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Council Talks Further Regarding ARPA Funds
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Oakdale City Council members decided to table the ongoing discussion regarding the acceptance of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 funds until the Monday, Oct. 18 meeting so all council members can weigh in on the decision.

The ARPA funds represent a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic challenges. First proposed on Jan. 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, including $350 billion in state and local aid, divided evenly between non-county municipalities and counties.

The council will consider a resolution to accept the ARPA Funds in the amount of $5,644,664 over the next two fiscal years and approve the City of Oakdale ARPA Expenditure Plan.

One change to the previous discussion is the addition of allocated funding for local nonprofits in the amount of $50,000 for this fiscal year and another allocation the following fiscal year.

“This worked out well when we did grants for businesses,” Oakdale City Manager Bryan Whitemyer shared. “Our goal with the APRA funds is to allocate the funds to projects or services that could provide a way to overcome some of the challenges the community has to overcome with COVID-19 and we believe the plan we put together does that.”

More information will be forthcoming on the details of the ARPA expenditures once Council has approved the plan.