January 31 was the last day for Chester County residents to complete the survey on options of how Chester County should spend their ARPA funds (COVID-19 relief).
Options on the survey included: broadband for the entire county, library space additions, remodeling the old medical building, a new location for the county election commission office, additions to the Tennessee College of Applied Technolgy building, a holding area for the Chester County Recycling Hub, an agricenter for the Chester County University of Tennessee Extension Center, a transfer station for the Solid Waste Department, Dixie Youth upgrades, a water well to be built in the Jacks Creek area, donations to various nonprofits, more space for the Chester County Carl Perkins Center, childcare, essential county employee bonus pay and purchasing the Regions building.
Of the 369 residents who did the survey, the top five options were:
- Broadband (190 votes)
- Dixie Youth upgrades (126 votes)
- Library additions (114 votes)
- TCAT additions (105 votes)
- More space for the Carl Perkins Center (92 votes)
Chester County Mayor Barry Hutcherson wanted to clarify that the way that the county would use the former Regions Bank building has not been designated.
He also said that the goal is to use the COVID-19 relief funds for as many options inlcuded on the survey as possible. If that cannot be done, he said other methods of funding the projects would be searched such as grants and other means.
See page three for a break down on how each commissioner voted/ ranked what they believe should be the county’s priorities on how the funds should be used.
