Happy October Eaton Rapids!
I’ve been asked by residents what the city is spending its ARPA funds on. ARPA stands for American Rescue Plan Act. This is federal financial assistance due to the Covid-19 pandemic, that states, counties, schools, and local municipalities received. The City of Eaton Rapids received approximately $550,000. There are guidelines on how to use this money. If a municipality received $10 million or more then the guidelines were more restrictive on how you could use the funds and a timeline of when it had to be spent. Less than $10 million, you could add it to your general fund and spend it the same way you would other revenue, with no timeline on when it had to be used.
Currently, City Council has earmarked $150,000 for projects including an Opticom system, that allows our public safety officials to safely travel through the downtown during an emergency. This system changes our traffic lights when an on-coming emergency vehicle approaches in order for them to safely travel to the emergency destination. We also used the funding for hazard pay for both our Police and Fire Department associates, since they were on the front lines during the pandemic. As Council considers future projects, we can use this extra funding to help with grant fund matching, or use for unexpected expenses.
At the September 26th meeting, City Council approved the hours for Halloween Trick or Treat, for October 31st from 6pm-8pm, but also approved the annual Downtown Trick or Treat, to be held on Wednesday, October 26th from 5pm-7pm. This is for our business district to pass out candy to the kids and has always been a well-attended event. Please be alert when driving through the downtown during this time as there will be many kids and adults walking across the street and we want everyone to stay safe.
At the October 10th Council meeting, City Council approved the appointment of 4 residents, to the Local Officers Compensation Commission. Dale Erion, Cereita Erion, Robert Napieralski, and Deb Malewski. We are very appreciative to these residents for stepping up to serve our community. We have one more spot to fill on this board, so if you are interested, please let me know.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, ideas or would like more information about serving our city, please reach out to me at pcolestock@cityofeatonrapids.com or call me at 517-489-3064.
Enjoy the rest of your October!
Mayor Pam
