Erie County Council to re-address updated Project Resolve measure, consider possible vote
Earlier this month, Erie County Council voted down a measure that sought to use $5 million in American Rescue Plan funds toward a proposed manufacturing and battery-testing facility — the first phase of a long-term strategy known as Project Resolve — at Penn State Behrend.
The 4-3 rejection was largely the result of lingering legal questions, namely about the legality of using Rescue Plan dollars toward a proposed capital project as opposed to those communities most negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council is scheduled on Thursday to consider voting on the project again.
This time, the ordinance seeks to use $2.5 million in Rescue Plan funds and another $2.5 million in unrestricted gaming revenue funds.
Council votes down RESOLVE project:Facing legal questions, County Council votes down Rescue Plan funding for Project RESOLVE
Ordinance would still divert money from Gaming Revenue Authority
The $2.5 million in Rescue Plan funds would come from the $5 million Transformative Grants budget line intended for the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority.
ECGRA Executive Director Perry Wood said his agency anticipates the full $5 million amount to continue providing grants to much-needed community projects, and that cutting the amount in half could hinder this.
Davis plan would take funds from ECGRA:3 Erie County Council members say Davis plan could divert ARP dollars from hard-hit areas
Wood said ECGRA has conducted organized rural listening sessions across the county to determine what projects needed support. The sessions showed an urgent need for investment in dozens of projects, from water lines and broadband in Girard to sewer service expansion throughout the borough and township of North East.
"In each of these rural listening sessions, the number one conclusion that comes out of talking to all of these officials — business leaders, elected officials, civic leaders — is these communities need these funds to re-stabilize beyond the pandemic," Wood told the Erie Times-News on Tuesday. "That's the way we've set up our grant-making process, to provide them with the funds to do so."
Davis, consultants say Project Resolve is legal endeavor
In a recent rationale statement submitted to council, Erie County Executive Brenton Davis stated that members of council had asked for a new funding formula for Project Resolve and that the new ordinance provided for that.
He added that two firms hired by the county for Rescue Plan consultation both indicated that Project Resolve is eligible for Rescue Plan funds.
Dems say Davis budget ignores hard-hit:Dems on Erie County Council say Davis budget for Rescue Plan is vague, ignores minorities
Documentation from those firms — ArentFox Schiff LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, and Witt O'Brien's, an international crisis and emergency management company — were provided to council and indicate the project would benefit COVID-impacted industries and businesses.
Matthew Hanson, a member of Witt O'Brien's, said a pathway to eligibility was proving to the U.S. Treasury that a local business or industry impacted by the pandemic could benefit from the proposed center.
He said the Davis administration selected the Wabtec Corp. plant in Lawrence Park Township because it suffered at least an 8% loss in employment, which is a job loss threshold stated in the Rescue Plan guidelines.
Legal questions persist despite newly framed ordinance
Speaking at a recent council meeting during the public comment period, former council Chairman Carl Anderson — who helped spearhead the budgeting of the 2022 Rescue Plan budget — read aloud an excerpt from the U.S. Treasury guidelines that stated "large capital projects intended for general economic development or to aid impacted industries" were ineligible for Rescue Plan funds.
He said the Behrend center should be funded through eligible means, like revenue replacement, as opposed to taking money away from ECGRA.
County Council Solicitor Tom Talarico has also pushed back on the use of Rescue Plan funds for the project.
"ARPA monies are not supposed to be used for this purpose — it's completely inappropriate," he said during an Oct. 4 council meeting. "There's nothing wrong with using any kind of county money if it's available to satisfy this. But it's a complete violation of the ARPA law to use ARPA money for this particular project."
Davis seeks to re-budget ARPA funds:Davis joins township officials to urge Erie County re-budgeting of federal spending plan
The Davis administration hopes to use the combined $5 million — along with another $5 million from Penn State University — as a local match for a state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant of at least $8 million.
The money would go toward the development of a center for "manufacturing competitiveness" at Behrend's Knowledge Park that would consist of a heavy-haul battery testing facility, as well as manufacturing-focused laboratories.
The center would be the first phase of Project Resolve, a regional strategy championed by Behrend to turn Erie County into a hub of plastics engineering, manufacturing and innovation and environmental sciences.
Attend the meeting
What: Erie County Council Finance Committee will discuss the ordinance
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Where: Room 114 of the Erie County Courthouse
Online: A Zoom link can be found at bit.ly/resolve_link
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Project Resolve: Erie County Council to discussed updated funding measure
