The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
SMALL BIZ MATTERS
Council to consider money for police officers, small businesses, groups in rescue act grants
Police and financial help for small businesses and community groups could be among the first things funded in a Lorain spending plan for federal economic relief money.
On Oct. 4, Lorain City Council held a first reading for a resolution to concur with how to spend more than $2.93 million from the city’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act.
The federal law aims to help
states and cities recover from the economic effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Council took no action but will discuss the spending in a Finance & Claims Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 11.
Council meetings are held at Lorain City Hall, 200 W. Erie Ave., and are open to the public, officials say.
“Of course, bills piled up... At this time, my business needs help.”
— Gilberto M. Quinones, owner of Headlinerz Barbershop
Most of the money — $2.75 million — would pay for 10 new officers for the Lorain Police Department.
On Sept. 7, council discussed the need for hiring more police officers.
More patrolmen and patrolwomen were at the top of a resident survey compiled this year.
Mayor Jack Bradley included the results in his correspondence to Council on Oct. 4.
In the spending resolution, the other items and amounts include:
• Paving the parking lot of the Disabled American Veterans Louis Paul Proy Chapter 20, $14,110
• Paving the parking lot of Muzik’s Auto Care, $17,000
• Lorain City Council chambers renovations, $5,869.59
• New iPad computer tablets for the city Utilities Department, $16,841.49
• Equipment for the International City Baseball league, $75,583.31
• Lorain Lighthouse Foundation expenses, $25,000
• FireFish Arts festival funding, $25,000
Plea of local small business
One local merchant included in the city spending plan said he would be grateful for any help.
Like so many other salons and businesses, Headlinerz Barbershop, 2259 E. 42nd St., South Lorain, closed in March 2020 as a measure to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The shop reopened May 15 that year, but with limited capacity due to required customer appointments instead of just walking in, said owner Gilberto M. Quinones.
“Of course, bills piled up,” said Quinones, whose hairstyle handle is “Pito Da Barber.”
Rent has gone up but business has not yet bounced back with the combination of appointments and walk-ins, he said.
Now 10 years old, the shop has become a mainstay in the South Lorain business community.
In 2017 Quinones organized of cutters, models and merchants coming from as far as Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Akron and Puerto Rico.
Community minded
Quinones has offered free haircuts to children returning to school and those in need, but he said now his business is in need due to COVID-19.
He and his brother William Quinones cut hair at the shop with barber Luis Camacho, but another barber and a stylist have left due to the economic trouble of the pandemic.
“At this time, my business needs help,” Quinones wrote in his request to Bradley. “The Delta variant is causing additional spikes, and the end result is less customers are walking through my door.”
The city’s American Rescue Plan Act spending resolution includes $10,000 to help Quinones.
He also thanked Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion for assistance from the city.
Lorain has an allocation of $32.49 million in American Rescue Plan Act money and has received half so far.
The Oct. 4 spending resolution likely will not be the last up for consideration by the city administration and council.
Sewer, water board
The Lorain Sewer and Water Advisory Board members previously voted to request the city spend American Rescue Plan Act money on water and sewer projects to keep utility bills lower for customers.
The Oct. 4 meeting agenda included that board’s formal letter from Chairman Patrick A. McGannon.
Lorain must improve its water and sewer treatment plants.
Those improvements are not optional and could reach $70 million in costs, McGannon said.
“Using these funds instead of increasing the long term debt will first benefit all of the citizens of the city of Lorain and our customers outside of the city limits,” he wrote. “This is a onetime expense and the funds for the American Rescue Act must be used by 2026. By not increasing the long term debt for the improvements for these two plants, we effectively would be reducing the rates for sewer and water for the next 20 years and beyond.”