WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The Watertown city council has set the rules for how it will spend some federal COVID relief dollars — and it comes with some controversy.
In a 3-2 vote, lawmakers passed a resolution calling for the city to spend money from the American Rescue Plan Act on projects that will improve Watertown and benefit all residents, primarily what they’re calling “high priority water projects.”
Representatives from Hospice of Jefferson County, however, say the resolution cuts off their request for ARPA funding to upgrade ventilation as the organization expands.
Its CEO, Diana Woodhouse, says the project meets federal qualifications for funding.
“These are federal dollars,” she said. “You are being asked to be good stewards of our money and award it according to the guidelines propagated by the federal treasury. It’s wrong to deny nonprofits access to this money.”
“I can go down the laundry list of not-for-profits that do a phenomenal job in this community and all are well deserving,” Mayor Jeff Smith said. “How do you pick the winner and the loser?”
In a separate 2-3 vote, the council failed to take a resolution off the table regarding Hospice’s request for $445,000 after kicking it around for a few weeks. This leaves Hospice’s request in limbo, although the resolution to use the money for city projects essentially makes the request moot.
The legislation the council did pass leaves the door open for members to revisit how it spends the federal funds in a year.
But the timeline for hospice’s project is unlikely to line up with that.
The city council also approved the site plans for two projects. One is to demolish the old Dealmaker car dealership on Arsenal Street and build a 4,500-square-foot carwash.
The other project expands Renzi Foodservice, adding a nearly 40,000-square-foot warehouse, a new entrance off South Bellew Avenue, and expanded parking lots.
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