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Ogdensburg city manager recommends using COVID-19 relief funds to help non-profits, individuals

Posted 8/4/21

BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen Jellie recommends using the first round of COVID-19 relief funds to help non-profits and individuals. Acting …

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Ogdensburg city manager recommends using COVID-19 relief funds to help non-profits, individuals

Posted

BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen Jellie recommends using the first round of COVID-19 relief funds to help non-profits and individuals.

Acting comptroller Angela Gray told City officials Agu. 2 that they would receive more than $1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds throughout the American Rescue Plan Act.

She told council there are five areas that staff recommends the funding could be best spent which includes water and sewer infrastructure, recouping lost revenue, and support of not for profits, small businesses and individuals.

Councilor Dan Skamperle asked if the funds could be used for police and emergency services, to which Gray said it would need to be used to offset police and emergency services costs with respect to COVID-19.

“It’s very clear that it has to be related to COVID-19 response,” she said.

City Manager Stephen Jellie said the biggest latitude in the non-Covid area is in regard to water-sewer infrastructure.

However, Jellie urged council to consider using the funding for direct aid.

He said there have been requests from non-profits for a portion of the funding and urged council to consider what they believed would be the best uses for the funding.

“If you could send us notes or thoughts on supporting non-profits, charities, small business groups and how we could look at giving money directly to individuals,” he said.

Jellie said that would likely be the best use for the first round of funding to the tune of $500,000 that will be received this year.

He said it would allow the city to develop an application process that’s not overly complicated that could have a direct impact on those impacted by COVID-19.

He said while businesses may have options to recoup lost revenues due to the pandemic through other processes, many of them are cumbersome and hard to navigate.

He said that’s a common complaint he’s heard from business owners.

Jellie said $500,000 could go a long way to help those in need. He said the money could be issued as $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 grants that could move quickly to help struggling organizations.

No action was taken Monday, but the topic is likely to be revisited in the coming weeks.