City of Seaside looks at contracting for a new coronavirus testing site.

The city of Seaside is deciding how to use a second round of federal coronavirus relief funds. The roughly $340,000 grant adds to the previous round of $200,000, which was spent on distributing food.

When the question of the new grant came before City Council for the first time on Jan. 7, city staff said some members of the public asked for the money to go toward rental assistance and more food distribution.

But as a discussion got started, Councilmember Alexis Garcia-Arrazola suggested there was an even greater need: more Covid-19 testing in Seaside.

“It’s very important that we figure out a way in which we can promote testing and prioritize it for Seaside, especially since we have the new Covid variant which spreads more rapidly,” he said.

He added that the wait times at the state-sponsored testing site at Seaside High School are too long. “If we only have one testing set, we cannot afford to have a backlog of people,” Garcia-Arrazola said.

The council began discussing using the federal grant to contract with a testing provider, an idea supported by nearly all the local residents who spoke during public comment.

Councilmembers expressed some misgivings in a lengthy back and forth, suggesting that money might be better spent on education campaigns and that at least some of the funding might be reserved for rent and food assistance.

“The question we’re all wrestling with here is, do we get more value out of education, and guiding people to the testing sites we have, or do we get more value, and more public safety ultimately out of setting up another option,” City Manager Craig Malin said.

In the end, the council voted unanimously to publish a request for proposals for testing services. The deadline for bids was Jan. 18, and four were submitted. At the upcoming council meeting on Jan. 21, Malin will present the bids and the council will decide whether to select one or to spend the money elsewhere.