The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Friday afternoon, Dec. 18, for a special meeting. They convened to approve of a final spending plan for the city's remaining CARES Act funding before the close of 2020.
Wrangell, and many other communities, received government funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic under the CARES Act. The borough received approximately $3.85 million to use in response to the pandemic near the beginning of last summer. Wrangell has used this funding for a variety of items and other costs. For example, according to Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen, almost $1 million was used for community grants. A new ambulance was also purchased for a little over $205,000. Other expenses the city used CARES Act funding for include a lease on the Sourdough Lodge to use as an isolation site, and wage reimbursements for city employees whose time was spent on COVID-related items, among other items.
According to the meeting's agenda packet, estimating all spent and soon-to-be spent funds, only $310,559.64 in CARES Act funding remains. This money has to be spent by the end of the year. The city had a variety of spending requests, totaling to $383,033. Two of the big spending items include SCBAs for roughly $302,000, and a backup generator for the airport runway lights for roughly $47,000.
"The SCBAs are the breathing apparatus for the Fire Department and Water/WW Departments that are in need of replacement due to obsolescence," the agenda packet reads. "There is specific language in the Act authorizing use of funds on SCBA's. This eligible expense offsets a future expense that would have to be borne by the Borough. The airport generator provides emergency back-up power for the runway lights. This is necessary as we have already experienced a power failure while on generators with COVID-related medivacs taking place. This also solves a long-standing issue for the community."
Other items on the list of spending requests include $20,000 for a new server for the police department, $3,000 for resuscitation training equipment for the parks and recreation department, $10,000 for a new garage door opener for the fire department, and $2,000 for COVID-related legal assistance.
After further discussion, this item was approved by the assembly. The assembly also approved of a resolution amending their budget, allowing for the transfer of up to $15,000 from general fund reserves to the COVID-19 pandemic fund to cover pandemic-related expenses from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31, 2021. According to the agenda packet, this money will help cover the average monthly expenses for the alternate isolation site, wages, benefits, and expense reimbursements for EOC staff, estimated legal fees, and contingency money. Only the amount needed will be transferred, the packet reads, up to the $15,000 limit.
The assembly was also planning to approve of a memorandum of understanding with the IBEW to adopt a biweekly payroll for next year, and to amend the borough's personnel policies to reflect this change. However, these items were removed from the agenda. According to Assembly Member David Powell, the union was unable to come to an agreement on the proposed change as of the meeting.
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