Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Grays Harbor County are mapping out the best ways to spend more than $4 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Aberdeen and the county will use a large portion of their funds to provide small business grants of up to $10,000 each, while all three will use additional funds to make improvements to provide a safe environment when county and city facilities reopen to the public.

The funds come from the federal CARES Act, Congress’s massive relief package that provided billions in individual, business and local relief in the wake of pandemic-related closures.

“This is federal funding that the state received,” which is administered by the state Department of Commerce “to go to cities and counties,” said Hoquiam City Councilman Steven Puvogel. He said the amounts were based on population, with a minimum of $25,000 per city.

Aberdeen has a grant agreement with Commerce for CARES Act funds totaling $506,400. Hoquiam is entitled to $256,200. The county entered an agreement for $4,078,800.

CARES Act funds do not come in the form of a check. They are reimbursable funds, meaning cities and counties must pay their own COVID-19-specific expenses up front and provide Commerce with the details to qualify for reimbursement.

At a special commissioners meeting last week, the board discussed options for providing small business grant funds sooner rather than later. Commissioner Vickie Raines said while she normally hesitates to use something like an interfund loan, that would be an option for the first $500,000 or so in small business grants.

The City of Aberdeen has decided to use $200,000 of its CARES Act funding toward small business relief. The city’s legal department has been hammering out the details of how these grants will be awarded and distributed, including who can qualify and how applications will be prioritized.

“Patrice (Kent, city corporation counsel) has gone above and beyond to work with Commerce to get the money out,” Aberdeen community development director Lisa Scott said at last week’s City Council meeting. She was hopeful the application would be available Monday, but as of noon it was not yet visible on the city website. When the application is approved, it can be found online at aberdeenwa.gov/AlertCenter.aspx.

If funds are not needed elsewhere, Aberdeen and the county could provide more in small business grants, depending on the expenses each applicant has incurred due to the pandemic.

At the Hoquiam City Council meeting June 8, city administrator Brian Shay said small business grants may be a possibility for some of its CARES Act funds, but the city will first seek reimbursements for its “necessary expenses” related to the pandemic.

“We are currently in the process of reviewing our eligible expenses related to the pandemic and other opportunities to best utilize the available funding,” said Shay. “Some specific things we are definitely doing are physical improvements to City Hall to protect the public and staff, and technology improvements that will allow certain court proceedings to happen via teleconference to avoid extensive physical social interaction.”

The city is working with the county in regard to possible business grants.

“We’ve had a couple of conversations about CARES Act funding to see how the city and county can tag-team on that effort to get money to businesses, but also to avoid duplication — kind of work together to make sure we can assist the city any way we can,” Raines told the Hoquiam City Council.

A recent Board of County Commissioners workshop focused in part on small business grants, including input on the application being drafted by Commissioner Wes Cormier. Commissioner Randy Ross said he was concerned about the “up to 25 employees” requirement, worrying businesses with slightly more employees would be left out.

Commissioners seemed to be in agreement that, since federal small business funds have been made available previously and some cities are doing their own grants, businesses in unincorporated areas should be a priority for the county’s small business grants.

The amount Grays Harbor County will provide in small business grants is still up in the air, but discussions so far indicate $2 million to $2.5 million will be the likely amount. Cormier has stated that he would like to see all of the $4 million-plus go toward such grants, but Raines and Ross noted several COVID-19-related county expenses that need attention.

One such expense could be related to jury trials, which have been on hold due to state emergency rules related to social distancing and other pandemic-related issues. Commissioners said they are looking at using the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds as a possible location for jury trials, which would afford the space required for social distancing of jurors, court staff and the accused, something the courtrooms in Montesano cannot accommodate. That would require expenses like the transportation of defendants, security and safety considerations when jury trials resume, which could be in late July.

Details of the county plan for CARES Act funds were on the agenda for a Monday afternoon Board of County Commissioners workshop, where the amount of funding for small business grants, the application itself and other CARES Act fund distributions will be discussed.