Plainfield Select Board Directs Last $6,500 in ARPA Funds to Fire Truck Note

PLAINFIELD -- November 26, 2024, Plainfield Select Board locks in final ARPA allocations ahead of December 31 federal deadline. The board voted unanimously to direct $6,500 in remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the town's pending fire truck note and approved a separate $2,500 allocation to complete engineering work on the Village Green project, which will require a town meeting vote before any construction can proceed. An energy committee member told the board the town will need to float roughly $50,000 to bridge cash-flow gaps on a planned geothermal conversion of the town office building, a project expected to go to bid in December or January with construction starting around March, though net cost to the town after grant reimbursements and a federal tax rebate is estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. The board also approved a $1,316.59 invoice from municipal counsel KP Law, most of it tied to a public records dispute over executive session documents related to complaints against the police chief, which the Secretary of State's office has declined to resolve ahead of pending litigation.