With all the turmoil caused locally by the coronavirus, at least there’s some good news from Uncle Sam — specifically a $1.4 million federal allocation to Surry County related to COVID-19.
The city of Mount Airy has been tapped to receive $175,350 of that sum provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. It was passed by Congress earlier this year to address the economic fallout from the pandemic.
The CARES Act includes the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), which supplies payments to local governments to lessen the impact from virus-related expenses.
“This is a good thing,” said Ron Niland, a member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners, which during a meeting last week approved 4-0 an interlocal agreement with Surry County regarding the use of the federal dollars.
The $1.4 million appropriation to Surry has only come about in recent days, with county officials agreeing to spread the wealth to other local jurisdictions.
“They are distributing some of that out to the municipalities according to population,” Mount Airy City Manager Barbara Jones said. She thinks Surry County’s handling of the federal allocation is being done in “a very fair manner.”
This included County Manager Chris Knopf holding a virtual meeting with officials of Surry’s municipalities last week to discuss how the money would be allocated and to obtain information on COVID-19 costs already incurred.
Jones said the $175,350 given to Mount Airy will cover such expenditures over a period stretching from March 1 to Dec. 20 of this year.
“It is strictly for costs associated with COVID-19,” the city manager emphasized, not for revenue-replacement purposes to help balance the municipal budget in general.
The list of allowable expenditures includes medical-related needs, with personal protective equipment and other supplies specified in that category.
Also covered are costs related to the disinfecting of public areas, along with payroll expenses for public safety or health-care employees whose services are substantially dedicated to responding to the COVID-19 emergency.
Another area targeted involves expenses stemming from compliance with coronavirus-related public health measures, such as teleworking, distance learning, food delivery and paid sick/family medical leave for public employees.
In response to a question from Commissioner Jon Cawley, Jones pointed out that eligible uses for the Coronavirus Relief Fund allocation further include expenses related to the protection of the local homeless population.
Perhaps surprisingly, the city manager mentioned that costs associated with the virtual meeting process Mount Airy officials have had to adopt — to comply with restrictions on public gatherings — also can be covered.
As of May 7, the city council has been holding meetings in a small room at the Municipal Building where seats are spaced 6 feet apart, with no more than 10 people occupying the room at a time. Any citizens who want to address the council must be let in one by one under this arrangement.
However, the commissioners’ meetings can be accessed by the public via Facebook Live and other electronic means.
The way in which the sessions are now held does pose extra costs, the city manager said.
“That should be an eligible expense,” Jones advised, which eventually might include the providing of laptop computers to city officials as part of the new meeting configuration.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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