Smith has said he believed the mill project would be an allowed use for ARPA funds.
Other possible spending includes new fire stations to replace old ones in different locations to improve emergency response times in the city. Another likely use of the funds: moving and upgrading the historic train station along the CSX tracks near Martin Luther King Boulevard, which council already decided to save.
“That’s what council is going to be discussing on Wednesday, is how we go about it, exactly,” Fiehrer said in an interview.
“I believe that this should be an open discussion where all council members are hearing, and hearing at the same time, what other people’s opinions are,” among city staff, she said. “Whatever department made the recommendation, I’d like them to be present, so that we can specifically ask them questions. I think it’s important that we all hear it together at the same time and make the decision based on that.”
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime gift that we’re getting for the city,” Fiehrer added. “So I think we need to put all of our energy into making sure we are using that resource in the best way for the city.”
She recently made clear she disagrees with spending money on the train station, believing it could become “a money pit,” but she and Council Member Susan Vaughn were in the minority in that decision.
“We’ve had some pretty robust conversations at the staff level about what it could look like,” Smith told the council in July about proposed spending. “But again, this is just a starting point. You may decide after you hear the presentation that you want to schedule a future meeting and discuss it in further detail. You might want a special meeting. Whatever council desires, staff will certainly accommodate.”
Fiehrer told Smith at that meeting she’d like to hear opinions from department heads their opinions about the pros and cons of the spending.
Smith said staff could provide, for example, presentations with electronic-mapping to show where different fire-station locations would be better for improving response times.
“We had tons of items come on that list, and we’re happy to review any of those,” Smith said. “But we really tried to prioritize it to public-safety buildings, traffic improvements/infrastructure and then what we call economic development.”
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