BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Nearly $2 million will be going toward helping Brevard County’s small businesses recover from COVID-19 losses.
The only county commissioner who was opposed didn’t like the idea of taking that money from the county’s public safety fund, where it would have gone before the commission voted Tuesday.
[TRENDING: Rare ‘Christmas star’ puts on a show | Suspects sold ‘jail broken’ Amazon Fire Sticks | Who will be the next to receive the COVID-19 vaccine?]
“Understand, you just voted to take some of that money that would of otherwise gone to fire and police, and give it to businesses that didn’t apply in a timely manner,” Commissioner John Tobia said.
Commissioner Bryan Lober responded that federal CARES money would not come out of first responders’ paychecks, it would be cut from capital projects.
As commissioners debated at the county government center in Viera, the county held its last giveaway of the year, handing out free masks, gloves and sanitizer at the emergency operations center in Rockledge.
David Jones is the deacon of Emmons Memorial Church of God by Faith in Cocoa, which he says adapted during the pandemic and now is even thriving.
“We were shut down for a while but we also went online. It enhanced the church, really, because we learned about online presence,” Jones said.
The owner of a salon in Melbourne said he’s taken advantage of the county’s PPE giveaways since they started.
“It’s been very helpful, everybody appreciates that and we hope it continues,” Al Mungo said.
The owner of the Younique Spa also said his employees are anticipating receiving the next round of stimulus checks.
“We’re hoping for that and it’s really needed and necessary,” Mungo said.