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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners in a 2-1 vote approved providing $178,030 of the county's American Rescue Plan funds to the Community Family Outreach Complex to provide health care to Warren Township residents.
Commissioners Mauro Cantalamessa and Denny Malloy voted in favor. Commissioner Niki Frenchko voted against the allocation.
"This is using ARP funds for a faith-based organization, in my opinion," Frenchko said. "They have been making efforts to have their parking lot repaired for a number of years. Now, they solicited help from our health department in order to justify improving a private property that sometimes is used for rentals."
"If the health department wanted to reach out they could have spent the money in another fashion. If it was truly a purpose to deliver services to underserved communities, what they would have done was to get a mobile outreach unit," she said.
Frenchko said the health department could have looked at other churches and locations to provide the ARP funds.
Malloy said they have done COVID-19 and influenza shots at the location.
"This is the hot zone, when you look at ailments, disease and poverty in Trumbull County," he said. "Bishop David Herron is not only an icon and spokesman for the black community, but also for all of Trumbull County. It is a place where people feel safe to go to."
"This is something that was recommended to us by the health department commissioner and the health department," Malloy said.
An attorney with the law firm of Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Matthews, which was hired to review all of the applications, is still reviewing the applications for ARP funds to ensure they fulfill all of the state and federal law connected with ARP.
The county received $38.5 million in ARP funds during a two-year period. It has allocated $35.8 million to various projects, so long as the projects are reviewed and approved by the law firm.
Once plans receive legal approval, commissioners vote to give the final approval for the money to be distributed to organizations doing the projects.
If all projects already promised funds are awarded the money requested, there is approximately $2.6 million of the total amount to be distributed.
In other business, commissioners:
l Tabled a vote on a resolution to enter into an agreement with Niles for the Trumbull County Howland public water system and the Mineral Ridge public water system that would allow the county to provide bulk water for the two systems.
Frenchko would like an attorney who specializes in annexation law to review the proposed contract, as suggested by the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office.
Howland Administrator Darlene St. George asked commissioners to give her a copy of the contract to review, so she will be able to provide a recommendation to commissioners on whether to support a renewal of a 10-year agreement to supply water to Howland, Weathersfield and a small area of Bazetta.
l Unanimously voted to support a $42,000 agreement between Howland and the prosecutor’s office for the office to provide legal services to the township.
Also, before the start of Wednesday's meeting, Frenchko provided Malloy and Cantalamessa copies of the opinion and order given by federal Judge Philip Calebrese on the 2023 lawsuit she filed against former Commissioner Frank Fuda, Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe, Cantalamessa and two sheriff's office deputies. She suggested the board president, Malloy, review the document, so he would not place the board in a position in which it may later be sued.
Frenchko's attorney, David Betras, was sitting in the audience of the meeting. He did not speak to commissioners.