Town to residents: How would you like to spend $1.2 million?

Dec. 2, 2022  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

Downtown Waterbury in springtime. File photo by Gordon Miller

It was exactly 30 years ago when the Canadian folk-rock band Barenaked Ladies released what became one of their best-known tunes, “If I Had $1,000,000.”

The band often stretched the song out over 5 or 6 minutes listing many ways to spend a seemingly infinite amount of money: a house, furniture, exotic pets, cars, Kraft dinner. The exercise captures the imagination and over the years the tune has found its way into commercials, TV shows and even was the inspiration for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor.

Now the Waterbury Select Board has launched a real-life task along more practical lines and it’s asking town residents to join in on imagining the possibilities. 

Waterbury residents recently received a letter from the town offices that opens with a question: “How would you like to spend 1.2 million dollars?!”   

That’s what’s still to be allocated of the $1.5 million in federal funding Waterbury has received from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 meant to spark economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The letter with a survey was mailed to all of the registered voters in town and the announcement is also on the town website with an online version of the survey people can complete as well. 

Monday night’s Select Board meeting has time dedicated to the topic with the public invited to attend in person or via Zoom to take part in the discussion to offer ideas. 

Some $350 billion in federal ARPA funding has been targeted to state governments and municipalities across the United States. Vermont’s share is $1.25 billion with over $200 million allocated to municipalities. That works out to about $300 per Vermonter, according to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. 

Communities need to decide by 2024 how they will use their share and the funds need to be spent by 2026. 

So far, Waterbury town officials and even the voters have made a few decisions on spending some of it. In March, voters approved allocating $100,000 to the nonprofit Ice Center of Washington West to shore up its finances that were impacted by extended closure during 2020 and 2021. 

This year’s municipal budget has $90,000 of ARPA revenue in the Highway Department column. The Select Board has pledged $76,000 to Waterbury Ambulance Service’s new ambulance station project that it plans to get underway with construction in 2023. And $50,000 has been appropriated to CVFiber for its work to expand broadband internet service in the community. 

As the letter to town residents explains, the Select Board has set some general goals for using the funds by eyeing long-term investments that will benefit a broad cross-section of the community. The ARPA guidelines suggest states and communities invest in addressing the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic on families and businesses. Other broad aims are to maintain vital public services and to support long-term growth.

The goals are general enough to allow for creativity and for each community to tailor this windfall to meet unique and specific needs. 

The survey offers a glimpse of some of the ideas the Select Board has already discussed and asks town residents to weigh in on their suggestions. The five main areas it offers are infrastructure, housing, a long-term source for road gravel, municipal buildings, and recreation resources. 

Several questions elaborate on a few of those categories. One asks people to rank the importance of road and bridge improvements as well as a long-term paving plan. Another addresses what town officials anticipate will be a critical need in the near future – a source of sand and gravel for road maintenance. 

Public Works Director Bill Woodruff explained that for decades, Waterbury has sourced road sand and gravel from Varin’s Sand and Gravel, a convenient operation in Bolton. The ownership and future of that source are unclear, Woodruff said. Should it change and become unavailable, alternate sources are further away and ultimately will be more costly and possibly unreliable. “That brings the gravel pit question to the forefront,” he said. 

The municipality does not own land suitable to supply the type and quantity of sand and gravel the town would need, Woodruff said. Discussions for future solutions to the issue would likely include the possibilities of finding a location to acquire, or collaborating with other communities, he said. 

Another survey question details specific recreation topics for residents to rank including pool improvements, parking and trailheads, the recreation building and overall planning for the Anderson Park area. 

The final question is open-ended asking participants to add in new categories or details for one of the topics already on the list. 

Deputy Town Manager Tom Leitz, who moves into the municipal manager job in January, has been overseeing the survey results coming in online and from paper copies. As of Friday morning, he said some 400 responses were collected, about half each online and on paper. 

He said people can still fill out the survey online, drop off their paper versions at the town offices, or attend Monday night’s Select Board meeting starting at 7 p.m. in the Steele Room at the town offices or online via Zoom. The agenda with the zoom link will be posted online here.