by April Scheinoha
Reporter
COVID-19 continues to rear its head in Pennington County. At its meeting Tuesday, March 9, the Pennington County Board heard an update on the latest grants awarded to area businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by the pandemic.
Erik Beitel, Pennington County emergency management director, said the county has disbursed $276,221 in this round of grants. Beitel said the county had received 48 applications, and he believed 16 applications had been funded. The County Relief Grants averaged $5,000 to $25,000 with at least one applicant receiving an amount of $30,000. The funds came from the State of Minnesota.
In this latest round, grants were awarded to bars, restaurants and gyms, in particular, those businesses forced to close a second time. One or two nonprofit organizations also received grants since COVID-19 significantly affected their ability to raise funds.
A county committee reviewed the grants. “The committee did a fabulous job, and I appreciate their assistance,” said Beitel, who anticipated that the committee may meet in the future as some additional grant opportunities may be forthcoming. He indicated those grants may not be geared toward small businesses.
So far, the county has awarded over $1 million in grants to county businesses and nonprofit organizations affected by the pandemic. Those grants were funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
County Board supported Minnesota Rural Counties’ stance opposing the Minnesota Clean Car Policy advocated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The policy states that “MRC supports legislative review of any and all issues of consequence that would bring harm to the culture and/or economy of rural counties. Further, MRC opposes the attempt by the MPCA to adopt the MN Clean Car rule without consulting the Legislature and encourages the Walz administration to withdraw the proposed rule and submit the issue to legislative review.”
Under the plan modeled after the California standards, automobile dealers would be required to stock a “gradually increasing number of vehicles with ultra-low or zero tailpipe emissions each year, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen-fueled vehicles,” according to Minnesota Public Radio. If approved, the standards would apply to model years 2025 and beyond. MPCA currently plans to adopt the changes without legislative review.
Commissioners discussed opposing the standards at a February meeting. However, they tabled the discussion until now.
Commissioner Bruce Lawrence said the commissioners believed County Board would have a stronger voice if it joined other counties in supporting MRC’s stance.
Commissioner Darryl Tveitbakk said commissioners are primarily concerned that the potential rules would negatively impact agriculture.