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Winston-Salem Seeks Community Input On Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds

The city government office building on North Main Street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Winston-Salem City Council is asking for public input on how to spend federal coronavirus recovery funding. The money was included in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that Congress passed in March.

Winston-Salem will receive more than $55 million to help recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first batch of those funds will be issued around May 11.

The federal government lays out some guidelines for how that money can be spent. For example, it can be used to provide assistance to local businesses and nonprofits, or for water, sewer, or broadband projects. But it can't be used for things like reducing a tax rate or depositing it into a pension fund. 

The city of Winston-Salem will hold a public input session via Zoom on Wednesday, April 28 to get the community's feedback.

“We want to be very transparent with the public about how much money we received and how we are planning to use the funds," says Assistant City Manager Ben Rowe. "There are a lot of details that have to be worked out to figure out how we would implement any programs.”

Rowe says speakers can sign up online an hour before the meeting begins, which is 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Public input can also be submitted through an online form on the city's website.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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