Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.

Earlier this spring, the Wexford County Board of Commissioners started the process of utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds and it appears the board is looking to do so again at Wednesday’s meeting.

Earlier this spring, the Wexford County Board of Commissioners started the process of utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds and it appears the board is looking to do so again at Wednesday’s meeting.

CADILLAC — Earlier this spring, the Wexford County Board of Commissioners started the process of utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds and it appears the board is looking to do so again at Wednesday’s meeting.

At the upcoming meeting, the board is scheduled to discuss using ARPA funds to replace the District Health Department No. 10 Wexford County office’s roof, the sidewalk at the Wexford County Courthouse and DHD No. 10, a conveyor belt scanner and metal detector for the courthouse, a water softener at the Wexford County Jail and record scanning of historical documents for the Wexford County Clerk’s office.

The clerk budgeted roughly $10,000 for the document scanning but will be utilizing about $20,000 in ARPA funds, too. The other projects will be fully paid for, if approved, using ARPA funds, according to Wexford County Equalization Director and Administrator Joe Porterfield.

Porterfield said all the projects have been vetted through the committee level and now need full board approval before they can be complete. All the projects together will utilize roughly $120,000 in ARPA funds.

In February, Wexford County learned any municipality with an ARPA allocation under $10 million can consider the funds as revenue loss. What that means is Wexford County can use those ARPA funds for the “provision of government service.”

That means the county can use it for most general fund expenditures except for three things. Those three things include paying down capital project debt, adding to its rainy day fund or fund balance, or paying down its unfunded pension liability.

While the county does have more flexibility in how it uses the money, there are four categories it must fall under. They include capital expenditures, expanding public sector hiring and capacity, premium pay for essential workers and broadening eligible broadband, water and sewer infrastructure.

The board voted in the spring to spend ARPA funds to pay for several items including nearly $104,000 for updating the elevator at the Wexford County Courthouse, nearly $37,800 for 12 radios for use by the emergency management department and nearly $14,300 for 25 sets of riot gear for the sheriff’s office.

In July 2021, the board also voted to use ARPA funds to give a $2,500 direct payment to all active county employees annually for three years. The payments are prorated per month of service from the prior year’s work as of July 31, 2021, 2022 and 2023. These payments also would be subject to any contractual or collective bargaining agreement requirement.

For Wednesday’s meeting, there are multiple ways the public can attend: in person, by computer, by smartphone or by telephone.

To attend by computer, go to zoom.us and click on “Join” in the upper right-hand corner and use meeting ID 749 610 4141. If using a smartphone, install the Zoom application before the call, launch the Zoom app and join using meeting ID 749 610 4141.

Finally, if a person is attending the meeting by telephone, they should dial toll-free 646-876-9923 and enter the meeting ID of 749 610 4141#.

The commissioners are scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the commissioners’ room on the third floor of the Wexford County Courthouse, 437 E. Division St.

Son, brother, husband, father, friend, writer, beekeeper, gamer, beard growing all around good guy. I cover Wexford County government, cops and courts, CAPS, Pine River Area Schools, the Marion area, some sports and any other stories that come my way.

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