BANGOR, Maine — This week, Bangor city councilors and other officials began outlining the framework of how the city should spend its more than $20 million in pandemic relief funds. The federal funds were granted to the city through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Bangor City Councilor Clare Davitt said $1.7 million of that funding has been distributed so far to the Bangor Public Library, Penquis, Fresh Start, and the Maine Discovery Museum.
Now, city councilors are working to tackle a number of key issues in the city. As of right now, the city is considering allocating at least $8 million to support disproportionately impacted communities. Under that umbrella, the city hopes to address housing needs, homelessness, and childcare.
Davitt said at least $5 million will go toward addressing housing needs for the homeless population as well as supporting Bangor's workforce.
"The council overall is pretty united on the ways that we want to spend things, that housing again is so much at the forefront of what we need to do. [We're] sort of saying, 'Hey, we're going to start looking at this $5 million to start...' We know building takes a long time, we know the construction costs, so we need to get out ahead [of it], because, you know, actually building the homes, we're years from that. So that's a concrete thing that we need to get going as soon as possible," Davitt said.
Other areas the city hopes to support through the funding include $3 million toward public health, which will cover mental health and substance use disorders, $2.5 million toward affordable broadband for everyone in the city, $1.75 million toward job training and aid to businesses and nonprofits, and $5 million toward community investments like public restrooms and electric vehicle chargers.
None of these allocations have been finalized yet and more still needs to be determined for the rest of the $20 million. Davitt said these numbers are simply a baseline starting point for the city.
Davitt added councilors are also in the process of working with their newly appointed ARPA coordinator to create an application for businesses to apply for funding as well.
For the latest information about the city's plans to distribute this funding, as well as meeting discussions, click here.