Richmond Hill City Council got some good news at a Tuesday evening workshop at City Hall.

They’re getting more than $724,000 in federal CARES Act funding to help cover costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of that money, approximately $217,000, was deposited in city coffers in July, according to Finance Director Bob Whitmarsh.

The money can be used for local government efforts to cope with the pandemic, City Manager Chris Lovell said.

The funding will help the city cover some of the expenses incurred since March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced local governments to close “It’s a big deal,” Lovell said. “This is money we didn’t think we were going to get.”

Bryan County and Pembroke are also getting CARE funding. The county is getting more than $1.2 million while Pembroke is in line to receive about $137,000.

Also at Tuesday’s workshop, city officials agreed to take a look at a policy banning residents from renting and using inflatables when they reserve space in city parks for celebrations.

The measure is a response to the injury to Valerie Feske, a Richmond Hill Middle School teacher who was left paralyzed after an accident on an inflatable water slide during a neighborhood get together on Memorial Day.

While that incident didn’t take place on city property, it “brought attention to how inflatables have the potential to be dangerous, especially if they aren’t setup and supervised by a professional company,” City Clerk Dawnne Greene said.