Township to receive ARPA funds from county

By Lisa Brody

Bloomfield Township trustees unanimously approved an agreement to apply for a $100,000 grant for local government critical infrastructure planning from the Oakland County Board of Commissioners as part of the American Rescue Plan Act funding (ARPA) at their meeting on Monday, August 22.

In a letter from the board of commissioners, Bloomfield Township Director of Public Works Noah Mehalski reported the township has been selected for a grant award. The letter stated, “The purpose of this funding is to provide matching grants to local governments for project planning, engineering, analysis, and other related professional services in support of critical infrastructure projects...funds received from this grant must be used by December 31, 2022.”

Mehalski said some of the grant money will be put towards the storm water asset cleaning project to offset some of the costs, and other dollars will be used to help look at lead service line.

“We have to randomly check lines to make sure we don't have any lead in our connecting lines,” said supervisor Dani Walsh, noting that is a state requirement for all municipalities.