ARPA spending may focus on broadband for 17 homes

Oct. 6, 2021 | Amy Porter
amyporter@thewestfieldnews.com

Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle meets with Huntington Select Board members Edward Renauld, Roger Booth and Karon Hathaway.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter

HUNTINGTON — The Select Board surveyed town officials, and received about $740,000 in suggestions on how to spend Huntington’s aid payment from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

That leaves the Select Board with a decision to make, as Huntington’s allocation is only $648,329, according to Administrative Assistant Jennifer Peloquin. There are also restrictions on how the money can be spent.

“We can use it on broadband, water and sewer, but can’t use it for highways,” said Select Board member Roger Booth.

Select Board Chair Edward Renauld said he will look into using funds for broadband. At the Annual Town Meeting in 2019, residents voted to transfer $140,835 from the stabilization fund for the extension of cable services to the last remaining 17 homes unserved in the town.

Comcast had agreed to connect the residents within two years, but the work has not yet been completed, Renauld said.

“They probably will ask for and get an extension based on COVID[-19]. We’ll see if we can defray the cost for the town of the last-mile hookup with ARPA funds,” Renauld said.

Peloquin said there are also funds remaining from Huntington’s allocation from the CARES Act, the previous federal coronavirus relief program. She said originally the town was told it had until Dec. 31 to spend the funds, but is now being told that the funds must be spent by Oct. 29. She said Huntington received $122,000 from the CARES Act and has spent $73,000 so far.

Renauld said he would put a plan for spending the remaining funds on the next Select Board agenda.

Booth said the survey that produced $740,000 in proposed projects came from a survey of elected officials, department heads and the Board of Health. If there are funds left over, he said, the Select Board could seek broader input from the community.

 

Questions about maintenance of Norwich Pond roadway

In other business, Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle talked about difficulties his department is having maintaining the right of way from Pisgah Road to the boat ramp at Norwich Pond.

Dazelle said there are several new houses and new building lots up there, and he is getting a lot of calls. He said the town maintains the road and spent $7,000 this year on gravel down to the boat ramp, but does not own the road, and gets no Chapter 90 funds from the state to maintain it.

Dazelle said there is a question of whether the state owns it, and questions regarding signs he said the state put up.

“Huntington has to prove ownership, or remove the ‘No Parking’ signage,” Dazelle said.

He said gravel is pouring into the pond, and one resident near the boat ramp sent a letter complaining. The town can’t enforce anything on the road, which is the only public access to the lake. He said the town is not liable if it belongs to the state.

“ROW is the death of me,” Dazelle said, adding, “We can’t have a grader there after every rain storm.”

“I’m not in favor of not maintaining the road,” Renauld said, considering the new homes going in. He said the town needs to set up a call with Dazelle and state Rep. Natalie Blais for help in getting somebody to speak to about the road and ask the state what it wants to do.

“If they want Huntington to maintain it, they need to blacktop it. Gravel and dirt are going into the lake, mostly from boat traffic,” Dazelle said, adding that the majority of calls he gets are from Pisgah Road.

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