Marlborough City Council rescinds $11.8 million ARPA grant approval

MARLBOROUGH — April 25, 2022 — Marlborough council rescinds $11.8M ARPA acceptance, demanding new talks with mayor. The City Council voted 7-2 Monday to rescind its December 2021 acceptance of an $11,835,814 American Rescue Plan Act package after a federal rule change widened allowable uses and Mayor Arthur Vigeant's draft capital list included a $2 million Lake Williams walking path, a $150,000 dog park and a $500,000 deck hockey facility. Council President Michael Ossing, citing the mayor's December pledge to use "the large majority" for water and sewer, said only about $3 million on the new list is utility work: "It all comes down to trust." Co-sponsor Kathleen Robey said the council never agreed to let the mayor "spend it on, in his opinion, anything he wanted to." Councilors Laura Wagner and David Doucette opposed. The council also postponed a mayoral veto of a $5,092,666.66 transfer for a 100 Lock Drive fire station until May 9 and referred Vigeant's $181,260,899 FY23 budget — a 4.18 percent increase — to Finance.