photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Courthouse at 1100 Massachusetts St., which houses the county government, is shown on Sept. 15, 2018.

About eight months on from when Douglas County leaders earmarked the majority of the county’s $23.75 million in federal coronavirus pandemic aid, many of the funded projects are well underway — and some are even finished.

That’s according to an American Rescue Plan Act finance update that Douglas County management information analyst Brooke Sauer shared with county leaders late last month. The report tracks award allocations and project completion through the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Douglas County Commission completed the process of allocating ARPA funding last July, when it made final decisions about which agencies should receive the vast majority of funds not already earmarked for emergency uses or other expenditures during the height of the pandemic. Namely, that included splitting about $15 million among 14 nonprofits and other agencies, with the remaining $7.8 million or so going to specific county departments.

Five allocations had been 100% distributed to external agencies as of the report’s publication, like the $425,000 going to Lawrence Habitat for Humanity or the $118,000 the Senior Resource Center for Douglas County used to purchase ADA-accessible vans. All told, the county had distributed about 60% of the ARPA funds slated for external agencies as of March.

Others on the list may have gotten hold of a smaller percentage of their funding so far, but they still have plenty of progress to show for it. Agencies like the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center and the Douglas County Historical Society had both been distributed 30% of their funds, for example, but were already able to turn around some of the key elements of their projects.

For the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center, which got a $184,500 award, that means a successful move into a new location at 330 Maine St. The new location is nearly twice as large in square footage as the agency’s previous location.

photo by: Courtesy of Douglas County

The Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center has already utilized American Rescue Plan Act funds to move into its new home at 330 Maine St., which has nearly double the amount of square footage compared to its last location.

And the historical society was able to quickly tackle a trio of projects in and outside of Lawrence using a portion of its $732,539 in funding; it made the restrooms on the third floor of the Watkins Museum of History ADA-accessible, replaced 75% of the roof at its Eudora location and added a new parking lot at Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park.

photo by: Courtesy of Douglas County

The Douglas County Historical Society used ARPA funds to replace 75% of the roof at its Eudora location, fixing severe pooling and leaking issues.

photo by: Courtesy of Douglas County

Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park

Only two external agencies had yet to have any of their awards distributed when the report was published: a $60,000 award to Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center from earlier in the pandemic and a $3 million award the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority plans to use to add a 32-unit expansion at Clinton Place Apartments, the agency’s affordable housing development for senior citizens.

Douglas County’s internal departments, meanwhile, ultimately account for 31 projects split among 11 departments, for what ended up being a grand total of around $8 million in ARPA funds. Though the report notes that $7.3 million of those funds have been dispersed, the projects being funded are collectively only about 22% complete. Some projects have expenditures accounting for 100% of their aid amount, like a $36,745 PPE purchase for the county and $343,196 spent on enhanced remote radios for Douglas County Sheriff’s Office vehicles.