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By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD —— The Town Council received its quarterly update last week on expenditures related to the town’s share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
ARPA is $1.9 trillion federal economic stimulus bill enacted on March 11, 2021 to speed up the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession.
Wakefield has received $8,083,935 as its share of the ARPA funds.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Main reviewed the town’s expenditures of the funds to date, beginning in FY 2022. Town Hall expenses accounted for $20,352. Police received $18,750 and the schools got $400,000.
In the FY 2023 Budget, Town Hall used $21,500, the Health Department budget got a $145,000-infusion of funds and the School Department received $363,000. By a Town Council vote in April of 2023, Police and Fire Department budgets were supplemented by $275,000 in ARPA funds for overtime expenses.
In the FY2024 Budget, the Health Department got $50,000, the schools got another $200,000 and the Town Council spent another $100,000.
Maio detailed $534,141 worth of earlier ARPA spending in which School and First Responder overtime accounted for $48,121. Another $59,752 was spent on contact tracing. A total of $112,576 was spent purchasing COVID test kits. Clinics, elections, Town Meeting and related expenses accounted for another $105,820. A sum of $107,871 was spent on Fire Department overtime.
On Nov. 14, 2022, the Town Council approved additional ARPA expenditures. An Energy Assistance Fund was infused with $400,000, of which $72,710 was spent. Maio explained that the small amount of the energy assistance funds spent was due to the late start and the slowness of the state in vetting applicants. He suggested leaving the remainder in that account and getting and earlier start next year.
A total of $800,000 was appropriated for Lake Quannapowitt cleanup and improvements at Veterans Field, of which $44,240 has been expended to date. Another $100,000 was earmarked for improving pathways around the Lake. Another $1 million was spent on Rail Trail and “Wakefield Mobility” improvements. A sum of $150,000 went to tree replacement. A total of $1,100,000 was earmarked for sidewalk expansion. WCAT was provided with $137,000.
Maio noted that another $55,000 was spent on an MWRA Water Truck for town events. Conference Room upgrades to allow for Zoom/Hybrid meetings accounted for $75,000. An ADA Swing for the Dolbeare School was funded at $25,000 and a professional evaluation of the cost to refurbish the Civil War Monument on Veterans Memorial Common was funded at $10,000. The sum of $25,000 was assigned to title searches on parcels of town-owned land.
A total of $2,079,192 of the ARPA funds remains uncommitted, Maio said. The town has until the end of 2024 to commit that money, and all funds must be spent by the end of 2026.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski suggested that there was a need for bathrooms in the area of the Spaulding Street Playground.