Another detailed discussion over upcoming American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds was had at Monday, May 17th’s Board of County Commissioners meeting. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Goforth briefed the Board with updates since last week’s meeting, saying that the bulk of new information comprised important dates.
ARPA, passed on March 3, 2021, is intended to help state and local governments recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Creek County is slated to receive $13,871,251 in two installments, the first of which is expected to arrive sometime this week.
The U.S. Treasury is requiring counties to provide periodic reports providing a detailed accounting of their use of funds. The first Interim Report is due by August 31, 2021. Quarterly reports on all ARPA-related expenditures will be due on October 31, 2021 and each quarter thereafter until December 31, 2024, when the act expires.
Goforth related to the Board how complicated and time consuming the reporting will be, but assured them that “we are ahead of the curve” and have already begun the process. “It will take a month or two to gather” the required information, said Goforth, and “we don’t expect to spend any of the money for a couple of months, until we have a clear definition of what we can spend it on.”
Current information on acceptable uses for the funds includes “necessary infrastructure” for water, sewer, or broadband services. They will also cover Administrative Costs incurred by the County for the creation of the program, gathering the required information, and the oversight of the plan. Further, all monies must be spent by the end of 2024 and all work performed by December 31, 2026.
Goforth said that he is “monitoring SB858, as this will impact the way the funds can be spent…We know that in the current act, funds cannot be spent directly on roads and bridges, as they are trying to pass the Jobs Bill that would fund that. But it can be used to supplement loss of revenue on the highway side.”
“We have received a lot of requests for funds; they are all warranted and would be great for the community. We need to keep in mind when spending the money that all entities are investing in our community to protect against the same thing happening in the future. We need to strengthen our community from another economic downfall that may come in the future,” he concluded.
The purchase of SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) masks for the Olive Volunteer Fire Department will be awarded to Casco Industries of Oklahoma City in the amount of $2,177. This will ensure that each firefighter has his or her own individual mask and will be paid for in large part with a REAP Grant of $1,800. Olive VFD contributed another $300 to make up the total cost. Casco is the only approved company to sell these devices in Oklahoma. The bid was approved by Purchasing Agent Jana Thomas and INCOG’s Rural Development Coordinator Barbara Allbritton after a presentation of quotes and other information from Fire Chief Jason Dobson. This was unanimously approved by the BOCC.
The Allocation of Alcoholic Beverage Tax for the month of April was unanimously approved. The taxes will be distributed as follows: Bristow $4,439.42; Depew $501.41; Drumright $3,062.47; Kellyville $1,211.10; Kiefer $1,774.23; Lawrence Creek $158.14; Mannford $3,239.89; Mounds $1,230.39; Oilton $1,068.39; Sapulpa $21,637.85; Shamrock $108.00; and Slick $138.85.
