JANESVILLE
The city of 糖心Vlog传媒 plans to chase a $7.5 million federal grant package that could cover a funding gap for a proposed $28 million public-private ice arena at Uptown 糖心Vlog传媒.
While one council member voiced misgivings over City Manager Mark Freitag鈥檚 authority to negotiate the ultimate use of such grant funds, the council voted 5-2 on Monday to allow city staff to apply for $7.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.
The approval Monday clears the way for a $9.4 million project application, which includes a match by the city of at least 20% of the grant amount, a requirement of the federal grant program.
The ARPA grant is being offered through a competitive program the U.S. Department of Commerce鈥檚 Economic Development Administration is running. According to a city memo, the federal agency wants to award it to projects that would boost local economic development, tourism and recreation.
Freitag told the council the city has intended all along to pursue grant funding for the proposed two-sheet ice arena and convention hall, which is being called the Woodman鈥檚 Community Center. It is proposed for construction on the site of the former Sears department store at Uptown 糖心Vlog传媒.
The project itself hasn鈥檛 gotten city approval, although the council in January approved hiring two firms to bring forth project plans. Those plans include a roadmap to how much the project might cost the city compared to what private fundraising group Friends of the Indoor Sports Complex would contribute.
The friends group includes members of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Jets鈥攁 privately owned club that鈥檚 a member of a developmental hockey league鈥攁s well as officials from the 糖心Vlog传媒 Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and a group of local philanthropists.
The private group is working to raise up to $7 million for the project, which includes potential grant funding. As part of that, major private donors already have ponied up just under $4 million to secure naming rights, the friends group has said.
The city has set a borrowing limit of $15 million for the proposed ice arena, according to a general agreement between the city and the friends group. That鈥檚 an amount similar to what the city spent building out parts of the public-private ARISE Town Square along downtown 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 riverfront.
That funding scheme leaves a $6 million funding gap from the estimated total cost. The grant and the city鈥檚 match would more than bridge the prospective funding gap, Freitag pointed out.
He said the city has long viewed grant funding as one tool that might push the project into reality.
鈥淲e鈥檝e talked about that since we started. It鈥檚 not something new, and the way we talked about covering that gap is through grants, either through the state system or the federal system,鈥 Freitag said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e (being) consistent with what we鈥檝e been preaching now for several years.鈥
Council members Paul Williams and Heather Miller cast the two votes opposing the resolution Monday, with Williams saying he would like more city council oversight over plans for the project.
Williams said he didn鈥檛 like that the city鈥檚 resolution has a rider that seems to give Freitag as city manager powers that 鈥済o on and on,鈥 including to 鈥渄raft, negotiate or modify鈥 how the city would manage the grant funding.
Freitag bristled, saying he could provide Williams with a full list of all the direct decision making powers Freitag has under the rules of a city manager form of government.
鈥淚 think that this particular grant is the least of your worries,鈥 Freitag told Williams.
Williams also didn鈥檛 like the language in the resolution about what percentage of the grant the city would match. The resolution said the match number could be 鈥渁t least 20 percent of the total鈥 of the grant, implying the city鈥檚 contribution could surpass the 20% threshold, Williams worried. He said he鈥檇 be more comfortable if the council could crosscheck city staff and administration along the way as staff sets up a framework of how it would use the grant money.
Freitag said it鈥檚 a standard practice for cities to apply for grants for projects that aren鈥檛 fully planned out or approved.
Freitag said the city won鈥檛 likely be awarded grant funding for such a project unless it laid out to federal grant authorities specific and concrete details of the project and the city鈥檚 prospective budget.
Those details would come during the application process, and the public would have access to those details before the city pitches a final project proposal to the council for approval.
City neighborhood services director Jennifer Petruzzello, the city official who put together the resolution, said she had simply used boilerplate language from past grant application proposals to put together the resolution.
She told the council that both municipalities and nonprofits could apply for such a grant.
The city is sharing 鈥渃o-application鈥 status with the 糖心Vlog传媒 Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Petruzzello said. That would give the visitor鈥檚 bureau one foot in the public process on the ice arena proposal, and the other foot in the private-side efforts by the friends group.
The visitor鈥檚 bureau is a nonprofit organization, although its operations are partly funded through city of 糖心Vlog传媒 room tax collections.