COUDERSPORT — Potter County Commissioners discussed progress on two projects being funded through Community Development Block Grant funding during Thursday’s regular meeting.
Bill Siegel, who oversees block grant projects through the SEDA-COG public development organization, said bids will be opened in the near future to continue work on development of a new water source and storage facility for integration into the system.
The Genesee water system improvement project was awarded competitive block funding to match money pledged from two different fiscal-year CDBG expenditures to make much-needed upgrades to the system.
Siegel said block grant funds have been a boon to rural communities, and that Potter’s commissioners had used the funds wisely by leveraging them to attract additional grant opportunities and stretching the federal government-provided entitlement funds to complete some of the bigger-cost projects that would otherwise be unaffordable to small communities. Block grant funds are currently in jeopardy with the newly-proposed federal budget.
The Genesee water project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Much-needed improvements to the Shinglehouse wastewater treatment facilities will have to wait, though, as additional block grant funds were not approved for the project.
Siegel said the Department of Community and Economic Development invited the county to resubmit the application with a better explanation of the issues being faced at the plant. One of the most-needed upgrades would be a replacement of the “headworks” to filter out cloth and other materials currently entering the system and causing clogs.
At a typical facility, spray heads are cleaned out annually. Shinglehouse wastewater employees must clean the spray heads out daily. Due to the age of the system, it cannot be retrofitted to remove these modern materials, which include “flushable” wipes.
Block grant projects for this year are being identified ahead of the fall application submission deadline with input from municipalities. Public hearings will be advertised in local papers prior to approval of any projects.
Today, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack will meet with veterans’ representatives from Cameron, McKean and Potter counties during a visit to the region. He will visit several locations across Potter and Tioga counties during his trip, including Mansfield University, the Potter/Tioga 911 Center, the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, and Cherry Springs State Park. In addition to veterans’ issues, Stack will also discuss criminal justice initiatives, tourism and other topics important to residents.
The county is readying to become more involved in criminal justice initiatives, especially those stemming from the Data-Driven Justice initiative. Data systems and analysis tools are being made available to participating counties in an effort to create better intake processes for defendants and measure the success of different initiatives.
“Even with all the budget cuts, there’s still a lot of support at the federal level for these criminal justice reforms,” said Heimel. “Our veterans’ service committee is pleased to be able to present to the lieutenant governor. We believe there are some things we’re doing that could be replicated in other places.”
Commissioners approved an agreement with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) National Service Program for a team coming to work on projects in two communities this month. Community-improvement items identified by Ulysses and Austin residents will be brought to life by the NCCC volunteers, who are being hosted by businesses and organizations within the community.
The next meeting of the Potter County Commissioners will be held at 11 a.m. June 22 at the Gunzburger Building in Coudersport.
