Last of the American Rescue Plan Act funds have been approved | News, Sports, Jobs
LISBON — Columbiana County commissioners committed the last of the American Rescue Plan Act funds for projects Friday, with not a penny left.
“That brings us to an end after three years,” Commissioner Mike Halleck said.
Expenses approved during the final meeting of the year included $20,000 to the East Liverpool Historical Society for building repairs to the Thompson House museum, $28,920 for radios/repeaters at the county jail through Edge Tech Inc., $4 million for construction of the county archive/records storage building by C. Tucker Cope & Associates, $28,459 for installation of tempered safety glass at the county dog pound by Tri State Glass Company, $31,521 to TCP Flooring for flooring on the third floor of the downtown courthouse, $17,600 for fencing around the county cemetery by Lee Cain Fencing and $643,355 to the county development department for county grant funding.
According to Halleck, the ARPA funds represent 160 projects done throughout the county these last few years, and still to be done by the end of 2025. The end of this year is the deadline for encumbering the funds and the end of next year is the deadline for expending the funds.
A lot of these projects would have never happened without the federal funds, he said. Governmental entities received the funds through an economic stimulus package that came on the heals of the COVID pandemic.
Columbiana County’s windfall for commissioners to dole out totaled $19.9 million in 2021. Halleck explained that initially, the rules limited the spending to infrastructure projects, mainly water and sewer, but counties all over lobbied to have discretion over 50 percent of the funds. That made it easier to find viable ways to spend the money.
Halleck said the last of the money, the $643,355, will go to county development, that way if a match is needed for grant funding it can be used for that, such as for the land bank or other projects.
“There are many projects in the $19.9 million that would have never happened,” he said.
When the money initially arrived, he said, “I wanted to take our time.”
The commissioners sat down with county Engineer Bert Dawson and went over a list of what was absolutely needed. He used the pumps for the county wastewater treatment plant near Elkton as an example, using the money to purchase new pumps ahead of time for the future, knowing the current pumps are going to wear out. Extending water and sewer lines to the Elkton area to serve several households and Global Pak is another example of something that would not have happened, but could open up the area to economic development.
Halleck said there were already some projects in mind, then once the cat was out of the bag, everybody was getting a piece of the pie.
“I’m really proud of our board and how we spent the money. We were very judicious in the way we approached this,” he said.
Halleck credited Dawson for the help he provided. Counties were encouraged to look at historical projects for some of the money, such as the Thompson House project just approved for the East Liverpool Historical Society. Money also went to the Lisbon Historical Society, Lisbon Landmark Foundation, Salem Preservation Society and the Wellsville Community Foundation. The city of Salem received funding toward the Lincoln Plaza, where a statue of Abraham Lincoln was recently unveiled.
“I think it’s a positive for Salem,” Halleck said.
The commissioners spread the money out and to his knowledge, every township or area got something. Even some non-profits benefited, such as the Way Station, The Brightside Project, United Way South Columbiana County, the East Liverpool Community Resource Center and Shale Academy. The Columbiana County Park District received funding for a trail project and equipment expenses. The Columbiana County Visitors Bureau received funding for tourism.
A lot of county offices received funding for equipment purchases, with the sheriff’s office receiving money for cars so that the fleet is relatively new, along with funding for other equipment needs. The county also spent money for infrastructure needs at the jail, dog pound and other county buildings.
The bulk of the money, though, went to water and sewer projects, with the exception the county archives/records storage building which at $4 million was the highest amount. The county engineer’s garage complex expansion project received nearly $1 million, helping to replace a building which dated back to the depression era. Other big ticket items were $1.1 million for the Kensington sewer project, $725,000 for the Elkton wastewater treatment plant pump replacement, $716,000 and $500,000 for the Hanoverton sewer project, $600,000 for the Calcutta sanitary sewer pump station replacement and $465,000 for the Hibbetts Mill water line project.
Now that the money’s all spoken for, Halleck said Gov. Mike DeWine quoted it best by saying “now we’ll be getting back to the normalization of budgets.”
mgreier@mojonews.com
