ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Alderman Rasheen Aldridge is chair of the city’s Budget and Public Employees Committee. On Wednesday, he and fellow committee members received an update on tornado recovery efforts involving funds from the Rams lawsuit settlement.

Aldridge said Wednesday’s meeting was the third in an effort to be transparent about how the settlement money is being spent. 

He echoed the desire others have expressed for funds to be utilized sooner but said in many cases the city is faced with legal obligations that must be met before money can be distributed.

“There have to be plans in place,” said Aldridge. “We just don’t want to put all this money out and then a year from now we don’t have data, or we don’t have a system in place to be able to say this money actually helped.”

He hopes more is done to address immediate housing concerns and believes even more funding is needed.

Fellow committee member Alderman Michael Browning expressed agreement during Wednesday’s committee hearing.   He said, “There is more damage and pain here than the money we have available.”

Earlier this year, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved spending $30 million from the Rams lawsuit settlement interest toward tornado relief efforts.

Jim Hill, the city’s chief financial recovery officer, shared with committee members an update on how much of the $30 million has been utilized.

He said $22.8 million has been either spent or is in the process of being deployed.  Recovery funding includes money for non-profits involved with tornado relief. 

Other areas of funding include contracts to turn 219 vacant units into intermediate housing, disaster case management, resource hubs, debris removal, and community services.

During the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting, business owner Danni Eickenhorst addressed the committee, saying some businesses in the Delmar Maker District are struggling and need immediate help.

“We need grants, direct forgivable support in days and weeks, not months, because we’re heading into winter and all up and down our area people are laying off employees and shutting their doors,” said Eickenhorst.

You can view the entire meeting on the city’s YouTube page.