LOCK HAVEN — While the future of federal Community Development Block Grants funds targeted to benefit communities with low to moderate income residents is the source of debate in Washington, D.C., the Clinton County commissioners hope the entitlement program continues.

In this region, CDBG funds have primarily been invested to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure and housing rehabilitation, but also have been attached to a number of community-improvement projects over the years.

In Washington, President Donald Trump is looking to basically eliminate CDBG and Appalachian Regional Commission money as entitlements, but Congress has final say over budget appropriations.

On hand at commissioners’ work session Monday to outline CDBG funds and guidelines were Katie DeSilva, the new county planner, and Leah Mothersbaugh, the new grants administrator.

Here’s how the county CDBG funding goes for fiscal year 2017:

r The county has been awarded $222,998, a decrease from last year’s $224,743.

r Up to $40,139 or 18 percent of that amount may be put toward administrative costs … essentially toward Mothersbaugh’s salary.

r That leaves the county with $182,859 to distribute toward projects.

r The deadline for project submission to the Commissioners is Wednesday, July 26. The deadline for the Commissioners to submit to DCED is Nov. 3, 2017.

Commissioner Pete Smeltz said the county should take all of the administrative funds, something it did not do last year.

There are important new changes to CDBG guidelines, Mothersbaugh and DeSilva said.

Here they are:

r The state Department of Community and Economic Development, which administers CDBG funds at the state level, “continues to strongly encourage grantees to limit the number of activities proposed in an application and focus on a single, larger project that will have more impact on low- to moderate-income communities.”

r Grantees submitting one project will have their applications reviewed and approved prior to any other application submissions.

r Any single activity submissions once approved will not be permitted to be modified during the life of the contract, though budget revisions to allow for project completion under budget will be permitted. “Under limited, extenuating circumstances, DCED will entertain requests to modify a single project, but approval is not guaranteed.”

r All fiscal year 2017 CDBG awards will be four-year contracts (instead of five).

“I don’t disagree with this one project concept, in my personal opinion,” Smeltz said, suggesting that it should serve to keep applicants more accountable.

He said he recalls at one time the county having 10 or more projects open at one time.

There is a competitive grant aspect to the program, and currently Renovo’s Ontario Avenue rehabilitation project is funded and ongoing.

That saw the borough, via a county-submitted application compiled by the SEDA-Council of Governments, apply for and win $750,000 for all new water and sewer, sidewalks, pavement and curbing of Ontario Avenue.

DeSilva said bids for the work came in $200,000 more than available, but only last week the parties gained approval to move other grant funding targeted for sidewalks on another street to the Ontario Avenue project.

He asked DeSilva how many municipalities in the county are eligible for these funds and DeSilva rattled off Renovo Borough, Grugan Township, a neighborhood in Flemington and another in Pine Creek Township.

She cautioned, though, that “activities that serve a wider area around Western Clinton County are also eligible, like sewer or water.”

And, she said, “Some communities, if they are willing to do an income survey, could be eligible.”

As for the FY 2017 funds, Mothersbaugh said there are two applicants thus far: the Booneville water project and STEP home rehabilitation. The latter dates to last year when the county gained $500,000 in HOME grant funding for housing rehabilitation in Castanea and Pine Creek Townships. The county put up $150,000 in matching funds and committed $75,000 of that so far. The idea is to fund improvements to upward of 30 or more homes in specific neighborhoods to eliminate blight, primarily by bringing the homes up to code.

Some 68 people in the neighborhoods responded to the original survey.

“This is for repairs to bring the homes up to code to preserve the housing stock. It’s not for cosmetic work,” DeSilva explained.

Also still out there is the proposed 32-unit senior housing complex in Flemington being pursued by Mike Fisher of the SEDA-Council of Governments Housing Development Corp.

Fisher is awaiting approval from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority for the project – DeSilva called it a “monster application” – before all proceeds.

That PHFA grant application should be more appealing to that agency, partly because it appears Greater Lock Haven will soon have public bus service.

The housing complex would be at the west end of Linden Street at the city-Flemington border. Fisher is going back for round two, DeSilva said, to gain PHFA approval after being among about 80 projects that did not get approved last year.

Roughly $60,000 in SEDA-COG’s funds have been committed to the project already as the agencies work to provided needed housing for seniors based on demographics and demand.

“This needs to be a priority,” Commissioner Paul Conklin said.

Also at Monday’s work session, county Court Administrator Don Powers told Smeltz and Conklin that officials expect a rather large contingent of law enforcement to be present for the funeral services of county Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Herrold, who died in the past week at the age of 30 and just two weeks after he and his wife had a baby.

A moment of silence was observed. Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. tonight at the Central Mountain High School auditorium; the funeral is there at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Smeltz noted that Lycoming County Sheriff Mark Lusk has assigned two of his deputies to staff the Clinton County office during the service for Herrold. Also, the local Sheriff’s Office will be closed Wednesday “out of respect for Herrold and his family, but our deputies will be on duty to respond to the court system’s needs,” he added.

In other business, Conklin reported that volunteers at the Friendship Community Center and Library in Beech Creek said they’re grateful to the county Probation Office for providing community service volunteers for cleaning up heating oil spilled in the basement.

He said the volunteers believe $15,000 in cleanup costs were saved by using community service volunteers. He noted the center is used heavily by the community as a library, meeting place and for meals on wheels.

Commissioner Jeff Snyder was attending a National Association of Counties convention and was absent from the work session but returned later Monday.