FAIRFIELD — Nearly $7 million in park and tourism projects – including a parking lot at Mankas Corner – were given the go-ahead Tuesday by the Solano County Board of Supervisors.
The board also shifted $4 million earmarked for a pandemic-related business revolving loan program to a different American Rescue Plan Act category to sidestep some program difficulties, including time constraints and federal guidelines that officials said left some lenders a bit nervous.
The board unanimously approved the move from the Negative Economic Impacts category to Revenue Recovery category, which puts control of the funds into the hands of the county. Eligibility and other requirements for the loans are still in effect, but the move also means payments on the loans will stay within the program.
The supervisors voted 4-1, with Supervisor Monica Brown dissenting, to support five park and tourism projects totaling $6.9 million.
With the allocations, the county has $12.6 million of the nearly $87 million in pandemic American Rescue Plan Act funds unallocated.
Supervisor Monica Brown. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)
Brown supported the $262,912 in pandemic relief funding for Lake Solano campground, walking path, fire safety and other improvements because of the time deadlines involved. The funds will be used as a match to more than $1.4 million in other federal dollars already secured for the project, including $867,648 in earlier pandemic relief funding through the CARES Act.
Brown…
