Marshfield and Wood County's ARPA Funds

Monday, February 3rd, 2025 -- 10:01 AM

(Erik Pfantz, Marshfield News-Herald) Local governments have reached their deadlines to allocate federal relief funds made available through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

According to Erik Pfantz with the Marshfield News-Herald, the law set aside $350 billion that was sent to over 30,000 state, territorial, local and tribal governments across the country to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

A few specific ways the aid dollars were allowed to be spent were on replacing public sector revenue, addressing public health and economic impacts of the pandemic, providing premium pay for essential workers and infrastructure projects, according to the Treasury Department.

Local decision makers had until Dec. 31, 2024, to allocate the spending of their portion of the funds. Here’s how the city of Marshfield and Wood County used their share of the federal relief funds. The city of Marshfield received nearly $2 million in ARPA funds.

Over half of the funds were spent on street-related infrastructure projects and the rest went to smaller items including a new ambulance, a new boiler for the Second Street Community Center and funding for the recent statutorily required citywide property revaluation.

• Engagement HQ-Public Participation Platform − $12,500
• Citywide revaluation − $151,577.75
• New voting machines − $10,470
• Cisco firewall upgrade − $49,622.27
• Wireless LAN controller and access − $50,277.98
• Fire Department new boilers − $49,573.65
• 17th Street from Maple Avenue to Peach Avenue − $400,000 (a portion of the total project cost)
• Hinman Avenue from Doege Street to Becker Street − $39,106.09 (a portion of the total project cost)
• Doege Street from Willow Avenue to Hume Avenue − $80,893.91 (a portion of the total project cost)
• Library generator replacement − $1,407.80
• Second Street Community Center boiler − $100,421.20
• Electric service upgrades south of round barn − $35,133.40
• Library computer equipment − $45,000
• Audio and video equipment − $9,000
• Ambulance − $169,793
• Fourteenth Street from Maple Avenue to Vine Avenue reconstruction − $566,180.95 (a portion of the total project cost)
• Network penetration test − $19,100
• Street Department roof and AC replacement − $143,274 (a portion of the total project cost)

Wood County received over $14 million in ARPA funds. Over a third of the total was allocated to Wood County Parks and Forestry while Family Health Center of Wisconsin, Wood County Courthouse, Wood County Communications and Wood County Highway each received $1 million or more.

• Wood County Communications for digital radio upgrades − $1,832,915
• Wood County Dispatch for NEXTGEN 911 − $32,833
• Edgewater Haven for building improvements − $605,500
• Wood County Highway for asphalt drum and Marshfield fuel system − $1,000,000
• Wood County Information Technology for computer systems equipment and updates − $383,300
• Wood County Land & Water Conservation for ground water issues and water quality improvement practices − $244,500
• Wood County Maintenance for courthouse building improvements (additional courtroom/HVAC) − $1,446,873
• Norwood Health Center for building improvements − $662,600
• Wood County Parks and Forestry for improvements to several parks throughout Wood County − $5,060,754
• Wood County Planning & Zoning for LiDAR additional deliverables project − $242,425
• Wood County Sheriff’s Office for rescue truck − $60,000
• UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield campus for building improvements − $107,500
• Family Health Center of Wisconsin for federally qualified health center − $2,000,000
• Childcaring Inc. for addressing child care difficulties − $402,000
• Pittsville School District for addressing child care difficulties − $98,000

The Wood County Parks and Forestry Department was allocated $5,060,754 from the county's total $14,179,200 ARPA funds − more than a third of the total received by the county. Here's a breakdown of the projects the parks department allocated that funding for:

• Dexter Park: beach house replacement – about $300,000
• South Wood County Park: FEMA storm shelter, new shower and toilet buildings, playground replacement, parking lot and maintenance shop improvements – about $824,000
• North Wood County Park: bridge replacement, campground entrance road improvements, campsite electrical improvements − about $230,000
• Nepco Lake Park: playground equipment replacement − about $50,000
• Powers Bluff Park: new trailhead, new shelter building, new parking lot, 3-mile multi-use trail and new maintenance shop − about $3,400,000
• CERA Park: remodeling existing shower and shelter buildings − about $250,000

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.