SMETHPORT — With one local Community Development Block Grant-funded project finishing under budget, the additional funds were dispersed among two other projects.
McKean County commissioners granted the CDBG funding change at their meeting Tuesday morning.
The Keating Township Housing Rehabilitation Program was the recipient of a $32,439 block grant in 2015. There is a balance of $16,074.56 to the award — not enough to take on another housing rehab project — so commissioners divided the remainder, awarding $6,450 to the 2014 CDBG Liberty Township Low to Moderate Income Sewer Lateral Installations Program and the remaining $9,624.56 to the 2015 McKean County Spot Demolition Program.
Block grant funding — and a proposal by federal officials to cut funding to the program — were among the topics Commissioner Carol Duffy heard about on a recent trip to Washington, D.C.
On July 13, commissioners from across Pennsylvania were invited to the White House for a convention, where they heard a dozen presentations from different government-related offices. At Tuesday’s commissioner meeting, she shared details of her trip with attendees.
“It was a very, very educational experience,” she said of the trip.
Regarding the proposed block grant cut, Duffy said federal officials feel the program’s funds are “uneven across the country,” and they want to reevaluate the program and “refocus” to make the best use of the money.
She indicated her disappointment at the proposed cut, saying, “This funding in particular is quite valuable to our rural areas.”
Duffy also brought up a USDA Task Force for Rural Prosperity, which is seeking input from rural officials like herself.
Also at the meeting, the commissioners re-appointed four people to the McKean County Department of Human Services Advisory Board. Their terms were set to expire on July 31.
Re-appointed for three-year terms were Tracey Fowler, Jodie Holmberg and Stacy Fussell; and re-appointed for a two-year term is Brian Larson.
They also passed a resolution to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the McKean County Dive Team and its members.
Andrew Johnson, director of the McKean County Emergency Management Agency, explained the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency recently made the requirement that the county enter into a memorandum of understanding to include a list of dive team members who are covered by McKean County’s worker’s compensation program.
Six county aid applications were granted at the meeting, too.
Applications were for Bradford Township, $10,822 to purchase salt and antiskid material; Hamilton Township, $1,959 for a future paving project; Kane Borough, $7,258 for an unspecified future project; Mount Jewett Borough, $2,040 to purchase antiskid material; Port Allegany Borough, $4,574 for a future paving and milling project; Wetmore Township, $5,917 for oil for a chip and seal project.
