Centre County commissioners allocate nearly $300,000 in CDBG funds to 3 projects
Three projects are on their way to receiving funding through Community Development Block Grants, as allocated Tuesday by the Centre County Board of Commissioners.
The Haines-Aaronsburg Municipal Authority’s water system improvement project will receive $128,500, Penn Township’s water tank replacement project will receive $117,000 and Eagle Creek’s HOA sewer line and pump station upgrade will be partially funded in the amount of $52,392.
CDBG are annual grants based on a formula to develop urban communities by providing housing and a suitable living environment. It is designed for areas with low- and moderate-income persons.
The Haines-Aaronsburg Municipal Authority and Penn Township projects are both continued from 2020, so they have some 2020 CDBG funding tied to them but were built as multi-year projects. The Eagle Creek project will potentially be an applicant for a CDBG competitive grant, Ray Stolinas, Centre County planning director, said. Project funding is available to eligible local governments through the competitive program, which is set aside for critical infrastructure or revitalization projects, according to CDBG’s website.
But the Department of Community and Economic Development wants to see a “good faith allocation” if they are going to submit the competitive application, said Mitzi Gallagher-Long, SEDA-COG community development project coordinator.
To do this, she said the county could fund the two continuing projects and would have $52,392 left over, which could be allocated to the Eagle Creek project. The total project cost is expected to be nearly $1.3 million.
In total, the commissioners received five applications for 2021 funding: Haines-Aaronsburg Municipal Authority Water System improvement project, Penn Township water tank replacement project, Haines-Woodward Municipal Authority water well development project, Haines-Woodward Municipal Authority waterline replacement project on Mountain Avenue and Eagle Creek HOA Sewer line and pump station upgrade project.
The total allocation that Centre County has for project selection is $297,892, so there is more “ask than the allocation,” Gallagher-Long said.
Gallagher-Long said all of the projects are “very worthy” but the recommendation was to fund the two multi-year projects, with the remainder going to the Eagle Creek project. She said they could seek funding for the Haines-Woodward project elsewhere, like the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, to get the project started and could consider the second Haines-Woodward project for the 2022 CDBG.
If the Eagle Creek project does not get the competitive grant, that money can be allocated to other projects.
The commissioners unanimously voted to allocate funding to the Haines-Aaronsburg Municipal Authority, Penn Township and Eagle Creek projects.
“Thankfully we’re funding some of the ones that affect more families. Some of these projects are a couple dozen families and some of them are several 100,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said.
A public hearing is set for July 21 for residents to comment on the projects and amounts.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 2:21 PM.
