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Enfield official says ARPA Community Recovery Fund left local projects short; county officials defend mental health stabilization spending
Summary
Robert Lynch of Enfield criticized the legislature's reallocation of unspent ARPA Community Recovery Fund money and urged funding for a local mental health wing. Legislators and county members responded that funds were used for an intended Mental Health Stabilization Unit and that state-level obstacles affected project timing.
Robert Lynch, an Enfield town council member speaking during public comment, criticized the county's handling of its Community Recovery Fund and urged the legislature to prioritize local projects such as a proposed mental health wing at the Enfield Community Center.
"On April 21... the Community Recovery Fund effectively ended," Lynch said, asserting the county redirected more than $1.6 million in unspent ARPA funds and that local shovel-ready projects missed opportunities. Lynch singled out a stalled Cayuga Medical Center project as a central reason for unspent funds.
Legislators and others responded in the meeting. Legislator Mike Sigler defended the county's earlier vote to set aside ARPA for a Mental Health Stabilization Unit and said the hospital-led project faced state-level barriers. "This project's not dead, they are still working on it," Sigler said, adding that rural hospitals are financially constrained and that such stabilization services address COVID-era mental-health needs.
Chair Shauna Black noted the county's policy rationale for using ARPA money for behavioral-health stabilization and thanked speakers for raising local project needs. County administration later reiterated that some projects encountered state approvals and that program timelines were affected by those processes.
No formal vote or change in allocation occurred at the meeting; the exchange was part of public comment and subsequent oral responses. Lynch urged future consideration of funding to help local nonprofit projects directly if feasible.
