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American Rescue Plan Act funding requests were heard Monday by the Marietta City Council's finance committee.
Committee Chair Mike Scales said $15,000 was requested for the warming station on Front Street.
Robin Bozian, board president of the Washington County Homeless Project, said the warming station is open from noon to 4 p.m. She requested funds to keep the station open from 8 a.m. until noon.
"We need funding for food to feed them from 8 a.m to noon," she said. "We need $10,000 plus money for Americorps (which helps at the station). Utilities will increase. We'll need more paper and cleaning supplies. We can do a lot more for people that are there."
She said they eventually want to go out into the area to talk to people living in tents and try to find solutions before next winter.
Mayor Josh Schlicher also presented a proposal from Sunday Creek Horizons, an organization which has been helping the Washington County Commission find grant money for the Washington County Sewer Project.
He said the group would like to do a presentation for council, possibly joining forces with the commission, the City of Belpre and the Village of Beverly.
"Make a Washington County effort to leverage more money for projects," Schlicher said.
He said they could contract with SCH on a month-to-month basis for $2,500 a month.
"It would be a wise investment for up to a year," he said. "Gauge what the return on investment is."
Scales suggested having SCH do a presentation for council at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at 304 Putnam St.
A $150,000 funding request for the Start Westward Monument project was also discussed. The money would be used to help pay for a bronze replica of the sculpture located in East Muskingum Park. It will cost approximately $1.5 million to replicate, remove and store the monument.
Jean Yost of the Start Westward Committee, said the $150,000 will be seed money to show Marietta "has skin in the game."
The committee will ask for $1 million from the capital budget for the project, he said.
The monument itself is owned by the state, while the park is owned by the city.
Councilor Susan Boyer asked if sufficient funds aren't raised for the work, will the money come back to the city, to which Yost answered yes.
Councilor Cassidi Shoaf said it's not a risk to make a decision to give the funds if the money is guaranteed to come back. That way they will not lose out on any capital budget funding.
Scales suggested a resolution to donate the money that states if the money isn't spent by Dec. 31, 2023, the resolution becomes null and void.
Jim Wark, public works director, brought a funding request for the Marietta Aquatic Center to the committee. The floor of the pool is deteriorating and thousands of gallons of potable water are leaking through the floor, he said.
"If we don't fix it, in three to five years, we may not have a pool to use," he said.
The construction costs would be around $160,000, with a $20,000 contingency to be on the safe side, he said.
He requested the $180,000 come from ARPA funding. He noted there is an aggressive schedule to issue for bids on Feb. 18. Construction would be scheduled to start around April 4 with completion on June 3.
The pool traditionally opens Memorial Day, but with a completion date of June 3, they would open it only a few days late.
"It's a real emergency, in order to get the pool open at a reasonable time," Wark said.
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At a glance
¯ Finance committee discussed ARPA funding.
¯ Funds needed to repair the aquatic center.
¯ Funds also requested for the Start Westward Monument.
Source: Marietta City Council.