Bosque Farms councilors still to decide on ARPA funding

BOSQUE FARMS — The question of what to do with almost $200,000 in leftover federal funding is still bedeviling a local municipality.

In January, Bosque Farms Village Clerk/Administrator Michael Limon informed village councilors there was still $188,000 available from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act, which was enacted to help communities recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Limon asked to reallocate the money for one-time premium payments to all village employees to keep up morale. There was a question as to whether the payments would be equal to all employees or needed to be adjusted for tenure, so the redistribution of the funds was tabled until February.

When the matter came back to the village council, Councilors Erica DeSmet and Tim Baughman stated they would prefer at least some of the money be used for village infrastructure needs. DeSmet proposed using $88,000 for premium payments to the employees and $100,000 for infrastructure projects in the village.

The clerk/administrator said he was getting conflicting information about how to distribute the funds to employees as well as what other uses were permitted, and would continue to ask for guidance from federal officials.

At the May 15 council meeting, Limon reported the village can reallocate the ARPA funds for premium pay and for other projects, saying he would bring a final plan to the council at its June 19 meeting.

DeSmet said she’d looked into the history of the ARPA funding for the village and found it had been awarded $958,000 in 2021, 62 percent of which she said has been “spent on employees” and 12 percent on infrastructure projects.

“The employees are underpaid but that needs to come in the form of performance reviews ...,” DeSmet said. “We need fair market value jobs but right now we don’t have failing infrastructure — we have failed infrastructure. I cannot sit idly by and watch the village fail, including not giving employees fair pay. That absolutely needs to happen.”

She continued saying the village has pressing infrastructure needs, such as the wastewater treatment plant, but it is currently without an emergency medical services department, which put not only residents at risk but also delayed emergency care for village employees.

“We need infrastructure. Whatever is left over from ARPA needs to be spent on the village,” the councilor said. “We can’t spend it on employees just because.”

Limon acknowledged the EMS situation and infrastructure needs, saying when he was hired it was based on his expertise, ability to grow the village and clean up past problems.

“This was a token of good faith ...,” he said. “I don’t think the village is ready for my salary study, which will show how it’s been neglectful of the staff for the last decade.

“The reason infrastructure is suffering is due to unqualified employees managing systems when they haven’t had expert advice. We have certified individuals (Prodigy) managing our water and wastewater systems now, which gives us a lot of saving grace to give employees time to get their certifications.”

Once those certifications are done, Limon said the village would have “the most certified staff since 2016. I’m trying to add an employee first method ... I inherited a circus and I’m doing my best to be a lion tamer. I believe in my staff 100 percent.”

He continued, saying the village has until December 2026 to spend the remaining ARPA money. Limon said projects, such as street light replacement and water line connections were top of mind when it came to infrastructure projects.

“At the last meeting, (a water line project at) Cole and Green, lights and the wastewater treatment plant were brought up,” he said. “I would like to tackle those first and if there is money left, I will pursue what the council and mayor want.”