Fairgrounds to Get 30,000 in County ARPA Funds for Improvements

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — The Cobleskill Fairgrounds will be getting $30,000 for "general improvements" thanks to action taken at the Nov. 21 Schoharie County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Committee meeting.

County Supervisor and ARPA Committee member Werner Hampel of Cobleskill made the motion approved by himself, Committee Chair Alicia Terry of Gilboa and member Ben Oevering of Schoharie.

Fairgrounds officials had requested $100,000 for grandstand improvements, $100,000 for Hall of Agriculture improvements, $30,000 for EMS Building improvements, and $15,000 for WiFi improvements. However, Hampel and other committee members felt it was better just to grant $30,000 for general improvements and let fairgrounds officials decide the best way to allocate those funds. The county had previously allocated $150,000 for a sewer extension at the fairgrounds, home of the annual Schoharie County Sunshine Fair and other events.

The committee is in the closing stages of allocating all of the $6.1 million in county ARPA funds received from the federal government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Near the end of the Nov. 21 meeting, committee members voted 3-0 to use the remaining $196,000 in unallocated county ARPA funds toward broadband projects within the county.

The general nature of the motion came at the suggestion of Oevering after a point brought up by county Supervisor Donald Airey of Blenheim, who is not a member of the ARPA Committee but frequently attends its meetings. The original motion was to use the unallocated funds toward a specific county broadband buildout project aimed at providing the ability to access the internet by all county residents.

It's been announced that the county has received a $30 million Municipal Infrastructure Program grant from the state's ConnectAll program for the $33.6 million broadband project, and county officials are working to secure the remaining funds.

Airey raised a concern that if the unallocated ARPA funds are earmarked for that specific broadband buildout project and it somehow falls through, then the allocation would be lost. The county must have solid allocations for all its ARPA funds by the end of this year for projects and initiatives that must be completed by the end of 2026.

"We have an announcement but no contract, no paperwork yet," said Airey of the $30 million grant. "What if we commit the money (unallocated ARPA funds) and something goes wrong? I don't anticipate that, but what if it does? I'm confident of it (grant coming through). I just don't want to get trapped."

Allocating the money in a general way to "broadband projects within the county" seems to have satisfied that concern.

County Director of Planning and Community Development Services Shane Nickle reported at the Nov. 21 ARPA Committee meeting that County Administrator Korsah Akumfi and other officials are meeting weekly with ConnectAll representatives and a contract could be finalized "toward the end of January into February."

Also approved at the Nov. 21 meeting was $10,000 in county ARPA funds for needed shelving at a county storage facility in Cobleskill. That request came from Schoharie County Clerk Lawrence Caza.

All approved motions of the ARPA Committee must also be approved by the full County Board of Supervisors.