County board approves ARPA spending

The Marathon County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for three projects. They include a regional forensic science center (morgue) to be used by 37 counties, a variety of highway and bridge projects and paying for construction at North Central Health Care (NCHC).

The board approved using $2 million from the county’s $26.3 million ARPA grant to obtain another $8 million in state funding to build a regional forensic science building. The structure may be co-located with health science buildings on the campus of Northcentral Technical College, Wausau.

In debate on Thursday, county administrator Lance Leonhard said he was “reasonably confident” based on a Wipfli business plan that the regional forensic science building would be selfsustaining and would not need county funding to operate. He noted that having such a facility in Wausau would save law enforcement time and money.

He noted that the linchpin to make the project a reality is hiring staff at the facility. “There is a substantial shortage of forensic pathologists,” Leonhard said.

Board members also approved using $10.3 million in ARPA funds as matching money to finance $35.6 million in highway improvement and bridge projects. The highways involved would be CTH K, F, T, J and X. the bridges are located on CTH L, C, H, F, A and O.

The ARPA funds will be used for extra needed projects, not to replace county funding for routine maintenance. The point is to make local investments in road maintenance while maximizing general transportation aids over the longrun. State transportation aid is calculated based on a six-year average of local spending on roads.

A third project will use $3.1 million in ARPA funds to remodel the North Central Health Care campus. The work will complete remodeling of the crisis intake center, inpatient hospital, long-term care and memory care units.

Administrator Leonhard said a final phase of the NCHC project has not been bid out yet. The phase will involve parking lots and landscaping.