Clarion County projects receive grant funding

More than $550,000 in state grant money will benefit two projects in Clarion County, state Rep. Donna Oberlander and state Sen. Scott Hutchinson announced Tuesday.

One grant, in the amount of $350,000, will be awarded to Scenic Rivers YMCA of Oil City to construct a connection road to the new Clarion County YMCA facility in Monroe Township.

The road will be built along Mayfield and Holiday Inn roads to handle the increase in traffic once the new YMCA is completed. The state grant is providing about a third of the overall project cost.

The other grant of $220,103 to the Clarion Conservation District will be used to plug seven abandoned natural gas wells in Farmington Township.

Many of the wells exhibit methane gas at the surface and are located close to residences and highways, and plugging these wells will result in an overall improvement to the quality of life for citizens of the township, the state lawmakers said.

The Clarion Conservation District grant is part of the Act 13 impact fee on natural gas wells, and the YMCA grant is from Act 89.

Funding for both grants is distributed by the Commonwealth Financing Agency (CFA) within the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

“Both of these state grants will have a beneficial impact on the overall quality of life in Clarion County,” Oberlander said. “This funding is awarded on a competitive basis, so I am pleased that two projects within Clarion County were awarded funding.”

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