LYNN — Mayor Jared Nicholson announced Friday morning the launch of LynnARPA.com, a website designed to provide information about funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and information about projects that involve the funds.
The City of Lynn will receive $75 million in funds over the next two years. Half of this funding was received on May 20, 2021. The remaining half will be available in May, according to Nicholson’s office.
“Having a website to educate community members, share information, receive input and track the funding is a matter of transparency, maintaining trust with the public, and making decisions inclusively,” Nicholson said. “We want community members to be informed about how ARPA funds will benefit the entire community and the opportunities ahead to be a part of the decision-making process of where these funds should be applied.”
The website includes a calendar that displays upcoming meetings and events related to ARPA funding, links that direct the user to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website and the state government’s website page on earmarks, a web page presenting a timeline of ARPA community-engagement meetings, a web page detailing information on funding opportunities and a contact page. Other web pages, such as the ARPA projects page and the state-funds page, are still under construction.
The ARPA was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. The law gives federal aid to the state, county, tribal and local entities to respond to the public health and economic impacts created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am grateful to the federal government for making these funds available, which will greatly assist our community with mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nicholson.
City Council President Jay Walsh has appointed Councilor-at-Large Brian Field to serve as the council liaison to communicate between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council in the rollout of the ARPA funding.
Field said the funds are a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the city and thanked Nicholson for his communication with the City Council. He added that the website will allow more public input from residents on ARPA spending.
“We appreciate the open communication Mayor Nicholson has had with the council, even before being sworn in, and we look forward to working with him, his staff and the entire community, deciding on what areas will have the greatest impact when investing the ARPA funds,” said Field. “Including the public in the decision making is important and we look forward to working with everyone involved.”
To date, the city has dedicated $13.5 million of ARPA funds to improving the air quality in its municipal-owned buildings by replacing and upgrading the HVAC systems throughout public buildings in Lynn. Also, $500,000 was directed to purchase rapid COVID antigen test kits and $3 million is being allocated to the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation of Lynn (EDIC/Lynn) for small business relief grants.
The remaining $58 million will be dedicated toward initiatives and priorities through community engagement and outreach. Of that, $800,000 will be allocated to translators to include those who speak different languages in the conversation. Public health, housing, food-security workforce development, entrepreneurship and small-business development, along with environmental, behavioral and mental health will be the main areas of focus in these conversations.
In February, the city will launch a series of educational community meetings and public-input sessions, as well as a series of surveys to gather feedback on proposed uses of ARPA funds. An ARPA community survey will be made public on Feb. 1.
