FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Fort Wayne City Council has decided how it will begin to spend COVID relief funds. The funds came from the American Rescue Plan, a pandemic relief bill that was passed into law in 2021. While some jurisdictions have allocated their portion of the money, Fort Wayne’s leaders have contemplated their plan for some time and on Tuesday, City Council began spending it. According to our partners in news at ABC21, councilors approved $2 million for a recently announced community grocery store in southeast Fort Wayne.
Other plans include spending several million for various parks and streetscapes projects including:
Brewer Park: $2 million
Packard Park: $1.8 million
Franke Park phase one: $5 million
Streetscape improvements along Pontiac St: $1.7 million
City Council also agreed to discuss next week potential funds the city could potentially use to offset the cost of increased trash and recycling collection rate hikes amid the decision by the city to fire its solid waste hauler, Red River Waste Solutions after several years of poor service and hire GFL Environmental which is more expensive.
Councilman Russ Jehl has proposed spending no more than $10 million from the relief funds to reduce garbage collection fee increases. Jehl wants to use some money from the relief funds to stave off dramatic price hikes in the short-term.
