Fond du Lac County has received $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, intended to address social harms and/or revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic.

To date, the county has committed about $8.3 million of these funds, mostly before the current supervisor term started.

Where are the funds going?

Five-hundred thousand dollars are committed to the planned club.

The Ripon facility will offer licensed daycare, after-school and summer programs, a full-sized gym, a teen center, a skilled trades lab/shop and a host of other programs and services.

The Boys & Girls Club still is fundraising for this roughly $10 million facility and hopes to break ground in early 2023.

Fond du Lac County’s Housing Authority provides affordable housing for residents earning at most 50% of the county median income.

The 31-unit Heather Meadows Apartments were built in 1982. To bring the units into compliance with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards and improve quality of life for residents, the county has committed $200,000 to the first kitchen renovations since construction.

Wage bump-ups for Dispatch Center and Jail

During the pandemic, the county faced intense competition for workers.

To better attract and retain dispatch and jail employees, the county committed $2,233,930 for 2021-2024 to increase regular wages by $1-2/hour for most workers and add quarterly bonuses of $1,000 for some.

The county will reevaluate these wages and bonuses when ARPA funds run out.

With widespread labor shortages acting as a brake on economic growth, Moraine Park Technical College is working with area businesses to create an Automation, Innovation and Robotics Center.

The center will help local manufacturers automate and train workers for the well-paid, middle-skills jobs that are an increasing share of our manufacturing sector.

Started in 2014, the Holyland Food Pantry has outgrown its current location and is building a new, larger facility in Malone (northeast of Fond du Lac).

The pantry has raised more than 80% of the needed $950,000. The county has contributed $200,000.

The Katharine Drexel Shelter run by St. Vincent DePaul provides emergency housing assistance and services — including temporary residence — for unhoused people.

A half million dollars of ARPA funds are going towards the $5.5 million building.

Quite a few 911 calls involve behavioral health or mental illness.

The county committed $525,520 of ARPA funds through 2024 for two crisis response professionals who provide immediate, on-site support and connect individuals with follow-up services.

This helps divert some individuals from the jail or psychiatric hospital.

Health insurance plans reimburse the county for some of these cost-effective services.

The county expects to continue this program after the ARPA funds run out.

About $1.9 million will purchase 24 new squad cars for the sheriff’s office, allowing most deputies to work from their own vehicle.

Benefits include shorter response times; less time commuting between home, headquarters and work; better working conditions for deputies; enhanced recruitment; reduced wear and tear on the vehicles resulting in less frequent replacement; and unchanged ongoing fleet costs.

New financial software was purchased for $778,000.

This software replaces a system that was over 20 years old and modernizes processes to include finance, human resources, projects and budgets.

The county allocated $1,157,614 of ARPA funds to purchase a building to accommodate Land Conservation Department operations as the previous site was leased and had been outgrown.

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