Westmoreland County is sticking to its plan not to release a plan for the expenditure of $105 million in federal rescue plan aid until early next year.
Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher reiterated the stand commissioners have taken for months now during an online forum with commissioners from Greene and Beaver counties. While her colleagues from neighboring counties discussed a variety of plans they are putting forth, Thrasher said Westmoreland is purposefully moving slowly.
Westmoreland commissioners have been soliciting recommendations on how to spend the money for two month through a bare-bones online survey as part of an effort to meet federal guidelines that require pubic input on local priorities. Public hearings are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at Westmoreland County Community College, near Youngwood.
During the First Fridays forum of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, commissioners Jack Camp of Beaver and Mike Belding of Greene discussed a number of priorities for the American Rescue Fund cash coming their way for covid relief programs. They highlighted projects involving infrastructure, broadband internet, education, recreation, public health and aid to communities adversely affected by the pandemic.
Thrasher said improving broadband internet access is among the priorities she would like to see adopted in Westmoreland. She said county officials opted to move slowly in the belief some restrictions on how the money could be used may be lifted by the end of the year and others may be clarified.
The federal program requires that the money be obligated to specific projects by Dec. 31, 2024, and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
Commissioners have banked $52 million, the first of two installments of Rescue Plan aid the county is slated to receive. A second installment is expected early next year, Thrasher said.
Although they have yet to detail plans for the money, she said commissioners welcome the aid.
“If the federal government is giving us all this money, there is not one county commissioner who is going to turn it down,” Thrasher said.
Locally, the Voice of Westmoreland, a progressive-leaning community group, has weighed in with a survey nearly 800 residents. They identified gaps in mental health services, affordable housing and anti-hunger programs among the their top priorities.
While Westmoreland officials have said they will delay the creation of a spending plan, officials in Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh, have already allocated several hundred million dollars in Rescue Plan aid.