The Park County Commissioners are moving some leftover federal Covid-era funds to the next big project after the $5.2 million dollar courthouse HVAC remodel. 

At the Dec. 16 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved moving nearly $160,000 in leftover ARPA funds, mostly from the courthouse project, to a fund for HVAC work at the Park County Law Enforcement Center in Cody. 

The county has an engineer working on the project to determine how to phase the work so as to ensure the building, which includes the Park County Detention Center, remains operational throughout the project. Park County Commission Chair Dossie Overfield said county IT and building and grounds have also been studying the project. 

The building is more than 18 years old and Overfield said it hasn’t undergone any big renovations yet. 

There are no unencumbered funds remaining from the $12 million in ARPA funds the county received in the wake of Covid, but there are still some sizable amounts not yet spent. 

The county still has $1.8 million of a total of $2 million to spend as its part of the Cody sewer lagoon expansion to handle county septage, and all of it $3.2 million to be used to fund new Powell Library work on top of the grant funding. 

Overfield said while that money hasn’t been dipped into yet, she expects a sizable amount will be spent in the next couple of months as bills for the final construction work of the project come due. 

The county had agreed to use up to $3.2 million to assist in construction of the new library, meaning the county could have some more leftover ARPA fund monies to utilize once the library project is completed. 

Groathouse Construction is planning to be finished with the project in January, after which the library will spend some time to set up the new space and then move from the current space in the fairgrounds before the new library opens in the spring.