UPDATE (February 1st):
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp's office announced Wednesday he has pulled the resolution to allocate American Rescue Plan (ARP) money and will seek to pay for the projects listed below individually.
Our intent was not to pull funding from WWTA,' Mayor Wamp said in a release. 'Rather, we were ensuring all ARP allocated funds would be spent on the required timeline and no taxpayer dollars would be wasted.
Wamp says his office will continue to monitor WWTA's project pipeline and "expect them to do everything possible to deploy ARP funds in a timely manner."
Depend on us to keep you posted.
EARLIER:
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp wants to reallocate $3 million dollars of American Rescue Plan money from the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) towards what he calls more pressing needs.
The money would instead finance various projects throughout the county.
The majority of the money will go toward things like road reflectors, and organizations like La Paz and Clinica Medicos.
Here's a look at the reallocation of the funds:
- Road reflectors: 1/2 million
- 500,000 funding 4 years 40-40-40 & senior night
- La Paz: 500,000
- Parks & recreation: 200,000
- Road near school 150,000
- East Ridge: 200,000
- Hunter Road: 200,000
- Clinica Medicos: 250,000
The American Rescue Plan Act money comes from WWTA.
Mayor Wamp says the money will go to communities that are disproportionately impacted, like the Latino community.
"The Latino population and allocation of $100-million of money between the county and the city in my opinion is overlooked," says Wamp. " A lot of these projects already started but I think we can make a statement that this community is heard, seen, understood."
A big check would go to La Paz, with half a million dollars allocated to support a local Latino nonprofit.
We went to La Paz to see how this money would affect the Latino community.
"The funding would catalyze economic growth for the Latino community through career readiness, workforce development, as well as wealth building and asset building programs," says Stacy Johnson.
La Paz Executive Director Stacy Johnson says this funding would be a first for their nonprofit.
"There hasn't been a big investment within the Latino community focused on those needs," says Johnson.
The 500,000 dollars for road reflectors will go to areas like Signal Mountain, Mowbray Mountain, Snow Hill Road and East Brainerd Road.
"There is a need for those reflectors," says Commissioner Warren Mackey. "But it didn't meet that standard that the mayor indicated, which was the underserved."
Commissioner Warren Mackey says he is in favor of some of the proposals, but questions how the reallocation would impact those he represents.
"I'm just saying you have omitted the poorest and neediest section when you justified doing this based on these communities disproportionately impacted," says Mackey. "I don't understand reflectors over people?"
Mayor Wamp says the allocation will not impact WWTA plans to end sewer moratorium.
"It would make more financial sense for us to reallocate the dollars now and pay for this project on the tail end of the WWTA timeline with county dollars," says Wamp.
Depend on us to keep you updated.