The Appalachian Regional Commission has approved a $451,000 grant to Forest County for the construction of two broadband towers.
That news was announced at Wednesday’s Forest County commissioners meeting by commissioners chairman Mark Kingston.
One tower will be located in Barnett Township and the other in Hickory Township, Kingston said.
The county still has $638,644.50 of the $700,000 in American Rescue Plan funds it received from the federal government, Kingston said. He added the county has until 2026 to spend the money.
Snyder said the county is waiting to see if Forest Area School District receives a $2.1 million grant for broadband expansion it applied for to put up six poles to determine if the Rescue Plan funds should be used for broadband or put to other uses.
In other business Wednesday, the commissioners accepted with regret the resignations of Randell Parrett as the county’s emergency management coordinator and Bailey Thompson as the county’s economic and community development coordinator.
Parrett has been the EMA coordinator for about three years, said Snyder, who added that he will be the interim emergency management coordinator until the county can either hire someone to fill the position or contract out for the service.
Thompson became the economic and community development coordinator in May. Robin Corapi, who was Thompson’s administrative assistant, was named interim coordinator.