Woodward Township discusses possible uses of remaining ARPA funds
By Christopher Miller
WOODWARD TOWNSHIP – Township Supervisors briefly discussed possible uses for leftover American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds.
The funds, which originally provided $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments when signed into law in March 2021, is also known as COVID-19 ARPA “Local Fiscal Recovery Funding.” Of which, about $6.15 billion was allocated to Pennsylvania counties, metropolitan cities, and local government units.
“We have remaining ARPA money that we need to obligate toward things by the end of April,” Supervisor Kyle Coleman said. “We have about $94,000 there now, and it has to be spent or else we lose it.”
Originally signed into law by President Joe Biden, the funds were provided to aid public health and economic recovery, but stipulations on spending the funds had since been relaxed.
Ideas presented by the supervisors included the purchase of benches for the new river walk, continued work on the bathrooms by the boat launch, and boat launch and park security.
“We will have a good chunk of maybe $50,000 in funds leftover possibly for a mini excavator which would be considered an investment, and if we do not end up using it how we think, we can always sell it and get some of the money back,” Coleman said. “Nothing is set in stone yet, and a mini excavator could take some pressure off the continuous use of the backhoe and alleviate some time from using it.”
With April quickly coming to a close, time is ticking on the final allocation of ARPA funds for use by municipalities.
