(10/25) The Board of Commissioners voted to reallocate excess American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the repair of the sewer line that runs from the McDonald’s to the pump station outside of the waste water plant. The ARPA funds are left over from the North Church Street water and sewer project, amounting to $272,111 left in the contract.
The original contract for the North Church Street project was $4,396,887 and entailed repairing the water and sewer lines on North Church Street from the railroad bridge next to Mt. Carmel Church all the way up to Catoctin High School.
"Those savings are a result of several different field revisions that we made, but the biggest savings for us was we lined quite a few sewer lines rather than digging up and replacing them," Town Manager Jim Humerick said, "which is a much more cost-effective way to do this."
Town staff hopes to use this same method for the sewer lines from McDonald’s to the waste water plant; the scope for the new project includes lining the 2610 ft of sewer lines and replacing all seven manholes along that stretch. Humerick explained to the Board and residents that the current lines and manholes leak and are in a "dire" state.
Guyer Brothers, who worked on the Church Street project, provided a quote of $258,070 for the scope. "I think this is a great concept and a great idea to commit some of the remaining ARPA funds to the McDonald’s line. That’s a line that fits right into our long-term projects," Mayor John Kinnaird said, citing the Town’s goal to continue completing inflow and infiltration (I&I) projects to ensure that its residents have clean, safe water.
This leaves $14,041 for additional projects around Town that must be used before the end of the year. According to the National League of Cities website, "ARPA regulations require local governments to return grant funding that remains unobligated beyond the December 2024 end-of-year deadline to the U.S. Department of Treasury — making this deadline one of the most important for cities, towns and villages." Humerick said that Thurmont would have to return the obligated funds if they are not used for their designated projects by the end of 2026.
As for the remaining funds, the Board authorized Town staff to use up to $20,000 for additional I&I projects around town at their discretion. The Board purposefully authorized more than what is left in the ARPA fund to allow the Town staff a "buffer" for these projects.
