Butler City Council voted Tuesday to use approximately $674,000 received from the American Rescue Plan Act to cover a portion of lost revenue that the city was expecting in 2020 but did not receive.

Mayor Ben Smith said the money is replacing the lost revenue, so the city can pay bills and for necessary services, some of which had already been paid off.

“The money has been granted to the city, we are using it for lost revenue because we were substantially down last year and this year,” Ben Smith said. “So it will be going to repay some of those things that were paid for out of the budget already.

“It's basically just back-building the money we don't have now that we need for the end of the year.”

The city is also continuing its improvements of Ritts Park.

Council voted Tuesday to pay Gargiulo Landscape about $9,000 to plant 16 trees as part of landscaping at Ritts Park. Funding comes from the Greenways and Trails Grant.

Councilman Jeff Smith said a group of Slippery Rock University students participated in a beautification project at the park Saturday where some trees were removed from the ground. He commended them for their work at the park, and said the city will likely work with SRU students on park projects in the future.

The new trees will be planted in places at the park where they won't break the flow of the park, Jeff Smith said.

“We're trying to make sure where the placement is going to be it's not going to slow down their mowing,” he said. “Then there is going to be a grouping of them up towards the top. We are going to clear out some brush area.”