The city of National City’s leaders held a workshop-style meeting on Oct. 19 to discuss the first phase spending plan for a portion of federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars awarded to the local municipality.
Out of the roughly $1.9 trillion in ARPA funding, National City’s allocation is $18,010,907. The city has already received half the funding, $9,005,453.50 and will receive the other half around June 2022.
City Manager Brad Raulston presented staff’s recommendations to city council members with additional input from Assistant City Manager Tony Winney, Administrative Services Director Molly Brennan and City Engineer Robert Yano.
The expenditures, which must be incurred by Dec. 31, 2024 and paid by Dec. 31, 2026 address key funding objectives tied to COVID-related recovery.
Raulston noted that most of National City lies within census tracts that are eligible for some of the funding intended to address public health, including Kimball park and Las Palmas park, but Los Toyon park is in a small cross-section of the city that does not qualify for that funding.
In total, Raulston said, staff recommends allocating the first phase of ARPA funding with $6,080,000 going to the general fund over the next three years, $900,000 slated for premium pay for eligible city employees, $2,250,000 earmarked for facility improvements for Las Palmas pool, and $225,000 set aside for park design and outreach costs to prepare for strategic planning involving the second batch of ARPA funding.
The $2.25 million for replastering and repairing Las Palmas pool is crucial, he said, but also would be well-timed with the first phase of funding as repairs would take advantage of the winter months.
“We’ve been trying to track how much water we’re losing based on the water bills and we’re estimating about 7,000 gallons per day. We’ve been tracking this need for replastering since 2016 and we believe it’s gotten to the critical point. In addition, we are requesting $1.25 million for the decking. Basically, because of the cracks, the seal is now rusting and swelling so the concrete will start cracking and popping off to the point that it will be unusable. We believe it is time to do something with the decking and the plaster,” Yano said.
Staff also recommended the city equally split $225,000 of park funding between Kimball and Las Palmas parks with $100,000 for each, and leave the remaining $25,000 for an outside consultant to help organize and execute a community outreach project.
Some examples of outreach efforts listed during the slide presentation include kiosks in public spaces and online surveys as well as city council workshops and retreats.
During time for public comments, resident Joan Rincon questioned what the $25,000 in consultant fees would cover as well as why the city would need to spend $100,000 on park design rather than adhering to the master plan that is already in place.
Another resident, Coyote Moon asked city leaders to use some of the funding to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Nobody needs premium pay when we still cannot meet in person and we are still in a pandemic. Get us to herd immunity first, then pay out premium pay,” Moon said.
City Council member Mona Rios opened discussion on the dais, said she can support spending money on pool replastering and deck repairs but does not support the Wellness Center.
Rios also said she would like to see community input gathered at public events with a diverse group of attendees rather than solely during city council meetings, a point City Council Member Jose Rodriguez agreed with.
“I’m kind of underwhelmed by how this is structured. We’re kind of laying it out to the community instead of hearing about community priorities,” Rodriguez said.
However, Raulston said he believes the community can give more meaningful feedback by having specific items listed for consideration so there is an associated cost for residents to consider.
Rodriguez also asked how the city would spend the “$6 million we would essentially save” by using ARPA funding for the general fund.
The “simple answer,” Rauslston said, is that the $6 million would be used to balance the budget deficit.
In the end, the proposed $2.25 million of facility improvements passed unanimously.
