by Jack McLoone

At the regular meeting of the Hastings City Council last week Monday, August 3rd, there was much discussion on how to spend the $1.7 million in federal CARES Act funds.

“Do expect that, beyond this evening, this is not the _nal discussion, _nal decision. The Council can continue narrowing some of the decisions on how the funds will be used,” City Administrator Dan Wietecha stated. “Some pieces of it are more timely and should be advanced and committed this evening. A few speci_c purchases on behalf of the City, one being the transport ventilator for the ambulance crews. We have three existing ventilators that are 20 plus years old. Realistically, we only need one that could be put on an ambulance as needed.”

“A big piece of this is very related to COVID.

The Fire Department and EMT’s have had to

modify much of their monthly training and even when doing in-house training, it would be good to be able to record that so it could be presented to other members of the department that were not physically present that evening. So, we’re really

looking at some important and needed technology

improvements related to their _re and EMS training,” Wietecha outlined.

Wietecha also recommended installing tempered glass at the front counter of City Hall. Prior to reopening to the public, plexiglass partitions were installed. With the number of people that travel in and out every day, they would prefer a more permanent tempered glass to be installed.

“My two cents is that I feel uncomfortable using $400,000 of COVID funds for normal operations,” Councilmember Tina Folch said. “For

instance, the school district is facing an enormous amount of money and expenditures that are

needed and they’re asking us for just $300,000 and we’re saying no because we want to use our

CARE Act funds to cover normal operations and

payroll. That gives me a little heartburn.”

“There are a lot of needs out there, so we just have to be careful how we’re going about this,” Councilmember Trevor Lund stated. “Also, school may be something we need to spend a lot of time talking about.”

“Just to add a little bit to what Councilmember Lund said, I took the liberty to listen to a National League of Cities Seminar they had done, and some larger cities were talking about some of the things they were using the funds for, See CARES, Page 3 CARES Act

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and all three of those cities were using some of their funds to help the school districts,” Folch stated. “Something else that they talked about that wasn’t on the list here was helping employees with daycare, for instance.”

Folch pushed the Council to think outside the box with how they spend the funds.

Councilmember Lori Braucks was conscious of how much work it will take for business owners to apply for grant funding.

“They are all using their creative energies to try to pivot their businesses right now. I want to help them without creating a bunch of hurdles for them to jump through,” Braucks said. “Is it easy to apply for this grant? Is it some paperwork, a lot of paperwork?”

Braucks and the Council were informed that it is an online process that should be fairly easy to apply for.

“I don’t feel comfortable throwing money into the County funds, only because I don’t trust that they’re doing this lottery,” Folch said. “What does that truly mean to our business community if we are sending in more money?”

Councilmember Mark Vaughn made a motion to approve $250,000 for the Dakota County Grant program, seconded by Councilmember Joe Balsanek. The motion prevailed with all members voting yes, except Councilmember Folch.

The City of Hastings will partner with Dakota County by entering into a Joint Powers Agreement for the upcoming County State Aid Highway 46 Corridor Study.

“The County has programmed a comprehensive transportation study of the County State Aid Highway 46 Corridor from Highway 61 west to about ¼ mile west of General Sieben Drive at the western City limits,” Public Works Director Nick Egger wrote in a memorandum addressed to Mayor Fasbender and City Council Members. “Work is scheduled to begin late this summer and conclude in the fall of 2021. The study will examine the potential for future changes to this important transportation facility.”

Egger informed the Council that the proposal that will be taken forward was submitted by Alliant Engineering in the amount of $400,000.

“Among the key aspects the study will focus on are, safety enhancements for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians; vehicle speeds, access and mobility enhancements for all modes of transportation including trail enhancements, economic development opportunities that may be enhanced or catalyzed through changes to transportation facilities, and a layout that is sensitive to natural resources such as the Vermillion River and the Vermillion River Greenway spaces,” Egger stated.

In the memorandum, Egger outlined the primary goal of the study, which is to land on the most promising array of improvements that adequately addresses the public’s concerns as well as the context of the project.

“Extensive public engagement tools will be used to gather feedback from residents, businesses, property owners, the Chamber of Commerce and of course the City Council itself,” Egger said.