To the editor:

The “legal opinion” (attached) references various federal guidelines which set forth with specificity the permitted uses of ARPA funds. 

It then leaps to an unsupported conclusion that the $630,000 appropriation for design “related to the redevelopment of Jesup Green and the Imperial lot in downtown Westport” is a permitted use of those funds.

What the opinion lacks is a specific reference to the precise designated use of these funds, which is among those described in the documents. 

Is it, for example, for “surface transportation,” or for “infrastructure,” which would seem to be the most likely of the several authorized uses? However, based on my reading of the cited documentation and related commentary, I doubt that the proposed use can be justified on either of those grounds.

Without clarification or reference to a specifically authorized use, this opinion is less than persuasive and should not be accepted as the final word on the subject.

Lawrence Weisman

Westport

Attached is the Town Attorney’s Office memorandum on “ARPA Expenditure Eligibility — Design and permitting of the redevelopment of Jesup Green and the Imperial Lot:”