How will Turlock spend $15.7 million in COVID funds? Business, mental health priorities

Oct. 28—With $15.7 million of federal COVID-19 relief money to spend in the next five years, the Turlock City Council on Tuesday identified supporting business and mental health needs as priorities.

For presentation at a future council meeting, city staff plan to prepare a list of top five spending ideas based on Tuesday's discussion, Interim City Manager Dan Madden said.

The council previously allocated $2.3 million of Turlock's American Rescue Plan Act funding to add city employees, pay for COVID-19 case management services and improve broadband technology for fire stations, per a staff report. Turlock must designate the remaining $13.7 million for services by the end of 2024 and spend the funds by Dec. 31, 2026.

While every council member spoke in favor of helping local business owners who have struggled during the pandemic, they disagreed on the effectiveness of relief grants. Mayor Amy Bublak and Council Members Pam Franco and Rebecka Monez advocated for a city-funded business consultant to train owners how to operate and improve online marketing.

"We can write checks all day long with these funds and dump it into businesses," Monez said during the meeting. "But if we don't change the fundamentals and the foundations of our brick-and-mortar, when those checks run out ... that is a recipe for failure."

Meanwhile, Council Members Nicole Larson and Andrew Nosrati pushed for more grants to allow business owners to pay for immediate needs amid unique COVID-19 challenges. Out of the $2.5 million in coronavirus relief from the federal CARES Act last year, Turlock allocated about $800,000 for local business grants. Larson and Nosrati on Tuesday also discussed interest in spending ARPA funds on economic development services such as for entrepreneurs and first-generation business owners.

The council did not take a vote on the issue because officials gave direction only on how they want to spend the relief funds. But in the future, Bublak said, the city should put out a request for proposals on a business consulting service.

Turlock council discusses mental health

Officials also identified improving access to mental health services as a priority. Franco, Larson and Nosrati gave separate recommendations on working with Legacy Health Endowment after citing statistics on depression.

Perhaps the city could help cover the cost of residents' mental health care, Larson said. Working with the endowment or Stanislaus State University on training mental health professionals may also help, Nosrati said.

Bublak separately proposed spending ARPA funds on a well-being study for all city employees. A confidential service could collect data and include confidential coaching for individuals and teams, she said. The coaching could reduce employee stress, especially after the years of budget cuts and amid the pandemic, she added.

"This is our chance to try and set the record (and) make people know that we appreciate them," Bublak said. "Even for recruitment, people are going to want to come somewhere where they know we're trying to help them develop."

The rest of the council agreed on Bublak's call for a request for proposals on employee well-being. Nosrati said he prefers to pay for the study with general fund money rather than COVID-19 relief funds, however. The ARPA money should go directly to struggling businesses and families, he added.

Other issues officials said they want to spend funds on included affordable housing, broadband infrastructure, online city services, street lighting, storm drains and vocational training.

Turlock can spend the funds to boost public health, reduce negative economic impacts caused by COVID-19 and replace lost public sector revenue, Finance Director Isaac Moreno said. ARPA money also can be used to provide premium pay for essential workers and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

This story was originally published October 28, 20214:00 AM.

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