Knox County used $5.5M of ARPA money to support community recovery from COVID-19

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 in a three-part series looking at how Knox County spent its COVID-19 relief funds. Part 1 is here.

MOUNT VERNON — The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. To help sustain services and aid community recovery, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021.

Knox County received $12.2 million through ARPA’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program.

Local governments were to use the money for community recovery under these general criteria:

• Replace revenue lost as a result of the pandemic

• Respond to or mitigate the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts

• Increase pay for essential workers

• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure

• Equity-focused services

Two days after President Joe Biden signed the law, Source Media asked residents how they would invest the $85 million coming to Knox, Ashland, and Richland counties.

Residents suggested helping local businesses and the homeless, community centers, and parks. Water lines and other infrastructure, child care, and affordable housing were also among the areas residents cited.

All of those projects fit the criteria, and the Knox County commissioners listened.

“I feel like our process was very meticulous and well thought out, and I think the commissioners were very proud of the fact that we did allocate the money out to lots of organizations and that we’re good stewards of the money for good community use.”

County Administrator Jason Booth

“I think the way we used the [ARPA] money was a good mix between a lot of infrastructure projects, a lot of wastewater projects and community support,” County Administrator Jason Booth said.

“Community support was really any organization that we gave funding to.”

The commissioners distributed slightly more than $5.5 million to support community recovery. This category accounted for about 45 percent of its ARPA spending.

Winter Sanctuary: $500,000

The Winter Sanctuary homeless shelter received $500,000 in ARPA funding from the commissioners to secure a permanent shelter in Knox County.

The agency has spent $10,000 on architectural designs with Kaiser Design Group.

“We are in the process of purchasing a building in town,” Executive Director Joe Springer said. “The building costs $600,000.”

Springer said he expects to be in contract for the building in the next couple of months.

Springer said the Winter Sanctuary board “hit a lot of dead ends” in its search to find a location for a permanent shelter.

“We want to stay in town,” he said. “We wanted to remodel our current building, but it’s in a flood zone, so we cannot do that.”

The building the agency is buying fulfills the board’s desire to stay in town.

“I think it’s going to be a really great location for the shelter,” Springer said.

The Salvation Army: $500,000

The Salvation Army put its ARPA money toward its new child care center, The Learning Lighthouse, at 206 E. Ohio Ave.

Capt. Christine Moretz said the center will start accepting applications for positions and child care spaces this fall.

The Salvation Army accepts private pay families as well as families who qualify for child care assistance through Knox County Job & Family Services.

The Learning Lighthouse includes nine new classrooms, a sensory-aware area, an indoor gymnasium, and outdoor play areas.

It will offer 112 child care spots: 76 for children 6 weeks to 5 years old (and not enrolled in kindergarten) and 36 after-school care spots for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The Salvation Army will incorporate the 36 youngsters it currently serves in its after-school program into the 112 child care spots.

Moretz said the hours of operation will be 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The center is ahead of schedule on construction and plans to open in January 2026. It needs $750,000 to finalize the project.

Knox Public Health: $500,000

Health Commissioner Zach Green said receiving the ARPA funds enabled the agency to expedite plans to acquire Moore Family Practice and assume operations at Foster’s Walk-in Clinic.

He said the health board allocated the money to those projects because they directly support access to care, which was one of the top three priorities identified in the community health assessment.

“Without the ARPA funding, we would have been unable to make the transition to the new facilities without significant delays,” Green said.

KPH used the money to cover salaries for 13 additional staff members and for upfront costs to transition and set up the new locations.

“One of the major challenges we faced was coordinating the staffing and credentialing processes in a timely manner, which could have delayed operations without the funding,” Green said.

“Another challenge was managing the operational complexities of merging two separate clinics and remodeling them while continuing to provide uninterrupted patient care.

“This quick staffing and operational transition were vital in meeting community health care needs, particularly during a time when health care access was already strained due to the ongoing pandemic.”

Knox County Health Commissioner Zach Green

Green said the importance of swift adaptation to unforeseen changes became clear.

“The ability to quickly onboard staff and transition locations helped avoid any service gaps, proving the value of having flexible funding during a crisis,” he said.

Mount Vernon Arts Consortium: $300,000

The Mount Vernon Arts Consortium received $500,000. The first $300,000 distribution came in 2021; the second distribution of $200,000 came in 2023.

Formed in 2020, the consortium represents The Woodward Opera House, Ariel-Foundation Park, and Knox Memorial.

MVAC Executive Director Martin Booker said the first allocation was used for a coordinated infrastructure build-out. The build-out included reopening venues, a new ticketing system, technical support, and implementing a coordinated event booking system.

The second allocation went toward developing and implementing a coordinated “Mount Vernon Presents” season. It also continued the development of infrastructure to support multiple venues for efficiency and sustainability and enhanced planning.

To support rebuilding and expansion efforts following pandemic venue closures, MVAC spent $232,000 in collective event and programming costs, including staff marketing.

“It is worth nothing that 40 percent of those ticket buyers came from outside Knox County, bringing new visitors who spent money at local businesses, restaurants and hotels,” Booker said.

As another economic development recovery goal, the consortium prioritized local spending. Thirty percent to 50 percent of show budgets went directly to Knox County businesses when possible.

“Through strategic marketing efforts, we successfully promoted Mount Vernon to more Ohioans, establishing it as a vibrant arts and cultural destination,” Booker said.

Booker said that thanks to ARPA, venues like Ariel-Foundation Park were able to reopen quickly during the pandemic, providing much-needed connection and recreation.

“In addition, we used the time coming out of the pandemic to invest in technology and systems that welcomed even more visitors when travel resumed, a gift made possible by this funding,” he said.

“ARPA also helped foster partnerships, expand programming and enhance marketing efforts, setting the stage for an exciting 2025 season of arts and entertainment.”

Shared interests

Representatives from each venue discussed how they could share services to benefit all three venues a year before COVID-19 hit.

“Had dollars been distributed by venue, there would not have been opportunity to think differently about how capacity could be built or how sharing of resources could be of benefit to all involved in the partnership, especially when everyone was in ‘survival’ mode during or coming out of the pandemic,” MVAC board member Jennifer Odenweller said.

“Shared services available to venues through this partnership come at very little cost to them, especially related to the startup phase which had almost no cost associated with launching shared ticketing, marketing and technical aspects of the partnership, thanks to ARPA funding.”

According to Odenweller, if the commissioners distributed money to each venue but the venues made no changes to help them move forward, the local art scene would be having a different conversation right now.

“And it wouldn’t be about successful ROI [return on investment] and building a path forward with even more community partners at the table like the CVB and Experience MV,” she said.

Area Development Foundation: $250,000

The Knox County Area Development Foundation received its community recovery money in two tranches: $170,000 and $80,000.

Business loans to Mazza’s, Door 142, Stein Brewing, T-Shirt Express, MTV Inn, Hot Yoga, Weather Vane, Southside Diner, and Patient Medicine Glass accounted for the $80,000.

ADF combined the $170,000 with $100,000 of ARPA funds from the City of Mount Vernon to create the Facade Improvement Grant program.

The program awarded grants to 22 businesses throughout the county.

“The commissioners were insistent to do all corners of the county,” former ADF president Jeff Gottke said.

“It fit under ARPA because it stimulated businesses, but also because you could get outside in the fresh air.”

Businesses could apply for up to $20,000, with the requirement to match the grant award. The $270,000 in grant funds led to $721,775 in investment on facades alone.

Many projects included substantial interior renovations that multiplied the effect.

“No program like that existed in the country, so it was a first-of-its-kind, mostly because of the funding,” Gottke said.

Kristine Lindeman, owner of The Shoppe on Main in Fredericktown, received $20,000 to help fund facade improvements to her 100-year-old building.

“These funds not only allowed us to install new storefront doors and windows, but, in turn, gave us more in our personal budget to tackle additional renovation needs on the interior of the building,” she said in November 2022.

Gottke said the matching grant program checked three boxes of development best practices: historical preservation, beautification, and business development.

“The ARPA funding enabled us to create a program that we had been unable to do before that,” Gottke said.

JFS Children’s Services: $500,000

Knox County Job & Family Services put its $500,000 ARPA contribution toward the skyrocketing costs of placing children in the agency’s care.

Boone cited the example of a 7-year-old who lived in the JFS office for a month because more than 100 providers refused to consider giving him a safe place to live.

“The monthly cost for that child is $792 per day, $24,552 per month,” he said.

Boone noted the agency cares for approximately 50 children. While not all children have the same placement cost, he said, “If you do the math, you can imagine how that would quickly drain our placement budget.”

Boone said that while JFS is grateful for the financial contribution, “we are hemorrhaging for additional placement dollars” to provide safe living environments for children placed outside of their biological families.

“The Knox County Commissioners contribute $1 million dollars to our annual budget to assist us with out-of-home care costs. Despite that, as well as the levy dollars that we receive that are utilized only for placement expenses, it remains a monthly challenge to meet these financial burdens.”

Boone said that without the commissioners’ help, Children’s Services would not be able to cover the costs for children who are placed in its custody.

“However, this has been temporary support and is not a sustainable long-term solution, especially given the continued escalating costs,” he said.

Area on Aging: $200,000

The $200,000 for the Ohio District 5 Area on Aging went toward senior housing on Norton Street. The agency did not return calls seeking an update on the project.

ARPA partnerships: Mount Vernon & Fredericktown

Treasury guidelines recommended partnering with other ARPA recipients. The commissioners gave the City of Mount Vernon $1.7 million and the Village of Fredericktown $832,039 in ARPA funding.

Both contributions fall under the stormwater infrastructure criteria.

Of the city’s $1.7 million, $750,000 went toward the county’s portion of stormwater work on Fairgrounds Road.

One million went to cover repairs of the Knox Cattle Company dam on Yauger Road. The city has spent $86,942 for interim repairs and design services.

The remaining $913,058 is encumbered:

•Haynes construction, $634,500

•AK Hydro LLC, $208,557.97

•Intercept Management Corp., $70,000 (appointed receiver for the homeowners association)

Fredericktown’s distribution covered improvements to the High Street water tower ($421,380) and the final three phases of the EPA-mandated sewer separation project ($410,659).

The village contributed $265,552 of its ARPA money toward the sewer project.

“Again, those qualified out of the gate because those were water and stormwater issues, so that was allowable, and they had theirs ready to go,” Booth said.