Decisions on spending remaining ARPA dollars won’t come to the City Council until the meeting on Sept. 25.
At least $1.16 million will remain available from the $52 million allocation for the American Rescue Plan Act, approved in Congress and signed by President Biden shortly after he took office in January 2021, intended to help local communities recover from the covid pandemic.
Ariel Flaggs from the Guidehouse consultants provided the timetable at a July 24 session. She replaces David Sernick, who departed Guidehouse to become Detroit’s in-house ARPA coordinator.
Most applicants denied funds in January have given up on their appeals to the council. The lone exception is Rev. Craig Tatum, pastor of New Birth Baptist Church ministries and leader of the Mission in the City project at Seventh and Janes.
However, Tatum’s pitch for reconsideration could face a rocky path, because Flaggs recommends that any leftover monies should be invested with already-funded “organizations exceeding expectations,” rather than bringing more programs on board.
The council will keep deliberations closed to the public by relying on a “rotating three-member committee” in which all nine members may take turns, staying below a five-member quorum that would require opening the doors to citizens.
To view the discussion, click here.
Jefferson Apartments sold
Council members voted 6-2 to sell the Jefferson Apartment building at 505 Millard, a block from Board of Education headquarters and Maplewood Manor, for $1,000 to Ann Arbor-based Fifth Avenue Limited Partnership. Monique Lamar Silvia and Michael Flores were opposed and Michael Balls did not attend.
Silvia asked why a far higher bid from Flint’s Communities First, Inc., $200,0000, was rejected. Cassi Zimmerman, planning and economic development director, responded that Fifth Avenue Limited offered a more reliable long-term funding plan with less reliance on grant sources for a $4.2 million rehab.
Zimmerman added that Communities First proposed subsidized Section 8 low-income rentals, which Cathedral District residents opposed. When Flores asked how many neighbors were polled, she responded that her finding was based on neighborhood group meetings. Such gatherings rarely are attended by more than a dozen people, and Maplewood Manor public housing is next to the school district offices.
She also noted Fifth Avenue Partnership’s experience in Saginaw projects, including the Pankonin Building kitty-corner from the courthouse and the former Case Funeral Home on Adams between South Michigan and South Hamilton
Fifth Avenue promises 40 units from studio to two bedrooms, with 97 percent of monthly rents priced between $390 and $1,150. For the council discussion, click here.
