Of the $2.5 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds Vermont received, over $200 million was allocated to municipalities. Now, towns throughout the state are tasked with deciding what those funds will go towards. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ website says it “encourages its members to take their time, be thoughtful, and plan strategically” with the funds. ARPA funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026. Valley towns are in the ongoing process of receiving requests for the funds and determining how they will be spent.
Some local towns have solicited, reviewed, and distributed ARPA funds to community organizations that have applied. Some have not. Most towns have been making municipal spending decisions for their ARPA funds as well.
Here’s an update on how it’s going.
WAITSFIELD
Waitsfield created a town committee to determine how to spend the town’s $506,081 in ARPA funds. Applications for funds were due in November and the town received requests for funding $232,250 town and local projects. At the Waitsfield Select Board’s February 13 meeting, the board approved the committee’s recommendation to provide full and partial funding for $149,245.
The ARPA committee was tasked with sorting through the 19 funding requests to determine which best met the federal criteria for receiving ARPA funding. The ARPA committee also factored in which applicants were seeking funding from only Waitsfield and which were seeking funding from Warren, Fayston, Duxbury and Moretown.
The committee recommended $25,000 for Neck of the Woods to help fund a commercial kitchen. Free Wheelin’s multi-town request for $10,000 to purchase an electric vehicle was 100% funded. The Mad River Valley Senior Citizens’ multi-town request for $7,500 was 100% funded as was Mad River Valley Television’s request for $250. Waitsfield Children’s Center’s multi-town request for $25,000 was fully funded. Spring Hill School’s multi-town request for $6,000 towards a $15,000 request upgrade to exterior facilities was funded at 75%, or $4,500.
The Harwood Unified Union School District requested $20,000 towards a $50,000 window replacement project at Harwood Union and Waitsfield Elementary School and received $15,000. The Mad River Valley Village digital community portal made a multi-town request for $1,500 and was funded at $1,125. The Waitsfield United Church of Christ Village Meeting House requested $30,000 towards a $40,000 project to replace the ADA ramp. That request was also made to Warren. The ARPA committee recommended $22,500.
Mad Valley Sports, which hosts the Mad Marathon requested $20,000 towards $120,000 needed, a request that was also made to the Mad River Valley Rec District. The committee proposed $5,000. The committee recommended $18,500 or 25% of the amount requested by The Valley Players. Downstreet Housing and Community Development had requested $61,000 of a $67,272 project to create an outdoor space with a basketball court and playground, an ask that was shared with local business, a private foundation, but not other towns. The committee recommended $18,750. Waitsfield has begun meeting with grant recipients and will be distributing checks and grant agreements this month.
WARREN
The town of Warren will form a committee to decide how to allocate its ARPA funds. “Our committee has not yet been formed,” select board vice chair Andy Cunningham wrote in an email. “We decided that we have too much going on with vetting the new land use regs, so this was one of the areas where we have some more time to develop our process. What the board is clear on is that we would like ARPA money spent in ways that serve Warren taxpayers, is transformational, and when possible, can access additional funding through grants. It will probably be mid-summer before we form our group and outline our processes. In the meantime, we are collecting requests from people and organizations interested in applying for funding.”
The following are the organizations that have requested money from Warren:
MRVTV has requested $250 to facilitate an internet connection and a live broadcast ability from the lower fields at Harwood Union.
Mad River Valley Senior Citizens has requested $5,000 to offset programming costs. Free Wheelin has requested $10,000 to fund the purchase of an electric vehicle. Spring Hill School asked for $6,000 to improve exterior facilities. Mad Marathon requested $20,000 to help cover marathon costs. Mad River Valley Village, a digital community portal, requested $1,500. Neck of the Woods Child Care Center requested $25,000 to help fund a new commercial kitchen. The Skatium requested $7,500. Valley Players $75,000 to help cover building upgrades and money lost during the pandmic. Waitsfield Children’s Center requested $20,000 to improve its water supply.
FAYSTON
Fayston received $398, 013 in ARPA funds and has allocated most of it and is sending checks to recipients. Fayston allocated $1,499 for COVID-19 tests, COVID bonus pay for employees of $13,500 and covered $1,027 in COVID sick time for employees. The town allocated $9,000 for cyber security updates and computer equipment and another $10,000 to paving and entrance to the town office. The town is spending $100,000 on road work, $3,700 on tree work at the town office and $2,450 for tree work at the Bragg Hill Cemetery. A new scanner will be purchased for $6,934 and a new boiler will be purchased for $13,200. The town has also allocated $60,000 for a new roof for the town office and $17,250 for parking lot lighting and potentially EV chargers for the town office. The town has committed $10,000 for community recreation visioning, which is part of the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative grant that the Mad River Valley Rec District received last year. The town is budgeting $1,500 for Boyce Hill Town Forest and $5,000 for knotweed management and another $10,000 for a concrete floor for the McCullough Barn. Wildlife crossing signs are budgeted at $8,000 and a town gravel pit analysis/inventory is budgeted at $5,000. A sum of $2,500 is budgeted for help revising the land use regulations.
Additionally, the town budgeted $34,000 for culverts and $50,000 for road signs.
In terms of community requests Fayston is allocating $250 for Mad River Valley Television’s effort to connect the sports fields at Harwood Union and $1,000 for Neck of the Woods efforts to construct a kitchen, $1,000 for Free Wheelin’ to purchase an electric vehicle, $1,000 for the Mad River Valley Village digital portal, $1,000 for the Waitsfield Children’s Center to improve its water supply, $1,000 to Mad River Ridge Runners for its new barn and $1,000 to Spring Hill School for improved outdoor learning space.
MORETOWN
Moretown has allocated a portion of its ARPA funds to date. CV Fiber received $50,000 for internet service. The Waitsfield child care center, Neck of the Woods, will receive $25,000, which was an article voters approved on Town Meeting Day. “There have been other requests for funds, but not much else has been approved,” select board assistant Sasha Elwell said. “The select board has decided to put funds towards a new fire truck (so that residents aren’t impacted so much) and some design work to update the town hall.”
DUXBURY
Duxbury received $390,190 in ARPA funds and has yet to allocate $96,600 of it. Select board chair Dick Charland said that Duxbury has 3 1/2 miles of paved roads and approximately 30 miles of gravel roads.
“The select board has committed to an aggressive road repair and maintenance program, we have developed a town-wide road plan, committed to repair three specific projects which have been historical issues along with the ongoing maintenance and ditching schedule. I believe that is where the board will be leaning going forward,” Charland said of the funds not yet committed.
The town has spent ARPA funds on Zoom, $159, and an OWL system to facilitate remote hearings, $1,059. The town has purchased an election check-in booth for $1,482.53 and election programming and ballots for $1,111. Duxbury has budgeted $1,500 for tax bill and lister card hosting and $3,000 for town parcel map installment. Duxbury budgeted $20,000 for the Waterbury Ambulance Service and $44,888 for repairs to the town garage and made a number of other election, voting and records allocations.
The town is budgeting $43,514 for imaging its land records and $25,000 for the Duxbury Historical Society as well as $116, 000 for gravel.
The town did not fund three community requests that it received, one from Mad River Valley Television for $250 to connect the sports fields at Harwood Union, another for $1,500 for the Mad River Valley Village digital community portal, and a third for $6,000 from Spring Hill School to upgrade its outdoor learning facility.
