Bowling Green city commissioners on Tuesday night unanimously voted on a first vote to spend $4 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to create a “one-stop shop” for the city’s unhoused population at the Salvation Army and invest in affordable housing projects.

The vote came after a mid-November work session in which Mayor Todd Alcott presented the proposal to local nonprofits and the public.

The proposal includes two parts.

The first $2 million will go toward renovation and operation of a Salvation Army facility, which will house a new, community nonprofit partnership to offer wraparound services to Bowling Green’s unhoused population.

Commissioner Dana Beasley-Brown said that the center will allow people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to save gas, time and money in seeking needed services.

“I’m so excited about this space where instead of going to all the different million places you have to go through to get each little piece together, that we have one place that hopefully everyone will come together and provide services,” Beasley-Brown said.

According to a preliminary memorandum of agreement between the city of Bowling Green and the Salvation Army, the newly named Life Nav Collaborative Center will provide services including:

• immediate shelter, meals and clothing;
• daily hygiene, meals, lockers, mail, transportation and laundry services;
• case management services including assistance with health and mental health care, job training and placement, housing, education, governmental benefit programs, drug rehabilitation, legal aid, transportation and other social services that help people reach self-sufficiency.

The Life Nav Collaborative Center will include space for LifeSkills, Room at the Inn and any other community nonprofits that sign on.

The Salvation Army is required to give at least a quarter of the $1 million earmarked for operation costs to pay for the operation costs of other participating nonprofit, the MOA states.

The second $2 million will go to Bowling Green Neighborhood and Community Services, which won’t build housing itself, but will partner with local developers to invest in affordable housing projects, said Director Brent Childers.

“The real goal is to partner with millions of other dollars to make that ($2 million) go further,” he said. “Our goal is to always leverage those funds and to get the most that we can.”

Much of the discussion in the November work session centered on whether $2 million was enough for the affordable housing part of Alcott’s $4 million proposal.

“I wanted to do more because I knew that the ARPA money was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things,” said Commissioner Carlos Bailey. “However, I’m also an attorney, so sometimes as attorneys we know that working together is always better and doing something is always better than doing nothing.”

Beasley-Brown also said that she wanted to do more.

Alcott said that there could be other pots of money available though, including a $60 million opioid settlement abatement coming to Kentucky soon. The settlement monies will be awarded to community efforts to help people suffering from opioid addiction.

The Life Nav Collaborative Center should help Bowling Green get some of that money, which could help sustain the project, he said.

“What we have now is an opportunity and I’m very proud of this,” Alcott said. “I don’t think it’s a one and done. I think it’s a seed that’s going to continue to grow for our community.”

Another potential pool of money is the Kentucky Rescue Act, which Alcott said is looking to dedicate more money into affordable housing in the counties affected by the December 2021 tornadoes.

As one of the four most impacted counties set to receive 80% of the fund, Warren County could have more affordable housing coming down the line, Alcott added.

The city commissioners also voted to spend $10 million – the remainder of Bowling Green’s ARPA funds – to build a public safety training center. The facility will house a police and fire academy and a second emergency operation center capable of withstanding 250 mph winds, a backup in case of a future natural disaster.

“We have not found other pots of money for our public safety center,” said Commissioner Melinda Hill. “So this $10 million that we’re applying to it will help the city of Bowling Green build this up hopefully debt free.”

Police Chief Michael Delaney said that the facility will allow the department to train and recruit more officers to its police academy, which is especially important given recent workforce issues.

“We’ll be the leaders of the state by doing this,” Delaney said.

Commissioners also voted on a first reading to raise the mayor’s salary from $19,741 to $38,500, beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. This vote comes after a pay raise for the city commissioners was approved earlier this year in a 3-2 vote, which nearly doubled their salaries.

“We are the third largest community in the state of Kentucky,” said Commissioner Sue Parrigin. “This is a very time consuming and very important job, and we want the salary to be commensurate with the work that’s being done.”

Alcott, who voted for the increase, said that he doesn’t see it as giving himself a pay boost.

“I don’t look at this as a raise for myself. I look at this as right-sizing for what this elected position does within the community,” he said.