Topeka/Santa Fe ARPA Funds: Stanislaus County Allocates Federal Grant Funding Community Improvement Projects
You may have seen one of these vehicles surveying the streets in your neighborhood to collect the data needed to begin designing projects in your community.
Improvements planned include the addition of sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and street lighting as needed. This is to enhance pedestrian safety and accessibility. Additional plans include improvements to the storm drainage system to relieve localized flooding.
Topeka/Santa Fe ARPA Funds in Action
On May 18, 2021, the Board of Supervisors approved various strategic priorities for using American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding allocated to Stanislaus County by the federal government. $50 million was assigned to Community Infrastructure-Urban Pockets/County Communities. Your community has been chosen to benefit from this funding.
These ARPA funds provide a unique opportunity for Stanislaus County to make substantial progress strategically on the infrastructure needs in its urban pockets and County communities. Also, it optimally leverages existing grant funding to address infrastructure needs within unincorporated developed neighborhoods of the County.
ARPA funds have tight expenditure deadlines. All projects must be awarded prior to December 31, 2024, and completed by December 31, 2026.
Community Outreach Informed Project Selection
For the past year, the County has been engaged in public outreach regarding the expenditure of the ARPA infrastructure funds. The focus was on educating the public and gathering community input on project prioritization. Some of the factors and project criteria discussed during the public outreach effort included:
- public benefit
- benefits to disadvantaged communities
- regional equity
- cost of improvements
- right-of-way feasibility constraints
- supplemental funding sources
- sewer-only improvements or full improvements
- community support for maintenance of certain improvements
The Board engaged NBS (CivicMic) to assist in this community outreach effort. CivicMic then contracted with Debrief, a local consultant, to inform the public and gather resident feedback to help the County prioritize projects to be selected for ARPA funding.
CivicMic will keep residents apprised of the infrastructure improvements being planned for your community and what to expect as these projects get underway. Please help us spread the word to your neighbors by sharing this information and this link to sign up for updates: https://www.civicmic.com/SubscribeToStanislaus