MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council is expected to discuss proposals that would spend and reallocate more than $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds at Tuesday night’s meeting.
In its final scheduled meeting of 2021, council will talk during caucus about new ARPA requests totaling $100,812 for:
— $20,000 for municipal court radio upgrades.
— $13,400 for a fire station HVAC system.
— $30,000 for an HVAC system and $29,247 for furniture, both expenditures for an $305,000 indoor police training facility planned near Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.
— $8,165 for chairs and remote video equipment for the city’s engineering department.
Council is also being asked to reallocate $460,000 in ARPA funds for the emergency replacement of the HVAC system at the airport terminal.
Mayor Tim Theaker’s administration gained permission from council in September to spend $850,000 to scan more than 8,000 boxes of documents that must be kept to meet state public records law. That expenditure will be pared back to $390,000 with the reallocation.
The city received $10.5 million for the first year of the two-year ARPA allocation and will receive a like amount in 2022. Council agreed to set aside $5 million from the first-year funding to replace revenue lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the new spending reallocation is approved, the city will have $6,077.76 remaining from the first-year allocation.
Also on Tuesday, City Council is scheduled to:
— vote on a 2022 temporary annual appropriations budget. A final budget must be approved by the end of March.
— vote on a proposed four-year, 0.25-percent income tax increase for the May primary ballot for capital improvements and maintenance for the city parks and recreation department. The issue would generate about $15 million in four years, an estimated $8 million of which would be spend on a new pool/aquatics center at Liberty Park.
— give a second read to legislation that would amend the city’s fire prevention code.
— vote on legislation honoring 3rd Ward council member Jon Van Harlingen upon his retirement from City Council. The Democrat lost a narrow race on Nov. 2 in his bid for a third, four-year term and will be replaced by Republican Rev. Eleazer Akuchie in January.
— vote on the renewal of an agreement with Richland County commissioners to pay counsel fees for indigent criminal defendants.
— discuss during caucus the acceptance of a $70,374 state grant to “reduce violence in high crime areas and assist the Mansfield Police Department’s efforts to create safer neighborhoods.” There is no local match required to obtain the grant, which will be used to renew data sharing software licenses.
— vote to accept a total of $62,287 in donations and grants to assist with the West End Neighborhood Plan project.
— vote to ratify and authorize the city’s participation agreement for a settlement agreement of opioid litigation with Johnson & Johnson.
