Town moving forward with American Rescue Plan projects

The town of Ulysses voted at its July 23 town board meeting to spend $31,114 of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation to cover the costs of three projects: an Information Technology (IT) modernization initiative, a project to scope out how to upgrade the parking lot at the town hall and a town hall safety assessment.

The town originally received $321,947 through ARPA, approved by Congress in 2021, and has used up some of those funds on other items. ARPA was born out of the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the decade. It was meant to revitalize municipal infrastructure and transform local economic conditions by spurring economic development.

As per program guidelines, the town will have until Dec. 31 to make decisions on remaining funds. Once funds are earmarked, they must be spent by 2026.

The first project in this round of three initiatives was the IT modernization plan, which the town has already installed. One of the features the board discussed was a new phone system that allows town hall workers to better keep track of communications.

“The final phase was the installation of our phone system. That has been a change. It is working now,” said Town Supervisor Katelin Olson. “I get emails every time I get a phone message and it is great to have multiple sources of documentation. So many of our staff work part time, and they can actually get those messages and answer in a timely manner.”

Town of Ulysses Clerk Carissa Parlato said she agreed with Olson and called the phone system upgrade a “good feature.”

The original estimation for the project’s price tag was set at $42,000. The final cost for the project ended up at $27,069.

The town also allocated $2,795 to commission a projection on how much it would cost to upgrade the town hall parking lot. Olson said the town needs that projection to have an accurate quote of the project’s scope and eventually request proposals from project management firms that can oversee the overhauls.

At previous meetings, the town board has discussed these potential upgrades, including repaving the parking lot with permeable pavement. This can reduce runoff infiltrating rainwater and melting snow faster. 

Olson has said that there are several parties who own parts of the parking lot, which has made it difficult for the town to engage in talks with contractors. She said it is likely the town will have to spend on billable legal hours to figure out if they can even spend money on renovations on the parking lot due to the legal questions regarding ownership.

The last component of this round of ARPA project approvals is an assessment of the town’s safety measures at the town hall. That assessment will cost $1,250.

The town also discussed other matters as board members continue to approach more involved work on next year’s budget. Board members unanimously authorized a resolution to appoint Olson as the town’s budget officer starting Aug. 12. The rationale behind the move is that current budget officer Michelle Wright will be taking on a lesser workload with the town.

“[Wright] is reducing her hours significantly to go to graduate school,” Olson said. “By my position, I am the de facto budget officer, unless it is allocated to someone else.”

Olson noted that she wanted a paper trail that explained why the move was made and therefore submitted the resolution to the board.

“I want it codified in the resolution so if there is any question of when it happened, then it is easy to find,” she noted.

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

Local author Rebecca Barry is hosting “Writing Sprints,” a creative workshop at the Ulysses Philomathic Library on Aug. 26 and Oct. 14.

“In this generative workshop we will take a series of consecutive prompts and write for 2-5 minutes with each one,” Barry said in a statement made to the library. “The prompts are designed to move a story along and help you create something cohesive, spontaneous, and fun, all at the same time.”