Commissioners OK ARPA money for Friendly House and continue budget reviews

The Friendly House Preschool and Daycare in Mansfield will be safer and more secure as a result of action Thursday by the Richland County Commissioners. The board awarded $108,614 from the county’s American Rescue Plan allocation to pay for a generator and concrete work at the North Mulberry Street community facility.

Friendly House officials asked commissioners for the funds in June saying while Friendly House has battery backup for emergency lights and some door security, an emergency generator will allow the facility to conduct normal operations during power outages. "When we do close, we do have to call parents. They have nowhere else to send their children to day care. They may not get fed that day. It’s just a real pain, obviously," Friendly House executive director Terry Conard said at that time.

The dollars also will pay for a new front sidewalk, installation of a sidewalk from a new parking lot to a side entrance and correcting drainage problems at the apron of the facility’s garage.

Friendly House has been serving community for a century

"When you think about what Friendly House does in our community and how long they have been present — it’s been over a century — the types of programming that they offer range from after school to recreational to educational. The list goes on,” said county administrator Andrew Keller just before the award was approved.

The ARPA award was the most recent that commissioners have made to area nonprofit organizations. Some of the other ARPA awards went to Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development for small business and nonprofit grants, the Shelby Black Fork Commons project, the Land Bank for Westinghouse demolition and the Renaissance Theater.

“We’ve tried to spread out the dollars as best as possible,” said Commissioner Tony Vero.

Commissioners also continued their work on the 2024 general fund budget on Thursday, reviewing proposals from Juvenile Court, Dayspring and the Dog Warden.

Dog Warden Missy Houghton said she expects her budget will be in a deficit next year, with revenue falling $22,886 short of anticipated expenses. She told the board that while she was conservative with revenue, the way things have been going, that has dropped down significantly with lower adoption, microchip, vaccination and spay and neuter to encourage adoptions.

Houghton said the number of dogs being held remains high at 123 even though the shelter has stopped taking drop-offs, noting that the problem is nationwide with dog intake up 23% since 2021. She also pointed out that she has had to hire more staff to take care of the additional dogs.

”Hopefully we can counteract some of that with some fundraising and hopefully we can get some donations in,” Houghton said.

The dog wardens’ proposed 2024 budget is $498,869.

Rising food costs are causing budget crunches

Food costs are going to be a major concern for Juvenile Court, which oversees juvenile detention, and Dayspring, just as they were for the county jail. Dayspring director Michelle Swank said food is costing the facility “a lot more money.”

“I have allotted more money to the budget but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough because, right now, in October of this year we’re already hitting that amount,” she said. “I’m just going to be hopeful that the prices are going to come down bit.”

Dayspring’s proposed 2024 budget totaled $2,502,592..

Juvenile Court Judge Steve McKinley and court administrator Brian Bumpus also anticipated increases in the cost of food and supplies that could be as much as 40%. Bumpus said the costs of items such as vinyl gloves and paper towels “keep going up and up.”

Overall, the court is requesting 11% more for the juvenile detention, including a 15% increase in the salary line items, and generally modest increases in the overall budget to keep current staff, attract new detention employees and retain quality employees. McKinley said he is proposing to increase in the starting salary for detention employees from $16 per hour to $18 per hour to try to reduce the turnover rate that has been 50% so far this year.

“Wages they earn should be commensurate with the risks they undertake and the expectations that we place on them,” McKinley said. “With a heart to help, those workers also need rewarded for being willing to undergo being yelled at, spit on, threatened or punished. These wages should be more than employees make bagging groceries or stacking fries.”

The judge noted that the compensation the court provides lead staff and magistrate remains within the salary range established by other counties in Ohio. Those wages had been a point of contention in a previous budget discussion.

Overall, Juvenile Court is asking for $2,136,010 for detention and $3,421,092 for court administrative operations in 2024.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Friendly House gets $108K in ARPA funding from commissioners