The homeowner emergency repair program will be for residences located in the county and outside of the city limits of Springfield, according to the commission. Work will be completed through the Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield Inc., which will receive $15,000 of the total allocation amount to cover program-related expenses.
The Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield offers emergency home repair programming to address housing issues like a leaking roof, inoperable furnace, electrical or plumbing problems through grants for low-income households when funds are available and through low-interest loans. The ARPA-funded grant program will run separately from this, according to Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield executive director Greg Womacks.
Clark County spokesman Mike Cooper said that more details about the program will come in the coming weeks after a contract with the Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield has been finalized.
The money allocated for the program is part of the $26 million allocated to Clark County from the $1.9 trillion ARPA that President Joe Biden signed into law in March. A total of $350 billion was allocated to help local governments across the country reeling from pandemic impact.
ARPA dollars can be used to provide emergency assistance, including home repairs, to households or populations experiencing negative economic impacts during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the commission said.
The commissioners have allocated more than $11 million in ARPA funds for various projects, such as for the reimbursement to the general fund for pandemic-related losses in revenue, the reimbursement of employee paid administrative leave and the funding of technology for the county’s dispatch center, expected to open in 2022.
Commissioners also approved ARPA spending for a stormwater improvement project for Enon-Xenia Road to help alleviate flooding in the area and for a fiber optic project to service county-owned buildings, as well as a safety improvement project for Spangler Road.
In November 2021, the commission also authorized $800,000 of spending toward a project to extend the waterline that runs near Park Layne. Another $220,000 was allocated in January to cover assistance expenses of Clark County veterans seeking aid through the county veterans office, and more than $50,000 was allocated to pay for dispatch center fees for several townships and villages in Clark County.
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