CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – The Clarion County Office of Planning and Development will now manage the 2015 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) on behalf of Clarion Borough.
The new arrangement was covered at the Tuesday morning meeting of the Clarion County Commissioners.
As an entitlement community, Clarion Borough has administered its own CDBG grants for years, but Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) mandated the change. Although the 2015 grant process has not started, in recent years Clarion Borough was receiving approximately $90,000. It is still unclear if Clarion Borough will be able to collect administrative costs in connection with the grant.
DCED’s decision requires all county governments to administer the DCED funds for all boroughs and townships population 10,000 or below. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop (HUD) felt DCED had too many grants to administer and the new arrangement would reduce the amount of administration required. All municipalities will maintain all authority in deciding which projects and activities are funded.
Pension investment takes less risk
In a separate meeting of the Clarion County Retirement Board following the Commissioner’s meeting, a new investment management policy was approved for the Clarion County Employee Retirement Fund. The board approved a less risky investment policy that requires 60 percent of the funds be invested in stocks and 40 percent in bonds. The previous policy allowed a 70-30 split.
Current market value of the fund as of Dec. 31, 2014 is $22,486,505.
The following Retirement Fund institutions were approved for 2015:
• Investment Manager-West Chester Capital Advisors, Johnstown.
• Custodian-Wells Fargo Investments, Clarion.
• Deposit Administrator/Custodian-PNC Institutional Investments, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Actuary-Hay Group, Philadelphia.
• Accountant/Auditor-Clarion County Auditors
In other Commissioner meeting business:
• The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) awarded Clarion County $52,113 for the state Victim/Witness Services fund for the Victim Support Services for 2016-16.
• Approved a new contract with Taylor McConnell of Clarion for cleaning services on behalf of District Court 18-3-01 (Duane Quinn) at a cost of $35 per cleaning at three cleanings per month.
• Approved a contract renewal with McCleary Business Machines, Inc., of Knox for copier maintenance services at multiple county offices for 2015.
• Approved a contract renewal with Court View Justice Solutions for JuryTrace software support and maintenance on behalf of court administration, effective March 1, 2105 through Feb. 28, 2016 at a cost of $827. Commissioner Faller said the software system does some of the work that would have been done by a jury commissioner.
• Approved a contract renewal with the District Attorney’s Institute for the maintenance and service of the PA’s Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) for Clarion County for 2015 at a cost of $1,318.94.
• Approved a proclamation for Scott Sheffer, honoring him for his many years of service as Clarion Airport Manager. Commissioners presented the proclamation at last week’s Clarion Airport Authority meeting. Shaffer worked at the airport from 1981 to 2014.
• Approved a request to use Clarion County Memorial Park submitted by Bill Heart for WWCH/C93 Radio for “C93 Family Fun Block Party” on Saturday, June 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
