Luzerne County Courthouse
                                 File photo

Luzerne County Courthouse

File photo

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<p>Swetz</p>

Swetz

Luzerne County Council has received $186.8 million in requests for the county’s federal American Rescue Plan funding, which far exceeds the approximately $97 million left to allocate, officials said.

The wish list came at council’s request to ensure no possibilities were overlooked. The administration sought pre-applications from outside entities to identify options, with responses due April 29.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz released a project request summary sheet of the resulting responses Friday and informed council members a thick binder of all applications has been compiled for each of them to review. These requests total $171.58 million and came from 120 outside entities, a review of the summary shows.

In addition, county departments have requested $15.26 million for projects, Swetz said.

Prior acting manager Romilda Crocamo, who wrapped up her county employment Friday, also furnished a memo to council emphasizing in bold capital letters that the pre-applications have not been reviewed for eligibility under the federal government’s American Rescue protocols.

The county administration does not believe a majority of the outside requests meet funding requirements under the U.S. Treasury’s final rule, Crocamo said.

The administration still urges council to retain Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting for $254,706 to provide guidance on eligibility screening and funding administration, her memo said. A council majority had rejected this proposal last month, saying the decision should wait until Randy Robertson starts work as the new county manager the week of June 13.

Top requests

The highest outside funding requests, according to a summary sheet released by Swetz:

• $41.7 million for the South Valley Regional Recreation Authority to rehabilitate and create a 33-acre recreation complex

• $15 million for the county’s chambers of commerce to establish a small business sustainability grant program

• $10 million for West Pittston to design and help fund a levee along the Susquehanna River.

• $10 million for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority to complete modernization, safety and capacity upgrades to several sewer modules

The Greater Hazleton Joint Sewer Authority applied for $5.5 million to separate a combined sewer system and install a new one.

In downtown Wilkes-Barre, $5.2 million was requested for a center to combat homelessness and to expand the Diamond City Partnership’s Clean and Safe Ambassador Program, it said.

Penn Lake Park borough applied for $3.5 million to rehabilitate and replace its dam, which was deemed unsafe by the state.

Rice Township is asking for $3 million to construct a multi-purpose community center.

Based on the diverse range of applications, the administration recommends council group the requests into categories — county projects, nonprofits, small business assistance and other.

For municipal requests, the administration advised council to consider how these jurisdictions spent any direct American Rescue allocations they have received for their municipalities, Crocamo’s memo said.

The administration discourages council from directly distributing funds to households or individual businesses, it said.

“Moving forward in this process, only eligible projects should be considered for funding. In addition, the amount of matching funds should be taken into consideration, as well as whether the project is ready to move forward,” the memo said.

The county does not have to commit to an American Rescue allocation plan until the end of 2024 and has until the end of 2026 to spend the money.

Within county government, the $15.26 million in outstanding requests include a range of projects to address maintenance and public safety needs.

Allocations to date

The county is receiving a total $112.89 million in American Rescue funds and already has earmarked nearly $16 million.

The allocations approved by council to date: $500,000 each for two blight-targeting land banks in Hazleton and the Pittston area; up to $8 million to the county Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee along the Susquehanna; $924,000 for county public transportation matches; $4 million for county prison repairs and information technology needs; and $2 million to help pay for the construction of a rain garden and stream bank restoration, which will create a $2 million credit so county government does not have to pay a stormwater fee until the credit runs out.

Separate from this tally, council is set to vote Tuesday on another proposal to use $600,000 in American Rescue funds to redo deteriorated, county-owned Kirby Avenue in Fairview Township.

Most American Rescue funds cannot be used for road and bridge repairs, the county administration has said.

If council wants to proceed with the Kirby Avenue allocation, it would be covered by a portion of the American Rescue funding known as “lost revenue” that is more discretionary, Crocamo had said.

American Rescue funds may be used for government services in the dollar amount of revenue lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have said.

Crocamo had estimated approximately $4.5 million of $8.9 million is still available in the “lost revenue” category for council to allocate.

Swetz said the revenue loss calculation must be completed each year and cannot be tallied until county’s 2021 audit is issued.

Specific sections of roadways involved in drainage improvement projects may be eligible for American Rescue funding outside the lost revenue category, Crocamo has said.

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