Argo City Council designates $20,000 of ARPA funds to St. Clair schools

By Crystal McGough

ARGO – The Argo City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday night, Jan. 10, to designate $20,000 of American Recovery Plan Act funds to four schools in the county.

Left to right: City Councilor Dennis Griffin, Mayor Pro-tem Dusty Stinson, City Councilor Michael Hicks, SHS Principal Dr. Gregory Moore Jr., City Councilor Ann Brown, SES Principal Chris Hill, Mayor Betty Bradley, MES school counselor Carrie Tucker, City Councilor Danny McCarley, SMS Principal James Talton

According to city attorney Michael Brymer, Resolution 2022-01-10 authorizes the city of Argo to designate these funds to certain St. Clair County schools to be used in relation and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and to “assist in those efforts to keep kids in school and keep things on the ground going.”

Each of the following schools received a check from the city in the amount of $5,000:

• Margaret Elementary School
• Springville High School
• Springville Middle School
• Springville Elementary School

The council also unanimously passed a motion to approve up to $2,000 of ARPA funds to the Argo Fire Department for a new commercial-grade washing machine.

Councilor Ann Brown notified the public that all St. Clair County tornado sirens have been removed and replaced with a new severe weather alert system called “Alert St. Clair.”

“Originally, they were supposed to be in ball fields; open field areas where you had a lot of people,” Brown said. “Then, I think that we all began to depend on those in severe weather, when some of us lived within distances that the siren could not reach us. So, the county has adopted ‘Alert St. Clair.’”

St. Clair County residents must sign up for “Alert St. Clair” by logging on to www.stcema.org. There, individuals can choose which notifications they would like to receive and how they would like to receive their information and alerts, whether by cell phone, landline phone, email or text message. For more information on “Alert St. Clair,” visit St. Clair County EMA on Facebook.

Mayor Betty Bradley announced that city hall will be closed on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The next meeting of the Argo City Council will be Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, at the Argo Municipal Complex. The regular meeting will begin immediately following the 5 p.m. work session.