The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law in March 2021. It allocated almost $2 trillion for Covid relief and economic recovery. Granby’s share of this money was $3,405,503, which had to be officially allocated for specific projects by the end of 2024, and be spent by Dec. 31, 2026. The funds could be used for direct relief to essential workers, covering revenue losses, investing in water, sewer and broadband, and improvement to parks, housing and schools.
Receiving the ARPA funds was a once in a lifetime chance to make meaningful changes to benefit residents. Some of the more noteworthy projects include: computer cabling, routers, network switches and computers for all town staff; software that digitizes the annual budget process for added transparency; additional cameras and broadcast equipment to increase GCTV programming; a sound system and display monitors for the Town Hall Meeting Room, the Senior Center Community Room, and the North Barn at Holcomb Farm; and planning studies for the town center, town parks and waste water system.
In addition to the projects listed above, Granby spent a large amount of its ARPA funds (slightly over $1 million) on improving HVAC in both the Wells Road School and the high school. Other projects under $1 million included a mini-sweeper for public works to be compliant with waste water management; Salmon Brook basketball court renovation and a walking trail, library renovations, police department headquarters improvements, board of education IT projects, an update of the town website, road repaving and upgrades to the animal shelter.
If you have occasion to be in the town hall for work or services, you probably appreciate the HVAC improvement in that building. The Drummer and GCTV staff certainly appreciate the new roof.
The board of selectmen were the primary decision makers for the use of the funds, keeping an eye on capital items needed by the town to increase efficiency.