Clarion County commissioners extended the county’s COVID-19 emergency declaration Tuesday as word came of a $2.5 million federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program grant.
The emergency declaration was extended through Sept. 30 and streamlines the county’s response to the pandemic. It allows the county to engage in emergency management measures that may be required to be proactive to reduce the potential severity of the pandemic and to “protect the health, safety and welfare of the affected residents of Clarion County.”
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program, part of the latest federal COVID-19 relief package, is to provide financial assistance for households directly or indirectly affected in any way by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Penny Campbell, executive director of the Clarion County Housing Authority.
The money has to be completely spent by Dec. 31, with 65% of the funds used by July 31, Campbell said.
The funds can help with other home emergencies, including energy costs, Campbell added.
“Paying for utilities will pay a big part of that,” said Campbell. “We have a lot of housing units through the authority and there are a lot of past due utility bills. There should be a significant amount of utility arrears we can look at.”
Campbell said landlords or tenants could apply for these benefits if they are owed back rent.
Eligibility is determined by income and those who have suffered a loss in income directly related to COVID-19.
Homelessness or housing instability also could make an applicant eligible. The funds are only for Clarion County residents.
Applications are being accepted by calling (814) 226-8910.
Tuesday’s commissioners meeting was the first face-to-face session this year. Previous meetings had been conducted via Zoom.
County positions added
In another matter, the Clarion County Salary Board added more than a dozen full- and part-time positions to the county’s payroll at the panel’s meeting Tuesday.
“We will need these people as long as the virus is running around here. We hope we won’t need these positions forever,” county commissioner Ted Tharan said.
The commissioners created the position of COVID clinic coordinator, and Lori Norris was hired to fill the full-time position.
The commissioners created five part-time clerical positions, four full-time registration clerk positions and four full-time maintenance positions. The positions were all effective Monday, and Tharan said the county will accept applications for the posts.
The commissioners also abolished two full-time field assessor positions effective Monday.
Two positions were reclassified – the vacant position of confidential administrative assistant into the position of confidential clerk and the director of assessment into the position of chief assessor. Both changes took effect Tuesday.