06/16/2022 - Aroostook County Awards First Round Of ARPA Grant Awards

The Aroostook County Board of County Commissioners have approved a total of $2,157,808 in federal American Rescue Plan grant applications for a total of 15 organizations and municipalities in Aroostook County. Last fall, the Commissioner's announced the County ARPA program and approved the hiring of Steve Pelletier as the ARPA Program Administrator. The grant awards made this week are the first round of funds made available to municipal governments and eligible non-profits in Aroostook County.

"Aroostook County has strong relationships with our municipal governments and non-profits and we knew when these funds were announced that we wanted to partner with them to develop meaningful investments in our communities, stated Ryan D. Pelletier, County Administrator. The awards today are a first step in what we expect to be a three-year process to leverage additional funds to achieve more for our residents and taxpayers," Pelletier said.

John Rasmussen, a member of the board of selectmen in the Town of Perham attended the Tuesday Commissioners meeting and asked to address the County Commissioners.
"I really want to thank and commend you Commissioners for putting this program together and for hiring Steve who has been a real asset to our town and the communities in helping answer questions and help guide us through the process with these federal funds," Rasmussen said.

The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, a part of the American Rescue Plan, delivers $350 billion to state, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. Aroostook County has received over $13 million from this program and developed a plan to provide approximately half of the funds to eligible non- profits and municipal governments.

Projects approved at the Commissioners meeting this week included:

Houlton Water Co. $241,126 for a clean water project
Town of Easton $300,000 for a broadband infrastructure expansion
CAMS Authority $33,332 for emergency equipment
Town of Smyrna $75,000 for a sand/salt storage facility
City of Presque Isle $300,000 for a Clean Water Project
City of Presque Isle $150,000 for an HVAC system improvement
Town of Washburn $150,000 for a wastewater improvement project
City of Caribou $150,000 for ambulatory emergency equipment
Ignite Presque Isle $100,000 for business renovations
Town of Fort Kent $300,000 for a clean water project
Town of Eagle Lake $3,000 for telecommunication equipment
Town of Wallagrass $132,000 for a sand/salt storage facility
Town of Perham $73,500 for a clean water project
Ambulance Service Inc. $50,000 for emergency radio equipment
ACAP $75,000 staffing support of related programs

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