Fifth ward councilwoman Lauren McNally says the city has done all its homework on what the nearly $83 million in federal dollars can and cannot be used for. Now that it has, the ideas they're getting from folks in each ward are starting to come into focus.

Mayor Tito Brown, finance director Kyle Miasek and police chief Carl Davis were all among those on hand for Tuesday's hearing.

The roughly 50 people who came gave ideas for wastewater improvements, pushing for ways to lower water bills and other infrastructure improvements. The recent violence in other areas of Youngstown was top of mind as well.

Many folks said they wanted to see as much money as possible go toward making their neighborhoods and the rest of the city safer.

"Those qualify for usage and those are things I heard a lot about tonight, particularly the safety and policing," said McNally. "Simple things like lighting, cameras, more police on the streets."

The city got the first half of that ARP money in May and expects to get the other half next year.

Meanwhile, the city says it's working to confirm more dates in other city wards for these public hearings.