Community input sought on ARPA spending

MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake has accepted more than $6.7 million in federal funding provided through the American Rescue Plan Act, which was passed on March 11.

“This was passed down from the federal government through the state in a formula distribution, so all the city had to do was accept it,” said Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams.

To comply with the requirements of the act, the city is seeking public input on its proposed plan to spend the money as it comes in from now through 2023, Williams said. Residents may submit their feedback at www.surveymonkey.com/r/5ZZXTBL. The funding will be spread out among several priorities, according to a tentative plan released by the city, and used to address high-priority concerns identified by residents and city officials.

Priorities were identified through the city’s Comprehensive Plan and budget development processes, Williams said.

“A number of the needs that you see that are on the proposed spending plan have resulted from that effort and public desires that were expressed during that process,” Williams said.

Proposed expenditures focus on two priorities – starting new businesses and recovery from the pandemic, Williams said. The plan calls for funding to go toward an administrative position to support city administration; reimbursement of $200,000 for projected losses in tourism revenue in 2020; ambulance replacement; four new firefighters/EMTs; a mental health officer to shore up Moses Lake Police Department’s community outreach efforts; downtown stormwater projects to protect the health of the lake; maintenance and upgrades to the city’s gravel streets; utility relief for residents; the development of a food truck plaza near city hall; funding to support small businesses and the arts; and the extension of water and sewer services to the Cascade Valley.

“The city has a significant area that is in our urban growth area and when the city adds property to its urban growth area, we commit to serving that with urban utilities, so that is the water and sewer extension that you see (in the plan) to Cascade Valley,” Williams said.

Helping businesses will come in a proposed $75,000 funding to a business incubation program, Williams said. If approved by Moses Lake City Council once public feedback is considered, the money would help businesses get started that have struggled to take off during the pandemic.

“What we have learned through our process is that there’s a lot of pent-up demand for starting businesses, but having a place to get started in the form of an incubator was identified as important,” Williams said.

Helping those facing homelessness is another priority for the city. While the city has an established warming center, that facility is temporary and a new site needs to be planned and developed in association with community partners, Williams said.

The ARPA funds are tentatively expected to provide about $1.5 million of an estimated $10 million overall cost for a new homelessness center.

“The last piece that you see in (the plan) is the chronic homeless support. During COVID, the city established the Sleep Center, which is a place to get out of the weather, have access to services – it’s a temporary site. And so, we want to use these funds to provide for a permanent site with partners,” Williams said.

She added the city needs the public to go online and provide feedback regarding the plan by Christmas Day for their comments and suggestions to be considered.

“We want to hear from folks and confirm that the direction we are going is appropriate,” Williams said. “And then we’ll bring that feedback to the city council. Recovery is first and foremost with the use of the funds and also responding to the covid crisis – so those are two big caveats.”