Funding recipient faces ARPA loss for lack of county business license

By Buck Collier, Special Correspondent
Posted 6/1/22

HERMANN — A Bland restaurant that has been awarded more than $30,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money is in danger of losing that funding because it does not have a Gasconade County business …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Funding recipient faces ARPA loss for lack of county business license

Posted

HERMANN — A Bland restaurant that has been awarded more than $30,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money is in danger of losing that funding because it does not have a Gasconade County business license.

Granny’s Cafe on Highway 28 two weeks ago was cleared to receive $30,530 by the County Commission, one of almost two dozen businesses, non-profit organizations and government entities approved to receive a share of the first round of $1.4-million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money from the federal government. A second allotment of $1.4 million was scheduled to be received last month, completing the slightly-more-than $2.8 million designed to help stimulate the local economy that was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

County administrators Thursday morning agreed that if Granny’s Cafe does not obtain a business license in the coming days, the ARPA money would be rescinded.

Regarding the ARPA funding, Southern District Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore, R-Owensville, again noted that a specific plan needs to be developed before the Commission decides on specific courthouse upgrades suggested by the elected officials. Collector Shawn Schlottach attended the administrative panel’s weekly session and asked if the commissioners had begun to put together a plan based on the lists of possible upgrades suggested by the various officeholders earlier this month.

“We need some kind of a plan,” Lairmore said, adding that until cost estimates are developed, whether for minor improvements or major projects such as the construction of an annex first proposed 10 years ago, commissioners can’t begin planning for use of some of the ARPA funds on in-house improvements.

At the outset of the application process for ARPA funds, the Commission agreed to set aside $350,000 of the initial $1.4-million portion for county government projects. Early discussion of some of those projects included construction of storage sheds at both the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department facility in Swiss and the Road Department site in Drake.

But as Lairmore told Schlottach, he has talked with residents who believe the ARPA money should not be used on courthouse upgrades; rather, he said, those residents told him they think the money should be used as it was initially intended — for outside organizations and businesses to recover from the effects of the virus.

“I can see their position, too,” Lairmore said.

But as Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, pointed out, the guidelines for using ARPA money — like those covering the use of the earlier CARES Act funds — changed midstream. The money initially was intended in large part for non-governmental organizations and businesses to recover from the pandemic. However, after the application process was well under way, the federal government change course, making it possible for counties to claim up to $10 million of their allotment — or, as in the case of Gasconade County, all of their ARPA money — to cover revenue lost to the effects of the pandemic, and not have to document the loss. If counties chose that option, which all eight counties in the Meramec Region did, that money could be used for any county government project the county commissions chose.

How much of the second installment of $1.4 million will be set aside for county government use isn’t known; county administrators haven’t gotten that far yet in the allocation process. Applications from outside organizations and businesses are being taken until Aug. 1, at which time the Commission will decide who gets how much of the amounts being requested.

In other matters at last week’s session, the associate commissioners noted that the Road Department has been busy repairing the road damaged by the recent rains.

“We’re in the process of fixing a lot of washouts,” Lairmore said.

Holland said that in the northern portion of the county, Road Department personnel will be working to boost safety for motorists.

“There are a couple of trees we’re going to take down,” he said.

Route F asphalt overlay

Meanwhile, county administrators have been thanked by residents for the county’s assistance in having Route F receive an asphalt overlay. Pace Construction applied the new coat of asphalt on North F from Route J to near Gascony Village and on South F from Route J to South Highway 19. County administrators acknowledged that Route F was in bad shape, in part from a chip-and-seal project several years ago that didn’t hold up and from damage caused by dump trucks loaded with clay mined at a pit on Benson Road, which connects with Bickmeyer Road, which, in turn, connects with Route F South.

Also, Presiding Commissioner Larry Miskel, R-Hermann, noted that the Commission has been in touch with grant-writing personnel at Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) regarding possible sources of revenue to fund improvements to the intersection of Highway 28 and Route B. Miskel said there are a couple of grant programs that might be used for the dollars needed. “There’s possible federal government money for there,” Miskel said.

Commissioners are scheduled to return to session at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) at Owensville City Hall.