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CLINTON — The Clinton County Board of Supervisors since January has been selecting projects on which to spend $9.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds; next week the board will consider what could be the last two covered by its ARPA funds.

The Supervisors have about $1.6 million in ARPA funds left to spend. Next Monday they will consider a resolution to earmark $500,000 for a broadband project and will discuss an expected request to commit $500,000 toward a plan to bring a 2-year postsecondary education institution to the former Ashford University campus.

The Ashford plan, known as Project SLA, was listed as an agenda item for the Supervisors meeting earlier this week, but Andy Sokolovich, the president and CEO of Grow Clinton who requested funds during presentations to the Clinton City Council and the Clinton County Development Association, did not appear in front of the Supervisors.

However, the Supervisors on Monday did discuss the possible Ashford request, noting the CCDA already has agreed to grant $500,000 to the project with a contingency that requires participation from the City of Clinton and Clinton County in funding or in-kind donations for property restoration. The city of Clinton committed $500,000 early last week.

The county over the past several months also has discussed the ongoing need to invest in broadband but has not yet committed project funding.

The county in 2021 learned it would be awarded over $9 million in ARPA funds from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its negative economic impacts. Initial work began with a broadband study commitment, since the way funds could be spent early on was limited but allowed those upgrades.

After the federal government eased spending rules, the Supervisors began evaluating needs that could be funded by ARPA dollars. They began work in January to assign funds for county projects and set aside funds for large projects expected to surface throughout the year.

In those early discussions, the Supervisors approved spending ARPA funds on elevator upgrades at the Clinton County Courthouse, an air handler for the county administration building; a kitchen hood and fire panel at the jail; an X-ray machine for security at the courthouse; sheds for the Secondary Roads Department in Lost Nation and Elwood; and two dump trucks.

Money also was committed to county public health officials’ requests; the sheriff’s AXON body cameras, in-car cameras and Tasers to be replaced; a broadband study; administration building security cameras, and conference room upgrades.

Throughout the past few months, the Supervisors also formally committed $500,000, half of it in the form of ARPA money and the other half equal to the value of a county-owned parking lot, for the YWCA Empowerment Center’s proposed construction of a $5 million supportive housing shelter for the homeless.

The YWCA has applied for a $4 million federal National Housing Trust Fund grant. If the YWCA lands the grant it will be combined with the Supervisors’ $250,000 and $500,000 from the city of Clinton to help pay for construction. The facility would be built on the former parking lot, located in the 600 block of North Third Street, according to plans.

If the YWCA does not receive the $4 million grant, the county’s portion would go back into its ARPA funding pool and could be used for other projects.

Another $1 million will go to Clinton County Conservation, which will cover an overhaul of Clinton County Conservation’s Grand Mound Office, planned vehicle and equipment purchases and needed electrical system upgrades at Rock Creek Marina and Campground and Sherman Park. A $1.7 million window replacement project at the 60-year-old Clinton County Administration Building also will proceed.

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