4. A 911 vendor swap

Cole County, Missouri, which contains Jefferson City, is currently amid a project to upgrade its 911 system, and its sheriff has proposed using ARPA funds to switch tracks on upgrade work that began under CARES Act funding. 

The county used CARES Act money to purchase an upgraded 911 system from Solacom, but county Sheriff John Wheeler this month said the automatic mapping feature the vendor promised isn’t working how the county wants. He proposed using ARPA funding to switch to Intrado, a 911 vendor contracted by the nearby Boone County, an arrangement Wheeler said could provide both counties back-up systems in the event of an outage.

The upgrade is pending council approval.