Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include remarks on the possible funding of improvements to Housatonic Water Works from town planner from Chris Rembold.
GREAT BARRINGTON — The town of Great Barrington is receiving a windfall from the federal government to the tune of some $2.1 million. The question on town officials’ minds is what to spend it on.
Some of the money, Great Barrington’s allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), has already arrived. Both Town Manager Mark Pruhenski and his assistant Chris Rembold disclosed the federal commitment at the board’s regular meeting last night. Click here to view the presentation.
The ARPA, or the COVID-19 Stimulus Package as it is also known, is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in March 2021 to assist the nation’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lingering economic recession. The state itself has received $5.3 billion from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSFRF).
See video below of last night’s Great Barrington selectboard meeting. The discussion of ARPA begins at 56:00:
Both Rembold and Town Finance Director Sue Carmel said the money, about half of which the town has already received, can be used to address any of five areas: public health; the economic impacts of the pandemic; lost public-sector revenue; premium pay for essential workers; and water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
“Please understand we are still learning and they are still changing things on a regular basis, so right now there are currently five core areas,” Carmel said.
The first category, addressing the public health impact of the pandemic, includes mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral health (including substance abuse) and “certain public health and safety expenses, including payroll costs.”
The second, offsetting the financial impacts of the public health emergency, could include assistance for food, rent, and mortgage; training and unemployment benefits for displaced workers; small businesses; affected industries such as tourism and hospitality; and public sector uses such as rehiring staff.
Lost public-sector revenue is pretty self-explanatory, but premium pay for essential workers could include “additional support for those with the greatest health risk because of their service in critical infrastructure services,” Carmel said.
Perhaps the most intriguing category for residents of Housatonic is funds for water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. According to the guidelines, the money could be spent on building or upgrading facilities, transmission, treatment, and storage facilities, conservation, and pollution protection.
Great Barrington is undergoing a multi-million-dollar state-mandated upgrade to its sewage treatment plant, but it is an open question as to whether ARPA funds could be spent to address chronic problems with Housatonic Water Works, the private water company serving the Housatonic section of Great Barrington and small adjacent portions of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge.
At last night’s meeting, Rembold termed the criteria for water and sewer funding use as “very broad.” An estimate of HWW’s needed capital improvements pegged the cost at $31 million, leaving the company with a negative value of $25.2 million — a figure an engineer called “an ugly number.”
“Unless there are charter provisions or state laws that prohibit public funding of privately owned water systems, then yes, ARPA can be used for drinking water improvements including upgrading facilities, transmission, distribution, and storage systems,” Rembold said in an email after publication.
Rembold did indicate that it appeared unlikely that funds could be spent on broadband infrastructure. The eligible uses would be reserved for areas of town “unserved or underserved” by broadband, which is defined as having download speeds of 25 mbps and 3 mbps up.
“We have an incumbent provider, in the form of cable, which provides these speeds,” Rembold said of Charter-Spectrum. “So we may not be eligible to tap the broadband funds here. We’ll dig into that if that’s an area where we decide we want to go. Because we have cable already, this may put us out of eligibility.”
Selectboard member Ed Abrahams asked how the town would decide which project merits funding. Pruhenski indicated it would be unlikely the funding plan would need to go to town meeting for approval because town funds were not being spent.
“That leaves it to the selectboard,” chairman Steve Bannon said.
The announcement of Great Barrington’s receipt of ARPA funds came on the heels of a report by retiring State Auditor Suzanne Bump, who previously owned a home on North Plain Road in Great Barrington, calling for increased state aid on infrastructure.
Bump released a report today entitled Public Infrastructure in Western Massachusetts: A Critical Need for Regional Investment and Revitalization, in which she said “Western Massachusetts communities have been left without the tools necessary to maintain or develop public infrastructure for roadways, buildings and broadband as a result of a declining population, geographic challenges, and a lack of overall resources,” a news release accompanying the report said. If not addressed, Bump said, “these public infrastructure challenges will further exacerbate the Commonwealth’s east-west divide.”
Bump called for a rural rescue plan that will increase funding for the Chapter 90 program, a state mechanism that channels funding to municipalities for roadways, bridges, bikeways, sidewalks, and other transportation improvement projects, to $300 million annually. Bump also called for the creation of a public infrastructure agency and a “continued investment in expanding access to broadband internet.” Click here to read the full report.
Bannon said the board’s immediate responsibility would be to set a community meeting to seek input from members of the public. That date was tentatively set for Monday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m.
