KINGWOOD — Prestonians will have the chance to voice their thoughts on how the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds should be spent at an upcoming meeting with the Preston County Commission.
The discussion about holding a community meeting on the funds started at the last meeting, and on Tuesday County Administrator Kathy Mace urged commissioners to set a date so she could send out invites to everyone who has made a request.
After some calendar wrangling, they decided on 2 p.m. June 10, in Kingwood’s Election Center. Commissioner Don Smith said there would never be a date where everyone would be able to make it.
However, opinions can be sent to jhauger@prestoncountywv.gov for those who can’t physically attend but still want to speak out.
Preston County received about $6.4 million in ARPA funding as part of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, only $1.67 million has been spent. That money was used to fund projects which will significantly expand gigabit internet access in the county.
Mace said the commission has received many requests for the funds, including infrastructure projects such as Newburg water. Preston County Parks and Recreation, Arthurdale Heritage and more have also sought funds.
Any person or organization that’s approached the commission for funding will be invited to the meeting, Mace said. The public is also welcome to attend.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for the commission to get updates on all the requests as well.
On Tuesday, Elizabeth Satterfield, curator and director of education at Arthurdale, told the commission the museum has raised $8,000 from private donors and a grant from the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area since she last asked for the commission’s support in building an outdoor event space.
Extension Agent Bill Shockey spoke to the commission in support of funding SNAP Stretch, a program which had its state funding significantly cut this year. Shockey initially asked the commission for help in February. At the last commission meeting, Smith brought the issue back up and said he wanted to give them an answer either way which triggered the community meeting discussion.
The program doubles or triples SNAP dollars spent at eligible farmer’s markets. There are two such in Preston County – Metheny’s Farmers Market and the County Seat Farmer’s Market.
“I just look at it as sort of like a dual benefit that number one, you’re assisting our folks in getting those funds locally so that they can purchase potentially healthier foods from our farmers. We’ve got a lot of farmers in Preston County or farms in any other county in the state. And so it’s an opportunity to help benefit that very large local business by getting some of those funds redirected here.”
The request was for about $130,000 a year of which $125,000 will be spent on benefits. Shockey said The West Virginia Farm and Food Coalition calculated that number as the need for the year.
The organization is actively working to find a permanent funding solution and has had some success which increased what Shockey called the “meager” allocation for the County Seat Market. It will open on June 18, according to its Facebook page.
“A stop gap for a year, would be very helpful, would give them a little more time to try and find more funding,” he said.
This year’s allocation by the state has already been used at Metheney’s market, Shockey said.
