Cole County approves $140,000 in CARES Act funds

Majority of funds applied to county agency expenses

The courthouse will return to holding more in-person hearings.
The courthouse will return to holding more in-person hearings.

The Cole County Commission approved more applications for distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funding Tuesday.

The county received $9 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds in May and started accepting applications for portions of the funding this month, after hiring BKD, a Springfield accounting firm, to assist the county in meeting its obligations under the CARES Act for purchases related to the pandemic.

County Finance Officer Debbie Malzner said BKD agreed the applications should be approved.

The majority of the funds approved Tuesday were for expenses county offices have incurred during the pandemic. The commission had set aside $3.6 million of the $9 million in CARES Act money for internal county needs.

Items approved Tuesday included retrofitting talk-through speakers at the county collector's office for $4,417, as well as making retrofits in the collector's office for spacing of work stations for $4,675.

Also approved was the retrofitting at the county recorder's office for a pass-through window/barrier for $8,775.

The commission also approved $35,950 for respirator fit testors used by the county EMS service, which also assists in fit testing for employees at the Cole County Health Department and personnel of the various fire districts in the county.

Another $35,000 will cover the cost the county incurred to have first responders undergo COVID-19 antibody testing earlier this year.

The commission also approved $4,150 for a no-touch cleaning and disinfection system for the Sheriff's Department to be used in the holding area of the old jail where prisoners are brought in and out for proceedings at the County Courthouse.

The largest amount funding item approved was $47,366 to cover the cost of hiring four part-time staff at the county Health Department to conduct contact tracing of COVID-19 cases.

The total approved Tuesday was $140,333.

The commission agreed with a recommendation from BKD and the county's CARES Act working group to deny a request from the Jamestown C-1 School District for $4,795 in CARES Act funding.

Although some students from Cole County attend school in the Jamestown district - because the physical school building is not in Cole County - they do not qualify for CARES Act funds from the county, Cole County Auditor Kristen Berhorst said.

The Jamestown district did receive funding from Moniteau County, Berhorst said.

This also affects the Jefferson City School District.

"They will get CARES funding for all their schools located in Cole County, but not the two schools that they have located in Callaway County, which are North Elementary and Callaway Hills Elementary," Berhorst said. "It's my understanding that the district did get funds for their Callaway schools from Callaway County."

Callaway County purchased equipment for those two schools with its CARES funds, said Jason Hoffman, Jefferson City School District chief financial and operating officer.

"All the schools got thermal detection cameras," Hoffman said. "In a survey of our parents, the COVID protection measure they wanted us to do most was temperature scans. These thermal detection cameras allow us to have walk-through screening so we can avoid long lines of kids just waiting to have their temperature taken individually."

Hoffman said each camera and its software costs about $10,000.

"We're also using these cameras in our Cole County schools, and the district bought those," Hoffman said. "We will be asking the county to help us with that cost as we try to evaluate and maximize our funding sources. We have until next week to get that information to the county."

Funding for public and private schools made up the majority of the first application phase for CARES funds in Cole County, $1.5 million. The minimum amount an applying school could receive is $10,000.

Schools may apply for as many items as they would like, as long as they stay within the amount set aside based on student population.

Under CARES Act guidelines, the county can reimburse public schools; for private schools, the county will have to purchase items requested by the schools to qualify for the federal funds.

The second CARES Act application phase is scheduled to begin around Sept. 3. The commission is considering making $2 million available for applications in this phase, with $1.8 million in contingency. That still leaves $3.4 million in CARES Act funds that could be used for the ongoing application process.

The goal is to have funds earmarked by Nov. 30.

Moving forward, applications will be turned over to BKD on Thursdays, then given to the CARES Act working group on Mondays before being approved by the commission on Tuesdays.

Among the CARES Act items that will come up next week is money to pay overtime hours at the Cole County Health Department. Berhorst said the county did not budget for this expense.