Jeff Mansfield, Pocatello public works director and city engineer, told the City Council the administration has obligated or is close to obligating the bulk of the city's ARPA funds and that several memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and contracts will be presented next week to obligate remaining amounts.

"All of these funds need to be obligated by the end of this month, or they will need to be sent back to, to the government," Mansfield said, and reviewed a long list of completed and in-progress projects tied to ARPA funding.

Mansfield listed finished items that included premium pay and completed recreation projects (Brooklyn's playground, pickleball courts), the Ross Park slide (pending one outstanding bill), a completed VFD project for Well No. 14 and ongoing work on well number 2 (substantial completion expected February 2025, final in March 2025). He said finance-software upgrades are under contract and the mental-health subrecipient projects have expended $68,000 so far.

Mansfield reported specific capital items awaiting final obligation through MOUs or contracts: an MOU with Parks for paving at Centennial and Legacy Park pedestrian and parking-area work (estimated $45,000), a planned MOU with Streets to repay a contribution to the First Avenue stormwater project ($45,000), and a contract already awarded for the First Avenue stormwater installation.

On cemetery infrastructure, city staff asked the council to support additional ARPA funding toward the Mountain View Cemetery waterline replacement. Mansfield described the planned replacement as a pipe-burst project to minimize disturbance in the cemetery and reduce the probability and cost of future leaks. "It really needs to get replaced for a couple reasons...the probability of failure is high on this line because of the number of breaks we've had, and, also, the cost of failure is high," he said.

Mansfield said the cemetery waterline project was bid and the low bidder's price exceeded initial planning estimates; staff recommended contributing ARPA funds to cover the gap rather than rebidding: "We feel like this is really the best way to do this project."

He also proposed applying ARPA funds to cover part of the design shortfall on the High Line Road widening project; the design contract was larger than the two-year budgeted amounts and ARPA would fill the roughly $48,450 gap so the project can retain its federal construction grant for future work. The presentation listed other active ARPA-funded items including a $500,000 skate park contract, zoo potable-water connections, fire-station staircase and alerting-system upgrades and cemetery irrigation automation.

Mansfield emphasized deadlines tied to obligation and expenditure windows and said staff would return next week with a consolidated ARPA item that includes several MOUs and contracts to obligate remaining funds. Council members asked about cost-overrun provisions and staff replied that if a project exceeds its allocated funds the responsible department would need to identify additional funding or return to council for reallocation.

The council did not record a formal vote during the update; staff said they would provide the necessary MOUs and contracts at the next council meeting to meet obligation requirements.