Plain City Council members voted last week to grant its remaining federal COVID relief dollars to a group of local businesses and a nonprofit after the pair proposed a plan to work together to meet each other’s needs.
“This is what I love about this town,” Council member Jim Eudaily said. “You two came together.”
Council earlier decided to make its remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars – $30,000 – available as grant funding for local businesses and nonprofits.
The village received two applications: one from a group including FMC Investments, LLC, The Grainery, Jason James and Pioneer Pizza; and another on behalf of the Plain City Historical Society.
The group spearheaded by Rayce Robinson, a managing member of FMC Investments, requested $21,000 in order to handle issues stemming from old and unused power and data lines in the area of the properties.
In their application, the property owners said they intend to remove three power and low voltage poles that are “dead and not used.”
The property owners would also relocate Ohio Edison building connections out of pedestrian sight lines facing Main Street and North Chillicothe Street and bury the main power line of one tenant, while placing the remaining tenants main power feeds in conduits that are not seen by pedestrians.
Robinson said if the request is fully granted, the remaining $7,795 would be covered by the property owners, with James paying between $500 and $1,000 while he and Tim Dawson, the owner of The Grainery and Pioneer Pizza, would evenly split the rest.
The Plain City Historical Society requested $23,130 to replace the building’s twinned furnace system and install air quality equipment.
Eudaily said his only concern with the application is he worries that the Historical Society is a tenant in the building, not the owner.
Eric Medici, owner of the building, said “that’s not how most commercial leases work,” as they generally dictate that the furnace must be in the same condition when the tenant vacates the building as when the lease started. He noted that the Historical Society is a bit different since their lease is $1 per year.
He said he would ideally like to replace the system, which is approximately 30 years old, for the members of the Historical Society but he cannot afford to do at the time.
Robinson explained that he spoke with Medici and Rosemary Anderson, president of the Plain City Historical Society, to come to an agreement that he feels would benefit both parties.
Robinson said, if the FMC Investment group’s application is awarded in full with the remainder of available funds going to the Historical Society, he and his fellow developers will spearhead an effort to fundraise the outstanding money.
Medici said fundraising is a difficult task for non-profits, especially one like the Historical Society that is made up largely of older folks in the community.
“I think it would be much better to have them on board than an extra couple thousand dollars,” Medici said.
Eudaily agreed, noting that there may be state grant funding available to a 501(3)(c) like the Historical Society which would not be available to Robinson’s group.
“Getting someone on board to fundraise, that’s like the golden ticket,” he said.
Council member Frank Reed instead proposed funding 100% of the Plain City Historical Society’s grant application, using the remaining ARPA dollars for the FMC Investments project, then using village money to fund the rest of it.
He said he was uncertain which fund the village contribution would come from, but said he felt it could be figured out.
Mayor Jody Carney said she felt the two groups already proposed a collaboration they were in support of, so she was unsure why council should seek a different solution.
Eudaily agreed, adding that he would like to use the ARPA funding to help both groups “and this achieves that.”
Village Administrator Haley Lupton said the only scenario Reed’s solution could potentially be pursued is if instead the Plain City Historical Society applies for additional funding from the village’s separate Community Support Grant fund, which has $13,000 remaining.
Unlike the ARPA grants, Community Support funding must go toward nonprofits “to support local events that will bring visitors to Plain City and promote local businesses, attract positive coverage of the community and encourage stays at the Pastime Park Campground.”
Council President James Sintz said his concern is that fixing the Plain City Historical Society’s HVAC system “may not fit with the ability to release those funds.”
Medici noted that the Historical Society is technically a museum that draws visitors for that purpose.
Several council members said they felt awarding Community Support Grant funding to the Historical Society could be a viable solution.
However, before motioning to award funding during Monday’s work session, Lupton said she would prefer to see a formal application filed.
Council voted unanimously to award $21,000 of ARPA grant funding to Pioneer Pizza, as the money must be awarded to a business that was established and operating in 2020. Council also voted unanimously to award the remaining $9,000 to the Plain City Historical Society.
Council will review the Community Support Grant application at an upcoming meeting.