Central Fire & EMS sees changes to ARPA funds
Central Fire and EMS district board president Larry Oehmichen informed the board that the treasury department has released new plans on how municipalities may spend American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds during Thursday’s monthly meeting.
“All of you probably got the email that I put together about how we were going to handle those funds,” Oehmichen began. “Well, the government changed the rules.”
Oehmichen told the board that they cannot spend the money until April 1, 2022, and should receive the second half of their ARPA funds. Oehmichen said based on the Town’s Association analysis, “It appears the major changes at local governments may now claim a standard allowance of $10 million in lost revenue, regardless of the result of the result of their revenue loss formula calculations.”
Oehmichen said that because all towns receive less than $10 million in ARPA funds, all towns will now be able to use their ARPA funds for the provision of government services.
According to the new rules from this can include maintenance or building of infrastructure, including roads, modernization of cyber security, including hardware and software, health services, environmental remediation, school or education purposes and provision of police, fire and other public safety services.
Oehmichen said the villages and cities can determine what they want to spend the ARPA funds on, noting that the town of Colby will use these funds to pay the township’s fire dues after April 1.
The balance of the money remaining will be spent on granite, culverts and other things the township needs. Municipalities will have until Dec. 31 of 2024 to spend the entirety of their ARPA funds.
The district approved a motion to give the truck committee a budget not to exceed $38,000 for a new pick-up truck for the district.
A budget was requested by the district’s truck committee, who have examined several makes and models in mind with local dealerships in Abbotsford and Colby, but desired a number to make choosing the vehicle easier.
The board debated on the merits of each vehicle with several members pointing various pros and cons of each model and their engines and specifications.
Among those models that the truck committee has examined were vehicles that ranged from $42,000 for a Ford F150 Explorer to a Ford F150 4x4 S/C that would cost $36,955, but come with a $7,500 rebate.
The budget of $38,000 does not include the cost of lights, radio and detailing. Once the district purchases a vehicle, it will take roughly six months until it’s finished and ready for use by the district.
The committee will continue to examine the various models, and come back to the board with a suggested model at next month’s board meeting.
Other business
_ The board approved a motion to pay the district’s bills for the amount of $74,772.
_ The board approved a motion on a recommendation from fire chief Joe Mueller to increase LifeQuest’s rate to a base rate of $1,100, $300 for on-scene care without transport and $20 a mile for one-way transport for residents and non-residents.
The district’s former base rate with LifeQuest was $729 for a resident and $869 for a non-resident. Mueller said the district has not had an increase since the district’s formation, and the district needs the increase to account for rising costs of expenses.
_ Mueller said the district reported 94 EMS calls and two fire calls for the month of Dec. 2021.
_ The next Central Fire & EMS meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb. 17.
