BERLIN – The town’s finance director encouraged elected officials to begin developing a plan for spending federal recovery funds.
During Monday’s meeting of the Berlin Town Council, Finance Director Natalie Saleh asked officials to start working on a plan regarding American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The town has received a little over $2,397,136 million in ARPA funds and expects to receive the same amount next year.
“It seems like lately we’ve been talking about ARPA money in general but we need to develop a strategy and a plan of allocation of the ARPA money,” Saleh said.
Though officials have referenced the nearly $4.8 million the town is set to receive through ARPA, they haven’t yet developed a spending plan. Mayor Zack Tyndall said during Monday’s meeting that reviewing needed capital projects was the first thing officials needed to do. He said looking at capital projects would provide officials with “a snapshot of what we have and what we need.”
According to Tyndall that capital list should be discussed at the next regular council meeting. After that, the town will host a public listening session.
“There will be an opportunity for public comment regarding the ARPA funding and a discussion about possible ways to move forward with that,” he said.
The council has, however, already agreed to use ARPA funds to cover the cost of a $110,000 stormwater pipe repair and a $350,000 well replacement. The Berlin Fire Company is also expected to present the town with ARPA funding requests.
Saleh said there were reporting requirements associated with the funding and the town should set priorities.
“We cannot just accept requests and see if we can grant the requests going forward,” she said. “Emergencies, that’s one thing, but we have to have a very strong plan to go forward. That is required for us to do so.”
