."

The money will used to purchase the third oldest home in Braceville, where the organization will house all of the artifacts outlining the contributions of African Americans in Braceville that have been collected over the years.

It has collected many hours of oral history recordings, hundreds of photographs and numerous other artifacts for the small historical museum. It is estimated 29,000 people will benefit from the project.

Several of the projects rejected for funding include a $2 million request from Inspiring Minds, a $500,000 request from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District for Mineral Ridge dam repairs, $750,000 from the Trumbull County MetroParks, and a $300,000 request from the Mahoning Valley Scrappers to provide touchless operations for the Eastwood Field restrooms.

Several requests, such as a $315,000 West Park / Warren Austintown Road and a $315,916 bridge superstructure project from the Trumbull County Engineer's Office will be revisited as the commissioners collect additional information.

Commission President Denny Malloy said Tuesday afternoon's workshop demonstrated an awesome sign of united commissioners working in the best interest of citizens.

"We would have liked to fund everything to its fullest, but we could not," Malloy said.

Commissioner Niki Frenchko said all of the items they voted to support on Tuesday they intend to move forward.

Frenchko said it was important for the commissioners to have Tuesday's workshop to provide definitive answers to the projects they could support and those they could not.

Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder will provide the commissioners a tally of the requests and the amount that would be allocated based on those the commissioners said they could support.

"I believe the amount will be less than the $10 million that's available," Malloy noted.

The commissioners expect to have another workshop sometime in the next several weeks to review some of the requests they they could not definitively support, either because they want additional information or want to reduce the amount they want to provide.