County Doesn’t Rule Out Awarding Bourbon ARPA Funds

Crawford County commissioners said Tuesday they are in wait-and-see mode on awarding American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to municipalities like the city of Bourbon.

Bourbon was one of the first to apply for the funds when commissioners made it available this past fall.

The city applied for more than $1 million to cover the cost of a new UV wastewater disinfection system.

Bourbon’s board of aldermen approved the lease purchase of the system on Dec. 21.

Bourbon has its own ARPA funds that it will use for the project, but it’s less than $200,000.

District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast said they are not ruling out Bourbon receiving some of those funds, but there are several factors at play.

The first is that Bourbon may be eligible to apply for Bipartisan Infrastructure Funds (BIF) through the state of Missouri.

Boast said it is unknown when that money will come available, but awarding Bourbon some of the money it needs now could be disqualifying for getting money later.

“We don’t want to give Bourbon, say, $300,000 now and then the state turns around and says they can’t get any (BIF money),” Boast said.

Bourbon is just one of the taxing entities within the county that has applied for ARPA funds.

The commission is taking a similar approach with them, especially since the county has four years to exhaust the funds.

The other issue at play is that the county is waiting for clarification on what ARPA funds can be used for.

ARPA funds currently are to be used for purposes relating to COVID-19.

However, commissioners said that could possibly change, allowing the money to be used on roads and bridges.

“If we can use that money on our roads, we’re going to do that,” Boast said.

In the meantime, the city has gone full steam ahead on satisfying the Missouri Department of Natural Resource’s disinfection mandate.

The approval of the lease purchase came with a $1.1 million price tag, which resulted in the city raising the base sewer rate from $15 to $23.

The per gallons usage is $3.40, but that figure remains unchanged.

A residence with an assumed flow of 5,000 gallons could face a monthly bill of nearly $40.