GLASGOW – Barren County and Glasgow are getting about $1.5 million in reimbursements from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act for local governments with expenses related to COVID-19, according to a news release from Gov. Andy Beshear’s office.

The city of Glasgow has been awarded $1,037,178.

“We used it to purchase PPE, sanitizing products that were required to meet the mandate for sanitizing public stations,” said April Russell, grant overseer for the city. “We also used the money to close the city parks when that was mandated, because they had to be sanitized more than what they typically are and we had to buy signage and all of those types of things.”

The CARES Act funding was also used by the city for police and fire department wages, which was one of the allowable expenditures.

“The police officers were at T.J. (Samson Community Hospital) when the (governor) mandated hospitals had to have security,” Russell said.

Because the police officers and firefighters responded to calls where someone might be positive for COVID-19, all of their equipment and vehicles had to be sanitized following their response to the calls, she said.

The city also used the money to help reopen the community soup kitchen at the Liberty District/Ralph Bunche Community Center on Bunche Avenue that had closed to in-person dining and needed to offer a drive-thru service.

“To open back up they had to purchase to-go containers. They had to buy the Plexiglass. They had to get all of the PPE, the masks, the thermometers everything for the cooks who were preparing the meals. They had to have ServPro come in and professionally clean everything. We were able to get that reimbursed for them,” Russell said. “They are back up and running. It’s my understanding they are serving about 115 meals a day.”

The city also purchased equipment needed, such as computers and television screens, for holding virtual city council meetings and committee meetings.

In an earlier round of CARES Act funding, the city received $53,000 in reimbursement funds for money for its transit system. The city spent the money to install Plexiglass in the city’s buses for the drivers, sanitizing, masks and gloves, she said.

“Right now, if you ride the city bus, it’s free. There’s no charge,” Russell said.

The city has applied for additional CARES Act funding for its transit system and is anticipating another grant award, she said.

Barren County has been awarded $512,399 to reimburse funds associated with costs for PPE, telework supplies, cleaning materials and payroll expenses.

The county installed Plexiglass in Barren County Clerk Helena Birdwell’s office and put up sneeze guards in Barren County Sheriff Kent Keen’s office, Judge-Executive Micheal Hale said.

“We were able to purchase equipment, as far as computers, in case we had to mobilize ourselves and work from home. If the state were to close down government buildings, that was a COVID reimbursement. We were able to recoup some unnecessary overtime due to COVID,” he said.

That overtime stemmed from the Kentucky Office of Administrative Courts requiring additional bailiffs to be on duty at the Barren County Courthouse to do temperature checks, provide information and to do other tasks related to the coronavirus.

“That was a mandate that the state put on. That wasn’t our call,” Hale said. “I believe we could count all of our emergency management salary due to them working with the health department as far as making plans and helping to police different areas of the county.”

The judge-executive added that the sheriff’s office is also helping to police the county for large gatherings that are not yet allowed.

Kentucky Department for Local Government Commissioner Dennis Keene said in the news release that the reimbursements are essential for local governments.

“We know our local governments are experiencing decreases in revenue, making this funding even more important while we combat this virus. Our staff is working diligently to make the process simple and efficient so we can get reimbursements out the door to our cities and counties as quickly as possible.”