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07/20/2021 03:05 PMThe Town of Deep River anticipates receiving a total of $1,300,363 in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and is forming advisory committees to help generate ideas on how to spend it. The recruitment of volunteers for these committees was a topic of discussion at a regular meeting of the Deep River Board of Selectmen (BOS) on July 13.
“We have had some volunteers, but really, we’re reaching out to anyone in town who might like to help on this,” said First Selectman Angus McDonald. “We’re putting committees together now.”
The first committee will focus on public safety and welfare.
“We really need to make sure that folks are safe, and [that] we can add to or enhance our Health Department and systems to better respond to things like this pandemic and other things like this that might happen,” said McDonald.
Enhancements to the town’s social services programs will also be a focus of this committee, he added.
The Economic Development and Recovery Committee will include representatives from the Economic Development and Planning and Zoning commissions, as well as the town’s Sustainability Committee.
McDonald said that he hopes citizens will also join this committee “to help us determine how best we can help the businesses that have suffered through this [pandemic], but also encourage other businesses to come in and really help the town grow.”
The last committee will focus on arts and ideas, to help bolster the town’s economy.
McDonald referenced SoMA, or South of Main Art Collective, at 500 Main Street in Deep River, which hosts art workshops, events, and classes, and an art gallery in the north end of town, among other artistic establishments in town.
“I feel pretty strongly that arts can in fact enhance the economic [vitality]…of the community,” said McDonald. “I think we’ve got enough folks in town that are interested in that kind of thing (to generate) some pretty good ideas.”
Any ideas formulated by these committees must meet stringent eligibility requirements and must be approved by the BOS.
“We have two years to determine what we are going to spend it on and another four years to spend it,” said McDonald. “It’s very clear that it’s not to be used for infrastructure or things, you know, like roads or things like that…but the guidelines are still being fine-tuned as to what we can spend it on.”
Generally, the funds can be used by a municipality to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, including any economic impacts, by providing aid to households, small businesses, nonprofits, and industries such as tourism and hospitality, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
Other categories, according to the NCSL, include making investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure; providing premium pay to essential employees or grants to their employers; and providing government services affected by a revenue reduction resulting from COVID-19.
ARPA was signed into law this March as another stimulus package to help with the country’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. ARPA will provide a total of $195.3 billion to states and the District of Columbia and a total of $130.2 billion to local governments.