MARBLEHEAD — The Select Board awarded $946,193 in COVID-19 recovery funds to five projects, including a $200,000 allocation to fund mental health resources in town at a meeting Wednesday.
The money came from the federal government, which passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021, to provide economic relief to communities during the pandemic. Marblehead’s allocation totals $6,144,030. Of that, the town has spent $1,242,669, including the funds the Select Board distributed Wednesday. Chair Moses Grader said an eight-person working group convened to solicit townwide projects and prioritize them based on their benefit to the community and alignment with ARPA guidelines.
Grader added that the group has reviewed 72 project proposals with a cumulative cost that would total $18 million. As a result, the group will have to reject several, if not many, of them.
“We were very adamant about casting a wide net for all the projects out there, even smaller ones that weren’t getting the attention they needed,” Grader said. “We’re very mindful of the integrity of our process and that’s what we’re super focused on.”
At its Wednesday meeting, the board allocated $584,182 to cover reductions in revenue, $6,311 to upgrade the town’s information booth area and $5,700 to equip Marblehead schools with hybrid technology.
One of the other funding requests the board approved Wednesday was for $150,000 to hire a two-year employee to aid ARPA project implementation and associated administrative duties.
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said the temporary hire’s job would be to focus completely on the town’s recovery from the pandemic.
“This [allocation process] was kind of an analysis of what areas and what industries were hit the most,” Select Board member Alexa Singer said. “My takeaway from that is in order to put in place the things that we need to help them, it is imperative that we have someone to organize that process — to make it happen.”
Also at its meeting Wednesday, the board voted to proclaim Jan. 27 Holocaust Remembrance Day in Marblehead, joining many countries and communities worldwide.
Select Board member Jackie Belf-Becker said the impact of the Holocaust is always with her.
“I lost most of my parents’ immediate family members except one person and fortunately my parents managed to be among the survivors,” Belf-Becker said. “I’m fully aware of what seems to be a rekindling of the horrific mindset that led to the Holocaust. We have to be more vigilant in educating the public about the consequences of the spread of hateful activities in our society.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected].
