Nonprofit group questions county funding process

FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County officials were told Tuesday by the director of a nonprofit that the county’s process for reviewing applications for federal covid-relief funds had incorrectly ruled at least one application as ineligible.

April Bachrodt, executive director of the Magdalene Serenity House in Fayetteville, told the county’s justices of the peace her organization had submitted separate applications for American Rescue Plan Act funding to Fayetteville and to Washington County for two different projects. She said her county application was deemed ineligible because the city approved funding for the application submitted to it and the application said the beneficiaries will “live, work and/or go to school in Fayetteville” and concluded that “Because all the beneficiaries are in Fayetteville, the project is not county-wide in scope.”

Bachrodt spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting.

A request from Justice of the Peace Beth Coger to add a discussion of the ARPA application process to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting was rejected by the committee on an 11-4 vote with only Coger and justices of the peace Shawndra Washington, Suki Highers and Evelyn Rios Stafford supporting the motion.

County Judge Patrick Deakins said any discussion would require the county’s ARPA administrator and representatives of the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District, which conducted the initial review and assessment of the applications, to be present to answer questions. The county has set aside a pool of $2.3 million in ARPA funds for nongovernmental organizations. Washington County received more than $46 million in ARPA funds combined in 2021 and 2022.

Bachrodt said her application to the city was for a oneyear aftercare house on Gregg Street and the application to the county is for the group’s two-year residential program on Adams Street.

Magdalene Serenity House provides women who have experienced trauma, sexual exploitation and addiction and been incarcerated with a structured two-year residential program that houses up to eight women at a time.

Residents receive comprehensive services to meet mental and physical health needs including: counseling, medical and dental care, assistance with application for benefits, job and education readiness, legal advocacy and life skills training.

Bachrodt asked the justices of the peace to do an independent review of the applications to see if other projects were listed as ineligible that should qualify.

“I am heartbroken,” Bachrodt said. “I trusted the council to review these applications and to do its due diligence and they did not.”

Bachrodt sent an email to the justices of the peace explaining that the two-year program does, in fact, benefit the entire county.

“Prior to being incarcerated our residents have resided throughout Washington County,” she said in her email. “We have helped our residents address outstanding legal issues in Springdale, Fayetteville, Prairie Grove, Elkins, Farmington, and Lincoln to name a few. We are the ONLY program in Washington County that serves this vulnerable population of women. Thus, we DO have a significant impact across our county. I would deeply appreciate if our ARPA eligibility could be reconsidered for funding and am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.”

Some justices of the peace indicated to Bachrodt after the meeting that they will want answers to questions about the process.

Justice of the Peace Sean Simons said he is concerned about the entire process.

“It’s troubling that we have this kind of question right out of the box,” Simons said.

Also Tuesday, the justices of the peace were told the county did not spend about $1.3 million in ARPA money that was appropriated by the Quorum Court last year.

County Treasurer Bobby Hill said the county has about $1.3 million in money from the American Rescue Plan Act that was appropriated but not spent. The money will be returned to the county’s ARPA fund by an ordinance endorsed Tuesday by the Finance & Budget Committee and sent on to the full Quorum Court. Hill told the justices of the peace the reappropriation of the $1.3 million will leave the county with about $6 million in ARPA funds that have not been obligated to a specific use.

Most of the unspent money, about $1.1 million, was intended to be used for premium pay for county employees who worked throughout the covid-19 pandemic.

Other unspent funds included $250,000 earmarked for architectural and engineering work on a proposed expansion of the county’s Juvenile Justice Center. That project was shelved after the November general election when voters rejected a proposed sales tax increase to pay for a bond issue that would have funded the $28.5 million project.

The remainder of the unspent funds were about $10,000 for electronic poll books for the Washington County Election Commission, $5,000 for self-contained breathing apparatus for the county’s rural fire departments and $1.08 left over from a remodelling project in the County Assessor’s Office.

Also Tuesday, the justices of the peace recommended for approval an ordinance appropriating about $3.1 million in revenue and carryover funds from a number of grants. The ordinance will be sent on to the full Quorum Court for consideration.

The grant funds included about $860,000 for a Department of Emergency Management grant, about $600,000 for a drug court grant, $513,000 for a Crisis Stabilization Unit grant and more than $596,000 in two emergency rental assistance grant funds.