SPRINGDALE -- Employees of the city of Springdale will receive another bonus out of the American Rescue Plan money awarded to the city.
The council voted unanimously to spend $635,000 to give each employee a $1,000 bonus. Part-time employees each will receive a $500 bonus.
Elected officials will not receive bonuses, Mayor Doug Sprouse noted.
The city received over $21 million in total from the rescue plan, explained Colby Fulfer, the mayor's chief of staff.
The city declared $9,236,788 as "lost revenue," money the city would have earned through sales tax if the pandemic had not resulted in closed businesses to stop the spread of the covid-19 virus.
Council member Brian Powell proposed the bonuses during the council's Committee of the Whole meeting Oct. 3.
Powell said the employees are the best resource the city has.
The council gave members of the Springdale police and fire departments $675,000 in hazard pay bonuses in October 2021.
The next month, in November 2021, the council approved bonuses totaling $250,000 to the rest of its employees.
The city's emergency responders served on the "front lines" during the pandemic, coming in direct contact with patients who had covid.
Sprouse said the city's other employers were considered "essential workers" as they worked to keep city services flowing to residents.
The city in September 2021 also dedicated $87,176 to aid the Northwest Arkansas Council's efforts at education and providing vaccinations against covid-19.
The city also gave $1.3 million each to Northwest Technical Center and Northwest Arkansas Community College in support of Upskill NWA.
Upskill, a program of the Excellerate Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, works to provide training in various health care fields to students who lack resources. In return, students will agree to work two years for the local health care institution that hires them. The institutions have agreed to hire Upskill graduates to fill the many positions that remain unfilled due to a shortage of qualified workers, Webster said.
Sprouse said the city has researchers determining if American Rescue Plan money can be used for building a new Fire Station 4 just off Elm Springs Road.
The Department of the Treasury is continuously loosening the restrictions on how the money can be spent, Fulfer said.
"It's been to the city's benefit to delay our spending a bit," Fulfer said.
The council on Tuesday also voted 7-1 to expand the hours and the area of the downtown entertainment district.
Customers of downtown restaurants can buy beverages from the six bars and restaurants serving alcohol and carry their drinks as they walk, shop and gather in Turnbow Park.
The council agreed to extend the district south of Emma Avenue along the west side of Holcomb Street. The extension will include the Bauhaus Biergarten, newly opened in downtown.
The Outdoor Dining District includes parts of Emma Avenue and a few blocks surrounding -- an area the city has targeted for revitalization and development.
Jill Dabbs, executive director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance, said the alliance board tabled a decision for a restaurant owner farther east on Emma with construction ongoing in front of the restaurant. The board chose to wait until the construction was finished, she said.
New hours for the outdoor district are 3 to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Dabbs noted several restaurants are planning to serve brunch, which would call for earlier hours on weekends.
She said the restaurants won't open at 7 a.m. unless an event is planned downtown.
She also noted restaurants won't open as early on Sunday because the state does not allow alcohol sales until 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Council member Jeff Watson said he initially was hesitant to allow people walking around downtown with alcohol on Sunday mornings when families are going to church.
But he participated Saturday in the Halfway Halt event during the Square 2 Square Bicycle Ride from one town to the others along the Razorback Greenway.
"I understand it now," he said and voted for the measure.
Council member Rex Bailey voted against the measure because his personal conviction will not let him to vote for anything allowing alcohol use, he said after the meeting.
The council first approved the entertainment district in August 2020 on a six-month trial. Restaurants were starting to reopen; customers were required to continue social distancing.
The district was declared a success six months later, with more than 10,000 drinks sold, Dabbs said in February 2021.
The council allowed the district to continue.