ARP projects still on the wish list

Water to Oakford, contamination at WWTP among top priorities for federal funds

The $1.9 trillion American Recovery Plan Act sent federal dollars across the nation for COVID-19 relief. And $19.8 million of it fell into the coffers of the City of Kokomo. Since last March, the city administration has worked on applying those funds to its wish list of projects to improve the community.

Last week, the Kokomo Common Council re-appropriated $9.8 million of those funds for the 2022 fiscal year, as very few of the planned projects actually got off the ground between March and December, 2021.

According to Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore, the major ARP expenditure last year involved writing a check to Ivy Tech Community College for its planned “Industry 4.0” lab. Beyond that, most of the projects the city wants to tackle are still in flux.

The city plans to partner with Indiana-American Water to bring service to Oakford with ARP funds.

“There is a wish list,” said Moore. “But everything is fluid at this point because there are a few that are dependent on additional grants to use as matching funds. One is partnering with Indiana-American Water to extend service out to Oakford. They are already serviced for their wastewater. This is getting water service to them.

“We’re looking at a grant for assistance with that, so the dollar amount for that project is still up in the air. It’s close to $4 million so we’re waiting to see if we can get SWIF grant funds to go with that.”