A staff member shovels snow in front of the Augusta Civic Center in January. City councilors agreed to spend $72,000 in remaining pandemic relief funds for the purchase of a new oven, audio visual equipment, and major repairs to the north wing stairs at the Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — The city will spend the last of its federal relief funds that came in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic for new heat pumps for City Center, a new oven, new audio visual equipment and repairs to the north wing stairs at the Augusta Civic Center, and to help pave city streets and sidewalks.

Between funds leftover and not yet allocated from the city’s nearly $2 million it got as part of pandemic relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act, and reallocations of funds for proposals that didn’t end up being spent, the city has just over $278,000 in ARPA funds it had to allocate to allowed uses by the end of this year.

Thursday, councilors voted unanimously to allocate the remaining and reallocated funds, following the recommendations of City Manager Jared Mills.

They plan to use the funds as follows:

• $92,000 to replace aging heat pumps at City Center;

• $72,000 for the purchase of a new oven, audio visual equipment, and major repairs to the north wing stairs at the Augusta Civic Center, and;

• $114,560 for street and sidewalk paving and repair.

The reallocated funds include $50,000 that had been set aside for cleanup projects in the Sand Hill area of the city. However Mills said city officials were unable to identify any projects on Sand Hill that would qualify for ARPA funding, so that money was reallocated to street paving.

Another $58,000 was also reallocated to street paving from savings the city expects to realize after contracting the repairs to the Civic Center’s north wing stairs for $58,000 less than initially estimated.

Mills said the city’s public works department has several ongoing projects for which the additional paving funds could be used.

The city also had planned to spend $200,000 in ARPA funds to move sewer and water lines to make way for the new police station, but didn’t end up using those funds for that purpose. Those funds make up the bulk of the remaining ARPA funds that councilors unanimously agreed to reallocate Thursday without debate.

Councilors had previously discussed several possible uses for the city’s remaining ARPA funds.

The American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress in 2021. Funds from it were required to be allocated, but not necessarily spent, before the end of 2024.

The city received $1.98 million in ARPA funding.

Maine municipalities and counties received a total of $502 million.