Morning Everyone,
There is a lot of confusion still circulating about our HVAC system purchase. Some are saying that we got a federal grant for the HVAC system. Is this correct? Technically you can call it a grant, but, the grant was NOT especially for an HVAC system. That is not what we specifically received money for. There were hundreds of things that the money could be used for. It was up to our commissioners to decide how the money would be spent. There was not a specific grant for HVAC.
Above I have added an extract of the minutes of earlier commissioners’ meeting where they decided to spend some of the American Rescue Plan Money (ARPA) on the HVAC. As you can see it could be used for a wide variety of purposes including salaries for our county workers which is being done in several Nebraska counties. Lots of uses. We decide how the money is used, unlike a specific grant.
If you look at the 2023 budget which I included a link to below, you will see the “American Rescue Plan” money listed as “miscellaneous” because no specific purpose was defined for it when we receive the money.
To say that the “HVAC was a grant” however is misleading. That makes is sound like the government gave us money specifically for an HVAC system. That is not the case. Our leaders decided to use some of the money for HVAC and not other things. We are not saying HVAC is not needed and it is not a wise use. What we objected to was the total cost of the HVAC as we felt it was several hundreds of thousands of dollars too high. So, there was no specific grant awarded specifically for an HVAC system which I am still hearing about throughout the county. That is misinformation. A group of us have been to every commissioner meeting since the budget meeting last September. We have spent countless hours reading through the American Rescue Plan and seeing what is best for the community.
Our “beef” with this use is not the HVAC. It is a good choice in some respects. What we disagree with is the timing and speed at which the bid was awarded. When you spend ¾ of a million dollars of our taxpayer money it should be done with due diligence. Putting out the bid on December 1, closing it on December 16th, and then awarding the contract on January 3rd is just too fast. Way faster than most governments work. Not wise at all. A little more time and research could have been done to save money. And, we could have saved a lot according to our research. I hope in the future that more people will become involved in the process so the best uses and costs for our taxpayer money can be found.
2023 Cheyenne County Budget- See Page 87
https://bringbacksidney.com/…/12/Cheyenne_County_B2223.pdf
Money Uses from the US Government
https://www.transit.dot.gov/…/american-rescue-plan-act…