A committee of the Vermilion County Board heard more requests Monday evening for using federal ARPA funds. The county earlier received $14-million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act money to help recover from the Covid pandemic.
Wesley Bieritz of the Central Illinois Land Bank addressed the committee seeking $500-thousand dollars….
{AUDIO: ‘’They could use some of that to rehabilitate houses, and put new roofs on several houses to maintain them so they stay erect. And they can continue to contribute to the tax accumulation in the county. In other words, if we save a house – we can save the taxes that that house will pay for years and years to come.’’}
In addition to the $500-thousand dollars to rehabilitate homes, the Land Bank is also wanting $70-thousand dollars to help with administrative costs.
In addition to the request from the Land Bank the committee also heard from Catlin Mayor Justin Bardo (shown here). Catlin is seeking $180-thousand dollars to build a Butler Park Recreation Path. Mayor Bardo explained that Catlin applied to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 2019 and was awarded $147-thousand dollars for the project. But the work was delayed because of the COVID pandemic and new bids came in much higher than expected. The trail would be a quarter mile loop with ten stations where people could stop and do exercises.
‘’This gives a safe place for people to go and do their exercises outdoors and enjoy the environment, and not have to worry about being run over by a car,’’ said the Catlin mayor. And Bardo said one of the main reasons he ran for mayor was to improve safety in Catlin.
Mayor Bardo said the Village of Catlin has agreed to pay for engineering costs and rehabilitating a pavilion for the project. But he added the proposed quarter-mile long trail will now be re-bid.
{The man standing in the top photo is Wesley Bieritz of the Central Illinois Land Bank.}
