Longmont will receive more than $4.3 million in federal funds to help cover the costs of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, which officials hope will help pay for medical gowns, gloves and hand sanitizing stations.
Longmont’s cut is from the $12.5 million going to Boulder County municipalities under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic, or CARES, Act. The funds are from $275 million earmarked for smaller cities and counties in Colorado as directed by Gov. Jared Polis in May.
On Tuesday night, Longmont City Council approved a package of intergovernmental agreements that paved the way for the distribution of the CARES Act funding.
The CARES ACT “provides fast and direct economic assistance for workers, families and small businesses and preserves jobs for our industries,” according to a city staff report on the funding.
In Longmont, the funds will be directed toward reacting to COVID-19 and preventing further disease outbreak, said Peter Gibbons, the city’s recovery manager.
Longmont’s slice of the funding pie “is primarily for costs associated with the emergency response, costs to protect public health, and materials and equipment to continue addressing infectious disease in public areas and facilities,” Gibbons said.
Michelle Krezek, chief of staff to the Boulder County commissioners, said CARES Act funds will cover several costs associated with the pandemic, both big and small.
“I know our Office of Emergency Management ordered hundreds of thousands of dollars of protective equipment, including medical masks, gloves and gowns for fire districts in our cities and towns,” Krezek said.
Expenses associated with following public health orders and restrictions also are eligible for CARES ACT reimbursement. Krezek said. “We made public spaces to comply with public health orders. Plexi-glass coverings and hand sanitation stations also went up as part of our response.”
Cities paid for laptops for employees who worked at home but did not have digital access. Buying Microsoft licenses for work-at-home employees is another cost of COVID-19, Krezek said.
Other expenses linked to the outbreak are being explored, as well.
“Right now we are just gathering all the information we can to get the costs we are comfortable with to be covered by the CARES Act,” Krezek said.
Longmont will decide how to spend the CARES Act funding based on what is needed and eligible to keep services running through the pandemic, Gibbons said. He added funding avenues are largely framed by the CARES Act and the U.S. Treasury.
Longmont also got $69,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration for Vance Brand Municipal Airport, through the CARES Act. The FAA funds will pay for utility costs, salaries and benefits impacted by the pandemic, Gibbons said.
Longmont received another $16,260 in CARES funding for the small portion of the city that lies in Weld County. Longmont’s share was part of more than $12.28 million in CARES Act funds for Weld’s cities and towns, according to the city report.
The distribution of CARES Act funding for the other Boulder County’s cities and towns are: Boulder, $4,75,119; Jamestown, $13,353; Lafayette, $1,292,851; Louisville, $945,947; Lyons, $92,264; Nederland, $69,309; Superior, $585,869, and Ward, $7,369.
