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Select Board approves ARPA awards to multiple town projects, directs remaining balance to lead‑service inventory
Summary
The Select Board approved advisory‑finance recommendations to allocate remaining ARPA funds across a slate of local projects (parks, public safety, infrastructure, language access) and directed any subsequent residuals to the DPW for the lead service line inventory.
The Westborough Select Board voted to award remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to a recommended list of projects and to allocate any current or future residual ARPA balances to the Department of Public Works for lead service‑line inventory work.
The advisory finance committee and town staff presented a prioritized slate of projects and noted roughly $500,000 remained available after earlier awards and interest accrual. The board approved the advisory finance committee recommendations by motion; the formal motion also designated the DPW lead‑service‑line inventory as the recipient of any additional available ARPA balances.
Selected recommended awards (as presented to the Select Board) included: a $25,000 award to Shrewsbury Youth & Family Services to provide on‑demand, HIPAA‑compliant language interpretation for Westborough families (two‑year service); $85,000 for the Conservation Department to replace the failed Piccadilly Brook bridge with a fiberglass, ADA‑compliant 30‑foot span; $9,500 for community center server‑room cooling and $18,000 to upgrade the town Avaya phone system; fire‑department requests including ~$17,439 for two replacement stair chairs (with a three‑year maintenance agreement), ~$43,000 to replace Lucas automated CPR devices (two devices, trade‑ins included), and about $7,001 to repair/refresh fire‑station carbon‑monoxide detection and reprogram the simplex panel; and an $87,000 award for lead reclamation work at the police training range (the first step in a larger range upgrade). Recreation requested an additional $17,000 to close a gap on the dog‑park construction low bid so a Stanton Foundation grant can be used; parking‑lot repairs for Armstrong and Givens were recommended for award though some line‑item amounts were not specified in the evening’s discussion.
Police and public‑safety presenters described the range cleanup as a time‑sensitive environmental remediation step; police training upgrades (a future moving‑target system) were described as a longer‑term capital project that would be supplemented substantially by the Westborough Police Foundation.
Following the board’s vote, staff will execute awards consistent with AFC recommendations and then proceed with obligating funds; any accrued interest or project underruns will be directed to the DPW for lead‑service‑line inventory work and related needs.
