Tag: CARES Act funding

Approaching $600K: Monroe County’s federal grant relief awards to local businesses, nonprofits

At its regular Wednesday meeting, Monroe County’s three-member board of commissioners approved four more federal COVID-19 pandemic relief grants to area businesses or nonprofits. That ratcheted the total amount awarded towards $600,000.

This is a partial list of businesses, nonprofits and taxing units that have received reimbursement pandemic relief grants through Monroe County government, sorted by grant amounts. A complete table is include below.

The money that Monroe County has been distributing to businesses and government entities comes from a total $4.7 million CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act allocation to the county.

On Wednesday, Monroe County’s financial director, Brianne Gregory, gave commissioners a quick briefing on the four grants they were asked to approve that morning, which totaled $62,028.

The grants went to Cave Group, Inc., Boys and Girls Club, Bluebird Live, Inc., and Life Designs, Inc.

That brings the total amount awarded to $593,306.

Board of commissioners president Julie Thomas said the application deadline for the grants has been extended to April 30. The county has set up a web page with a form for applicants to fill out.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Thomas sketched out the basic criteria for award of the funds: They are to reimburse non-payroll pandemic-related expenses that haven’t been covered by some other program. Continue reading “Approaching $600K: Monroe County’s federal grant relief awards to local businesses, nonprofits” →

Monroe County passes half million dollar mark in CARES Act distributions

At its regular Wednesday meeting Monroe County’s three-member board of commissioners approved federal pandemic relief for five more area businesses, pushing the total amount awarded to over a half million dollars.

Top awardees by Monroe County of CARES Act relief funding. The full table of entities (taxing units and businesses) is included at the end of this article.

At their Wednesday meeting, county commissioners approved another $48,698 in reimbursements to five different businesses, bringing the grand total so far to $531,278.

Awarded money in Wednesday’s round of approvals were Crumble ($30,000), Litwin Enterprises ($881.19) Michael’s Uptown Cafe ($13,123.62), Gallagher Properties, INC ($650), and C3 Bar ($4,043.64).

The money that Monroe County has been distributing money to businesses and government entities comes from a total $4.7 million CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act allocation to the county. Continue reading “Monroe County passes half million dollar mark in CARES Act distributions” →

Monroe County lengthens time for CARES-style business relief, townships draw on $200K in county help: “December is not an easy month.”

At its regular meeting on Wednesday, Monroe County commissioners approved a reconfiguration and an extension into next year, of a program under which it has already approved distribution of $238,880 to businesses or social service agencies and $85,713 to other taxing units. The distributions were for reimbursements related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, commissioners also got an update from township trustees on the status of a $200,000 allocation that has been made to the county’s townships, to help with the amount of township assistance that is being requested by residents for help in paying for rent, utilities and food. Requests have increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The township assistance grant is being allocated to the Monroe County Trustees Association in $25,000 increments, based on how much assistance is needed.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Washington Township trustee Barb Ooley told commissioners that out of the first $50,000, all but $73.10 of assistance had been awarded to residents. During the meeting, Ooley made arrangements with commissioners administrator Angie Purdie for the next installment, because the need between now and the end of the year is expected to be critical.

As Ooley put it: “December is not an easy month.” Continue reading “Monroe County lengthens time for CARES-style business relief, townships draw on $200K in county help: “December is not an easy month.”” →

COVID-19 means continued lower ridership, fare-free policy for Bloomington public buses

A plexiglass partition on a hinge has been installed at the front of Bloomington Transit buses to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 between passengers and drivers.

On Tuesday, at its regular monthly meeting, the Bloomington Transit board approved an extension of BT’s fare-free policy through Oct. 20.

The fare-free policy started in March, along with rear-door boarding, as a way to reduce passenger-driver interactions and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The regular fare is $1 a ride.

Passengers can now board through the front door. A plexiglass partition on a hinge has been installed in buses to form a kind of compartment for the drivers, to reduce the chance of COVID-19 transmission.

Also on Tuesday, the latest numbers reported to the Bloomington Transit (BT) board showed the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued impact on ridership. The lower-ridership trend that started just after Indiana University’s spring break in March has continued through the start of classes this fall.

Ridership has shown incremental gains from month to month since April. But the typical big bump in August is absent this year. Bloomington’s public transit ridership in normal years is roughly 70 percent Indiana University affiliates.

In August this year, about 64,000 rides were taken, compared to 199,000 a year ago. Over the last four months, about one-third the number of rides have been taken on fixed-route buses compared to last year. Continue reading “COVID-19 means continued lower ridership, fare-free policy for Bloomington public buses” →