More than two years after the American Rescue Plan Act was passed into law – and after hundreds of community members shared thoughts on local projects – Chapel Hill approved how its final funding from the measure will be spent.
Out of the nearly $10.7 million federal money the town government received, much of that went to funding pools for major projects. Affordable housing and homelessness initiatives were allocated $2.5 million, and parks and recreation facilities got the same amount for upgrades. Downtown revitalization received $1 million, as did bike, pedestrian, and greenway systems’ infrastructure.
But the town reserved a final $500,000 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for “community-based projects,” which it allowed community members to vote on in recent weeks.
Special Projects Manager Sarah Poulton led much of Chapel Hill’s efforts in distributing ARPA funds. She said to get project ideas for the remaining $500,000, her office polled eight departments and identified 21 options for the one-time funding.
From there, Poulton set out to alert different Chapel Hill groups about the voting process to determine which project should receive money. She said that included a variety of in-person and online efforts to directly engage people.
“My intern and I took the poster to the People’s Academy graduation, hung one at public housing, attended some special events at the library and public housing neighborhoods, hung door-hangers, held numerous pop-up events and virtual office hours,” Poulton described during the May 10 town council meeting. “In all, we held 52 hours of live events.”
Of the 21 projects available to vote on, the top two projects each earned about 580 votes: purchasing electric leaf blowers and mowers for town crews and upgrading some town sidewalks to be ADA compliant. Additionally, the public voted to fund an extension of the Tanyard Branch Trail to nearby housing communities and the purchase of an ADA van for summer camps or field trips.
Paulson shared with council members the types of Chapel Hill community members who these projects will help most.
“First are those affected by the noise and environmental pollution of the current gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers,” she said. “[Second is] the greenway users in the Northside area, and a further contribution to everywhere-to-everywhere greenways. [Finally], Parks and Recreation program users who need wheelchair access to programs, and sidewalk users all over town.”
Paulton said a wide variety of people participated in the voting process –including several groups of young children in Chapel Hill.
“A big learning opportunity is that young people love to vote,” she said with a laugh, “and they will shame you into voting too, in a heartbeat. And the same goes for university students. They really enjoyed interacting with something tangible that was actually going to occur.”
All ARPA funding must be used on projects before the end of 2024, meaning all four projects – and other town initiatives using the federal money – will begin work before long. Paulson mentioned that no specific spots have been identified for the sidewalk repairs yet and they will be identified once her department completes an ADA transition plan for the town in coming weeks.
Council members had few comments on the selected projects during the meeting on May 10, but Mayor Pam Hemminger shared congratulations to Paulson’s team.
“Thank you for the good, hard work,” she said after the approval vote. “The motion is unanimous.”
The Town of Carrboro finalized its ARPA-funded projects and initiatives in October. The local government received $6.75 million and used more than a third of that to fund affordable housing efforts. Additional projects included park renovation, broadband expansion research, and improvement to bicycle infrastructure.
For more information on the Town of Chapel Hill’s ARPA projects, visit the local government’s web page dedicated to the federal act.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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