More Flexibility Allowed in Treasury’s Final Rules for ARPA Funds
ECICOG is currently reviewing recently updated final rules from the Department of Treasury for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated to local governments. The new rules appear to be a game changer in terms of the use of these funds. Rather than calculating revenue loss, Treasury now gives a standard allowance of revenue loss of $10 million or the full award amount, whichever is less, to replace lost public sector revenue. Recipients can then use these dollars to fund “government services”, including road building/maintenance and other infrastructure. Our communities often expressed interest in using ARPA funding for new trails. While the rules don’t specifically mention trails, we believe that trails would be considered “government service” and now an allowable use.
 
To view an overview of the final rules, click here. Contact Economic Development Specialist Adam Bentley at 319-289-0062 or adam.bentley@ecicog.org for more information on the use of ARPA funds.

19+ Tons of Waste Reused Through IWE Program
ECICOG provides Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE) services in Benton, Iowa, Jones, Johnson, and Linn Counties. This no-cost, non-regulatory, and confidential program matches organizations’ byproducts and waste with other groups that can use or recycle those materials. For example, ECICOG staff connected a company with a semi-load of unused face shields with an aid organization. The face shields were then sent to earthquake-impacted areas in Haiti and Guatemala. ECICOG’s annual goal for the IWE program is to divert 12,048 tons of waste from landfills. ECICOG exceeded that in fiscal year 2021, with 17,158 tons diverted. To date in fiscal year 2022, ECICOG has diverted 19,661 tons of waste through the IWE program.
 
Contact Environmental Specialist Alicia Presto at 319-289-0058 or alicia.presto@ecicog.org for information on the program or visit the IWE website to learn more.

Envision East Central Iowa Future Summit
Scheduled for March 1
Save the date! On March 1, the Envision East Central Iowa Strategy Committee will host a future summit to share details about the draft economic development strategy for the region. This exciting event represents the culmination of months of work and input from hundreds of stakeholders. The planning process is just the beginning. At the summit, we begin to discuss the next steps to move our strategy from ideas to action. Stay tuned for more details!
 
To learn more about Envision East Central Iowa, visit talkto.ecicog.org/eeci.

Check out ECICOG’s work in 2021!
ECICOG’s mission is to build vibrant, forward-thinking communities in a collaborative, resilient region. Founded in 1973 by Benton, Johnson Jones, Iowa, Linn, and Washington counties, we have been at our work for almost 50 years! Take a look at our annual report to learn more about the work we did in 2021.
 
Click here to download our annual report!

Webinar on Hometown Pride Program to be held January 24
Do you have energetic community members interested in advancing your town? Do you frequently hear ideas for community improvements, but people don’t know how to get started or what resources might be available? ECICOG is excited to partner with Keep Iowa Beautiful to bring their Hometown Pride program to our region. Hometown Pride provides community coaches and helps citizen groups work towards common goals. Best of all – this program can be provided at a very low cost to your community. Join ECICOG for a webinar on January 24 from 2-3:00pm to learn more about this exciting program. The webinar will cover Hometown Pride and Keep Iowa Beautiful, what a community coach is and does, and how a community can partner with ECICOG to bring this resource to their town or city. 
 
Register for the webinar here. Contact Economic Development Specialist Adam Bentley at 319-289-0062 or adam.bentley@ecicog.org for additional information. 

Congratulations to the City of Wyoming on their Comprehensive Plan Adoption
ECICOG served as the consulting team to update Wyoming’s comprehensive plan. Comprehensive plans present current community values and goals based on citizen input. Based on community input, comprehensive plans express a community’s vision for the future and provide a strategic map to reach that vision. A critical component is the land use map, which outlines how the community will grow in future years. Wyoming saw positive population growth in the 2020 census for the first time in decades. Their new comprehensive plan captures the community’s desire to revitalize their downtown, improve existing housing stock, and advance new housing opportunities.
 
Contact Community Development Specialist Tom Gruis at 319-289-0064 or tom.gruis@ecicog.org to learn more about how ECICOG assists with comprehensive planning.

Can ECICOG Help With Your 2022 Goals?
Our organization was created, in part, to assist our communities with technical planning expertise. Need some help with council goal setting for the new year? We can help. Are you looking at long-term land use planning? We love doing comprehensive planning in our region. The more we know about your community, the better prepared we are to identify which grant opportunities can help you! Speaking of grants, are there grants you want to pursue but you aren’t sure how to go about it? Our staff specializes in writing and administering grants. Is your city code out of date? We can help draft ordinances or codification. Are you simply short-staffed relative to what you want to accomplish? You may want to consider ECICOG for contract planning, building inspection, or code enforcement services.
 
Tell us how we can help! Contact Community Development and Housing Director Tracey Achenbach at 319-289-0072 or tracey.achenbach@ecicog.org for more information.

Calling All Residential Contractors
ECICOG is continuously seeking out residential contractors to support our housing work! Our needs will vary based on current projects, but will usually include replacement windows, roofing, doors, and siding.

Contact Housing Specialist Mark Culver at ​mark.culver@ecicog.org or 319-289-0061 for more details.