Luzerne County Courthouse

Luzerne County Courthouse

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Luzerne County is set to receive $3.68 million from a coronavirus relief package, but county Manager C. David Pedri said he can’t start outlining potential uses or seek applications from prospective recipients until he receives federal guidelines.

Mayors of two county cities — Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre — also said they must await federal protocols for separate coronavirus earmarks to their municipalities.

Hazleton was approved for $422,548, while the earmark is $915,761 for Wilkes-Barre.

Once federal directions arrive, Pedri said he will ensure the funding ends up in the hands of needy entities dealing with an onslaught of coronavirus response demands.

One likely recipient would be the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank in Pittston Township, said Andrew Reilly, director of the county community development office that will oversee the federal funds.

The food bank is a central distributor for pantries throughout the region and is working to meet a rising demand during the pandemic, Reilly said.

“Potentially some of the money could go towards the purchase of food for the food bank because obviously there’s a tremendous need for its services in the area,” Reilly said.

Poverty agencies that help residents with their rent and other emergency needs also may warrant additional funding because they are helping the growing number of county residents now out of work due to the coronavirus shutdown of non-life-sustaining businesses, Reilly said.

Usually funding channeled through his office comes with rigid formulas and steps that must be taken to obtain federal spending approval, but Reilly said some of those may be waived because this money is intended to help in an immediate emergency situation.

Reilly said he conveyed the urgency of timely receipt of the guidelines but does not know when they will come.

“Those details are crucial because they will dictate what money can be used for, if there are caps and matches required and how fast the money can be given out,” Reilly said.

His office will publicly communicate the format on how entities can seek funding as soon as possible, he said.

Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown and Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat stressed their municipalities, like the county, have not received the federal funding because Wednesday’s announcement was only for the earmark amounts.

Pennsylvania and some counties and municipalities will collectively receive a total $170.65 million in new funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D, Scranton, said in a release.

“I was proud to advocate for Pennsylvania to receive necessary funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it poses for our families and communities,” Casey wrote, noting possible funding uses include affordable housing options, infrastructure development and maintaining crucial public services.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.