For years, lack of a major supermarket in Saginaw was a common topic that received scant attention, if any, when local officials made decisions on spending federal anti-poverty dollars.
But now, improving “food access” in the so-called “food desert” has taken center stage, thanks to the City Council reserving $2 million from its largest-ever $52 million windfall via ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act, aimed to help local governments cope with economic hardship that has followed the covid pandemic.
A report is slated for the next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, offering results from a community survey at the close of last year, overseen by Mayor Pro Tem Annie Boensch and Councilman George Copeland.
Responses indicate, no surprise, that residents would be overjoyed to see a Sam’s Club suddenly appear, or a Meijer materialize along a major street. Boensch conceded that such a goal would be a challenge, seeing that major retailers avoid urban locations not only in Metro Saginaw, but across the nation. One source to be explored is a Meijer initiative to erect some mini-marts on the City of Detroit’s side of Eight Mile Road.
At the same time, a number of people — especially elders — feel nostalgia for the neighborhood markets of their youth.
The first half of the $2 million already has been allocated to FACTS, the 5-year-old Food Access Collaborative Team of Saginaw County, which began its efforts long before ARPA came along. Their Food Club, planned for a new building on the former Big Brothers lot across from the YMCA, would offer subsidies to low- and low-middle-income households.
Council members eventually must decide how to invest the remaining $1 million.
Copeland notes that a wide variety of options remain on the table, including grocery stores with pharmacies or even an exploration of urban farming.
Meanwhile, a local developer, Anthony Denha, last spring received a $2.3 million property tax break based on his proposal to convert the vacant Walgreens at East Genesee and Hess into a small neighborhood market with fresh produce, which comprises the item most lacking in urban stores. Denha has not returned calls and contacts during the months after receiving the assistance.
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