American Rescue Plan Task Force

SECOND AMENDED MINUTES AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING OF APRIL 12, 2023 Present: Mayor Benjamin Florsheim; Vice Chair Pamela Steele; Majority Leader Gene Nocera; Rev. Robyn Anderson; Christina Heckert; Kevin Elak; Cynthia Clegg; Diana Doyle; Joseph Fazzino; Brianna Skowera; Brig Smith Public: Martha McCabe; Claire Collins; Jennifer Alexander; Sandra Russo-Driska 1. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 11:03 a.m. 2. Public Comment None 3. Approval of Minutes Motion to approve the minutes of the March 8, 2023 regular meeting made and seconded. Passed unanimously. 4. New Business A. Middletown Administrative Expense Requests Martha McCabe walked through the requests for eligible administrative expenses we received: 545 Main St. - $28,825.00 Cross St. Training & Academic Center - $ 33,914.70 JDS Holdings - $7,606.40 Middlesex Chamber of Commerce - $1,488.00 Middletown Redemption Center - $8,000.00 St. Vincent de Paul - $27,700.00 NHCPA Riverbend - $46,744.00 Rev. Anderson recused herself from any discussion or vote on the matter because Cross St. Training and Academic Center is an applicant. Motion to approve the expenses as submitted made and seconded. Discussion ensued regarding the readiness of the NHCPA Riverbend project and consensus formed that the request should be set aside until the next meeting so that UHY can confirm that funds will be needed for 2024. Motion to amend in order to  remove NHCPA Riverbend from the list of approved expenses made and seconded. Passed with 6 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (Rev. Robyn Anderson and Christina Heckert). Motion to approve the underlying motion as amended made and seconded. Passed with 6 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (Rev. Robyn Anderson and Christina Heckert). The total of the recommended approved expenses is $107,534.10 and will be submitted to Common Council for final consideration. B. Advance Policy for Subrecipients Martha McCabe walked through requests for one-time advances from: Cross St. Training & Academic Center - $244,161.80 Middlesex Redemption Center - $16,000 NHCPA Riverbend - $420,000 St. Vincent DePaul - $832,624.18 Rev. Anderson recused herself from any discussion or vote on the matter because Cross St. Training and Academic Center is an applicant. Motion made to recommend approval with the exception of Middlesex Redemption Center made and seconded. Passed with 6 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (Rev. Robyn Anderson and Christina Heckert). Additional discussion on the underlying advance policy will occur at the next meeting. C. Request to Repurpose Funds from DBD to City’s Department of Public Works Jennifer Alexander outlined the Downtown Business District’s request to return its $300,000 grant to the city for use by the Public Works Department. Doing so would allow greater economies of scale and would make use of the Public Works Department’s additional labor and resources. Motion to repurpose, at the Downtown Business District’s request, its American Rescue Plan Act funding to the city’s Public Works Department for the purpose of downtown infrastructure improvement and beautification made and seconded. Passed unanimously. The Public Works Department will work in collaboration with the DBD on the project. D. Reallocation of JDS Holdings Budget Martha McCabe explained that JDS Holdings submitted a request for reimbursement for a real estate acquisition that occurred before the eligible date under ARPA. Although ARPA funds could not be used for that expense, they can be used for others. Motion to reallocate, at JDS Holding’s request, its American Rescue Plan Act funding from acquisition of real property to acquisition of personal property made and seconded. Passed unanimously. 2 5. Old Business A. Report of Current Expenses and Balances Brig Smith advised that, after the administrative expenses just approved, and anticipating the additional expenses for NHCPA Riverbend, the existing balance of $256,633.27 will be cut nearly in half. B. Report from Water and Sewer Discussion ensued that, rather than have ongoing reports from Joe Fazzino on Water and Sewer projects, which made sense initially when we authorized $2.75M in early funding for the department, we should have reports from all departments in a written format regarding ongoing expenses. Diana Doyle offered to provide ongoing reports for both city and subrecipient programs showing this. 6. Other 7. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made and seconded and passed unanimously. 3