Council discusses $73,000 parks master-plan update and use of ARPA interest for funding

Councilors on Dec. 17 considered a contract to hire Kimley-Horn to update Converse’s parks, recreation and open-space master plan for $73,000.

Assistant City Manager Nina Mendez said the firm was being recommended from the city’s on-call engineering list and that the project would run about nine months if approved in January. She told council the recommended funding split includes a pledge from the Converse Economic Development Corporation and a city match drawn from interest earned on ARPA funds, which staff said do not need to meet the original ARPA project criteria.

Several councilmembers said they wanted an audit of ARPA funds and interest before approving the contract. The mayor said he planned to put an item on a future agenda to review ARPA expenditures and balances and asked staff to provide itemized funding totals before obligating the contract because the city has other high-priority needs—most notably a water 'VIP line' repair that staff estimated at about $2.5 million.

The city attorney said he had not yet researched whether ARPA interest must be used for ARPA-eligible projects; staff said their finance director advised that interest on ARPA funds did not have to meet specific criteria. Council directed staff to return with itemized funding and qualification details before final authorization.

Next steps: staff will provide an ARPA-interest balance and eligibility memo and will return at the next meeting with itemized funding sources prior to contract execution.