At a special Pierceton Town Council meeting on Wednesday, July 19, at the Pierceton Community Building are clockwise from left: Council Member Tom Barker, Fleis & Vandenbrink Office Manager/Senior Project Manager Chad Salzbrenner, Town Superintendent Casey Boggs, Council President Matt Brubaker and Council Vice President Janet Castle. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — The Pierceton Town Council has further discussed spending some of its American Rescue Plan Act money on sidewalks.

At a special meeting on Wednesday, July 19, at the Pierceton Community Building, the council met with Fleis & Vandenbrink Office Manager/Senior Project Manager Chad Salzbrenner. Fleis & Vandenbrink provides engineering services for the town.

He provided an estimate of $300,000 to complete work on sidewalks throughout town. The planning was needed as the town works through the process for the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program.

The state created HELP to assist local governments with spending their ARPA money on projects to better their communities in four specific areas: Advancing E-Connectivity; Enhancing Quality of Place; Promoting Community Wellness; and Strengthening Local Economies. Kosciusko County was selected to participate, and county representatives invited any of the county’s cities and towns to take part as well, with Pierceton joining on.

Pierceton is planning to spend approximately $230,000 of ARPA funds on repairing sidewalks. It’s hoping to be eligible for a 100% match of those funds that the county received from participating in HELP and is sharing with Pierceton and the other communities which chose to be a part of HELP, Mentone and Milford.

Per HELP rules, the match from the county is dependent on the town passing an income study to prove the sidewalks can benefit lower income residents in town. The results from that haven’t come back yet.

Pierceton’s also hoping to use ARPA money on a water utility study.