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Council committee advances $1 million ARPA request for Cador's Creek greenway design
Summary
York City committee voted to send a $1 million ARPA allocation for Cador's Creek greenway design, engineering and construction management to the March legislative agenda after questioning conflict‑of‑interest review and funding commitments from federal and state partners.
York City’s committee meeting on Feb. 25 advanced a resolution to place a $1 million American Rescue Plan Act allocation on the March legislative agenda to support design, engineering and construction management for Phase 1 of the Cador’s Creek greenway.
Sarah O’Brien, director of Downtown, Inc. and a York County Economic Alliance representative, told the committee the phase‑one project is a $45 million undertaking that will reconnect neighborhoods to downtown, restore public creek access and reduce stormwater pollutants before they reach the Chesapeake Bay. She said most construction funding is expected from federal and state sources, leaving an estimated $4.2 million gap for design, engineering and construction management; the city’s $1 million ARPA allocation would help close that gap so permits and construction can move forward this year.
“This million dollars is literally a once‑in‑a‑century opportunity to bring this project to the finish line,” O’Brien said.
Council members pressed staff on procurement and transparency after learning the York County Economic Alliance (YCA) provides contracting services to the city department overseeing the project. Council members asked the solicitor to document prior conflict‑of‑interest reviews; Solicitor Flowers said the ARPA application and the city’s contractor review process did not flag an insurmountable conflict and that the YCA’s contract work is separate from oversight of this ARPA award.
“Optics are everything,” a council member said, urging formal documentation of conflict checks before final council action.
Staff said other major grant lines — described to the committee as committed or strongly supported by federal and state partners — are not yet in hand but are expected once the permitting process advances. The committee heard public comments urging broad multilingual outreach for HUD‑related reports and noting the regional infrastructure benefits of the greenway.
The committee moved and seconded the resolution to place the ARPA allocation on the March legislative agenda; the item will return to the full council for a final vote on March 3 or March 17 (as scheduled). The committee also asked staff to provide formal conflict‑of‑interest documentation and an end‑of‑year financial report to support final action.
