American Rescue Plan grants are available again in Mercer

Feb. 28—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Applicants are being accepted again from people seeking some of the $2.5 million Mercer County has remaining for American Rescue Plan projects.

In 2021, Mercer County received $11.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package. Organizations including the Wade Center in Bluefield, volunteer fire departments and Mercer County Child Protect have been awarded grants for projects ranging from renovations and purchasing equipment to supporting human service programs.

The Mercer County Commission voted in August 2023 to place a temporary moratorium on accepting new applications.

The county commission voted unanimously Tuesday to lift the moratorium and start accepting applications again. Commissioner Greg Puckett said about $2.5 million of the rescue plan money is left.

"This has to be allocated by the end of this year and spent by the end of 2026," Puckett said.

"As long as we have the money, we're going to spend it," Commissioner Gene Buckner said.

Three new American Rescue Plan applications were presented during Tuesday's meeting. County Commission President Bill Archer said the commission will vote on whether to accept them at its March 12 meeting.

The first application, for $500,000, was presented by the Mercer County Public Service District. Lou Lester with the district said this project's goal is to replace water lines in the Nemours, Wolf and Yards areas. Some of the area's water lines were installed during the 1950s and some were laid down in the 1920s. Another goal is to give these lines improved water flow for better firefighting capacity.

Archer said the project's area "really suffered from not having fire protection or good water service."

"Some lines date back to the Pocahontas Fuel Company," Archer said, adding that the Mercer County PSD would be working with the Tazewell County Public Service Authority on the project. A previous $500,000 from the American Rescue Plan paid for design work and the next $500,000 would complete the project's construction phase.

In a second application, the Mercer County Sheriff's Department is seeking funding to buy the Mercer County Professional Building which is next door to the Mercer County Courthouse.

The department's goal is to move into the 12,000 square-foot building and consolidate operations there, Detective-Lieutenant Steven A. Sommers said.

Moving the department into the professional building would increase security when isolating prisoners from members of the public coming to the courthouse to conduct business, Sommers said. It would also make work safer for deputies and corrections officers. Puckett said it would help increase parking space around the courthouse.

Buckner said the move would help bring the sheriff's department up to date.

The department now operates out of the courthouse's basement.

"They've been in a cave for years and years and it's time we bring them into the daylight and this building will do that," he said.

Sommers presented a second American Rescue Plan application, but this time as chief of the Matoaka Volunteer Fire Department. The department has located two used fire engines in Pennsylvania. Both are in good condition and priced at $25,000.

Sommers said the department is seeking $30,000, which would pay for the engine and for equipping it.

Puckett said the request is "doable" whether the money comes from the American Rescue Plan or another source. The fire fee counties have now cannot keep up with the expenses of volunteer departments and a petition could be needed to get the Legislature to allow counties to raise fire fees, he said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.co.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com