HERMISTON — The Hermiston City Council is holding off on firm decisions about how to spend the $3.6 million the city anticipates from the American Rescue Plan, but city staff and councilors discussed a list of ideas during their Monday, April 26, meeting.

The latest federal stimulus package, designed to speed recovery from the pandemic, includes direct payments to cities and counties to help make up for lost revenue and spur local recovery programs. City Manager Byron Smith said the city expects to get $3.6 million — half this summer, and half in summer 2022.

The city has lost about $800,000 in revenue from the pandemic, mostly from the early shutdown of the aquatic center in summer 2020 and loss of rental fees at city-owned venues, including park shelters and the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. City Finance Director Mark Krawczyk said department heads have done a “yeoman’s job” of only spending on “mission critical” items to try to make up for it, but the losses have still cost the city. In September and October of 2020, the city’s general fund dipped below the minimum reserve level set by the council.

“I’m not ready to say we’re gonna be back to normal by the end of the fiscal year or even going into the first part of fiscal 2022 in July, but the signs say, I think, we have bottomed out on our revenue (losses),” Krawczyk said.

Smith told the council he would recommend a part of the ARP funds go into stabilizing the city’s general fund to make sure the balance doesn’t go below the minimum reserve again.

Another top recommendation by staff was to work with Community Action Program of East Central Oregon to seed a permanent fund to help people pay their utility bills if they are struggling financially. Smith said when the city provided funds to CAPECO last year, using CARES Act dollars, the regional nonprofit did a good job of providing thorough reports to the city on who received help.

“I was very pleased with how it went,” he said.

Smith also suggested setting aside some money to assist businesses that were hardest hit by pandemic restrictions.

Beyond that, he said, there are a number of economic development or livability projects the city could put some money into. They could launch the second phase of improvements to the South Hermiston Industrial Park, for example, or start early on a planned project to pave and extend Gettman Road to Highway 395, providing another alternate route across town. The money could also be put toward building another water tank, increasing broadband access or starting on the West Trails Project that west Umatilla County cities have been planning to stretch along the Umatilla River from the Columbia River to Echo.

With all of those options, however, Smith recommended the council hold off on a decision. The American Rescue Plan has also provided a significant amount of money to various state and federal agencies that will likely be offering up the funds in the form of grants, he said, and grants usually require a local match. Smith said if the city doesn’t rush to spend all of the funds immediately, it may be able to leverage some of those funds into a much larger grant.

City Councilor Roy Barron said he agreed that it is fiscally prudent to hold on to some of the funds, as suggested, to look for opportunities to apply for large grants. Several councilors, however, said they do want to prioritize a portion of the funds as soon as possible to directly help local residents who have been struggling.

Councilor Nancy Peterson pointed out that the state’s eviction moratorium will expire this year, and suggested looking at a fund to help keep residents in their homes. Councilor Doug Primmer said a key to getting back to normal will be helping local businesses recover. Councilor Jackie Myers said she would like to see money go to the food bank at the Agape House, to make it more visible and accessible. And Councilor Maria Duron suggested a donation to the Warming Station.

Smith said he would keep all of that feedback in mind as city staff prepare a budget for the upcoming fiscal year to present to the council in June.

In other business on Monday, the council approved a master plan for the city’s wastewater collection system, which was crafted after a project to run cameras through the city’s sewer mains to spot problem areas.