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Harrison County obligates remaining ARPA revenue-replacement funds for rail-trail project and animal-control facility study
Summary
The commission approved an MOU to obligate federal ARPA revenue-replacement funds — confirming $800,000 already designated to the Northrail/North Bend Connector and allocating the remaining $183,690 toward the county's animal-control facility (study/master plan and related work under an existing McKinley contract).
Harrison County commissioners on Dec. 11 approved a memorandum of understanding to formally obligate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue-replacement funds after staff said new federal guidance requires such funds be tied to specific projects by year-end.
County staff reported the commission previously allotted $983,690 for revenue replacement, with $800,000 already designated for the Northrail/North Bend Connector project. Officials moved to obligate the remaining $183,690 to activities connected to an animal-control facility, including study, surveying, engineering and master-planning work under the county's existing contract with McKinley.
"The MOU is a document we definitely need to have in place for reporting purposes," Speaker 7 said, arguing the draft language should be broad enough to cover feasibility studies, surveys, engineering and administration spelled out in the McKinley contract. Staff added that federal guidance released in November requires obligations to be documented by Dec. 31 and that funds must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
Commissioners debated whether the wording would unduly lock the county to one contractor and whether funds could be used to purchase property if needed. Speaker 4 said the commission should avoid "pinning ourselves to one company" for studies; Speaker 7 responded that the current contract's scope aligns with the intended study and master-plan work. Speaker 1 called the motion to allocate the full remaining $183,690 to the animal-control building and to authorize signing the MOU; the motion passed by voice vote.
The MOU obligates the county to document the project(s) that will use the revenue-replacement funds but, according to staff, can be revisited if a planned deal falls through and the county petitions to change how the funds are used. The commission did not provide a roll-call vote tally in the record; approvals were recorded by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will finalize and execute the MOU and, where necessary, proceed with contract actions and project planning under the McKinley agreement.
