Aurora Residents Urged To Suggest How To Spend $65.4 Million In Federal Funding
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - The City of Aurora will have its first virtual session on Tuesday to collect feedback from community members on how to spend $65.4 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. There will be four meetings open to the public before city staff move forward in their process to make final decisions and get approval from the city council.
City staff say they have identified three categories to focus the conversations, asking those who attend to think about what challenges remain from the pandemic and what are most urgent for them to address. Community assistance, infrastructure, and service preservation are the areas they want to focus on.
Community assistance can include food insecurity, issues relating to the homeless, and small business relief. For infrastructure, staff say that includes water systems, roads, accessibility to city facilities, and improving biking in the city. Service preservation will address supporting nonprofits and essential workers.
"Our decisions are made a lot better when he hear directly from our community members," said Charise Canales, the city's community engagement manager. "So that we can make sure that the funds are being used to meet the needs of our community."
The first meeting is Tuesday at 6 p.m. There will be additional virtual sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Staff plan to share themes they collected from the community to the city council at their next meeting on Monday.
A final decision on funding could come by the end of the year. The money is meant to be spent by 2026.
To learn more, visit https://engageaurora.org/ARPA.
