LEWISTOWN -- Demand for funds from the Mifflin County Bridge Rehabilitation Program is high.
Officials from Union Township addressed the Mifflin County Commissioners during the public comment period of Thursday's meeting to request a beginning of the process of the township seeking matching funds for bridge projects in the township that are in more dire need of repair than previously thought. County officials reiterated while they want to help, Union is one of numerous townships looking to obtain that financial assistance.
Brian Glick, who is a Union Township Supervisor, called on the commissioners for help.
"We just wanted to appear this morning to say that in light of some inspection reports and things that are coming up, we would like to start the process of getting into matching funds again for bridges," Glick said. "Bridges are, as you know, kind of the white elephant with this type of thing and we didn't think it could hurt anything to address the board and say we would like to get into the funding … ."
Also in attendance was Dan Taptich, who also serves as chairman of the Union Township Sewer Authority.
"As Brian mentioned, we're starting to receive some of our inspection reports -- some of the biannual inspections for some of the larger bridges in our township and now we're unpleasantly surprised, I guess, at some of the deficiencies that have accelerated over the years," he said. "So, the expenses of these repairs are going to be a lot more than the township was anticipating and they're going to need to occur a lot more quickly than we were hoping."
Glick was also presented a ceremonial check from the commissioners for a bridge project that has already been completed in the township using the program.
"The other important party in this bridge program, more than the county bridge program is Mark Colussy of the planning commission," county maintenance director Lonnie Griffith said. "Mark and I over the last several months have met with PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) and SEDA-COG (SEDA-Council of Governments) looking at all the township bridges trying to come up with funding sources beyond the county bridge program that might fight better. … We actually have a meeting on the ninth with PennDOT again to actually discuss the T-350 bridge that one of their inspection reports came back to.
"The reason that Mark and I are meeting with PennDOT and SEDA-COG is because we can only fund a certain portion of these bridges with the funding we're collecting with the $5 fee (on motor vehicle registration renewals) and there is many more sources of funding out there that we're not aware of that we're trying to look at individually on each bridge that comes through with a deficiency and then Mark and I would like to go back to the townships -- all the townships -- and let them know there's additional funding sources out there for these bridges."
Griffith said that because the demand for bridge repairs is so great, the county will continue to seek more avenues of state funding to allow them to know for which bridges they'll be able to fund repairs.
"When we started the bridge program we said we were going to address every structurally-deficient bridge in Mifflin County one way or another," Commissioner Robert Postal said. "That was our goal. It was a lofty goal, not knowing how much it was going to cost, but that is the goal that we have and, as you say, we're well on our way. But, we have to leverage these funds and I think we're doing that."
Colussy stressed that to be able help everyone who is seeking it, the county and townships will need to become more proactive to have a better chance of getting timely funding.
"We're trying to do a better job at being more comprehensive and long-term because one thing that's important for folks to know, as Lonnie pointed out, we do have a great bridge program and kudos to the commissioners for continuing to support this program, getting bridges funded like in Union (Township)," Colussy said. "But, certainly there's other bridges that don't fit into that funding package and we know that if you want to go into the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program), it takes approximately five years to actually go through that funding stream and that's at the earliest, so it's really important that we really start looking at these proactively."
In other business on Thursday, the county also awarded a contract to low bidder HRI Inc. of State College to complete the Cedar Crest Improvement Project in Wayne Township. HRI's bid was $1,022,252, which beat out bids of $1,027,323.03 by Jay Fulkroad & Sons of McAlisterville and $1,375,000 by Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of State College. The project will make improvements to stormwater runoff, the capacity and quality of the water system, which connects to the Mount Union Municipal Authority system, and the sewer system.
"The project is in the Cedar Crest area, which overlooks Mount Union, the furtherest part of Mifflin County that you can go," said Douglas Marks of the Mifflin County Planning Department. "Currently the area is underserved by water. They have water but a lot of the lines are undersized and fire protection is very minimal. They've had some fires in that area that the (fighting of the) fire drains the system in the entire area. Also, they have poor water quality and so, that's part of the project. They also have a stormwater problem which is what they originally came to us with … . So, we're taking care of the storm water portion, the water portion and then we also added in some sewer work to finish out the sewer system in that area."
The project is funded with Community Development Block Grant funds and various grants. Wayne Township will contribute between $150,000 and $175,000 of federal infrastructure funds toward the project.
Also on Thursday, the commissioners:
¯Approved the minutes from the July 29 meeting;
¯Voted to pay the county's bills;
¯Voted to accept the treasurer's report;
¯Approved a letter of engagement with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for the provisioning of next generation 911 services. County emergency services director Phil Lucas said the letter allows the county to participate in program for assessment of funding and various projects associated with the next generation 911 system and allows the state to provide funding directly to the county;
¯Approved Resoultion No. 8 of 2021 on behalf of Brown Township Supervisors approving budget modifications for the FFY 2018 CDBG program for an Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant ramp project in Reedsville. Chastity Fultz from the Mifflin County Planning Department said the project will be scaled back to only one ADA ramp and some sidewalk upgrades on Walnut Street beginning at Main Street and going as far as funds will allow. The plan originally called for three ADA ramps, but two of them are unable to be completed due to PennDOT regulations. Fultz also said the Mifflin County Youth Park is no longer planning to use CDBG funds to pay for upgrades to restrooms at that facility;
¯Approved Resolution No. 9 of 2021 on behalf of Brown Township Supervisors approving a budget modification to the FFY 2019 CDBG program. Original plans called for a flood mitigation project in the Honey Brook area, but that project will be funded by another grant, so the funds will instead by used for a sidewalk improvement project along Walnut Street in Reedsville;
¯Approved, pending an agreement with Derry Township, an Act 152 application from Derry Township for demolition of fire-damaged residences at 613 and 615 Woodland Ave. in the amount of $9,100. Fultz said the township is seeking funding for half the cost of the demolition and that of the total of four properties damaged, the owners of two of the properties have agreed to demolish what remains of the buildings, leaving only the two mentioned properties. Fultz said the same contractor has been hired to complete work at all four properties. Postal mentioned this is part of the blight remediation project;
¯Approved Resolution No. 10 of 2021, adopting all provisions of the amended real estate tax sale law in accordance with Act. 33. This would require anyone wishing to participate in a tax sale to register in advance in accordance with new state law;
¯Approved Annex Project Change Order No. 1-025 with Lobar Inc. for added doors/frames/hardware in the amount of $2,869.96;
¯Approved Change Proposal No. 2 from Jay Fulkroad & Sons of McAlisterville for the Dorcas Street Bridge Project for reconciliation of type 2 and type 3 repairs in the amount of $32,130.22. The bridge required more extensive repair that originally thought, necessitating the change, Griffith said;
¯Approved the first amendment to existing Appendix A, service order No. 2 with Zito Business correcting an address for a borough maintenance location;
¯Approved a purchase of service agreement for use, if needed, by the county's Children and Youth Department for the period July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 with several organizations: Center for Arson Research of Lafayette Hill at $250 per evaluation, Centre County Children's Advocacy Center of Bellefonte at $450 per assessment, Children of the Ark Day Care Center of Lewistown at $30 per hour, Children's Resource Center of Harrisburg at $45 per hour up to $525 per evaluation dependent upon need, attorney Michael Kipphan of Huntingdon at $75 per hour, Neuropsychological Services of Clear Vision of Williamsport at $150 per assessment, Raystown Developmental Services of Huntingdon at $66.72 per hour to $89.84 per hour, Shippenville Project Point of Light Inc. of Shippenville at $50 per hour up to $525 per evaluation, the Law Offices of Shoaf and Wencker LLC of Huntingdon at $65 per hour, Summit Early Learning of Lewistown at $11 per hour up to $47.25 per hour, Tuscarora Intermediate Unit of McVeytown at $58 per hour up to $86 per hour for at risk youth and $121,000 for Communities that Care, Wardell and Associates Inc. of Bellefonte at $48.41 per hour up to $66.15 per hour, Cornell Abraxas Group LLC of Pittsburgh at $191.07 per day up to $343.09 per day, The Children's Home of Pittsburgh at $71 per day up to $73 per day as determined by the state, Diakon Child, Family and Community Ministries of Topton at $50.05 per day up to $194.55 per day, Professional Family Care Services Inc. of Johnstown at $67 per hour, and BMZ Law of Lewistown at $65 per hour. CYS director Dana Bubb said these were all contract renewals;
¯Approved the hiring of Rebecca Bain for judicial law clerk, effective Aug. 9;
¯Approved the resignation as part-time corrections officer by Rhonda Spicker, effective Aug. 2.
The Mifflin County Commissioners' next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 19 in Meeting Room A on the second floor of the Mifflin County Courthouse in Lewistown.