Jill Schramm/MDN
Ward County commissioners, from left, John Fjeldahl, Shelly Weppler and Chairman Jim Rostad listen to a presentation during a commission meeting Tuesday.
Ward County political subdivisions will have until May 1 to submit applications to share in federal coronavirus dollars received by the county.
The Ward County Commission approved an application and adopted an application process Tuesday that allows cities and townships to apply for funds for infrastructure, including broadband. The county also approved use of funds to help with impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including lost revenue.
Ward County has received more than $13 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The county has developed a list of possible internal spending using many of those dollars, and the commission set an April 1 deadline for the filing of formal requests from county departments.
The commission plans to meet April 12 to review the internal requests and May 24 to review the external requests.
Commissioner Shelly Weppler again raised the matter of hiring a consultant to create an online portal to handle and organize applications and produce quarterly reports. She had pushed for that option at a previous meeting at which the commission voted to handle applications with existing staff and technology within the highway department and auditor’s office. On Tuesday, Travis Schmit, assistant highway engineer, presented recommendations developed by the department for handling applications.
Weppler questioned the cost of the additional staff time in taking on the extra duties to process applications, ensure federal compliance and create reports. Schmit replied no additional compensation would be required because salaried personnel would take on the work.
“So, you are volunteering?” Weppler asked.
“Absolutely,” Schmit said.
“I still don’t think, in the end, we end up with a piece as usable,” Weppler said.
One consultant’s cost to create an online portal to take applications, process them and generate reports was $25,000 for a year. Commissioners Howard “Bucky” Anderson and John Fjeldahl said they prefer to spend the money on compensating employees for their extra work.
“If we have to compensate for something, I don’t think it’s going to be to a degree that this portal would be,” Fjeldahl said.
The county will be announcing when its online application becomes available on its website. It also will be providing political subdivisions with information about eligible projects. There was discussion about opening applications to nonprofits, such as parks and entities that serve quasi-government functions, although it also was noted that not all projects will be able to be funded and certainly not funded in full.
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Ward County resolution supports Ukraine
The Ward County Commission unanimously approved a resolution of support for Ukraine Tuesday. Commissioner John Pietsch proposed and read the resolution during Tuesday’s meeting of the commission.
The resolutions states: “Let it be resolved that the members of the Ward County Commission of North Dakota affirm its unwavering support for the country of Ukraine, the people of Ukraine, the leaders of Ukraine and the brave patriotic defenders of the country of Ukraine. We strongly condemn Russia, under the immoral leadership of Vladimir Putin, in an unjustified and indiscriminate invasion of the sovereign democratic country of Ukraine and its peaceful people.
“Let it also be affirmed that Russia immediately order its military action against Ukraine cease and its troops leave all borders within Ukraine and allow the people of Ukraine to determine their own destiny. We also acknowledge the courage exhibited by the Ukraine leaders and the people of Ukraine in the defense of freedom and democracy that all countries of the world that honor these same values would be very proud.”
