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Date: 11/9/2022
WESTFIELD — Of the $17.3 million in American Recovery Plan Act funds awarded to Westfield in 2021, Mayor Michael McCabe said he intends to spend the remaining $15 million on projects that have a “generational impact on the community.”
Signed into law in March of 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments. Initially, ARPA guidelines steered the federal aid toward addressing the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, to lay the foundation for recovery.
Categories for spending included supporting COVID-19 relief efforts; replacing lost public sector revenue; supporting economic stability for individuals and businesses; improving water, sewer and broadband infrastructure and premium pay for essential workers.
Final regulations on ARPA spending, which took effect in April 2022, provide state and local governments with greater flexibility to address the COVID-19 public health emergency and support their communities, and allow municipalities to use up to $10 million as revenue replacement money, which McCabe said doesn’t have to fit into one of the four core areas.
McCabe said his administration plans to spend the money heavily on infrastructure and infrastructure improvements, particularly in environmental justice areas in the city. Some of the projects planned include replacing old water mains, improving access to the Massachusetts Turnpike, and community health and wellness investments in community open space.
McCabe said between $2.4 million and $2.5 million has been spent to date on clean water, water mains, and pump stations on City View Road, and the Big Stewart pump station on Pontoosic Road. He said ARPA money will also fund a new operations center for the Wastewater Division.
Infrastructure is the overarching purpose for the city’s use of ARPA funds, with a focus on the city’s core area from Lloyd’s Hill to where the Little River meets the Westfield River, according to McCabe. He said the whole area faces numerous obstacles. For example, one of the projects planned is the replacement of the wooden water main on Meadow Street, in an area which received sewer and water at the turn of the 19th century.
McCabe also wants money set aside to add an eastbound entrance ramp onto Interstate 90, a project he is lobbying hard for with MassDOT, and seems confident will happen. Using ARPA money towards this project is an example of one use that could be funded under the final rule as a government service, as part of the allowed $10 million, he said.
“If you have a pocket of windfall money that you’ll never have again, if you don’t spend it on [some of these projects], they won’t get done,” McCabe said. The city has to designate a use for these funds by the end of 2024, and must be finished spending them in 2026.
One category that McCabe does not intend to fund is premium pay for essential workers, which he said would be difficult to determine in an equitable way.
“I’m not doing it. I would have been one of those people who benefited,” said McCabe, who was serving as a captain in the Westfield Police Department when the pandemic began. He said he is trying instead to boost emergency workers through their labor contract negotiations.
“If I gave you $1,400 in premium pay, in four weeks, you’re not going to remember what that is,” he said, adding, “I would much rather spend the money on things that affect people’s families for generations to come.”
In addition to the $15 million remaining in ARPA funds, McCabe said he expects that the end of year’s certified free cash will be comparable to last year’s $7 million.
One reason for the larger-than-usual amount of free cash is job vacancies that are on the books. McCabe said the Department of Public Works has 21 vacancies, and the School Department has a 5 percent vacancy rate. The municipal budget has to set aside money for those salaries, even if they are currently not being paid.
The city is also working on a five-year capital plan for projects costing more than $25,000, a McCabe initiative. He said he expects department requests in early November, and a completed plan before the end of the year.
“Those things that we are not able to pick up in an operational budget, such as looming infrastructure needs in IT in 2027,” he said. “If I get the capital plan in a timely fashion, I can use some ARPA money and free cash.”
The federal ARPA rules give mayors broad powers to decide on how to spend the funds without requiring approval by the City Council or public hearings.
“On the bright side, if somebody feels that they fall into one of the categories, they can submit a request to the mayor’s office,” McCabe said, adding, “if the project has a generational impact on the community.”