City assists schools with CARES funding

It was share the wealth time for the City of Greencastle at the August meeting of the City Council.

Through interlocal agreements approved at the meeting, the city will share a portion of its $341,000 in CARES dollars with Greencastle Schools and the Area 30 Career Center.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a more than $2 trillion economic relief package designed to protect the America public from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19.

Mayor Bill Dory noted that the schools had reached out for some possible assistance and observed that “our goal is to maximize the CARES dollars that are available.”

The agreement provides $37,000 to Greencastle Community Schools to use on a variety of items to assist in COVID-19 compliance.

City Attorney Laurie Hardwick, who worked with GCSC to maximize the effort, said new drinking fountains/water bottle filling stations are the biggest item.

Others include hand sanitation stations, plexiglass dividers, cloth masks and a number of items for the band and choir students, including special masks allowing them to sing or play their instruments, mallets for the percussion students so they do not have to share and valve covers for brass instruments.

The city will also provide $8,400 to Area 30 for additional tables to assist in social distancing and cleaning supplies.

Mayor Dory said Area 30 will likely get some Putnam County dollars as well since it involves students from all four county school corporations.

In addition to the city’s $341,000 share of CARES funds, the mayor said the city may have access to FEMA dollars as well.

In other business, the City Council:

-- Heard Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar announce the 2021 city budget schedule. A public hearing will be conducted at the Sept. 10 Council meeting, followed by adoption at the Oct. 8 meeting. The Council gave Dunbar authorization to publish the 2021 budget which has a total max levy of $3,682,327.

-- Adopted on second and final reading Ordinance 2020-6, which amends the city ordinance designating stopsigns at intersections. The ordinance adds stopsigns at the north and south intersections of Woods Edge Boulevard and Cedarwood Drive. About a dozen residents were on hand at the July meeting to report the speeding vehicles that go through the subdivision now that further development has occurred in the area.

-- Adopted on second and final reading Ordinance 2020-7, amending the city zoning ordinance by adding assisted living facilities to the Professional Business District around the hospital.

-- Approved a street closure request for DePauw University move-in days, Aug. 24-26. Hanna Street will be closed between Indiana and Jackson streets so that 40-50 vehicles per hour will be able to check in, beginning with a health check. Students will be limited to one vehicle and two individuals to help with the move-in effort as essentially only freshmen and sophomores will be moving into campus residences for the first semester.

-- Approved a street closure request from the Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County for a Sept. 5 ceremony to add a plaque to the Heritage Wall on Vine Street to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s address to a Methodist group at Gobin United Methodist Church. The event will begin at noon with Vine Street closed from Washington Street to the alley.

-- Heard a report from the Council’s school board appointees, Brian Cox and Russell Harvey, about school reopening for GCSC. They noted that about 16 percent of GCSC students are attending virtually, while seven percent have “not even registered yet for some reason,” Cox said. Enrollment is about 1,750, which is a little bit more than 2019-20. Harvey noted that to improve space in classrooms and make for easier social distancing, the schools may have to eliminate some of the items in their classrooms.

Mayor Dory and City Attorney Hardwick were joined for the August City Council meeting by Council President Mark Hammer, Stacie Langdon, Dave Murray, Veronica Pejril and Jacob Widner at City Hall with Adam Cohen and Cody Eckert participating via zoom.

The next regular session of the City Council is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10 at City Hall.