Clarion County gets its CARES funding

Clarion County Treasurer Tom McConnell said Tuesday the county has received its $3.4 million in CARES Act funding.

The problem the county faces now is spending the money by the Dec. 31 deadline.

The CARES Act is administered by guidelines established by the U. S. Treasury Department. One of those restrictions mandates that the grant money be allocated and paid for by Dec. 31.

“That is hard to do,” county commissioner Ted Tharan said at the panel’s meeting Tuesday. He said that in many cases an eligible project can’t be planned and completed in five months.

But those requirements may be changing. On Monday, labor attorney David Mitchell told the Northwest County Commissioners Association that Congress is working toward extending the deadline.

There is also the possibility the projects may not need to be paid for by the end of the year.

Clarion County invested in expanding broadband, and work has started on a new tower in the northern part of the county that is expected to help alleviate gaps in cell phone coverage. That project costs about $330,000 and will be completed before the Dec. 31 deadline.

Other uses for the grant range from small business interruption to revenue replacement for non-profits that lost revenue during the shutdown.

The county has employed Maher Duessel for guidance for the COVID-19 relief block grant.