Town of Washington Board of Selectmen
08/13/26, 5:30 p.m.
Present: First Selectman James L. Brinton, Selectmen Jay Hubelbank, and Dean Sarjeant.
Nearly six years after the Town of Washington was awarded funds from the American Rescue PlanAct (ARPA), the Board of Selectmen (BOS) has agreed to close the ARPA Fund Account.
During its monthly meeting, Brinton made the motion, which was seconded by Jay Hubelbank.
It had been assumed that the account was closed previously, but Brinton said funds still in the account were generated by interest. “I believe it’s less than $2,000,” he said, adding, “I think we’re going to put that towards payment on the ambulance.”
ARPA funds were distributed during the COVID-19 Pandemic to be used by municipalities to help reopen and recover from the coronavirus outbreak.
The Town of Washington was awarded just over $1 million in June of 2021, coming in two separate payments. Previously, a Fund Account for the American Rescue Plan was opened in April of 2021 to receive the funds from the federal government.
During the recovery period after the pandemic, monies had to be allotted by Sept. 30, 2024, and spent by the end of January of 2025, according to the website wallacefoundation.org, which outlines the regulation of ARPA funds. Closing the account, the Selectmen agreed to forward the issue to the Board of Finance at its Sept. 24 meeting.
“That’s their purview,” said Brinton, adding, the issue will then go to the Town Meeting for approval. The Annual Town Meeting is planned for Oct. 5.
In his report, Brinton also updated the Selectmen on the recent report on groundwater contamination. During the July meeting, the Selectmen discussed the recent report on groundwater at a former landfill, where there were elevated levels of contaminants.
Brinton said he’d been in contact with Chris Petra from GO Environmental but wasn’t able to detail what the samples showed, as Petra has been out of the office.
“His preliminary look shows low levels of some metals, but these could be naturally occurring from native bedrock,” Brinton said.
“There was one location that detected ETPH (Extractable Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) above the lab reporting limit but below the groundwater quality limit,” Brinton said, explaining that there didn’t appear to be elevated concentrations of either ETPH or metals in the drinking water, but there are two other properties that GO Environmental will also collect before there is a final report.
Brinton also brought up an investigation of administrators within the Region 12 School District. In early July, the Board of Education was made aware of a complaint that had been filed about text communications involving some district staff.
“I met with reps from our Town of the School Board and been given assurances that the results of the investigation, the information will be available in public,” said Brinton.
At their July 22 meeting, the Board of Education issued a statement addressing the messages and the complaint, which was made anonymously. Washington is one of three towns served by Region 12 School District, and Brinton told the Selectmen he would be meeting with administration.
“I also have a meeting scheduled Tuesday next week with the Interim Administration, including the Superintendent as well as Eric Giselle from Bridgewater and Patrick Roy from Roxbury,” he said.
Since the complaint was announced, the Board of Education has held closed executive sessions to discuss further action, but issued a statement saying they strongly disapprove of the contents of the text messages, reportedly from September of 2024.
The meeting adjourned at 5:39 p.m.
