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Date: 11/16/2021
LUDLOW – During the Ludlow Board of Selectmen’s Nov. 9 meeting, the board began a discussion about how to use the $6.2 million the town would be receiving through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
To start the ARPA discussion, Town Accountant Kim Collins brought forward a list of possible uses for the funds from department heads. Collins said infrastructure projects would require evidence of a loss of revenue related to COVID-19.
“Any infrastructure projects are going to have to be looked at individually in conjunction with talking to the treasury and talking to the consultant that has helped us with CARES and ARPA,” she said.
Collins said the next step was to create a direction for the funds.
“I think at this point we can come up with a concise list of things that we are interested in, and I can go investigate with the treasury, our consultant and this binder full of information on ARPA to see if those items are actually approved,” she said.
Board member James Gennette said it made sense to remove some ideas from the list but was in favor of allocating some of the money toward the town’s parks.
“I do not think it would hurt us to come with some strategy toward eliminating some of these things that are outside the box, let us figure out what is inside the box and come up for some basic guidelines to fit all these things in it,” he said. “For me personally, I think it needs to be something that is going to touch everybody in the community, I like the idea of having the parks renovated.”
Collins said restoring the parks was an outlined use for the funds.
“The other thing that seems to be very clear is recreational areas that are open to the public and lower income families within the community. We have talked about Whitney Park so a lot of the improvements there will be approved under ARPA,” she said.
Town Administrator Ellie Villano said it made sense to use some of the funds for the parks.
“When we talk about the parks and Whitney, it is because Whitney and Memorial Parks are the parks that are used by the majority of people who have been affected by the pandemic. Whether it is people who lost their jobs, lower income or general vicinity, you have to tie it to those that were most affected,” she said.
Board member Derek DeBarge said he questioned park maintenance.
“The parks are always a point of contention for people between how they are looked and are maintained. I am all for improving the parks; my question will be how will they be maintained after we sink all this money into it because our DPW just is not doing it,” he said. “We have to discuss maintenance, there is no doubt about that.”
Another option for the funds would be to establish a grant program for businesses affected by COVID-19.
“We can probably determine what the guidelines could be; it may not have to be revenue in particular but that is one of the biggest items you could use. I think you need to determine if you want to program and then what the guidelines would be,” Collins said.
Villano said the grant program could help business that could not create outdoor dining spaces during the height of the pandemic.
DeBarge said he was in favor of creating a grant program.
“I am for offering something to businesses, especially to those that were not able to get out with outdoor seating and really took a hit. I know we can set parameters for that; I think it is our responsibility to offer that to businesses who were hurt by this. This town is built on the backs of small businesses and we need to be there for them,” he said.
Board member Manuel Silva agreed.
“I am all for it if we can get it done properly, I think it is going to be very difficult to figure out who deserves it and who does not, and I do not know that you can get the money they received from the government. There are businesses that got a considerable amount of money from the government,” he said.
Gennette said he had some concerns about establishing the grant program.
“I feel for small businesses, but we are on the backside of this hopefully and I just do not see how a small grant is really going to do all that. I am not opposed to any ideas, but I think to just give more money out is probably a mistake,” he said.
The board then went through the list of potential items and removed some items that would be ineligible and agreed to send the final list of ARPA ideas to the town’s consultant.
The Board of Selectmen next met on Nov. 16 and coverage of that meeting will appear in the Nov. 25 edition of The Reminder.