During a Seymour City Council meeting in March, due to losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, Child Care Network asked for a portion of the $2.25 million the city received through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Executive Director Kate Garrity requested $200,000 in funding to go toward the development of the community child care center in a former church building at 414 N. Chestnut St., Seymour.

The second reading of the ordinance to appropriate from the ARP Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund took place during the April 25 council meeting, where Garrity spoke once again on behalf of the agency.

Garrity said ever since they purchased the building on Chestnut Street, they’ve been working on trying to open a child care center there for approximately 100 kids from 6 weeks old through 5 years old.

“We plan to add about 40 staff members as we grow, and due to all of the things over the last two years and the increase of prices, we are approximately $450,000 short,” she said. “We are asking the city for $200,000 to help complete this project.”

Councilman Drew Storey asked if the 100 extra kids will be pulled in from outside venues.

“No, and we’ll have the opportunity to partner with the school system to bus school-aged kids back and forth because currently, we are on a wait list at almost every one of our schools,” Garrity said. “Currently, the youngest children we serve are 4 years old in preschool, so in that additional 100 will be new kids age 6 weeks to 5 years old.”

Councilman Chad Hubbard asked how many kids were currently in the program.

“Across the agency, we have between 250 and 300 in the program between Kids Klub, before and after school and preschool,” Garrity said. “That’s not counting our CASA kiddos, and we serve at seven different locations.”

Once the facility opens, they will still be operating within the school system, Garrity said.

“Each of our before- and after-school programs, especially our Kids Klub locations, operate on a waiting list almost every year,” she said. “Everyone needs to sign up before the end of May or we can’t guarantee them a spot.”

She said because they are in the school system, they’re not able to open prior to 6 a.m., and there are a lot of parents who need to be at work by 5 a.m., so at the new facility, they’ll be opening at 4:30 a.m. and staying open until 6:30 p.m.

“We try to do a survey of work shifts in the county, and we found that 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. are the main shifts,” Garrity said. “I’m constantly working on a Plan B, but currently, I do not have an alternative plan for opening the building.”

She said they’ll continue to operate as they are at the elementary schools, but until they have $450,000, they cannot open the building.

Hubbard then asked Garrity how many children the facility could possibly hold.

“Right now, 100 is what we’re going to do, but we do have a large sanctuary with a balcony, so there could be a possibility of building that out and adding on some classrooms,” Garrity said. “It’s a 22,000-square-foot building, and if we were bursting at the seams for more space, we could possibly add some classrooms in the balcony area and sanctuary, as well.”

She said their plan now includes finishing the building and adding a playground, and there’s some miscellaneous construction that needs to take place on some things.

“The other piece would be the sanctuary floor is at a slant, and we need to level that, so there are pieces that we can complete as we get $450,000, but we can’t open until we have all of it,” Garrity said.

Also speaking at the council meeting was Dan Davis, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Jackson County.

“We’d appreciate your consideration in giving this ordinance approval tonight,” Davis said. “This has nothing to do with added bells and whistles from when this plan was put together a little over two years ago.”

He said the issue is clearly a result of COVID, having delays in getting state approval and with the cost of the labor and materials going up during that delay.

“The project is clearly needed and has been on the books for a long time,” he said. “We feel like we’ve put together a good mix of Lilly Endowment money, Community Foundation money and money from private businesses who are lined up to help us with operating cost and moving forward.”

He said the project really needs to be completed for the families and area employers.

“It’s not replacing what they’re already doing,” Davis said. “It’s as much a job assistance program as it is for creating a child care center for 100 additional slots for new kids and even younger kids.”

When the second reading went to a vote, it passed 4-3 to award $200,000 to Child Care Network. Council members voting for the ordinance were Jerry Hackney, Hubbard, Seth Davidson and Dave Earley. Those voting against it were Storey, Bret Cunningham and Matt Wheeler.