Fauquier County will receive a second allotment of $5.27 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which was created by Congress in March as part of the CARES Act; on July 28, Gov. Ralph Northam announced the new round of disbursements from the fund.
The county’s three incorporated towns will also receive distributions equal to the disbursements they received from the fund previously, bringing the total of the new disbursement to $6.29 million, identical to the first.
County staff members said they expect the new disbursement to be received Sept. 1. Supervisors are set to approve a spending plan for the new funds at their regular meeting Sept. 10, after a public hearing.
The first disbursement was received in June; of the total, $944,265 was allocated to the county’s three incorporated towns: Warrenton ($866,965), Remington ($56,884) and The Plains ($20,416) and will be again from the second disbursement.
Allowable uses of the relief money have not changed, acting budget director Mallory Stribling said Thursday during a board of supervisors work session. Potential uses of the funds, among other categories, include the purchase of personal protection equipment, the costs of implementing telework and distance learning programs and public safety and health costs incurred because of the pandemic.
The funds can only fund items that were not accounted for in the FY 2020 or FY 2021 county budgets. Additionally, the money must be expended by Dec. 30, though localities across the country are lobbying Congress to extend this deadline.
Stribling told supervisors that $624,057 from the first disbursement of funding remains unallocated. County staff members and supervisors discussed several possible uses of both these funds and the new round of disbursements.
The imminent beginning of the school year – public schools will begin all-virtual instruction Aug. 24 – and the challenges of students and parents accessing high-speed broadband were on many supervisors’ minds, with potential implications for the new CARES Act disbursement. From the first round of funding, supervisors have already allocated $1.25 million to expand broadband access and $1.68 million for the purchase of Chromebooks for the school division.
Supervisor Chris Granger (Center District) suggested allocating $100,000 to the Department of Social Services for means-tested grants to families to pay for academic tutoring.
County Administrator Paul McCulla responded that the social services department already has a means test in place – a mechanism to determine a family’s needs based on income and other factors – and that the money could be allocated from the remaining balance of the first disbursement of federal funds. Deputy County Administrator Erin Kozanecki said she thought that use of funds would be allowable.
Granger also brought up the potential for setting up indoor spaces in public buildings as internet-equipped workspaces for teleworking adults and students learning remotely. “Some people are going to be able to sit at home and doing teleworking and what have you,” he said. “Some people, frankly, are not going to be able to do it [from home].”
McCulla said county staff are already exploring at least five potential sites for this purpose, focusing especially on facilities that already have a connection to a fiber optic internet connection. Also, he said, the county’s three library buildings may reopen more fully soon, giving residents more options for free public Wi-Fi.
Cedar Run District Supervisor Rick Gerhardt, who has usually taken the lead on broadband issues during his time in office, asked county staff members if using coronavirus relief money to lease temporary communications towers – these are generally mounted on a flatbed trailer – would be possible. A similar 150-foot mobile tower is being utilized currently by Data Stream Technologies near Viewtree Mountain.
Kozanecki responded that purchasing temporary towers outright might give the county “more leeway” in the use of coronavirus relief funds; McCulla added that purchasing the towers would probably save money in the long run. Neither Gerhardt nor McCulla, however, could quote a price for the towers. McCulla said he will research the potential costs and present his findings at the Sept. 10 board meeting.
Later, on Monday, McCulla said that “generally [the temporary towers] will run about $130,000 for a 150 foot tower and trailer.” Leasing, he said, is generally $13,000 per month; both of these numbers are just rough estimates, he added, and the county is currently soliciting bids. If towers are purchased or leased, “We will then need to establish one or more broadband carriers like Data Stream on the tower to provide services,” he said.
Supervisor Chris Butler (Lee District) asked if the school division could return some money to the county government to help pay for expanded broadband efforts. “Virtual learning is going to be pretty tough if we’re not able to push through these broadband initiatives, especially in rural areas,” he said.
One of the most significant unanswered questions, Kozanecki said, is how much CARES Act funding the school division will request as it provides instruction 100% remotely through at least December.
Not every potential use was related to schools and broadband.
Kozanecki said approximately $300,000 of the $500,000 originally allocated for the purchase of personal protective equipment has already been expended; more funding will be necessary, she said. She added that outfitting existing county facilities to store PPE and cleaning supplies might also be needed.
Other uses, she suggested, could include modifying court facilities to better facilitate virus-mitigating measures and furthering efforts to enable county employees to work remotely.
Butler asked if relief funds could pay for additional cold storage for locally produced meat. Kozanecki said that it is an allowable use and added that relief funds could pay for additional meat processing facilities for producers in the county as well.
Granger later asked if coronavirus relief funds could be used to open additional basketball courts, adding that several constituents had inquired about it. “That would be a stretch,” Kozanecki answered with a smile.
