By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Council is taking the next step to determine what community
projects could receive some of the city’s remaining COVID relief funds.
At Tuesday night’s City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, members agreed to
review requests from an initial list of 27 organizations and make room for additional
requests gleaned from council members and the 900-plus comments from the city’s
questionnaire.
The projects are vying for a share of the nearly $3 million still available in the city’s
COVID relief funds, formally known as the American Relief Plan Act (ARPA). Bowling
Green received $7.3 million last year in ARPA funds designed to help communities
recover from the economic impacts of the COVID pandemic.
More than $4 million has already been allocated.
Council also approved a scoring guideline to provide a format for consistency in
evaluating the requests.
The scoring rubric, drafted by Council President Mark Hollenbaugh, includes eight
categories that council members will consider for each project:
How many times the topic was mentioned in the community survey.
The total dollar amount requested from the city’s available American Relief Plan Act
funds.
Ongoing annual costs or amortized replacement costs.
To what degree the request is addressed by other entities.
How closely the project relates to COVID or those adversely impacted by COVID.
How many BG residents would be positively impacted.
The potential for matching funds or in-kind contributions from partners.
The positive effect on the local economy.
The rubric was approved but not without some debate. Council member Bill Herald
offered an alternative to Hollenbaugh’s rubric. He suggested the process could be
simplified if each member review the requests using their own criteria.
“Each of us has different ideas of how to weigh the projects,” Herald said. The process
could be more efficient if each person used their own criteria.
Council member Nick Rubando said, “It’s extremely important that the public has some
transparency. It would be confusing to the public if we are using different criteria.”
“The more we can define the criteria, our constituents can better understand the
process,” Council member Joel O’Dorisio said.
Regardless of the ranking process, every project request will be looked at and the
merits debated, said Council member Greg Robinette.
Council also discussed the proposed 27-item request list and wondered if all of the
suggestions were included from the questionnaire that 969 citizens sent in.
Herald also wanted to supplement the list with organizations that may not have
submitted specific requests but which were affected by COVID.
Council member Rachel Phipps also asked to add requests that may have come in
through the community questionnaire. She agreed to review the 900-plus comments to
make sure everything that all comments were represented when they are ready to rank
the projects. She and Herald will send any additions to the full council before they start
the review process.
The 27 projects on the starting list, from highest to lowest request amount, are:
• Improvements for the city’s resiliency to water resource disruption from climate
change, requested by a citizen, $2.9 million.
• An award-winning interactive art piece of “musical swings,” which play different notes
and sound like different musical instruments from each swing when they are used,
requested by a BG citizen, $500,000.• A Downtown Business Block Grant Relief Fund to assist downtown businesses facing
economic challenges due to the pandemic and road construction, $415,700.
• A community tennis partnership, $300,000-$500,000.
• Funds to mitigate the impact of inflation on previously approved projects requested by
the city, $350,000.
• Construction of six pickleball courts requested by the Bowling Green Pickleball Club,
$337,942.
• A portion of The Cocoon Shelter’s Phase III renovations, $300,000.
• Two accessible neighborhood dog parks requested by Citizens for City of Bowling
Green Dog Parks, $210,000.
• Funds to help with the shared-use path from the Community Center to Logan’s
Crossing requested by the city, $180,000.
• Support for Micro-mobility scooters in the city requested by Meridian Rentals,
$117,638.50.
• Funds for La Conexión to mitigate COVID-19 impacts on the Latinx and immigrant
populations in the city and to develop and strengthen the organization’s capacity to
respond to crises, $100,000.
• Three projects to help the Wood County District Public Library with construction
expenses made necessary by the city’s new government building plans, $100,000.
• An alley revitalization project requested by the Downtown Bowling Green Special
Improvement District, $100,000.
• Downtown building facade improvements requested by the Downtown Bowling Green
Special Improvement District, $100,000.
• Downtown public restrooms requested from the city, $75,000.• A feasibility analysis and business plan for an innovation and entrepreneurship
accelerator requested by Bowling Green Economic Development, $50,000-$75,000.
• Design and upgrade features to be inclusive and trauma-informed in the National
Alliance on Mental Illness’s new Bowling Green office, $50,000.
• A downtown speaker system requested baby the Downtown Bowling Green Special
Improvement District, $40,000-$50,000.
• New downtown holiday decorations requested by the Downtown Bowling Green
Special Improvement District, $40,000.
• A feasibility study for a hike/bike trail requested by the East Side group, $25,000.
• Updates and improvements at the Carter Park Disc Golf course, requested by GAS
Disc Golf, $20,000.
• Postage costs for the distribution of the BG City Guide for four years, requested by
LOLA group, $15,200.
• Help to fund a wood shop at the Wood County Senior Center requested by the Wood
County Committee on Aging, $10,000.
• A request from the Bowling Green Firefighter’s Association for COVID relief
payments, $3,500 to each BG Fire Division employee.
• A request from a citizen to reduce the speed and traffic in the downtown area and to
purchase the Forrest Creason Golf Course from Bowling Green State University to
use as city recreation facilities, unspecified amounts.
• A request from the For the Love of Cats organization, unspecified dollar amount.
• A request for a deer gate in the Westgate subdivision, unspecified dollar amount.
