Council votes no to use funding for Uptown lights

A proposal to use the city’s American Rescue Plan funds to purchase better street lights for Uptown was defeated Tuesday by Creston City Council 4-2.

The proposal was to spend up to $6,000. American Rescue Funds were issued by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic to municipalities as a way to make up for lost revenue. Local governments have until December 2026 to have all of their funds spent.

Council members Matt Levine and Richard Madison were in favor of the idea. No votes were from Josh Thompson, Steve Wintermute, Kiki Scarberry and Jocelyn Blazek. Council member Brenda Lyell-Keate was not in attendance.

Mayor Gabe Carroll suggested using American Rescue Plan funds as matching funds for a grant application in the near future.

“Since we are going to have some tight budget issues going into next year we would like to maximize grant funds,” he said. Carroll said the lights could be at a cost of $900 rather than $6,000 through a certain grant. American Rescue Funds must be formally committed, like a purchase contract, by the end of 2024.

“If you don’t feel like saving $5,100 and want to buy it now, I totally understand that. I’m not against the project by any means. I just try find clever ways to use our money and make it go farther,” Carroll said.

During public forum, Creston Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellen Gerharz said she was in favor of the lights as proposed on the agenda. She said she received an email from Carroll stating he was going to suggest ARP funds not be spent on the lights and wait to see if revitalization grant in 2024 could be used.

“I was a little shocked,” Gerharz said.

She said she was approached in October by business and property owners about issues in Uptown Creston. A meeting was held earlier this month with those people and others including some council members. “It was a good meeting. The one thing that came out of it is we can do right now is the lighting.”

She said a new light install at the corner of North Maple and Adams was viewed by those in attendance.

“All agreed lighting was a quick easy way to start to address some of the concerns these people had,” she said.

Gerharz said a response to the mayor’s interest to use grant funds for the work listed the unknowns; when will the grant be approved, when the funding will be received and how will the city provide any matching funds.

“His response to me was, I don’t have any firm details on the grant application. We hope to hear by spring, summer or fall the grant will be awarded.’ We are looking at almost a year period of time when this fix could take place in the next month or so and alleviate some of the concerns,” she said.

Scarberry questioned Gerharz.

Scarberry said she remembers a different meeting, meaning the city had never agreed to commit funds for lighting.

“What we agreed is the business owners were going to increase the lighting to our businesses and that was going to immediately improve it,” she said.

Scarberry said grant funds dedicated to Uptown Creston improvements “makes sense.”

Blazek said the lighting Uptown is terrible but is interested in making city funds more efficient to be spent.