County CARES ACT Funding Allocations reveal more than Broadband expenditures
Botetourt County has received two Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act fund installments, each in the amount of $2.9 million from the Virginia Secretary of Finance, for a total of $5.8 million.
These are pass-through federal funds that must be spent by December 30 or returned to the U.S. Treasury. The county, along with the state and the rest of the country, spent some time understanding what could be done with the funds based on the general descriptions of uses provided in the federal disbursements, according to comments made by the county attorney at the September 22 Board of Supervisors meeting.
The money could only be used in certain ways and on certain purchases, he said, and it took time to sort out exactly what those items might be.
The Board of Supervisors at its September 22 meeting approved the spending of an unspecified amount of money on new HVAC projects for public buildings and educational facilities. Existing HVAC units will be retrofitted, upgraded, refurbished or replaced, depending on current condition, and buildings will receive cold plasma generators that will provide air filtration protection.
These cold plasma generators are proven to eliminate health issues such as mold spores and viruses, including the coronavirus, according to Deputy County Administrator David Moorman.
The county is also giving the school system over $1 million from the CARES funding to purchase additional buses and laptops, in addition to the air purification systems and facility upgrades.
The county utilized some CARES act funding to improve the voter registrar’s facilities so that the office is more accessible to the public.
Additionally, the county has set aside $200,000 to assist the agriculture community. Only 20 applications for that funding have been received, the supervisors learned, and they agreed to extend the application deadline for the agriculture grants as well as small business grant opportunities available to businesses impacted by the coronavirus to October 16, 2020. The small business grant monies total approximately $318,000.
Applications for the agriculture grants and the small business grants can be made via the county’s Economic Development Office.
The towns of Fincastle, Buchanan, and Troutville also received a matched funding for cleaning equipment and personal protection equipment (PPE) for losses to those localities. No amounts were given for these disbursements.
–Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee, Icon photo of Greenfield Education and Training Center The Botetourt Bee
