Cobb commissioners to consider $98M in ARPA spending requests

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Cobb Republican commissioners contest meeting minutes

Spending requests of more than $98 million from the American Rescue Plan Act will be presented to the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

Cobb County government was allocated $147 million from the federal government in ARPA funding, and last November commissioners unanimously approved using $20 million of that total to raise salaries, improve retention and fill vacancies in public safety agencies.

At Tuesday’s meeting, they will hear details of spending proposals pertaining to infrastructure, community health, economic development, public safety and support service needs stemming from the COVID-19 response.

Last year commissioners voted on the five priority areas. The following totals have been proposed per category, with an overview and project-by-project specifics, with the projects lasting two years:

The requests, formulated by county department heads, are comprehensive and wide-ranging, including health-related efforts to mitigate against COVID-19 (including expanding court space for social-distancing purposes), food distribution, stormwater management upgrades, expanding WiFi at county facilities, workforce development, home repairs for the elderly and financially disadvantaged and equipment for first responders.

They were put together after months of meetings with county government and non-profit service providers and other community “stakeholders,” according to the agenda items. 

Each project is broken down according to several factors, including whether it aligns with the ARPA funding categories. The evaluation considerations for each included “equity,” geographic location, projected impact and “financial continuity,” with the proviso that projects won’t cost the county money beyond the limits of the ARPA funding.

Each priority area will be considered individually at Tuesday’s meeting.

The biggest single request is $7 million to construct the South Cobb Public Health Center, which Cobb and Douglas Public Health said in agenda item “will address many of the public health gaps that exist due to the pandemic and other historical circumstances.” 

Another $5.8 million is being proposed for the Healthy County Building Initiative, which will target HVAC upgrades for “select” county facilities based on indoor air quality and COVID mitigation measures. 

A total of $4.9 million would be granted to SelectCobb, the economic development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, and Cobb Works, the Cobb Collaborative and other agencies to assist “child care learning centers and family child care learning homes with their current workforce challenges.”

An estimated $4.5 million would be distributed in grants to the early childhood education and day care industry “to help offset the cost of retaining and recruiting workers in this difficult labor market for a specific segment of the economy that has a profound impact on families.” 

Another $4 million would be earmarked for Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Metro Atlanta to build 14 single-family “affordable homes” for citizens with incomes at or below 65 percent of the area median income.

The estimated cost of each home would be $362,725.00 each, and the agenda items states it would be “helping to close the racial wealth gap by creating equity for homeowners.”

Also requested under economic development is $3.96 million for the “Cobb County Business Boot Camp,” which would provide training and assistance for minority business owners.

The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and the full agenda can be found by clicking here.

There are two public comment periods, one at the beginning and the other near the end, with a maximum of six speakers each who are limited to speak for five minutes.

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

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