|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SPENCER – The owners of two local businesses chastised Selectmen and the Town Administrator saying they haven’t received any money from the American Recovery Plan Act despite filing paperwork with the town.
Bruce Derosiers of Guaranteed Fitness and Sheena Toscano of Sheena’s Salon and Spa told Selectmen on Monday (Jan. 29, 2024) that they completed the necessary paperwork to take part in a town-run grant program funded with the ARPA money the community received to help reduce the negative impact on businesses of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We did everything that was required of us and I think we got hit with a lot of nonsense recently,” Derosiers said. “No money.”
Spencer is one of the only communities in the area that is working to provide businesses with relief using the funds, local officials said, but despite laying out the process several months ago, the program has been slow to pay out.
Initially, a committee was going to review the applications and award the grants but when that didn’t happen, the onus fell on Town Administrator Jeffrey Bridges who now plans to work with the town accountant to meet with applicants and award the grants.
Derosiers said since filing, he was told his application was incomplete and he accused Bridges of stalling and said there had been misinformation about whether businesses had been paid.
Some officials were under the impression that the qualifying businesses had already been paid but Derosiers said that was untrue.
Toscano said she also filed before the Nov. 30 deadline after spending “some serious time” filling out the “intimidating” application. She said she was told she’d have the funds by the end of the year but that didn’t happen and as recently as Monday, she’d received an email telling her more information was needed.
“It’s a tax return, she said, asking what more explanation could be needed. “It’s a little ridiculous at this point.”
Chairman of Selectmen John Howard asked the pair to be patient as Bridges was trying to do most of the work for the program on his own. But Derosiers said they’ve been patient for some time while town employees were given bonuses from the ARPA funding..
“It’s been 18 months,” Derosiers said. “You can tell we’re not exactly quite happy.”
As the tone of the meeting grew heated, Howard said the program could be discontinued.
“Several towns did not give any money to businesses. We could be one of those and we could change our minds very quickly if we get complaints like this,” Howard said, adding that the board could pull back the money and “spend it on the roads.”.
That remark brought a retort from Selectman Gary Woodbury.
“Believe me I would never vote to take the money away from you guys,” Woodbury said.
Bridge said no one wants the process to be off their desk any more than he does.
Selectman Anthony Pepe who spearheaded the plan to help businesses through ARPA. He said he’s been pushing Bridges to get the program funds out.
Bridge said he believes that by the end of February the program will be paying businesses.
“The purpose of this money, in part, was to aid businesses that were negatively impacted by COVID. I believe we’re going to do that,” he said, adding that compliance and assurance that funds are properly allocated are his priorities.
