News

The City Council tentatively approved a list of items the City plans to purchase with leftover funds from the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA], a federal stimulus bill designed to help state and local governments struggling to fund operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young County Commissioners gave the Olney and Graham hospitals another round of federal COVID funds while quizzing hospital officials about whether Olney Hamilton Hospital should combine operations with Graham Regional Medical Center to save the County money. OHH Administrator Michael Huff and Graham Hospital Chief Executive Officer Shane Kernell made a joint appearance at the Commissioners’ April 24 meeting to request funds for their operations. The Commissioners voted to give OHH just $75,000 of the $100,000 it requested to repair and repaint one of its four ambulances and to purchase communications equipment for the Emergency Management Service building in Olney. Mr. Huff said the funds will cover the ambulance repairs only. The Commissioners also gave $75,000 to Graham Hospital for a new first responder truck for its EMS director.

County maintenance crews were set to shut down three roads in Olney starting in the first week of May but the work has been postponed until August, Precinct 3 Commissioner Stacey Rogers said. In a letter to Precinct 3 residents, Mr. Rogers advised that stretches of Olney Road, Hall Road, and Haggar Road would be closed to through traffic starting as soon as the materials were delivered. But the work has since been postponed due to equipment and materials shortages, he said. In the meantime, County crews will shut those stretches of road on a daily basis rather than redirecting through traffic, he said. The repairs will cost about $700,000 or $10 per square yard, Mr. Rogers said. The road surfaces will be chip sealed with a 12-inch base beneath it, meaning the existing streets will have to be dug down to an equal depth, he said.