$1,829,166 of the $10.5 million in federal aid has been allocated to business and non-profit recovery in Saline County.
The Saline County Commission approved the use of ARPA dollars to fund the Choose Saline County app in response to the community’s priority to fund business recovery.
Each of the six awardees has made progress on their respective grants, spending a total of more than $134,700 through the end of March, 2023.
To help meet that developing need, Salina Are Technical College is planning on launching an Industrial Maintenance and Automation program. Saline County has pledged $90,000 in ARPA towards the project.
While ARPA is primarily focused on recovery from the pandemic, Saline County has continued to experience needs related to the public health emergency response.
Saline County has partnered with Cope Notes to bring Saline County residents the service's daily text messages of mental health support and positive psychology to combat stress and negative thoughts.
The County’s plan prioritizes workforce development initiatives and partnerships to provide opportunities for gainful employment and to match local workforce needs and training programs. $498,650 has been allocated to economic and workforce development.
Salina Tech breaks ground on industrial automation facility. $90k of County’s ARPA funds helped match other grants totaling nearly $3M.
The Saline County Workforce Development Program is a joint venture between KWU, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office and the Salina Police Department.
$133,650 has been allocated to an airframe certification program at Kansas State University - Salina.
A total of $185,000 had been allocated to a truck driver training program at Salina Area Technical College. Of that, $10,221.48 has been expended.
A priority for funding will be procuring land and/or partnering to develop additional housing units (including but not limited to housing affordable to individuals with low or moderate incomes), rehabilitating existing housing, and providing funding for emergency repairs to low-income homeowners. Affordable housing is a top-tier priority of the community and County. Initial investments may be allocated to in-progress housing developments.
Reduce your energy costs when you apply to the Saline County Community Housing Weatherization Assistance Program
South View Estates is being developed in South Salina by South View Estates Inc, a group of developers who have come together to create housing opportunities in Salina with the help of the Moderate Income Housing Grant
Priorities for funding could include any number of programs with aims to reduce poverty and barriers to economic mobility. The County has identified needs in the areas of health and wellness, housing and homelessness, jobs and workforce development, education and life skills, and hunger and food insecurity.
Salina Public Schools is excited to announce that we have partnered with Saline County to host Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor, Amy Speidel, for a special presentation on May 11. Looking Through a New Lens: Strategies to Meet the Needs of Today’s Children will address challenges that teachers, and parents, face today when resources are slim and the needs are great. There will never be a better time to shift gears and experience what is possible when we see what CAN work rather than what should still work. For that we need new strategies.
Thousands of tires were collected during North Salina Community Development event.
An additional priority for funding will be to implement programs to reduce violent crime in lower-income communities.
The Co-Responder Program in Saline County is funded by $199,125 of the $10.532 million in federal money that circled back to Saline County this year.
Saline County is moving forward with a remodeling project for part of the third floor in the city county building to accomodate two new district judges and a magistrate judge in the 28th Judicial District.
In the area of Public Safety & Criminal Justice, Commissioners approved a new $250,000 grant program entitled "Safer & Healthier Saline County."
The County’s plan includes funding projects to construct, improve, and repair drinking water transmission and wastewater collection and treatment; control nonpoint sources of pollution; improve resilience of infrastructure to severe weather events, including flooding; create green infrastructure; manage and treat stormwater or subsurface drainage water; facilitate water reuse; and protect waterbodies from pollution.
On December 21, 2021, County Commission made preliminary awards of $517,205.74 to 11 projects from eight different agencies. Grant agreements are being prepared with those agencies.
Investing in reliable internet access is essential for supporting Saline County’s growth and ensuring residents can stay connected. A total of $164,991.71 (1.6% of funds) has been allocated across four key broadband initiatives. These projects focus on expanding fiber broadband, addressing service gaps, and improving digital literacy throughout the community. Each project, detailed below, highlights Saline County’s commitment to enhancing connectivity for underserved areas and supporting residents’ access to critical online resources.
This project allocated $50,371.71 to provide five grants to four local nonprofits for activities that increased digital literacy in the community.
This project allocated $48,000.00 to reimburse the County for the cost of a consultant to prepare a comprehensive study of broadband service gaps and recommendations in the community. Fully paid and complete.
This project allocated $56,520.00 to NexTech as part of the company’s match for a state Capital Projects Fund grant to install new fiber broadband in central Saline County west and north of the City of Salina in underserved areas.
This project allocated $10,000.00 to reimburse the Health Department for time spent by the Public Information Officer on the broadband projects.
