MAYVILLE — Chautauqua County officials are in the process of determining how to spend more than $8 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds.

In 2021, Chautauqua County approved a $24.6 million ARPA spending plan for 42 projects. The money was given to the county as part of the federal government’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, designed to help the nation recover economically from COVID-19. The money couldn’t be used to pay down debt or reduce taxes, and instead was designed to be spent on projects for public health, infrastructure, economic/workforce development, clean water and public safety.

Of the 42 projects approved, three were shelved. The biggest one was the Phase 2 South and Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District project. That project, which was expected to cost a little over $7 million, is still moving forward, however, officials were able to obtain other federal funds for it, freeing up the ARPA funds. The two other projects that were shelved were the paving project at the Emergency Services Center in Mayville and the purchase of Deterra pouches.

During Thursday’s Audit and Control Committee meeting, Budget Director Kathleen Dennison was asked about the paving project not moving forward. It was expected to cost $250,000 for the county to make a drive-through clinic in Mayville. “We spoke to (Emergency Services Director) Noel Guttman. He thinks it would be valuable but there were other things that are a higher priority,” she said.

Officials said previously that the Deterra pouches project was shelved, because the state is looking to do that project statewide. The idea behind the project is people who have unused prescription pills can put them in the pouches and then the pouches would destroy the pills safely.

Not all of the ARPA projects previously approved have been completed. For those that were completed, any unspent funds were set aside to be rebudgeted. Along with the three unspent projects, the county has $8,289,762.

The legislature now has an additional 23 projects. Each project must be voted on individually for final approval.

The new proposed projects include new Department of Public Facilities equipment, hiking and waterway trail improvements, EMS gear, office remodeling, community smoke detectors, improvements at the jail, police officer training, office furniture, parking lot repairs, trailers for the county landfill, Conewango dam repairs, a commercial air study at the county airport in Jamestown, and funding to make shovel-ready sites for future developers.

In 2021, a proposal was made to spend $75,000 on a study for the airport but that was rejected by the legislature. This time, the county IDA is proposing to spend $25,000 on the study and have the county spend $50,000 using ARPA funds. No announcement was made when a vote will take place on the revised airport study proposal.