Brooke County Continues to Upgrade Infrastructure

Brooke County Commissioners have elected to approve an in-house budget transfer of ARPA funds, which is federal relief funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ARPA funds are to provide funding to state and local governments to give them the opportunity to invest in their communities with projects that will stimulate the economy.
“After the pandemic, the county was awarded about $4.25 million in ARPA funding,” Commission A.J. Thomas said. “So, since then, we have dedicated most of those funds towards water and sewer projects across our county PSDs. So, up to this date, we have distributed just around $1 million.”
The funding is also intended to be utilized for communities to make long-term investments in their futures with revitalization efforts and upgrades to infrastructure and repair projects approved by the communities. In the case of Brooke County, the transfer of these funds will allow for action to be taken on further projects that have been designated for completion and repairs.
“Hammond, Brooke, and the Washington Pike PSDs are all taking advantage of this funding they’ve received. It’s a one-time deal, so we decided to use it for these things that have needed repaired or upgraded for maybe decades.”
Now of those $4.5 million, roughly $3.5 million remain after previous spending. Those will go to the non-municipality PSDs within the county to assist them with projects, maintenance, and general upkeep.