On Tuesday, New Ipswich Select Board members approved $68,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds for the next phase of emergency management upgrades.
ARPA is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill that provided $350 billion to states and municipalities for direct community support. In prior meetings, the board had already allocated about $234,575 of the $568,000 in grant funding available for the town this year. Those funds included a vote last week for $75,000 to overhaul Emergency Management Department equipment and do work on one of the town’s two radio towers.
At the time, Emergency Management Director Eric Maxwell said he would be requesting funds for two phases of work, and on Tuesday, he returned to the board to request approval of the second phase, although the funds would not be spent until this fall.
The total cost of the second phase of the project is $68,639. It includes improvements to the town’s backup radio tower, mounted on Building No. 2, located behind the town offices. When asked the main purpose to the tower, Maxwell said it was to allow for local transmission and also to act as a backup, should the town’s main tower or equipment ever fail.
Maxwell said due to supply chain delays, he has been asked to put in an order for the second phase of the project now, to ensure timely delivery. He asked the board to approve the use of the funds, although the project would not be started, or paid for, until at least October, to allow that ordering process to happen.
Select Board Chair Shawn Talbot and Selectman Lou Alvarez voted to approve the allocation of funds. Selectman Jason Somero, who has thus far voted no on all allocation of ARPA funding, again reiterated concerns with possible strings attached.
“So the fear is here that we’re going to submit an application and it’s going to be rejected,” Somero said. “What I’m hearing for us is, what happens if any of these get rejected, and the parts are still ordered?”
Talbot said the new round of ARPA funding had significantly expanded the scope of what the funds were allowed for, and all of the approvals thus far, including the Emergency Management Department improvements, fit within the guidelines of what the funds were allowed to be used for.
“But it does depend on the bureaucrat that gets tasked with auditing these towns. Some people like to make their job worthwhile, and what do we do in the event something fails?” Somero said.
“It’s all true community needs,” Talbot argued.
Previous allocations for ARPA funding this spring include new radios and body armor for police, development of a new town master plan, air cleaners and electrical repairs for the Department of Public Works, new pool filters and drains and investigating converting the highway garage into a community center and testing the soil on the property.
“We can justify it until the cows come home, here, but my experience with bureaucrats is they don’t care how much common sense you’re bringing to the table,” Somero said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.