The Marshall County Council members fielded several additional appropriation requests that may be reimbursed with CARES Act funding, but the Marshall County Commissioners want to prioritize the projects to determine that reimbursement.
The discussion started during the Marshall County Council meeting on Monday morning when Chief Probation Officer James Bendy asked for an additional appropriation for technology upgrades with a remote supervision software package in the amount of $45,836.40 to be reimbursed with CARES Act funding. Commission President Kevin Overmyer spoke to the council as he thought it would be best to hold off on approving that additional appropriation until requested projects can undergo a priority process.
Overmyer added that there should be a policy for requests in place. There are $66,000 in requests that go over the $1.5 million allotted for CARES Act funding with $85,000 already submitted in invoices. He suggested that projects take priority in how they would assist the public.
One big ticket item includes a morgue for $200,000, which has been approved as a reimbursable project through the Indiana Finance Authority. The Health Department is also looking to purchase a Winnebago for $375,000 to use as a mobile inoculation vehicle in order to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.
Efforts are also being made in requests to make sure that employees can work remotely with efficiency if the state needs to shutdown again.
The Marshall County Council voted unanimously to table any additional appropriations related to the CARES Act until there is a policy in place and the commissioners have had time to prioritize projects.
The county has until Dec. 31 to pay for the projects or the money is no longer available to the county.
