Norwich to receive an additional $660,000 in ARPA money, bringing total to over $1 million

The Town of Norwich is slated to receive a little over $1 million from the federal government under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Town Manager Herb Durfee made that announcement as part of his final Town Manager report to the Selectboard at its meeting on Wednesday, August 25, as seen on CATV.

That is a significant bump from the approximately $366,000 the Town was expecting. The additional dollars represent Norwich’s share of the money allocated by the feds to county government in Windsor County.

County government is or is nearly non existent in Vermont. As a result, on July 30, the United States Department of Treasury determined that Vermont’s 14 counties are not “units of general local government,” according to the ARPA webpage at the website of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT). “This cleared the way for the $121,202,550 in county ARPA funding to be distributed to Vermont’s towns, cities and villages.”

ARPA outlines four categories where the Town could spend the money. See box below. Federal guidelines are not final. At present, funds do not have to be obligated until December 31, 2024. The VLCT webpage indicates the Town could transfer money to a special purpose municipality, such as the Fire District for water infrastructure work.

Thanks for reading my blog. Contact me at norwichobserver [at] gmail.com.

One Reply to “Norwich to receive an additional $660,000 in ARPA money, bringing total to over $1 million”

Now its time for the Norwich Hunger Games to start. Who will get the money?

1. Planning Commission – chatter about a village wastewater system
2. BMR sidewalk
3. Tracy Hall – gut renovation – SB chatter
4. Article 36 Taskforce – chatter in their agenda about proposing a village geothermal system – and proposing new articles for March 2022 Warrant.
5. Fold the Fire District into the Town – assume debt and maintenance of system?
6. NEC – electrify everything – electric plows? $1 million each ?
7. Rainy day fund?

Regardless of the restrictions on the money, the Hunger Games will ensure that various committees, task forces, boards fight to construe and twist their respective wants and needs to ensure that their vanity projects get addressed.

What if the money is used prudently and conservatively? Say electric bills are $20,000 and you invest $300,000 in solar and save $20,000 in electric bills. That’s a 6.67% return. Greater than 20 basis points in a local bank. Prudent use and execution of the funds? Could that happen?

Let the games begin.

Doug Wilberding on August 30, 2021 at 8:13 am said:

Now its time for the Norwich Hunger Games to start. Who will get the money?

1. Planning Commission – chatter about a village wastewater system
2. BMR sidewalk
3. Tracy Hall – gut renovation – SB chatter
4. Article 36 Taskforce – chatter in their agenda about proposing a village geothermal system – and proposing new articles for March 2022 Warrant.
5. Fold the Fire District into the Town – assume debt and maintenance of system?
6. NEC – electrify everything – electric plows? $1 million each ?
7. Rainy day fund?

Regardless of the restrictions on the money, the Hunger Games will ensure that various committees, task forces, boards fight to construe and twist their respective wants and needs to ensure that their vanity projects get addressed.

What if the money is used prudently and conservatively? Say electric bills are $20,000 and you invest $300,000 in solar and save $20,000 in electric bills. That’s a 6.67% return. Greater than 20 basis points in a local bank. Prudent use and execution of the funds? Could that happen?

Let the games begin.