Lebanon City Council Meeting Recap

During the Thursday night work session, Lebanon City Council was provided a report on American Rescue Plan Act funds that are expected to come to the city. City Administrator Mike Schumacher told those in attendance the city should expect around $2.9-million-dollars to be available to them over the next 2 years. He said that the treasury keeps changing the guidelines, so they want to wait a little while before making concrete plans on how to spend the funds.

 

Schumacher said the funds would allow them to add additional compensation to some essential workers.

 

Schumacher said they do plan to present a plan with a certain amount for essential workers, but probably not the full $13 an hour. Any plan for spending ARPA funds will be presented to Lebanon City Council for approval.

 

Council heard some plans that are forming for the Downtown Business District. In particular, Mayor Jared Carr talked about some of the proposed changes, including adding arches with the Our Town, Your Town theme and lights between Washington and Van Buren along Commercial Street.

 

The discussion also included special treatments at the crosswalks and adding the Downtown Business District logo on the street. In other business, City Clerk Laina Starnes reported that staff is working on cleaning up the codebook and removing conflicts while ensuring the City is in compliance with state law. City Council was assured that City Council would be presented with any proposed policy changes for official approval.