Clarion County commissioners on Tuesday approved a contract that will provide a “back hall” for wireless broadband access points in the county.
“This is going to be a microwave link between our sites,” said Jeff Smathers, director of the county’s department of public safety. “This will be for hot spots.”
Smathers said “back hall” refers to a transport method that links all the sites together.
There are seven tower sites in the county – Knox, Clarion, St, Petersburg, Rimersburg, East Brady, New Bethlehem and Leeper.
The $189,746.38 contract with IP Microwave network must be completed by Dec. 15. The funding for the link comes from the county’s federal CARES Act grant.
Clarion County has adopted a resolution for a Community Development Block Grant coronavirus application.
“This is not the $3.4 million the county got,” said Kristi Amato, director of the county’s planning department. Amato said the grant is in addition to the county’s normal Community Development Block Grant funding.
“What we are looking at is possibly supplying some help to small businesses,” Amato said. “This could help the senior centers to get back open. Clarion Borough is hoping to use it for personal protective equipment.”
Amato said the total amount of the grant is $291,312.
“We held two public hearings on this and we had one person attend the second hearing, “county Commissioner Wayne Brosius said. “We would have liked to have had more public participation.”
The commissioners on Tuesday also approved contracts for the physical improvement of the Human Services Building (the former Clarion Hospital).
A contract with Deets Mechanical was for two boilers at the building at a total cost of $24,971. The contract was through Co-Stars and the county’s match will be 10 percent of the total.
“These are like super boilers,” said Commissioner Ted Tharan. “They will pay for themselves in three or four years.”
A second contract with Deets was for the purchase of an outdoor air conditioning unit at a total cost of $12,866. That purchase is also through Co-Stars and the county’s match is 10 percent of the total.
The commissioners awarded a $9,750 contract to Evaluator Services and Technology to conduct an organizational and operational review of the property assessment department. Commissioner Ed Heasley said the study was designed to improve efficiency.