The Pulaski County Council finalized over a million dollars in additional appropriations Monday, but not without a debate on funding for COVID-19 response. The county’s Incident Management Team asked for almost $48,000, the amount that was left unspent from last year’s $100,000 additional appropriation. But with only about $2,400 actually being spent on PPE last year, Council Member Rudy DeSabatine wasn’t comfortable approving the entire request at once.
“I say we put about $40,000 of it back into Riverboat, so you can have $7,000 for any emergency expenses that come up, and we’ve at least got $40,000 back in the county to hang onto for a while,” DeSabatine said.
Council Member Brian Young complained that more money should have been spent on PPE, while others argued that it wasn’t necessary since the county was able to get much of what it needed at no cost. Young also expressed frustration that the health department doesn’t give the council monthly updates, despite the fact that Nathan Origer offered to brief the council as the Incident Management Team’s designated liaison.
“Your job, Nathan, is economic development director,” Young said. “I’m asking the health department to please come to us and give us an update on COVID. I’m asking the IMT.”
“I am the IMT, Brian,” Origer replied. “I was appointed to be the IMT liaison.”
In the end, council members approved the entire requested appropriation, but earmarked $10,000 for the Incident Management Team’s use, while the rest of the $48,000 would be available for hazard pay or overtime costs. The IMT expects that it will need $700 a month to cover utilities and cleaning at the COVID-19 testing site at the Star City Community Center.
The rest of Monday’s appropriations were to make sure money is available to cover upfront costs for the courthouse and justice center projects, along with an economic impact analysis for the Mammoth Solar project. They also included permission to spend almost $185,000 in CARES Act money, although many of the purchases have already been approved by the commissioners.
The approval process Monday was marked by some confusion, with council members having differing interpretations on what they had just voted on.
One thing that wasn’t approved was $72,000 for an outside analysis of the county government’s pay scales and staffing. That request was pulled, after several county officials said they didn’t want to move ahead with the study at this time.
