As part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), $350 million was delivered to state, local, and tribal governments to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
Patrick County
Patrick County received $3,420,148 in ARPA funds and as of Sept. 30 had spent $676,836.83.
The county has allocated $3,355,712 to various projects, with a remaining balance then of $145,377.
County Administrator Geri Hazelwood said $250,000 has been obligated for the purchase of ambulance and hazard pay for employees for COVID-19 coverage.
Hazelwood said a $67,100 is to be used for billing software projects to make improvements to the county’s system.
For a building inspector position, $160,000 was obligated. Hazelwood said the department is trying to find a replacement employee, and currently has a building official, a permit tech, and another worker.
“We budgeted for that, and we’ve not hired yet. We’re in the process of trying to find someone to fill that position,” she said.
Hazelwood said $105,000 has been obligated for the purchase of automobiles.
“I do know that we were looking at getting two vehicles for county administration also a vehicle for the building inspection department,” she said.
Hazelwood said $202,000 was budgeted for additional pay for employees and bonuses for 2021.
“I think we did a $1,000 bonus for fulltime employees, and I know we were looking at part-time too. I think we did percentages based on the number of hours they had worked,” she said.
Earlier this year, the board voted to obligate $1,070,145 for broadband expansion in Patrick County with RiverStreet Networks.
The county also spent $3,000 for water testing project, obligated $2,000 for park repairs, and allocated $700,000 for the Economic Development Authority’s (EDA’s) Business Development Center.
Hazelwood said $75,000 will be used to purchase Emergency Medical Services (EMS) equipment that was requested by the various departments.
A total of $56,516 was allocated for county equipment purchases.
The county gave $100,000 in contributions to local volunteer fire departments and volunteer rescue squads.
An additional $245,479 was obligated for county health insurance.
Hazelwood said $8,000 was to be used to purchase personal protection equipment (PPE) “including masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning equipment,” and other preventive measures.
For heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements to county buildings, $8,036 was allocated.
To purchase cameras for the Patrick County Jail, $10,363.69 of an obligated $18,656 was used.
Hazelwood said $144,097 was allocated for IT replacements and upgrades with 29 computers, including the purchase of laptops and tower computers, and miscellaneous.
“All the computers they were obviously out of date, and it was time to get” some new ones,” she said.
Hazelwood said $19,650 will be used for ordinance codification.
“The county purchased the Newman Code, and what it will do is codify all of our ordinances and keep them to date and current. It is a very impressive software and is something that a lot of jurisdictions have and have had,” she said.
Hazelwood said the county has always wanted to purchase the code but was unable to afford it.
“We’ve needed it for years, and we’ve had to like to scan our ordinances in and I had interns helping with that one summer just so we could have that available on our website. Otherwise, they’re in books or in boxes,” she said.
A proposed $120,908 is set to be used to repair the roofs of several county buildings, including the EMS building.
“We had a couple of roofs that had severe damage and needed repairs. We look to replace the roof on the EMS Building as well as the Patrick County Administration Building,” she said, adding repairs to the gutters of the Blue Ridge Regional Library Stuart site were included in the total amount.
Finance Officer Lori Jones said an ARPA Committee was formed by the board of supervisors to review requests for ARPA funds.
The committee includes Clyde DeLoach, chairman and of the Blue Ridge District; Denise Stirewalt, of the Peters Creek District; Assistant County Administrator/Human Resources Director Donna Shough; Treasurer Sandra Stone; Hazelwood; and Jones.
Town of Stuart
The Town of Stuart received $1,318,684 in ARPA funds.
Town Manager Bryce Simmons said the town council has allocated funding to two projects.
“One of them is the replacement of a raw water pump that pumps water to our water treatment plant, and the cost of that was $52,000.42. We haven’t been invoiced on that, but we have approved it,” he said.
The council also approved entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office for additional policing in the town.
“That will be a yearly cost of $43,056,” he said.
Simmons said the town also has a list of projects it anticipates using APRA funds for but has not yet appropriated funding through council.
“One of the big purchases we will be looking at is a new garbage truck for the town. We’ve had a number of expensive fixes on our garbage truck currently, which is right at 10 years old,” he said.
Improvements to the Stuart Farmers’ Market, repainting the caboose, and revamping the town website are also projects currently being considered.
“One of the infrastructure projects that we are looking at is replacing the waterline that runs through Glenwood Terrace,” he said.
“One of the things that we are sort of reserving our funds for right is because we are going through our comprehensive plan and I do anticipate that there will be some recommendations made in the plan that I think the ARPA funds will be well suited to complete those projects,” he said.
An ARPA Committee makes recommendations to the town council as to how to spend ARPA funds. The committee is comprised of Simmons; Town Clerk Susan Slate; Mayor Ray Weiland; Town Attorney Christopher Corbett; and Accountant/Comp Controller Walter Miller.
Patrick County Public Schools
The Patrick County Public Schools (PCPS) were awarded $4.813,292.57 in ARPA and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III funds.
Schools Superintendent Jason Wood said the division has budgeted to use $2,148,292.57 of the funds on prevention and mitigation strategies to help keep schools open.
“We plan to contract deep-cleaning cleaning services for high contact areas like bleachers. We hired two maintenance technicians for the duration of the grant and an additional custodian for the duration of the grant,” he said
To improve air quality of classrooms in the Patrick County High School’s Career and Technical Building, the division also plans to use funds to enclose three classroom areas to allow for better ventilation and air quality.
The school system also wants to use funds to renovate all restrooms not renovated in 2010, replace or remove all carpet throughout all the division’s facilities to help remove harmful allergens, and other projects.
Wood said approximately $1,565,000 will be used to address unfinished learning.
This includes the hiring of six additional instructional assistants for the duration of the grant to focus on remediation efforts and one instructional coach to provide professional development to the teachers and staff.
“There were also two hired at the high school,” he said.
Wood said the division budgeted to increase the funds available for tutoring and remediation in each school to help ensure students who need those services can access them.
“There are so many families who can’t pick up their kid from elementary school so just this month we’ve worked with our transportation department and re-routed afternoon high school buses that will now take elementary students to their homes. No student should be able to say, ‘I can’t stay for tutoring because I can’t get a ride home,’” he said.
Wood said if the student does not live along the new routes, the schools will use the newly purchased county car to drive the student home.
The remaining $1,100,000 will be used for a variety of other uses.
Part of the funds will be used to paint areas that were not renovated in the 2010 school renovation projects and to buy new ceiling tiles and grinds for several areas of the schools.
“Part of this grant allows you to fix, I guess, some aesthetics of your schools. Because there’s research that shows that it makes it more warm and welcoming, and it makes it a better learning environment for kids as well,” he said.
Wood said a stipend for staff training in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), teaching students in poverty, and cultural teaching was included in the budget. SEL curriculum will also be purchased for each elementary school.
“We hired another grant person just to help with the grant stuff,” he added.
