The Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) provided an update on the American Rescue Plant Act (ARPA) funds that the county has received during the Nov. 7 meeting.
County manager Harold Cooper provided an update on ARPA funding and the impact that it has already made in Newton County.
“One hundred and ninety people, entities or programs have been positively impacted by the ARPA funding,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s presentation began with how funding has been allocated to the Newton County low income senior repair program. According to the presentation, the BOC allocated $5 million to this project. Projects were approved for 133 recipients with a total amount of $2,538,511.00.
A total of $1,208,858.70 has been dispersed.
Cooper stated that 854 applicants are in the process of approval, but a number of considerations are stalling that process. For some, it’s the lack of technological savviness or missing information. However, it was also noted that applicants with households with an income at or below 50 percent average median income (AMI) or households in a qualified census tract (QCT) are given priority processing.
The next item in the presentation Cooper went over was the Newton County non-profit assistance program. The board approved $553,791 in grant allocation with all of the funds being exhausted. Through the funding, 25 non-profit organizations were helped.
Pairing with that was the Newton County small business grants. The board approved $1 million in grant allocation with $455,681 being directly paid to small businesses. Thirty two organizations were helped through the funding.
“Now, has everything in this program been a success? No. But again, failure has been eradicated from my vocabulary, we will continue to push forward,” Cooper said.
The presentation then geared towards warming shelter discussions.
Cooper said that the county manager’s office has been in contact with the city of Covington to provide warming shelters for those in need. The goal is to have a resolution in the coming days.
“[If] we’re truly gonna be one Newton, it needs to be consensus building,” Cooper said. “We’re gonna be aggressive in this approach so that we can work together from a municipality standpoint and board of education standpoint to find shelter for those that need it during these trying and cold times.”
A number of other business items were voted on and unanimously approved. Those include the following.
The approval of Woolpert, Inc. DBA data cloud solutions contract that integrates with WinGAP. This software integration is for the tax assessor’s office.
The approval of Gary Massey Inc. as an insurance consultant agency in the contract amount of $25,000.
The approval to contract Public Works with NOVA engineering for construction materials testing and inspection services and improvements at Crowell Road and Harold Dobbs Rd. project in the amount of $14,350 with funding coming directly from the 2023 SPLOST.
A request to relocate sewer easement to Liberty Communities, LLC.
A resolution to authorize Chairman Marcello Banes to execute closing documents to consummate sale of property authorized by third amendment to real estate purchase agreement between the City of Covington and Newton Investments.
An authorization to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Covington to authorize the conveyance to the city of Covington of Newton County’s half interest in 3.8 acres adjacent to the eastern end of the runway at Covington Municipal airport.
Numerous items on the consent agenda including minute approvals and grant requests.
A request from Sunita Patel to waive all penalties and interest for 2019 and 2020 back taxes in the amount of $20,123.43 was denied in a 5-0 vote.
The presentation of phase one for the community water park project was requested to be tabled by parks and recreation director Dwayne Mask. This was tabled 5-0.
The next meeting for the BOC will be on Tuesday, Nov. 21
