Eau Claire County Board OKs $2.75M spending plan for federal COVID-19 aid

Ryan Patterson, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

Sep. 22—EAU CLAIRE — Eau Claire County has set aside its second portion of American Rescue Plan Act money to spend.

The Eau Claire County Board during its meeting Tuesday approved a resolution allocating $2.75 million in federal COVID-19 aid to be spent in four areas. Of that total, $2 million will be for businesses and nonprofits; $250,000 will go toward responding to the COVID-19 pandemic; $250,000 will be for county property infrastructure; and $250,000 will go toward program administration.

The $250,000 to respond to the pandemic will go toward "the costs associated with direct COVID public health response including isolation and quarantine processes administered" by the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.

Of the $250,000 for program administration, $150,000 will be spent on a project manager, who will determine what expenditures could be covered by ARPA money and proactively determine state funds for which the county could apply. Further, $70,000 will go toward a third-party administrator who will work with the county ARP funding task force to create application criteria for business and nonprofits, help organizations apply for grants and maintain reports on how grant money was awarded and spent. Finally, $30,000 will pay for a broadband administrator who will assist the county Broadband Committee in allocating up to $2.8 million in matching county funds for town broadband projects.

That $2.8 million allocation for broadband development, which the County Board approved in July, was the first allocation of county ARPA money. The resolution passed Tuesday is the second allocation and brings the county's unspent ARPA total to about $14.8 million. The money must be allocated by the end of 2024.

Highway building sale

The County Board approved a resolution to sell the county's current Highway Department building for $1.225 million to the city of Altoona once Highway Department operations are moved into its new facility on the south side of Eau Claire.

The city of Altoona made an offer in July to buy the building located at 2000 Spooner Ave. The closing date on the offer is Dec. 31, 2022. By that date, it is expected that all necessary county equipment and staff will be moved into the new Highway Department facility.

Budget transfer

The County Board approved a budget transfer of $787,439 to fund high-priority capital projects. Sources of the money include remaining 2019 and 2020 bond funds and the Information Systems department.

The money will go toward 17 projects that include upgrading Wi-Fi security, improvements to carpeting at the Eau Claire County Courthouse and replacing a dock at Lake Altoona. The most expensive project is replacing a pavilion at Harstad County Park, which is expected to cost $200,000.

County redistricting

The County Board approved a tentative redistricting plan for the 29 county supervisor districts as part of a process that occurs every 10 years. District maps will be redrawn this year based on population changes in the 2020 Census.

If the tentative plan gets final approval, the 29 districts will have similar boundaries and populations to current levels. Changes include three rural districts increasing in land size to maintain similar population levels. The same was true for a district in the northern part of the city of Eau Claire and for two districts near UW-Eau Claire.

There is time for changes before the redistricting plan is finalized. The new district maps will now go to county municipalities for review and then be brought back to the County Board for final consideration in November.

The next County Board meeting is scheduled Oct. 5.