City Looks At Spending ARPA Funds On DPW – Evening Observer

With trucks and other vehicles already on order for the Dunkirk Department of Public Works, city officials looked at further uses of American Rescue Plan Act funding for the department this week.

The discussion revolved around three possible ways to spend the money: a new salt shed at the DPW barns on Lucas Avenue; fixing drainage problems on several streets; and doing renovations at the recycling center. No final decisions were made on the allocations at Wednesday’s meeting.

The current salt storage site is dilapidated and small. Marsha Beach, the city’s fiscal affairs officer, said DPW Director Randy Woodbury and Mayor Wilfred Rosas discussed a new salt barn with her recently. “I think that’s definitely a good use of the ARPA funds,” she said.

“The streets division has outgrown Lucas Avenue,” Woodbury said. “We think there’s some property available over there on the west side.”

Councilwoman Nancy Nichols brought up drainage issues in the city. She held out Otter, Ounce, Rabbit, Warsaw and Tenney streets as problem areas and wondered if the issues could get fixed with ARPA funding.

“I would say you would need an engineering study to do it all,” said Mike Przybzycien, deputy director of DPW. Beach said such a study could be added to the ARPA funding agenda.

The largest building on DPW’s Lucas Avenue site is the recycling center and garage. While it was first suggested that the heating system at the building should get replaced, Przybzycien said that would be pointless unless the building itself gets renovated.

“The building should be destined or resided. It’s like Swiss cheese in spots,” he said.

It was noted that there are spots in the building where you can see outside through gaps in the walls.

“The more you wait, the worse the building will become,” Nichols said.

Nichols also asked if DPW needed any new hand tools, and was told they are in good shape on that front.