Local applicants who missed out on shares of Saginaw’s $52 million ARPA grant may have a second chance to pursue shares of the $2.5 million that remains, but the City Council won’t accept new proposals, based on sentiments expressed during this week’s update.
Final decisions are due in January on a highest-ever federal windfall, even adjusted to inflation, that communities across the nation received 33 months ago through the American Rescue Plan Act, aimed at helping local units recover from economic struggles caused by COVID-19.
The remaining sum is nearly identical to the city’s annual Community Development Block Grant. Rules aimed for anti-poverty projects, rather than general revenue sharing that would go to basics like police and fire services.
Guidehouse consultant Claire Wilke. with support from City Manager Tim Morales, proposed that re-programmed funds should go to about a dozen established agencies that already were included in a council vote last winter and that have shown the best results since then. This approach would be most “efficient,” Morales said, because without newcomers, Guidehouse and city staff would not have to repeat a time-consuming process of making sure agencies are ARPA-eligible and then providing oversight and monitoring.
Councilman Michael Balls was the first to resist the concept, asserting that applicants who missed out the first time, in a process that was not always smooth and organized, should receive a second look. He received spoken support from Monique Lamar Silvia, George Copeland and Mayor Brenda Moore, and none of the other members objected.
Moore said decisions should be based on the initial program evaluations, ongoing with a December summary slated prior to council votes after New Year’s. To view the discussion, click here.
Rules? What rules?
Council members devoted about a half-hour to ARPA and followed with a similar time span devoted to reviewing their own rules for meetings and for overall conduct.
The action was prompted in part because Mayor Moore and Mayor Pro-Tem Annie Boensch said that Councilman Mike Flores sometimes is out of order when he questions the city manager and other staffers, and that council members always should “go through the chair” and seek the mayor’s go-ahead before making inquiries.
Of note during the council’s back-and-forth Monday on the rules was that several other members jumped in without the mayor’s clearance. the same violation for which Flores has been spotlighted.
Also, at one point, Monique Lamar Silvia asserted that council rules for conference travel should include advance payments for members who may be of lower incomes and who cannot afford to pre-pay while waiting for reimbursement. She also said per diems of $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch and $30 for dinner should be combined to $55 daily, in case, for example, a member may wish to skip the first two meals and select “a fifty-dollar steak” at the supper hour.
Michael Balls repeated his criticism of the rules review, saying it amounted to an example of the governing body engaging in minor details, sometimes connected to personal differences, instead of focusing more sharply on the big picture.
To view the council rules discussion, click here.
Housing, old and new
Members also approved an ARPA shift of $4 million for home repair loans to roughly double a $3.8 million pot for grants to fix individual furnaces and roofs. Morales said city staffers were unable to find a local lending institution that would take part on the overall loans because they are uncertain and skeptical of the first-time ARPA guidelines.
Balls proposed splitting the $4 million, with half to support the hundreds of responses for furnaces and roofs and half to be made available in hopes that a developer may come forward to build “affordable” rentals at rates below the current $800 to $1,000 monthly for two-bedroom units.
Other members did not make this fund-split official, formally approving the full switch for the furnaces and roofs with hopes down the road to add windows and doors, but they agreed that affordable new housing is necessary if Saginaw ever is to rebuild its formerly strong population base. A city that once was home to 100,000 residents is down to less than half that many.
Bulls suggested that vacant former city elementary schools could serve as prime buildings to redevelop. A plan to explore vacant Houghton Elementary fizzled two years ago when a leading organizer, Dan Streeter of the Rescue Mission, said he felt resistance from then-leaders of the Houghton-Jones Neighborhood Association and pulled out, canceling a community meeting. Streeter spoke at a council meeting and said he again is organizing a plan, but did not offer details.
For a housing review, click here.
Health center still unclear
The picture for what initially was described last year as a “behavioral mental health center” along the South Washington medical corridor has become even more foggy than when the Chamber of Commerce, Saginaw Future and Dr. Sam Shaheen first began their successful push for a $5 million ARPA share.
Manager Morales reaffirmed Mayor Moore’s statement earlier this summer that a great deal of the mystery scenario may involve the county replacing the existing public health center at 1600 North Michigan, across from the Covenant main campus.
Furthermore, Morales said he cannot peg a precise cost. Earlier estimates were as much as $50 million. The County Board has approved a matching $5 million from ARPA and the newly-Democrat-controlled state Legislature has gained Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature for another $30 million.
The health center was not included in the Guidehouse presentation and was only addressed publicly on Monday because Flores asked about it. To view, click here.
