Grand Traverse County commissioners Wednesday discussed the status of several outstanding projects planned to be funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, which must be spent by the end of this year or else returned to the federal government. Commissioners also discussed their committee work and meeting schedule for 2026 and went into closed session to discuss the Elk Rapids Hydroelectric Dam.

ARPA Projects
Nervous about the potential for ARPA dollars they awarded to local projects to not be spent by a year-end deadline, commissioners asked for updates Wednesday on outstanding ARPA projects.

Federal ARPA requirements stipulate that funds, which had to be committed to specific projects or programs by the end of 2024, must be fully spent by the end of 2026. County commissioners awarded nearly $18 million in ARPA funding to almost 30 local organizations and projects. All but five of those recipients have now spent 100 percent of their funding, with initiatives ranging from fire engine replacement to food pantry support to affordable housing to childcare services.

Of the remaining recipients who still need to spend their ARPA funds, two are close to completion. The Legacy Aviation Learning Center, which was awarded $500,000, has less than $8,000 remaining to spend and is thus over 98 percent complete. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Grand Traverse has spent over 80 percent of its $512,500 award for programming and services, with just over $101,000 to go.

However, three other projects have more significant amounts yet unspent. Grand Traverse County partnered with Munson Healthcare and awarded $5 million toward the recently built Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center. Over $1 million in ARPA funding is still unspent for that project. Commissioners have received regular updates from Munson about the center but asked for another report soon specific to ARPA spending. County Administrator Nate Alger said such an update could be provided at the board’s January 21 meeting.

Commissioners are also expected to receive an update at that meeting on the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), which has only spent 67.6 percent of its $700,000 award toward child abuse trauma therapy services. That leaves nearly $227,000 remaining in ARPA funds to be spent. While some commissioners noted the CAC had planned on a phased approach to spending, Alger said he would still ask the organization to provide an update. East Bay Township, meanwhile, has the biggest outstanding award with no funds yet spent from its $2 million allocation toward a major upcoming sewer main replacement project in partnership with Acme Township. That project is estimated at over $16 million total.

In a Tuesday email from East Bay Township Supervisor Beth Friend to Alger, she said the “much appreciated” county ARPA funding is planned to be spent on a portion of the project extending from the city wastewater treatment plant headed east. “The project will quickly rise to over $2 million in expenditures which will, after payment, be submitted to Grand Traverse County for repayment,” she wrote. “It is expected this will be in mid to late summer, well before the 12/31/2026 ARPA deadline.”

The commission’s options are limited even if recipients don’t spend their funds, Alger and Finance Director Dean Bott warned. Since the funds had to be obligated to projects in 2024, they can’t now be reassigned elsewhere. A potential option would be subcontracting through the recipient organization – for example, the CAC – for another group to deliver the same services. It will become “a lot harder” to pivot as 2026 goes on, so ensuring there are “spends in place” for the outstanding recipients is key, said Vice Chair TJ Andrews.

2026 Committees/Schedule
Commissioners had an organizational meeting that preceded their regular meeting Wednesday, at which the board narrowly voted 5-4 to elect Andrews to serve another term as vice chair. Republicans on the board attempted to replace Andrews, a Democrat, with fellow Republican Brian McCallister as vice chair. However, as he previously did in 2025, Republican Chair Scott Sieffert broke the 4-4 voting tie along partisan lines and cast his vote for Andrews, retaining bipartisan leadership on the board.

Commissioners also confirmed their meeting schedule and committee work for 2026. The board will continue to have regular meetings the first and third Wednesday of each month at 9am at the Governmental Center. However, commissioners will only have one study session per month – on the second Wednesday – instead of two as they previously did. They will hold the fourth Wednesday, which used to be a second study session, for ad hoc committee meetings instead. Commissioners updated their board rules to include that and a handful of other minor changes, such as putting minutes on the consent calendar instead of as a separate agenda item going forward.

Commissioners kept their committee assignments – the boards for which they serve as county liaisons, such as Central Dispatch or the Land Bank Authority – the same for 2026 as 2025. They also reestablished several ad hoc committees to continue working in 2026, including a TIF/PILOT/brownfield committee, salary and retention committee, policy review committee, and animal control committee.

Elk Rapids Dam
Finally, commissioners went into closed session for about an hour Wednesday to discuss the Elk Rapids Hydroelectric Dam. That discussion item was originally scheduled to be in open session, but an attorney-client privileged memo related to the dam prompted the board to change course. Commissioners have discussed the dam – which is aging and needs significant repairs – at two previous meetings. While most properties impacted by water levels controlled by the dam are in Antrim County, a few hundred are in Grand Traverse County.

Antrim County Drain Commissioner Leslie Meyers and attorney Stacy Hissong of Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC previously presented a proposal to commissioners to create a special assessment district (SAD), which would require property owners – those benefiting from the dam maintenance, such as on Elk Lake and Lake Skegemog – to participate in repair costs. Following their closed session Wednesday, commissioners came back into open session and approved a motion to have Alger work with the drain commissioner “to seek written responses to written questions to better understand the Lower Chain of Lakes project and to ensure the protection of Grand Traverse County's and its property owners' interests.”