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06/21/2022 04:23 PMThe American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Committee in Chester finished drafting proposals to request funds for town projects at a meeting on June 14, forwarding the requests to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) for consideration and discussion. The four proposals, with a total of $194,500 in proposed spending, met a mixed fate at the June 15 BOS meeting.
Proposals to revamp the town’s outdated website and to replace the Town Hall generator with equipment capable of adequately powering the facility were approved, while proposals to assist the land trust with weed clearing and an infrastructure study were declined due to concerns about the applicability of ARPA funds.
“The ARPA Committee was set up to gather ideas and vet them against the qualifications set forth by the feds as to whether they qualify or not,” said First Selectman Charlene Janecek, noting the strict guidelines that come with the federal funds. “Somewhere that’s gotten lost in translation.”
Janecek noted that the ARPA funds cannot be treated as a reservoir of free money.
Knotweed Control
One of the four proposals drafted by the committee is a request of $25,000 in funds directed towards the Chester Land Trust (CLT) to enhance its land preservation efforts in combating an invasion of Japanese knotweed at the Carini Preserve. This proposal was not approved by the BOS at the meeting the following night.
The committee characterized the parcel as “one of the most prized CLT properties due to its location, ease of access and natural beauty.”
The CLT, which does not own any equipment to solve this issue, requested the funds to bolster its maintenance effort in an environmentally friendly way, including to acquire eco-friendly tools. Funds will also be used to cover the multi-year project, and to construct a demonstration and education program for residents wishing to be part of the effort.
Committee Chair William Bernhart said that the educational opportunity ARPA funds could provide an interested public with the importance and urgency of the issue.
“It should be noted that the knotweed has infested public as well as private property, thus the educational opportunity is important for developing strategies to control it,” he said.
The BOS expressed concern about spending ARPA funds on a privately owned preserve, though Janecek did acknowledge that ARPA funds are suitable for infrastructure projects, which she said the CLT’s knotweed clean-up qualifies as. Selectman Thomas Englert questioned the proposal on behalf of CLT and other ARPA proposals.
“They are reaching for ARPA money,” said Englert. “It’s a crude pot of money that everyone’s trying to grab a piece of, there’s no question about it. It’s the greatest thing that has happened, and it’s also the worst thing that has happened.”
Englert suggested the possible need for oversight on spending for projects submitted by the committee.
Janecek agreed with Englert’s concerns, further elaborating on her concerns over the nature of potential projects using ARPA funds, finding some of them veering away from what she perceived as the original intention for their existence.
“When I first read up on ARPA and looked at this power money we’re being given, my thoughts were that it should go to social service, safety, fire, ambulance, and road crew. Those were the things to me that were the most important. And we seemed to have gotten away from that,” she said.
Janecek suggested that the proposal was in need of further review before it could be submitted to the Board of Finance; the BOS denied the request.
Infrastructure Study
The fourth committee proposal is a request of $30,000 in ARPA funds to authorize the town engineers Nathan Jacobson Associates to initiate a study on the town’s existing road infrastructure. While no maintenance plan is in place, funds would be used to establish a study and strategic outline for the repairing and resurfacing of roads and sidewalks that would need to be fixed.
The proposal was written in response to a survey conducted by the Planning & Zoning Commission as part of its drafting of the Plan of Conservation and Development for 2019-’29, with results finding that maintenance of town infrastructure is “very important” to residents.
The BOS also denied this request.
Town Website
Another proposal drafted by the committee concerns the development of a new town website. The developments in particular concern its initial implementation costs, for which the committee has requested $11,500. The committee has found the current town website, which was launched in 2012, as in need of “updating to improve functionality and ease of use by the public and town staff.” The proposal was approved by the BOS.
According to the proposal, the goals of the new website include making it more comprehensive and easier to navigate. These core efforts would allow for the new website to have more page space to describe “the roles and responsibilities of town’s volunteer boards and commissions,” and to “improve search access to boards and commissions agendas and minutes.” Five municipal website development vendors have submitted qualification and fee requirements for the redesigning of the site, which would take up to a year to be completed and launched. Five-year contract expenses would be included as well, according to the proposal.
The five-year contract cost currently stands at $24,051, according to the proposal, and would be administered by Civic Plus, which currently serves 82 municipalities across Connecticut. According to Bernhart, the subsequent years’ expenses will be included in the town’s operating expense budget.
The proposal states the new website will be beneficial to residents and businesses in providing information on town services, whilst providing “links to the numerous organizations that contribute to the vitality of our community and the ambiance of the lower Connecticut River Valley.” The proposal emphasized that the developments included in a new website amount to it being “an essential communication medium that should be continually updated when content and technology enhancements are warranted.”
Town Hall Generator
The committee’s largest funding request is included in a proposal for the installation of a full-service diesel generator to power Town Hall, for which the committee requested the BOS $128,000 in ARPA funds. The BOS approved the request.
The funds would be used for both the installation of a new generator and the relocation and re-installation of the existing generator at Town Hall to another public building, with potential locations being the meeting house or the library, according to the proposal.
The committee said in its draft that the current generator at Town Hall is insufficient in its power capabilities to allow those in the building to use its systems, almost to the point of closing down Town Hall entirely. A new generator could also provide residents with an alternative emergency shelter space in addition to the John Winthrop Middle School, which is located in Deep River, and would offer all essential building functions for residents in an emergency situation.
“This proposal was reviewed by the Board of Finance in May and additional information regarding peak energy use and RFP specifications were requested,” Bernhart said.