Lewes considers spending options for Rescue Plan Act funds

The City of Lewes will receive $1.7 million in funds from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act, receiving the money in two installments over the next two years.

With guidelines for how the money can be spent, mayor and city council met June 7 to discuss how the money will be spent.

“We want to make sure we’re being responsible,” said City Manager Ann Marie Townshend. “I want this all to be as transparent as possible.”

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law March 11, delivering $65.1 billion in aid to cities, counties and towns of all sizes.

Mayor Ted Becker said the city is expecting to receive about $850,000 later this year.

“It’s important that we use this money to improve conditions within the city,” he said.

Townshend has identified several potential uses for the federal funds.

Gaining unanimous support from mayor and city council is an event to honor and thank the staff of Beebe Healthcare. More planning is needed before moving forward, though.

“I’ve been aware over the last year of many instances where not just nurses and physicians but others have gone above and beyond the call of duty,” said Councilman Khalil Saliba. “They have been recognized to some degree, but I’m not certain people understand what they went through.”

Saliba also supports the idea of another event to recognize the city’s business and nonprofit community.

“Despite the fact that many of them have been made whole to some degree, I know the psychological stress they went through, especially the restaurants and retail who had to close and were scared to death,” he said. “It would be a great gesture on our part to have some event to recognize what they went through.”

Another event a portion of the funds could be used to support is National Night Out, held every August in George H.P. Smith Park. Due to COVID restrictions, Townshend said, it’s unlikely police officers and city staff could prepare food like they did before the pandemic. She suggested reaching out to local restaurants to prepare grab-and-go meals for the event. Although the city has $4,000 budgeted for the event, she said, it would likely cost much more than that to work with restaurants.

Support for events will not drain the city’s Rescue Plan Act funds, so other, larger projects are also being considered.

Mayor and city council as well as committees and commissions are still meeting virtually. Townshend said council chambers in city hall is too small to accommodate members and the public with adequate spacing. The city is planning to move most public meetings to the Rollins Community Center, but in order to do so, it must be retrofitted with livestreaming equipment, a $15,000 expense.

The city must also add restrooms to the building because access to the only bathrooms is through the Lewes History Museum.

“When the original agreement was struck with LHS on the use of the restroom, there was no anticipation we would be going there on a frequent basis,” Becker said. “So it’s created quite a burden for LHS to be able to have staff ... [and] they’ve had issues concerning the safety of the contents of the museum when it’s not open to the public.”

The cost to add restrooms adjacent to the Rollins Center meeting room is estimated at $400,000. The city has already awarded the contract, and the building is expected to be ready for use in October or November.

Other potential uses for the funds include $150,000 to pay Oceanside Elite to clean all the city’s public restrooms and buildings, new picnic tables where city staff can eat outside, and a possible vaccination incentive program for city staff.

Townshend said the funds could also be used for revenue replacement, whereby the city can use the money to cover unrealized budgeted revenue. She said the city would have to compare the COVID-year budget with the previous year’s budget to find any shortfalls.