Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Arpa Appropriations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gary council approves package of ARPA-funded ordinances for workforce, health, sewer, infrastructure and housing
Summary
The Gary Common Council on its final meeting of the year approved multiple ARPA appropriations and budget ordinances to fund workforce development, a revised health-department renovation allocation, sanitary sewer improvements, infrastructure (including sidewalks), and a housing initiative with down-payment assistance.
The Gary Common Council approved a package of American Rescue Plan Act-funded ordinances on its final 2024 meeting, advancing workforce-development funding, sanitation and infrastructure projects, a housing initiative and a revised appropriation for health-department renovations.
Council members adopted an amendment requiring the workforce program’s project manager and two case-manager positions to be filled by City of Gary residents; the change was adopted unanimously as part of CPO 2024‑81 and the companion appropriation (CPO 2024‑82) was approved after the total was set at $1,668,000. “We are a council that approves, but we also are invested in our constituents,” one councilmember said during the debate. The amendment was approved on a roll-call vote of 8–0.
Officials also moved forward on sanitation and infrastructure orders. Brenda Scott Henry told the council the Forest Main/Chase Pump Station force-main replacement is a roughly $8.5 million, three-phase project at 90% design with plans to go to bid in January; the council approved CPO 2024‑85 as amended, a one‑time appropriation expected to offset construction costs by $1,000,000. City Engineer William Allen summarized a separate infrastructure ordinance focused on repaving, traffic-signal repair and sidewalk replacement; that ordinance (CPO 2024‑87) was amended to explicitly add sidewalks and passed unanimously.
The council also approved a housing package (CPO 2024‑92 through 95) intended to spur single‑family housing development in targeted neighborhoods. Administration staff described two neighborhood tracks (Emerson and Aetna) and a down‑payment assistance component; staff said the program will include income thresholds (for example, about $55,000 AMI for a family of four in one program stream) and various eligibility rules. “We’re trying to layer all of these services…to get population density in these neighborhoods,” the mayor said.
Several councilmembers said they wanted closer involvement from the administration on program rollout and community engagement. Controller Salida Green and ARPA advisers advised the council that ARPA contracting steps must be taken before Dec. 31 to preserve funding and that interagency agreements could satisfy the contracting requirement where appropriate.
The meeting concluded with closing remarks by Mayor Eddie Melton and the council’s adjournment; the body announced a reorganization meeting for Jan. 7, 2025.
What’s next: the ordinances approved as amended will move into implementation steps with specific contracting, procurement and program‑design work to follow. Where staff indicated details were incomplete (for example, final program rules for housing and contractor bid packages), they pledged to provide supporting documentation to council members.
