Photo by Eric Ayres Councilman Dave Palmer, chairman of the Finance Committee, speaks during Wednesday night’s meeting of Wheeling City Council.

WHEELING — Federal pandemic relief money is running so low in the city of Wheeling that council members are being forced to shift their focus from which projects should be funded to which requests likely will be denied.

During Wednesday’s meeting of Wheeling City Council, the last of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds came up for discussion again, as the amount of money needed to fulfill remaining requests exceeds the amount of uncommitted ARPA money left in the city’s once brimming pool of nearly $29 million.

Members of the Finance Committee debated a number of ARPA proposals before Wednesday’s regular council meeting and saw members split votes on ARPA expenditures set for final approval. A proposed splash pad at the Warwood pool was likely sent down the drain by a 4-3 vote against it, while a majority of council members approved a new splash pad at Heritage Port.

Councilman Dave Palmer, chairman of the Finance Committee, voted against all proposed splash pad expenditures, noting that he could not in good conscience approve spending nearly $800,000 for splash pads while other ARPA requests remain unfunded.

“We have two at city pools, one at Oglebay and one that is going to be located at Wheeling Park,” Palmer said. “That’s four splash pads in the city, and they’re used three months out of the year. I strongly urge that we take a timeout on these and get our priorities straight.”

All council members with the exception of Palmer voted in favor of a $348,500 contract with Savage Construction Co. of Wheeling for construction of a new splash pad at Heritage Port. However, only Mayor Glenn Elliott, Vice Mayor Chad Thalman and Councilman Ty Thorngate voted in favor of the $359,622 contract with Savage for the splash pad at the Warwood Garden Park Pool.

Officials noted that even after construction, existing splash pads cost about $27,000 each per year to operate.

“In our previous conversations, we spoke about really being concerned about how we’re spending American Rescue Plan dollars, and as Councilman Palmer mentioned – while they are very exciting proposals – they cannot be widely used throughout the year,” Ketchum said of the splash pads. “It gives me some pause knowing that we have other things on the table.”

Ketchem said it was down to “spreading the wealth” as council continues to determine the final projects that will be funded through the city’s ARPA windfall.

During the Finance Committee meeting, officials agreed to recommend approval of a new ambulance for the Wheeling Fire Department, but committee members chose to table ARPA requests for a new mobile stage and for improvements at Centre Market.

Councilman Ben Seidler noted that an ARPA request from Wheeling Homeless Liaison Melissa Adams for financial help toward the development of the new Life Hub facility downtown has not yet made it to the Finance Committee agenda. He requested that the item be included during the next Finance Committee meeting in July.

“I’m a fan of these splash pads, and generally speaking, I would support this,” Seidler said. “But understanding the financial situation that we’re in right now with our ARPA funds being depleted, if I’ve got to make a choice between funding splash pads and figuring out a way to help fund our Life Hub – that’s a no-brainer for me. I can’t in good conscience put a splash pad over supporting our homeless liaison and the efforts that she’s doing there.”

Palmer, Ketchum, Seidler and Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis secured the majority vote against the Warwood splash pad being funded with ARPA money.

Jeanne Finstein of Friends of Wheeling spoke to Wheeling City Council members during the public forum portion of the agenda at the end of Wednesday’s meeting, revisiting her request for ARPA money – or some kind of assistance – to help with the preservation of two historic buildings in North Wheeling.

Officials indicated that the city needs to explore all avenues to fund ARPA requests and proposed projects – including the Warwood splash pad – in the future in hopes of finding a way to make the many worthwhile projects come to fruition despite the limited amount of pandemic relief money left in the coffers.

“This is us fulfilling our fiduciary duty to the community,” Sklavounakis said. “All of these requests make sense, but we just have to figure out where all of the money is coming from.”

Palmer has noted that at this point at the beginning of the new fiscal year, there is no money dedicated toward an annual street paving contract.

The next Finance Committee meeting will be scheduled to take place at 4:45 p.m. prior to the regular council meeting at 5:30 p.m. July 18 at the City-County Building.