The City of Mount Vernon will be looking into how to spend roughly $660,000 in American Rescue Plan funding in the coming months.
The American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 stimulus package passed by Congress in March, allows funding for local governments to help them maintain vital services and keep front line workers on the job.
Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch proposed using the funds for remote water meters, saying the project would fit with one of the ARP’s allowable funds, improvements to water and sewer infrastructure. He recommended investigating bids for radio water meter readers for the entire city, a project with a potential cost of $700,000.
The City of Mount Vernon is slated to receive $660,000 from ARP funding, but the funds have to be used in specific ways set by the federal government. There is also potential Mount Vernon could receive additional ARP money if other communities are unable to utilize all the dollars, Nosbisch said at the city council meeting Monday, July 19.
The city had already begun planning to convert to radio readers, though the when and how hadn’t been decided. Water meters throughout Mount Vernon are more than 40 years old, and a number of them are reaching the end of their lifespan, Nosbisch said. The $700,000 for the radio water meters would convert all homes and businesses to the system at once, as opposed to a phased option the city considered earlier.
Another option for the relief funds is investing in a broadband internet service, as broadband infrastructure was a portion of the ARP program as well. However broadband needs may be addressed by private companies.
“With both Mechanicsville Telephone Company and imOn communications making inroads into providing broadband service to the community, that might be the best increases for broadband internet resources for our citizens,” Nosbisch said.
Mount Vernon council member Scott Rose noted the city had been looking into radio water meter readers for the last five years, and an infusion of cash from the federal government would help the city make that transition.
Mount Vernon city council member Tom Wieseler noted that moving to a fully automated meter read system is a benefit for the city, as it will help the city be able to more easily track water leaks very quickly.
Mount Vernon city council member Stephanie West noted that while the radio meter reads are a very good use of this money, she wondered if the city looked into items for disaster recovery, including cots and generators for the LBC and other buildings that could be used in an emergency.
Nosbisch noted he had thought about using the funds for that and recouping some of the losses for the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center, but because of the newness for the Buresh Center, it would be harder to prove what was a COVID-19 direct loss for that building.
“The radio water meter reads are the perfect type of project that has a high expense and has been on the city’s wishlist for a number of years that’s not always easy to find funding for and maintains a vital service,” Nosbisch said.
Nosbisch encouraged the council to weigh other options that might be funded by those ARP funds, as the council began discussing how to spend the ARP funds at the July 19 meeting.