The final portion of the nearly $7 million that Webster County received in federal money to withstand the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic will likely be fully spent by spring.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors chose to channel money to distinct needs in public health endeavors, in grants to county Mom and Pop businesses and the largest share by far, at roughly $4 million, will go to modernize the Webster County Courthouse.

The federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act came to Webster County in two segments, with $3.4 million in May 2021 and $3.5 million in May 2022.

Webster County Auditor Doreen Pliner said that as of late January, $638,880 remained in unspent federal coronavirus funds.

Pliner said a recent summary published in The Messenger legals section showed about $1 million more than that $638,880 in an account of unspent funds. However, that extra million had been transferred in from a second account previously set up, with that coming from previously unspent courthouse clock tower funds, along with some local option sales tax county money.

Pliner and Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Niki Conrad said work on the courthouse heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, or HVAC, should be completed by April, if current progress continues as expected. They both said the courthouse, which dates to 1902, badly needed improvements. Pliner said the pipes and boilers are considerably beyond their useful life.

“It was a really run-down system,” Conrad said. “We needed those improvements. It makes sense that we would upgrade our HVAC.”

Woodruff Construction, of Fort Dodge, is the general contractor for the courthouse work. Conrad said the company has done good work and kept to a tight timeline. She said the ultimate result of the millions spent on the courthouse will be a much modernized building that’s set to be a good facility for county residents for years ahead.

As for how the other federal American Rescue Plan Act funds were spent, the Webster County Board of Supervisors chose to channel money to needs in public health and for struggling small businesses. Those moves resulted in the money going to more than 60 projects.

In public health project spending, the Webster County Health Department’s building received $521,715, while the agency got more than $36,000 for a van, $40,565 for medical equipment and $50,000 to fund a staff position.

In the second year, another amount of more than $42,000 went to medical equipment, salaries and other items.

Other big segments of money were directed to the Sheriff’s Department, with more than $400,000 over the two years, plus $151,000 went to the Auditor’s Office for new election equipment.

Additionally, there was a process created for directing grants to small businesses. In 2021, $248,000 worth of grants were awarded while in 2022, $250,000 were awarded.

Businesses had to describe their needs and how they would enact measures to counteract the impacts of the pandemic and stay open at a time when businesses across the United States were closing up. An advisory board was created to review the applications, and made awards ranging from a few thousand dollars to $10,000.

Conrad said the supervisors took very seriously having transparency on the decisions regarding the grant awards.

“We didn’t want there to be any inkling that we were driving how it could be spent,” she said.

Conrad said the grants aided struggling firms that might have gone out of business.

Businesses in every town in Webster County received money from the grants, including Hummingbird Confections in Callender, Ole Town Road Pub & Eatery in Gowrie and the popular annual rodeo in Dayton. Many entities in Fort Dodge received money, too.