LaSalle County Board Chairman Don Jensen will form a committee to take requests for federal COVID relief funds. Ottawa member Doug Trager thinks the Finance Committee can handle the requests, but he’s happy about today’s special board meeting.
The $21 million can go to public health projects, broadband expansion, replacing lost revenue in some cases, and other projects somehow related to dealing with the pandemic. Families, businesses, and organizations can get financial help if they lost income because of the pandemic. The money can’t go into pension funds, loan payments, or lawsuit settlements.
The decisions on how to spend it are still ahead. Chairman Don Jensen will form a committee to take funding requests and determine which ones qualify. Those will go to the Finance Committee and other committees.
Arratta Znaniecki of Ottawa says however the money’s spent, she wants the board to know. She’s heard rumors of unapproved spending. Jensen says he believes the board was informed of all the pandemic relief spending so far, but he’ll look into what Znaniecki says.
As of midday today, Jensen had compiled a list of nearly 40 funding requests. New HVAC units at the Etna Rd. courthouse, money for homeless shelters and food pantries, a water tower, playground equipment, broadband installation, a security fence, a morgue, extra pay for qualifying employees, and tourism promotion are on it. Not everything can be funded. Some requests won’t qualify and there likely won’t be enough for the rest.
Lostant member Randy Freeman suggested members rank the projects. He immediately realized projects in cities could rank higher just because they have higher populations and therefore more board members to vote for them. His big, rural district could be at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, he hopes some way of ranking them can be developed.