MOUNT VERNON — Several Knox Pages readers have asked how the county is spending the $12.105 million it received in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money.
The county received half of the money, $6.052 million, in June 2021. It received the remaining $6.052 million on June 16 of this year.
“We always have more need than revenue, so we attacked the areas that were already being considered, and others that had EPA concerns,” Commissioner Bill Pursel said. “As we marched along this path, and the federal government further loosened the strings, requests started to pour in. Fredericktown, Clinton Township, and the City of Mount Vernon are a few of the entities who are benefiting from this program.”
Of the total $12.105 million, the county spent $4.696 million as of July 5. The commissioners allocated an additional $6.999 million; $409,735 remains unallocated.
“I think the difficult part of getting federal monies is that at first, they are more restricted, and by the time they make any changes, you have already decided a large majority of your allocations,” Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said. “Some of our projects still have estimated amounts, so we are trying to allow for potential changes.
“There are always more needs than funding, but our goal has been to gather information and make informed decisions on how best to allocate the ARPA funds,” she added.
Completed projects: $3,717,566.75
“We are investing in a number of important projects for the Knox County Water/Wastewater Department,” Bemiller said. “By doing this, we are avoiding passing on costs for larger projects to our customers and keeping department funds for smaller items. We also were happy to partner with other government entities to help them be able to complete needed projects.”
•Community Support
Knox Public Health Walk-in Clinic $500,000
Small business grants $80,000
City of Mount Vernon water/sewer/storm water $1.75 million
Job & Family Services $500,000
Mount Vernon Arts Consortium $300,000
•Equipment
Sewer plant telemetry upgrade/replace $96,325
Centrifuge bowl replacement $82,700
Bypass pumping hook-ups Harborview & Fairway $46,573
Bypass pumping hook-ups Harborview & Fairway $9,355.82
Push camera $18,323.79
Harborview pump station rehab/rebuild $17,092
Fairway pump station rehab/upgrade $17,092
Sewer line camera $122,268
•Services
Memorial Building HVAC study $5,000
Engineering and bidding permanent pumping $4,900
Sludge disposal Pleasant Valley Acres engineering $2,817.50
Sludge disposal Pleasant Valley Acres $165,119.64
Projects in progress: $2,707,547.56 allocated
“We have done our best to look at projects and requests and decide which ones will have a long-term impact, so infrastructure and capital projects have been at the top of our list,” Bemiller said. “We have used funding to assist small businesses impacted during COVID and are also planning to provide funding to organizations that are proposing projects that will assist and provide services to Knox County citizens.”
•Community support
Village of Fredericktown water/sewer projects $855,000
•Equipment
Knox County Sheriff’s Office ventilation improvements $116,619.56
Pump station & standby generators $350,808
•Contracts/Projects
Knox County Engineer Lower Gambier Road bridge and box culverts $510,000
Knox County Engineer engineering services Danville/Amity Road $280,000
Knox Area Transit marketing plan $49,500
Valleywood pump station engineering $19,500
Engineering and bidding of generators $19,120
Water plant telemetry SCADA engineering/bidding $7,000
Water loss and evaluation Phase II $500,000
Of the $2.707 million allocated in this category, $978,947.40 has been spent. The remaining funds will be expended as projects progress.
Projects ‘penciled in’ but not yet started: $5,270,468
The largest project in this category is an upgrade of the Pleasant View Acres sewer plant. Engineering design services are estimated at $250,000, with the upgrade costing $2.2 million.
Additional water and sewer infrastructure projects total $650,535 and include pump station upgrades, standby generators, water plant telemetry upgrades, gravity line repairs, and water loss evaluation and ongoing monitoring.
HVAC upgrades to the Memorial Building are estimated at $800,000 with an additional $49,933 for engineering services.
Community support accounts for $1.32 million, potentially going toward day care, the Village of Centerburg, business grants, and the homeless shelter.
“We do have special areas of concern, and we will help as many projects as possible whether it be housing, child care or other items. We will certainly serve the Knox County family with maximum care and efficiency,” Pursel said.
