The question of how to use more than half a million dollars in federal funds sparked a lengthy discussion — but no decision — during the April 1 Litchfield City Council meeting.
At issue was $580,000 in remaining American Rescue Plan funds, with council members split on how to best distribute the money.
Councilors Darlene Kotelnicki and Betty Allen said they heard from constituents who oppose spending anything on the proposed Litchfield Area Recreation Center, while other councilors, including John Carlson and Sara Miller, said they heard from constituents supportive of the LARC, saying they want the council to “do it right the first time.”
Carlson reminded other council members that although 55% of city voters supported the LARC sales tax, 45 percent did not, so some negative comments could be expected.
“We all hear from different people,” he said.
The city’s construction consultant told the council last month that its decision to attach the LARC to Litchfield Civic Arena added extra expense. It was noted that the arena itself is a non-revenue producing facility. Operations there have always been subsidized by the city, largely through liquor sales proceeds transfers.
Miller noted that the ARP balance would not begin to cover the cost of something like redoing the Highway 12/CSAH 34 intersection, and that there are other funding sources available for infrastructure projects like that and a proposed rear access and bike path to Walmart, which were proposed as possible projects on which to use ARP funds.
Mayor Dingmann and Carlson noted that the ARP funds could bridge the gap and help the council keep its pledge to not raise taxes for LARC construction. Council consensus was that until specifications for the LARC are complete and bids in hand, any funding “gap” is conjecture. And although the LARC is expected to generate more revenue than the arena, any ongoing operations and maintenance deficit is also still unknown.
The ARP funds will remain in reserves and not be disbursed at this time.
