Resolution 2020-80 was presented to the Kenai City Council at their Wednesday meeting, aiming to divert funds to assist areas with CARES money that might be more in-need.
Resolution number 2020-80 –Amending the City’s Grant Disbursement Program Utilizing Funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, And Economic Security (CARES) Act to Increase the Grant Amount Under the Individual Assistance to Commercial Fishers Program, Authorizing the City Manager to Enter Into an Agreement with Peninsula Community Health Services of Alaska (PCHS) for Mental Health Services in Kenai, and Authorizing a Budget Transfer in the COVID-19 Cares Act Recovery Fund as requested by the Administration.
City Manager Paul Ostrander offered details on the three primary things that this resolution aims to accomplish: “It actually doubles the amount that commercial fisherman are eligible for from $1,000 to $2,000. It also authorizes me to enter an agreement with PCHS. The third part is it makes two budget transfers. The first budget transfer is $100,000 that goes from the business and nonprofit entity recovery grants department to the CARES Act Administration and Nonpayroll department. That $100,000 is intended to cover costs to purchase items to protect employees and the public from COVID-19.”
Ostrander noted that increasing the flow of money for the rental assistance program appears to be more necessary than the city’s administration previously thought, “We’ve all been surprised internally when HFC originally rolled this program out and made it available to City of Kenai residents back in August. There were 74 folks that applied and qualified for this grant program. We rolled it out again for September through December. Council approved that at the last meeting. We anticipated that we would receive maybe a few more than that, but we have received 180 new applications beyond that for a total of 254 applications compared to 74.”
Council Member Robert Peterkin expressed concern about whether the City is headed in the direction to spend all available CARES funds, “You think we’re going to have money left over we’ve got to get rid of at the end or you think we got enough to cover everything?”
Council Member Tim Navarre asked the City Manager if he had a timetable for when housing grants would begin reaching recipients, specifically if folks would be receiving help in November for needs in September. Ostrander replied by saying that the grants are going out as quickly as possible, “This first time that they process is going to be the biggest effort they’ve got because they’ve got 250 some applications. That’s not going to grow a lot over the next few months. So this first time through is going to be the biggest amount of effort for them so I’m hopeful that once they get through this the first time, the following months will go much smoother.
The resolution passed unanimously.
