Greensboro ARPA Advisory Committee Hears Application Presenters
by Nancy Hill, Community Journalist
GREENSBORO – At the Lakeview Elementary School on Wednesday, October 26, members of the Greensboro ARPA (The American Recovery Plan Act) Advisory Committee heard presentations from people representing 23 applications for funding. Jane Woodruff, chair of the committee, asked each applicant to explain in two minutes the project for which they were requesting money, and committee members then asked questions.
The Town of Greensboro has received $208,000 to distribute to help reverse the negative impacts of the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery. Requests in the applications received ranged from $5000 to $42,000 and totaled $380,823.
Each Vermont town has decided to distribute the monies in its own way. In Greensboro a committee was formed in February 2022, which met several times to establish guidelines for an application. The committee set September 29 as the deadline for submitting applications. A public meeting was held under the tent at Highland Center for the Arts on August 17, where many interested citizens attended and described their projects and asked questions of the committee. Twenty-six applications were received. Each committee member read the completed applications and on October 26, the applicants were invited to present their projects orally.
Many projects were proposed, such as a fitness path, roof renovation, technology modernization, broadband leverage grant funding, replacement fire gear, a gazebo, and a beach security system, among others.
In upcoming meetings, the committee will evaluate each application based on the following objectives: benefit to Greensboro, consistency with the town plan and/or Community Visit Initiatives, project feasibility and funding sufficiency and clarity.
The committee of 12 will give their recommendations to the select board by the end of November. Then, it will be up to the Greensboro Select Board to make the final determination on the distribution of funds in the early part of 2023.
