Henderson County News: Commissioners, employees thank Wyatt as he retires hendersonvillelightning.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hendersonvillelightning.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Henderson County still waiting for guidance on COVID relief funds
During Wednesday’s budget workshop, commissioners expressed frustration about the money.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress.
Over $33 million in COVID-19 relief funding is designated for Henderson County and its municipalities. Henderson County’s share is $22.7 million; $4.14 million for the city of Hendersonville; $2.45 million for Fletcher; $2.17 million for Mills River; $990,000 for Flat Rock; and $680,000 for Laurel Park.
Municipalities were originally supposed to see funds roll in around mid-May. The money had not started to arrive as of Wednesday’s budget workshop.
During a budget workshop on Wednesday, Assistant County Manager Amy Brantley reported that the U.S. Treasury Department had issued preliminary guidelines on how local government bodies can spend the ARPA money. In the coming weeks, the county expects to receive $11 million, the first installment of a two-year allocation of $22 million designed to help communities recover from the business slowdown caused by the pandemic.
Among the ARPA-eligible recipients, Brantley said, are programs that provide mental health, substance abuse and behavorial health services. That means grants of $50,000 for the mental health at the jail, $200,000 to First Contact Ministry s substance abuse treatment and $100,000 for the new Hendersonville Connections Center could win the county s blessing.
Immediate past schools superintendents David Jones and Bo Caldwell, current Superintendent John Bryant and past and current chairs Amy Lynn Holt and Blair Craven expressed appreciation for the strong working relationship that has helped make the county schools system among the top 5 in the state by most measures. We want to thank you for your service and dedication to Henderson County, not only our county as a whole but also our great school system, Jones said. We were able to build a lot of buildings and do a lot of things that would not have happened without you. When Steve Wyatt would call me or I would send a text to have him call me, he would always say, What have you done for your country today? Caldwell said. And it kind of got to be a little pressure on what my answer woud be. His answer on Wednesday: I ve gotten to know you because to me there s no better person to learn from. You truly love this country, you love our state and you truly love our community. . I v