Barnstable County Commissioners Mark Forest, Ronald Bergstrom and Sheila Lyons.
HYANNIS – Barnstable County officials received an update recently on Cape Cod towns applying for their share of $10 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.
ARPA Special Projects Manager Kara Hughes shared her progress at the September 7 Barnstable County meeting of the board of Regional Commissioners.
“We are moving forward. We’re being very proactive in our outreach. We’ve heard many responses and we’ve made ourselves completely available to help walk anyone through anything and have been doing so,” she said.
Hughes said the towns of Barnstable, Bourne, Mashpee, Falmouth, and Sandwich had already received ARPA funds in the four months since the county’s application portal opened.
She added that Yarmouth is close to potential approval for funding for a wastewater project.
Hughes said that Bourne did not use all of its original allocation so the remainder will be used for IT infrastructure and broadband for the town’s schools.
Of the $10 million of ARPA funds set aside for the Cape’s towns, Hughes said those projects would account for $6.7 million.
County officials recently met with representatives from Wellfleet, Harwich, and Truro to discuss projects and application submissions.
Hughes said that both Eastham and Provincetown are close to submitting their applications for wastewater project funding through the portal.
Officials from Brewster told Hughes they are working with a design consultant on their project and will be back in touch when they have a better handle on details, timing, and cost.
Chatham officials told Hughes that short staffing has caused delays in applying for ARPA money but they would be applying soon.
Hughes said that Dennis is in the process of putting its plans together for applying through the portal.
She noted she was still waiting to hear back from officials in Orleans.
Commissioner Mark Forest said that the application can be “arduous” but noted the importance of the process.
“People need to understand, these are grant funds that are in our care. We’re the ones that are responsible for making sure that they’re properly utilized,” Forest said.
Chair Sheila Lyons said it’s been necessary to have an application process for the ARPA money.
“So that we can have an accounting of where it went, what it did, and what has been the benefit,” Lyons said.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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