Green River council approves $30,000 ARPA allocation for park rehabilitation

Green River City Council voted May 30 to accept $30,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from Sweetwater County to support rehabilitation of city parks.

A city staff member told the council the county discovered an unspent “pocket of money” in its ARPA allocation and had made roughly $30,000 available to communities in the county. “They thought they had spent down everything that they needed to, and they now realized they had this big pocket of money,” the staff member said during the special meeting, which began at 3:04 p.m.

The motion authorized the city to request the county draw down the ARPA funds for use on park rehabilitation. The staff member and council discussion identified parks generally — including ballfields and a facility referred to in the meeting as “Okay Anderson” — as likely, practical uses for the money, but the motion did not specify a detailed project list or budget breakdown.

Councilman Larry Packer, Councilman Ben Lenhoff and Councilman Beau Harrison voted "aye" on the motion. No opposing votes, abstentions or named recusals were recorded in the meeting transcript. The council then adjourned the special meeting at about 3:07 p.m.

The council and staff characterized the request as a straightforward administrative step to allow the county to allocate the funds to Green River; the meeting record does not show any further formal direction to staff about specific projects or procurement steps tied to the $30,000. The transcript likewise does not specify whether the city will contribute matching funds or the schedule for drawing and spending the money.

Because the motion was general in scope, next steps for the council or staff — such as project selection, vendor contracts or budgets for specific park improvements — were not established in the special meeting transcript.