Emmet County approves two more ARPA allocations

Jillian Fellows, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read
The Emmet County building is located at 200 Division St. in Petoskey.
The Emmet County building is located at 200 Division St. in Petoskey.

PETOSKEY — The Emmet County Board of Commissioners approved two more requests from local municipalities as it continues doling out its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

“We’re starting to see these (requests) come in now,” said David Boyer, county administrator, during the board’s Monday meeting. “These are the $50,000 matching grants that we’re giving out through ARPA funding.”

The ARPA funding is designed to provide support to local, tribal and state governments in responding to the impacts of COVID-19. Emmet County has dedicated $1,050,000 of that funding for local municipality projects.

The county is offering up to $50,000 in matching funds for projects that meet ARPA requirements. The application deadline for the county’s various townships, cities and villages is July 1, 2023.

The first proposals came from Bear Creek and Center townships last month.

More: Emmet County approves first two township requests for ARPA funding

More: How ARPA funds are transforming rural Michigan

At Monday’s meeting, the board approved two more requests from Springvale and Bliss townships.

“Springvale Township is proposing to work with the road commission on Roy Road and do improvements on Roy Road,” Boyer said. “We’ve reviewed it, it meets the qualifications and we would recommend moving forward with this project.”

According to agenda materials, the Springvale Township Board will consider this agreement at their next regular meeting on June 13. The agreement will be fully executed once both boards have approved the project.

Subscribe: Check out our offers and read the local news that matters to you

Bliss Township also proposed using the funds for roadwork. Officials said the repair project for Pleasantview Road would improve roadway conditions that create safety concerns, impacting residents, commerce and tourism in the area.

The next Emmet County Board of Commissioners meeting will be at 6 p.m. on June 15.

— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Emmet County approves two more ARPA allocations