Now calling to order a special meeting of City Council
Thursday, December 19th, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Yeah, no, we don't do that. Pledge Allegiance.
Allegiance to the flag. Flag. To the flag of the United
of America to the Republic.
Four WI stands. One nation under God, indivisible.
With liberty. With liberty and justice for all.
Roll call Madam Secretary. Councilman Roy? Here.
Councilman Dwyer. Here. Councilwoman McGee. Here.
Councilman Bokey is absent. Councilman Noonan Here.
Uh, Councilman Lafferty? Here. Councilman Moore is present.
Motion to excuse Councilman Bokey. Support Lafferty.
Uh, discussion. Hearing none. All in favor?
Aye. Any opposed? Next item. Next item.
Adoption of the agenda.
Acknowledging receipt of the special meeting notice.
So moved. Support Lafferty. Discussion.
Hearing none. I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Uh, Mr. Newnan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan use a Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item for consideration
and adoption of a resolution approving modifications
to the allocations of ARPA funds at the recommendation
of the administration and guidehouse.
So moved with discussion. Support Lafferty. Discussion.
Madam Secretary. Thank you.
Um, Mr. Fox, do you wanna explain briefly
what we're doing? Oh, go
Ahead. Good afternoon, counsel.
So,
Back, uh, last week, Friday, I believe it was, um, we got a,
uh, I had a conversation with Guidehouse
who was our consultant.
We have Adam here tonight
or this afternoon for, uh, if you have any questions.
And what came up was, is, as you're aware, when, uh,
probably a month or two ago, we, we adopted a resolution
and adopted, um, these, uh, contracts, MOUs,
uh, for various projects.
And on your packet, it was for the, uh, modular library,
parks and recreation, the HEL park, parks
and Recreation Wagon, sidewalk Repairs.
And then we had an infrastructure line.
And so those, what we did was set up, uh, these MOUs
for each department, had them sign the contracts.
And at that point in time, we felt that that was gonna be
okay and that, that committed the funds.
And as we're all well aware, the funds have to be committed
by December 31st of this year.
So the, the Government Accountability Office, uh,
reviewed, uh, what they felt a commitment
of funds was,
and they're basically breaking it down to a actual contract.
So a contract with a vendor to fix water lines
or fix roads, um, that would be considered committed
or a purchase order.
Uh, and not that the possibility that the MOUs,
they may have, uh, been okay,
but just given the fact we got a new administration up in
the, uh, Washington,
and it looks like they're looking at it a lot of ways to try
to claw back dollars.
Um, our consultants felt it was wise for us to really
revise our thoughts on the MOUs
and actually allocate 'em to actual contracts
that we currently have.
And so on the second part of that,
where we're reallocating them, we're reallocating them to,
uh, four water projects, Raso, prospect, common, and Ryan.
So these are existing contracts,
and what we're doing is we're just reallocating
where the money is gonna come from.
So now they'll come outta arpa.
And with that, I'll answer any questions you may have.
Thank you. Uh, this won't change any,
any plans we have, uh,
For like the, the home assistance and No. So it'll
Just come from a different fund. Right.
Okay. So those programs, as soon as we get the program,
uh, ironed out exactly how we're gonna do it,
then I'll send over a resolution to commit those funds
for the $5 million, uh, it'll be a resolution.
You'll adopt it, and then we'll start those
programs. The same with Parks and
Rec next Yeah. Next year
sometime. Yep. We'll be dealing with those. Okay.
Absolutely. Um, thank you. I,
I appreciate everybody being here.
I know we had to get this done in a hurry
and thanks to all the council
members that were able to get here.
Mr. Bokey had an appointment that he couldn't change. Yeah.
Uh, but he would've if he had to.
But we have, uh, plenty of people here, so appreciate, we
Appreciate it. We appreciate, we appreciate that you
were able
to set up the special meeting,
The Madam President through the chair,
Mr. Dwyer.
Yeah. Just to, uh, be reassured here.
So then that, that $5 million, that
that 5 million is secure?
That is correct. It's secure. Okay.
Like I said, once the program parameters get put in place,
we'll prepare a resolution
to commit those funds to that program.
Okay. Thank you. That's it. Any other discussion?
Madam President? Mr. Lafferty? Uh,
With, uh, Guidehouse being here, there was a, uh,
uh, a risk rating that you had,
uh, provided a risk matrix.
And could you just briefly describe, I,
I know that we did the, as Mr. Fox advised about the,
the memorandum, understanding those you're your rating as
as the highest risk.
Uh, were other municipalities exposed to this same amount
of risk and have they taken similar actions?
Uh, correct. So a number of our clients, uh,
fell somewhere with their MOUs across the spectrum there,
uh, when account, when it comes to risk, uh,
it depends on the client and, and the advice that they took
and the actions that they were taking.
So we've had some that are doing exactly what you're doing,
which is allocating the funds towards, um,
already signed contracts, uh, to,
to look at these initiatives going forward, um,
using other di different sources of funding.
And then some clients are really sitting and saying,
and, you know, they, they wanna see the government come
and try to take their money back.
So, um, so there is, there is also a spectrum
of response when it comes to our clients
That that's exactly where I was, I was going to, I wanted
to just see where,
where we fell on the spectrum in comparison
to other communities and, you know, had others, you know,
taking the same, I'm, I'm certainly not willing
to test the waters here and don't, don't see any reason
to, uh, to challenge.
So, and it, it looks like, based on what you're saying,
this moves us from the highest risk
to the lowest risk category,
Correct? Correct. So
the, the mon the, the monies are would now be,
uh, according to the GAO properly obligated
before the deadline, uh, uh, of December 31st to the GAO.
So while the GAO letter is non-binding, our opinion is
that the GAO letter is a roadmap for clawback
of funding in the future, uh, in the next,
in the next Congress.
And that these steps are,
are most prudent steps to take to protect that funding.
Thank you. I have no other questions.
Any additional discussion? Okay.
Hearing none, I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is audience participation. Faye Baker.
Good afternoon. Afternoon.
Um, Faye Baker with Baker and Associates.
I sent an email earlier this morning.
I'm not sure if you guys received it.
Um, I am currently working on a, um,
a couple developments in South Warren.
Uh, the first one that we're working on is on Peters Avenue,
where we're, our first phase is to build nine, um,
single family detached homes for sale.
Um, we have been working very diligently on it.
We received, um, a grant from the state, um,
and I know that you guys have ARPA funds available.
Um, and so my question
or my goal is really to see if you guys would be able
to participate in the, the, the, uh, capital stack.
We have a very small gap, um, $25,000 per home, um,
that we would use to ensure that, you know,
we keep the costs low
because our goal is to assist 60% a MI all the way up
to workforce housing, which would include 120% a MI.
And of course, they don't need as much help.
And also down payment assistance.
Um, if some of those funds that you guys have available,
if we could earmark those for down payment assistance
for homeowners, um, for people to become homeowners
and make it more advantageous for them to, uh, want to have,
you know, have their residence in South
Warren, that would be amazing.
Um, so, um, right now we have, um,
38 houses that we're, that, that we're gonna build.
We're starting off with the nine.
Um, we just acquired additional land, um, we
that we have land control over, um, off of, um, Dender
and Nine Mile, which is 19 acres of land,
which we would love to do a development there as well.
So, you know, I know that, you know, you guys have a, um,
you, you want to, um, increase home ownership,
you wanna change the landscape and,
and start investing in South Warren,
and we want to do that as well.
So, um, anything that City Council can do to help,
of course, we'd appreciate it.
Okay. Thank you. That is the end of audience.
Next item, uh, mo. Motion to adjourn support Lafferty.
All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned.
Thanks everybody. Thank you.