BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tuesday's Buffalo Common Council meeting has some big items on the agenda.
The first is the high-profile request by Mayor Brown for the council to provide the city's only downtown supermarket, Braymiller, with a $562,557.57 bailout.
A downtown supermarket has been a high priority for Mayor Brown and it took nearly a decade for his administration to accomplish that goal.
The "special economic development activity" as it's referred to in the Council agenda, cites the struggles Braymiller has had downtown. The market opened during the pandemic and hasn't been able to catch its stride yet.
The council has repeatedly tabled the agenda item. A vote will likely happen on Tuesday because the council is taking its annual summer recess for the month of August.
Traditionally, the July meeting before the break is when many items that have been put off all year are finally pushed through.
But the Braymiller vote isn't a guarantee for Mayor Brown.
The opposition, mainly led by Councilman Rasheed N.C. Wyatt has called out the fact that Braymiller would be the first and certainly largest recipient of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds.
Now the Partnership for the Public Good is putting the administration and council on notice for its rollout of ARPA funds.
"No funding awards have been made to date, even though nearly eight months have passed since the application process close," said PPG Executive Director Andrea Ó Súilleabháin.
Also on the agenda for the council's consideration, adopting an amendment that would reallocate $63.25M of ARPA funds and make the money available for revenue loss replacement.
The city has previously allocated $100M to cover revenue loss, out of the $331M in ARPA funds the city was awarded.
If the council adopts the amendment, 49% of ARPA funds the city was awarded will be used for revenue loss replacement, rather than the projects the city previously announced.
Mayor Brown's administration wants to make significant cuts to areas rescue plan funds were planned to be used.
The following cuts are being proposed:
- Public Health Equity Initiative - $7,319,850
- Community Food Security - $750,000
- Wraparound Services Support for Job Training Program Enrollees - $14,300,000
- Skills-Based Job-Training - $3,450,000
- Neighborhood Improvement Corps - $8,000,000
- Frontline Arts Organizations Fund - $1,950,000
- Neal Dobbins Restorative Justice - $3,395,342
- Community Center Renovations - $10,000,000
- Smart Sewer - $14,084,808
In a letter to the common council, city finance commissioner Delano Dowell said those cuts would be transferred to:
- Revenue Loss Replacement - $59,900,000
- Park Access Equity - $2,500,000
- Premium Pay for Buffalo Sewer Authority Employees - $850,000
According to the rules for ARPA funds established by the Treasury Department, a municipality is able to transfer ARPA funds to cover revenue loss.
"When you move it to revenue replacement, you are putting it into the general fund and therefore washing it of all of the federal requirements," Ó Súilleabháin said. "So when you move it in that way, arguably the city wouldn't have to follow all of the procurement rules that are necessary when they want to move it out."
The council meeting is set for Tuesday at 2 p.m.