Greensboro City Council clashes over how to spend remaining pandemic relief funds

Greensboro’s City Council is weighing how to spend federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

The city received a total of about $59 million in ARPA funding. Nearly $32 million of that is left.

At a work session on Thursday, council members reviewed a presentation that outlined several options for spending the money. The proposal included spending $1.5 million to build 50 houses for Habitat for Humanity, $1 million to replace the roof at the Greensboro Sportsplex, and $5 million for infrastructure improvements at Bryan Park.

Some council members express dissatisfaction with the recommendations, saying some nonprofit projects weren’t included on the list, and that they wanted the money to be used in a more “transformational” way. But Councilmember Hugh Holston urged his colleagues to be realistic. 

"This is not going to be pretty, because no one's going to be entirely happy with the end result as far as getting there," said Holston. "But we're going to have to work hard, roll our sleeves up.”

Council didn’t make any final spending decisions at the meeting.