Williamsburg City Council approves second threshold increase for federal funds

The City of Williamsburg will now be able to use even more federal funding to more easily and effectively make purchases following a decision by the Williamsburg City Council.

The council met Monday evening for their regular monthly meeting, where a resolution was approved to increase the city’s micro-purchase threshold for federal fund usage. Currently, any and all funds the city uses that was provided by the federal government, including American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) money, must not exceed $30,000 or it has to be put through a bidding process.

The increase is possible due to somewhat recent changes to federal regulations.

The previous threshold was just increased by the city council back in May via resolution, which saw the threshold increase by $20,000.

With the latest resolution, the city will be able to raise their federal bidding limit to $40,000, matching the state threshold that was implemented in July. The city will be able to now make purchases using local, state or federal funds for purchases up to that threshold without having to go through the bidding process.

As of May, the city still had approximately $500,000 in ARPA funds that it can still utilize. The current deadline to have the money spent is next year.

With the approval of the threshold increase, the council was presented with a subsequent resolution to purchase a 2020 Caterpillar Excavator for the city’s maintenance department. The cost for the piece of equipment was listed at $37,177.68.

Mayor Roddy Harrison described the equipment as a “mini excavator,” noting that it would be more appropriate for the type of work it’s needed for that the equipment the city currently has.

“It fits our needs perfectly with the small lot sizes and residential homes,” said Harrison. “You take that big backhoe around some of the houses to do some of the jobs we have to do, you’re tearing up their yard and we have to come back and fix it. This is a lighter piece of equipment and gets us in a tighter space.

The excavator is used, according to Harrison, who said that a new one would likely cost the city “probably three times more.”

Council members unanimously approved the resolution to make the purchase. The excavator will be paid for using funds from the city’s ARPA money.

The city has used ARPA funds to pay for a variety of infrastructure projects, as well as provide city workers with premium pay.

In other city council business:

– Old Fashioned Trading Days kick off next week on Thursday. In preparation for getting the various stalls, vendors and stages set up, Williamsburg Tourism Director Alvin Sharpe informed the council that Main Street would be closed to traffic beginning at midnight Tuesday. The one-block portions of Third Street that intersect with Main Street will also be closed at that time.

Cumberland Avenue will be closed from Fourth Street to Second Street. That closing will begin Thursday evening once the school bus routes have finished.

Additionally, Sharpe noted that Sycamore Street would be closed this year from Second Street to Third Street due to the festival’s growth.

“This is the biggest one we’ve ever had,” said Sharpe. “We got more vendors than we’ve ever had, we got more food trucks than we’ve ever had.”