Upper Valley towns spent COVID relief funds in myriad ways

Hartford firefighters, from left, Lt. Troy Collins, Capt. Will Laliberty, firefighter Rich Colburn and firefighter paramedic Dillon Mock, equip and test a recently refurbished 2006 fire engine in White River Junction, Vt., on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Repairing normal wear to its frame and underbody and to have it refitted for operation by a two-person crew as the main engine out of the department’s Quechee station cost $311,000 and was paid for with the town’s ARPA money. Fire Chief Scott Cooney said the investment would extend the life of the apparatus by about ten years, while a brand new engine with a useful life of about 20 years would cost close to $1 million. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

Hartford firefighters, from left, Lt. Troy Collins, Capt. Will Laliberty, firefighter Rich Colburn and firefighter paramedic Dillon Mock, equip and test a recently refurbished 2006 fire engine in White River Junction, Vt., on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Repairing normal wear to its frame and underbody and to have it refitted for operation by a two-person crew as the main engine out of the department’s Quechee station cost $311,000 and was paid for with the town’s ARPA money. Fire Chief Scott Cooney said the investment would extend the life of the apparatus by about ten years, while a brand new engine with a useful life of about 20 years would cost close to $1 million. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) valley news photographs — James M. Patterson

Shana Ronayne Hickman, director of the Baxter Public Library in Sharon, Vt., retrieves a returned book from the drop at the building’s front door before opening to patrons on a cold Thursday morning, Jan. 23, 2025. The town spent $35,604 of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to install a heat pump system and energy recovery ventilator in Library, tying into the ducting and fully replacing an aging oil forced hot air furnace in August, 2022. The project has provided modest savings in fuel costs, about $200 over two years, but with the additional benefits of cooling the building in summer, providing the town with a safe cooling station in instances of extreme heat and reducing the town’s fossil fuel use, said Ryan Haac, chair of the town’s energy committee. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

Shana Ronayne Hickman, director of the Baxter Public Library in Sharon, Vt., retrieves a returned book from the drop at the building’s front door before opening to patrons on a cold Thursday morning, Jan. 23, 2025. The town spent $35,604 of its American Rescue Plan Act funds to install a heat pump system and energy recovery ventilator in Library, tying into the ducting and fully replacing an aging oil forced hot air furnace in August, 2022. The project has provided modest savings in fuel costs, about $200 over two years, but with the additional benefits of cooling the building in summer, providing the town with a safe cooling station in instances of extreme heat and reducing the town’s fossil fuel use, said Ryan Haac, chair of the town’s energy committee. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

Marta Ceroni, chair of the Enfield Energy Committee, stands to address the Enfield, N.H., Selectboard with her ideas for the use of the town’s remaining ARPA funds during a meeting at the town’s public works facility on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Before having a chance to speak, the board voted to allocate more than $109,000 of its remaining ARPA money to pay for a fire truck. “It’s a good expense,” said Ceroni, of the truck, but she had hoped for the town to make some investment into renewable energy. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

Marta Ceroni, chair of the Enfield Energy Committee, stands to address the Enfield, N.H., Selectboard with her ideas for the use of the town’s remaining ARPA funds during a meeting at the town’s public works facility on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Before having a chance to speak, the board voted to allocate more than $109,000 of its remaining ARPA money to pay for a fire truck. “It’s a good expense,” said Ceroni, of the truck, but she had hoped for the town to make some investment into renewable energy. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) James M. Patterson

Molly Duke and her daughter Willa, 2, cross a pedestrian bridge connecting her residential neighborhood to Vail Field over Kedron Brook in Woodstock, Vt., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. The Village of Woodstock is replacing this and another foot bridge over the brook near the village visitor center for a combined cost of $45,000. Municipal Manager Eric Duffy said $34,000 of the village’s more than $256,000 of ARPA funds has been allocated for the project. “I’m back and forth over this bridge many times a day,” said Duke, adding that the bridge is used constantly for access to the park and for kids walking to Woodstock Elementary School. The bridge is not currently wide enough to accommodate one of the town’s sidewalk sweepers and must be shoveled by hand. (Valley News - James M. Patterson)

Molly Duke and her daughter Willa, 2, cross a pedestrian bridge connecting her residential neighborhood to Vail Field over Kedron Brook in Woodstock, Vt., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. The Village of Woodstock is replacing this and another foot bridge over the brook near the village visitor center for a combined cost of $45,000. Municipal Manager Eric Duffy said $34,000 of the village’s more than $256,000 of ARPA funds has been allocated for the project. “I’m back and forth over this bridge many times a day,” said Duke, adding that the bridge is used constantly for access to the park and for kids walking to Woodstock Elementary School. The bridge is not currently wide enough to accommodate one of the town’s sidewalk sweepers and must be shoveled by hand. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) valley news — James M. Patterson

By CHRISTINA DOLAN

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 01-31-2025 4:01 PM

Modified: 02-03-2025 8:54 AM


Enfield’s police department has a new cruiser, Hartford installed a lactation pod for nursing mothers in the town offices, and in Orford, 90% of the population will for the first time have access to reliable, high-speed broadband.

From fire trucks and skid steers to school bleachers and road signs, towns and villages throughout the Upper Valley have reaped the benefits of the one-time influx of COVID-19 related federal funds that landed in their coffers in the fall of 2021.

The money was part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, passed by Congress. Its purpose was to help towns and cities nationwide respond to and recover from the pandemic.

The deadline for “obligating,” or deciding what to do with those funds was Dec. 31, 2024, making possible a broad look at how the 48 towns in the Valley News’ coverage area decided to use their share of the funding.

For many towns, the ARPA money has been a game-changer.

Relying heavily on property taxes for revenue, towns routinely struggle to balance rising operational costs while keeping tax rates bearable for residents. For smaller towns especially, striking that balance often means deferring maintenance on buildings, vehicles and equipment, and funding only what is absolutely necessary.

“ARPA changed this,” Katie Buckley, who directs municipal operations support for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said recently.

“It has provided most municipalities with some much-needed breathing room,” she said.

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In the spring of 2020, Congress passed the largest stimulus package in U.S. history, the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, that provided $2.2 trillion in assistance to businesses, individuals and schools. Under the CARES Act, schools received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds to help with remote learning, student support, and safe reopening.

The ARPA money, arriving a year later, was directed at helping state and local governments respond to and recover from the pandemic and its disruptions. For towns that received under $10 million, it came with few restrictions — anything a government typically spent money on was eligible — and a modest annual reporting requirement.

ARPA payments to Upper Valley towns averaged $627,283 in Vermont and $412,530 in New Hampshire. Although modest relative to multi-million dollar municipal budgets, the money had a tangible impact across the Upper Valley.

New Hampshire towns received smaller direct payments on average — about 40% smaller in the Upper Valley — than their neighbors in the Green Mountain State because part of the Granite State’s local relief funding was distributed to counties. Vermont sent all of its local recovery funds directly to towns.

The ‘journey’

State municipal associations and regional planning commissions guided towns as they decided what to do with their share of the money. Buckley’s role has been to assist cities and towns along what she calls their “ARPA journey.”

Some, including Hartland, Corinth, Bradford, Vt., and West Windsor, formed committees tasked with making recommendations to the town. Others left the decision to the selectboard, and some, like Woodstock and Thetford, used community surveys to gather ideas or relied on public input during selectboard meetings.

In Lebanon, the city created four working groups to look at broadband, child care, communications and small-business support, resulting in one of the more varied expenditure lists in the Upper Valley.

Hartland formed a seven-member committee comprising residents and town employees. It held 14 public meetings and evaluated 56 projects proposed by community members before making its recommendation to the Selectboard.

West Windsor had a town-wide public meeting and then formed a seven-member committee of residents that met twice a month for nearly a year before recommending a focus on emergency services.

In an expenditure technique recommended by VLCT, several Vermont towns used all of their ARPA money for payroll, which then created a surplus untethered to the U.S. Treasury’s deadlines and reporting requirements.

VLCT’s Buckley recommended this particular strategy with an eye to the 2024 presidential election, she said, out of concern that a Trump administration might rescind any unspent federal recovery funds.

“Sensing that there could be a change in the Administration, we urged towns to not just obligate their funds but EXPEND them prior to 10/31/2024 — ahead of the election — and if not by then do so by the 12/31/2024 obligation deadline,” she said.

“We had no interest in rolling the dice with the change in leadership,” she added.

Funds sent to Grafton and Sullivan counties was used for a wide range of projects, including renovating nursing homes, expanding broadband access, providing incentive and bonus pay to employees, and a broad array of equipment purchases.

That money is also available to be allocated directly to towns within each county. For example, Orford will hold a public hearing in February to accept about $19,000 in ARPA funds from Grafton County.

Broad strokes

Because the U.S. Treasury only requires towns to report their ARPA spending once a year, and because so many towns in Vermont followed VLCT’s recommendation to detach their funds from federal reporting requirements, it’s difficult to compile a complete, line-item list of how each community spent their money.

But by looking at the existing U.S. Treasury data and asking towns to self-report their spending, the broad strokes of categories become evident.

The funding made possible projects ranging from costly infrastructural improvements on sewer and water systems to more modest investments in new playground equipment and improved remote meeting tools.

Some towns spent the money digitizing municipal records, installing Automated External Defibrillators, or AEDs in town buildings, and purchasing equipment for their fire and police departments.

Renovations and repairs to town buildings increased energy efficiency and lowered long-term utility costs. By using ARPA funds to install generators and heat pumps, many municipal buildings may now serve as warming and cooling shelters during weather-related emergencies.

Some towns deployed the ARPA money as local matching funding for grants, to offset revenue loss from pandemic-related closures, or to bolster the work of local nonprofits.

Infrastructure investments

When small towns face large infrastructural expenses, they are at a disadvantage in terms of leveraging economies of scale.

The infusion of ARPA funds allowed some towns to invest in water, sewer and broadband projects that would otherwise have posed funding challenges.

“What many outside of local government don’t always understand is that ‘bigger’ is a relative term and depends upon local capacity (both human and financial),” Buckley said. “For some towns it is a multi-million-dollar piece of infrastructure; for others it is constructing a small pavilion on public land.”

Bridgewater put its entire allocation toward sewer repairs following a plant failure in 2021. New London spent half of its allocation on sewer and water improvements, and Bethel purchased wastewater pumps and a generator to run them in emergencies. Royalton was able to put half a million dollars toward upgrades to its water treatment facility.

The ARPA money was particularly beneficial for small water systems, Executive Director of the Vermont Rural Water Association Liz Royer said by phone recently.

“The traditional funding sources for drinking water systems are loans, and it’s an expensive process,” that usually requires engineering studies and other costs, and can place a significant administrative burden on a small town, she said.

Both Buckley and Royer emphasized the particular challenges facing small communities and the ways that even a modest one-time windfall can make a big difference.

“Small systems have the same regulations, distribution systems, treatment needs and security concerns,” as larger towns, Royer said. But they have more modest budgets and smaller pools of fee-paying users.

For smaller towns, a $50,000 repair can be a significant outlay. At the same time, the administrative burden of finding and applying for grants, commissioning and paying for engineering studies and other requirements falls heavily on towns with smaller staff numbers.

“The ARPA money was beneficial in that respect,” she added. It allowed towns to make direct purchases without the administrative workload that accompanies grant and loan requests.

Some municipalities, including Lebanon and Orford, used their windfall to improve broadband access.

“We discovered how critical internet access was when children needed to attend school virtually and some people tried to work remotely,” City Manager Shaun Mulholland said.

Lebanon had 142 homes without broadband access because their neighborhoods did not have internet cable service. Working with Comcast, Hub66 and other firms, “we were able to provide matching ARPA funds to Comcast to extend service to the remaining 142 homes in the city,” he said.

Money for play

Some towns invested in their recreational infrastructure, with Windsor upgrading a town playground and expanding its dog park.

Bradford, Vt., used the ARPA money to create a surplus, and will ask voters in March to approve $195,000 of that surplus for the design and construction of a 7,000-square-foot skate park.

In a town where roughly half of the school-aged population qualifies for free or reduced lunch, there was a need for recreation opportunities with low economic barriers to entry, Jean Cardan, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said by phone.

A skate park would provide access to “adventurous recreation,” for age groups that have outgrown playgrounds, she added. The total cost of the skate park project clocks in at just under half a million dollars, Cardan said.

The commission is seeking additional grant funding to support the project, which it hopes will open by 2026. The potential to apply ARPA money to the project “really helped kick off the fundraising effort,” Cardan said.

From parking meters to emergency response

Some expenditures inspired controversy.

The Hartford Selectboard incurred public ire in October when it voted to use part of its ARPA money to purchase parking meters for more than 200 public spaces in downtown White River Junction. Voters had rejected using tax revenue to purchase the meters in 2020, and some saw the move to use ARPA funding as underhanded.

“Parking meters were on the ballot previously and voted down by the voting majority,” Heidi Duto of White River Junction said in October.

But Hartford’s parking meters will generate revenue for the town, Town Manager John Haverstock said in October, though the exact amount isn’t yet certain.

West Windsor’s ARPA committee recommended the town give two-thirds of its allocation to the volunteer fire department to help relocate its flood-prone station. The fire department later abandoned the project after a dispute with the town over access to municipal water, freeing $200,000 for other initiatives.

The result was a constellation of expenditures — generators, radios, heat pumps, boilers and AEDs — that combined to strengthen the town’s resilience in the face of emergencies, particularly weather-related incidents.

“It certainly has been an interesting journey,” Buckley said of her work with towns around their ARPA reporting and spending.

Whether by creating or increasing reserve funds, re couping lost revenue, or making direct purchases, the pandemic-related provided a bit of relief to local budgets.

For many towns, the one-time influx of funding “has allowed them to have a vision toward their futures and to think bigger,” she said.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727 -3208.