LYNN — The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to spread nearly $36 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to 35 individual projects across 10 different areas, including parks, roads, housing, early childhood programs and public safety.
The Phase 1 funding, which will likely be supplemented with approximately $22.9 million in Phase 2 funding in the fall, includes $16.3 million for park renovations, $2.6 million for water system improvements on Broadway and Lynnfield Streets, $2 million for the Hennessy House affordable housing project, and $1.26 million for fire department pumpers.
City Councilor at-large Brian Fields said that the funding, which came after months of community outreach, public surveys, meetings, and phone calls, made the council meeting a “historic night.”
“This is a very historic night for the city of Lynn,” Fields said Wednesday. “The last few months have been very busy with meetings, phone calls et cetera, not just for myself, the mayor, and his team, but for many of you here who scheduled and participated in the outreach process.”
To date, the city has dedicated $13.5 million to improving the air quality in municipal buildings by replacing and upgrading HVAC systems; $500,000 was used to purchase rapid COVID antigen test kits; and $3 million was allocated to the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC) for small business relief grants.
Fields said that the Lynn community heavily participated in the city’s discussion around fund allocation. He said that the community’s voice will also be heard regarding the allocation of Phase 2 ARPA funds in the fall.
“I’m confident to say that no other community has had the outreach to their residents like we had in the city of Lynn, and it wasn’t just one or two opportunities for people to participate, there were multiple … that will not end tonight. The outreach to our residents and business partners will continue over the next few weeks as we plan to move toward our next wave of ARPA funding this fall,” Fields said.
Mayor Jared Nicholson said that he was “honored” to be a part of the funding allocation process, and that the funding will be a “lasting investment” for a city recovering from the impact of COVID-19.
“This is an opportunity to make lasting investments in the city of Lynn, address the impact of the pandemic that hit the city hard,” Nicholson said. “We’re really excited to be able to perform a very significant step towards our goal of making the most of all this opportunity, and it has been really an honor to be doing that from the mayor’s role on behalf of the city.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
