It took nearly a year, but the long journey of DeWitt County settling on funds for its American Rescue Plan Act funding has finally been settled.

Thursday night at the DeWitt County Board meeting, the Board voted on how to allocate roughly $3.3-million. Dan Matthews, with help from County Administrator DeeDee Rentmeister, brought forward a rough outline of funding for entities and non-profits that applied for a piece of the pie that the County Board made available.

The proposal makes available funds for a small business grant program that would help to be administered through the DeWitt County Development Council. Matthews deferred to Megan Myers to help explain that program.

In reviewing applications for the ARPA funds, Buck Carter found a common theme among the first responder applications for chest compressors for heart attack patients. He felt it would be a worthy investment to provide the area fire departments each with a unit and three for the DeWitt County EMS. 

Aaron Kammeyer continued his calls for the Board to establish guidelines for the money and for there to be more clarity so those that applied. Kammeyer wondered if the County was planning to take care of the entirety of its building needs with ARPA funding, which seemed to be the consensus.

Kammeyer felt the Board did not have a plan in place for how they wanted to proceed with the funds and Board members took exception to that notion. Board Chair Terry Ferguson hoped the Board would focus on requests that had a lasting impact and not temporary things. 

The YMCA's request for $150,000 was a request the board reduced to afford the chest compressors for first responders. The issue became should the Clinton Fire Department be given a chest compressor or should it fall on the City of Clinton to decide to fund things for the Clinton Fire Department.

As the Board put more clarity on the amounts for each applicant, the conversation shifted to accountability and how to get money to the groups. Rentmeister explained it would need to be determined if the groups would spend the money and then be reimbursed or given the money and provide receipts of purchase.

County Clerk Dana Smith provided one last breakdown of the funds and how they would be distributed....

The Board had been set to discuss the funding earlier this month but the agenda for the special meeting was not posted in time for the set date and so it was canceled. 

The Board unanimously approved the funding.