LYNN — The city sought feedback on projects selected to receive American Rescue Plan Act funding at a community hearing Tuesday night — with the current proposal from the mayor’s office directing the majority of the funds to Lynn parks.
“It’s really important for us that we are getting this feedback,” said Mayor Jared Nicholson.
Nichol Figueiredo from the consultant agency Capital Strategic Solutions told participants that the city of Lynn received $75,134,915 in direct ARPA funds, and that it has until Dec. 31, 2024, to obligate the funds and until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend them.
Lynn Outreach Director Jean-Michael Fana said that $13.5 million of ARPA funding in Lynn was already dedicated to improving the air quality in municipal-owned buildings, $500,000 was directed to purchase rapid COVID testing, $3 million was allocated to the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Lynn, and $800,000 was allocated for city translators.
The remaining $58 million allocation will be determined by a two-phase community outreach process. Figueiredo said that the targeted outreach for the first phase already included 509 community organization contacts and 14 community forums. The community feedback identified the areas where the community needed ARPA funds.
The implementation of the project will start, and the second phase of project selection will be launched, after the projects selected at the first phase are presented to the City Council, said Figueiredo.
“It was designed to be an equitable process, accessible, and transparent,” said Figueiredo.
Fana said that a survey showed that more than 22 percent of the residents were concerned with housing issues, more than 19 percent wanted the city to prioritize parks and green spaces, and 16 percent wanted to see more projects for roadway improvements.
Figueiredo said that the city also conducted a cloud survey that identified words that were most frequently used in the responses of the residents such as water, funding, need, city, parks, Lynn, housing, projects, and others. She said that those words pointed out the area of the primary interest of the residents, and that they will be included in the second phase as well.
Danya Smith, policy director for the mayor’s office, presented the funding breakdown. Lynn parks will be the biggest beneficiary of the first phase of the ARPA projects selection, with $18.2 million of ARPA investments.
Of those funds, $1.5 million will be allocated for the first phase of Harbor Park construction, including parking and public accessibility of the area, and a little less than $300,000 is going to be spent to help address litter issues.
Another $100,000 will go to park conditions assessment; and $22,500 will pay for the up-front capital expenses such as kayaks, paddleboards, paddles, personal flotation devices, carts, racks, and art equipment.
Water and roads are going to be the next biggest ARPA investment article with almost $5.5 million, where $2.6 million will go to Broadway-Lynnfield Street improvements, allowing for improved water service to the area and increased safety in the event of fire.
Another $1.5 million will be put into street and sidewalk capital improvements, and more than $1.3 million more will go to broaden the fleet of heavy vehicles available to the DPW.
Housing will be the next biggest expense, of almost $5 million that will include a $2 million investment in the Hennessey House rehabilitation project at 48-52 Andrew St. that will be converting current single room occupancy (SRO) units into 51 efficiency studios with a kitchen and bathroom in each.
“This project will create a safe living environment for our most vulnerable population,” said the city’s ARPA website – lynnarpa.com.
Other items with housing expenses are $1.5 million for rental assistance, $900,000 for Catalyst Housing for extremely low-income young adults, $400,000 for Wall Plaza improvements, and other minor projects.
“A lot of these projects are the projects of Lynn Housing Authority, and a lot of these projects are ready to go,” said Smith.
Early Childhood development will get $3 million to fully renovate the mixed-use building at 156 Broad St. to dedicate the property to a preschool education center for low-income children.
Some other areas the ARPA funds will be used include public safety, GAR Hall and Museum capital improvements, public health, transportation and transit support, building indoor gardens in partnership with Tufts University, and Workforce Development Plan.
The projects not selected in this first round may be selected in a future project selection process to go before the council in fall 2022.
“Your feedback is critical for that process,” said Figueiredo.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
