ARPA Can Cover Roads, Bridges

Crawford County commissioners learned Jan. 18 that the remainder of its $4-plus million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds can be used to fund roads, bridges and other county services.

“We’re finally going to get something,” said District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast.

Kelly Sink-Blair of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission told commissioners they had received word that counties could use ARPA money as a revenue loss.

Commissioners have already allocated $540,000 to Practical POCUS, a point-of-care ultrasound company.

Of that, $300,000 will go towards the renovation of a building in Cuba.

The other $240,000 is to provide point-of-care ultrasound training.

Crawford County still has more than $4 million and several years to determine how it should be spent.

At first, the money was slated to go towards public health.

Commissioners were prepared Tuesday to begin awarding a round of funds to a few applicants, but upon hearing the news from Sink-Blair, will hold off.

The commission is waiting to hear if the money can go to sub-county levels of government, like municipalities or other taxing districts.

Sink-Blair said Phelps County has already made several decisions on water and sewer projects.

One project that could be affected by the decision is in Bourbon.

The city was the first applicant for the county’s ARPA funds, submitting a $1 million grant to fund a UV wastewater disinfection system at the treatment plant.

Commissioners said in early January that they couldn’t commit to awarding any money to municipalities until they learned whether or not ARPA funds could be used on roads and bridges.

Commissioners also said awarding Bourbon any funds could impact the money it potentially receives from the state as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIF).