A $.5 million Housing Starts Initiative grant was approved by the Lycoming County Commissioners to help developers with the infrastructure for the Poco Vista Estates which will be constructed at the corner of Kimble and Poco Farm roads in Loyalsock Township.

The $500,000 comes from $4 million in Act 13 monies that the previous and current boards commissioners had committed to help combat the county’s housing shortage.

Act 13, which is also known as the Impact Fee is a state law that imposes a fee on unconventional gas wells. The funds are then distributed to state, county and local governments to address the effects of shale gas drilling.

Speaking after the meeting, which had experienced a disruption in the livestream, Commissioner Scott Metzger said that one of the complaints the previous commissioners had heard from developers and realtors was that infrastructure costs were so high that it was not profitable to construct housing for county residents. Consequently potential homeowners were locating to nearby counties.

Helping developers build market value housing also expands the tax base and “attacks the shortage,” Metzger said.

Commissioner Marc Sortman, who did not attend the meeting, but spoke afterward, pointed out that the developers do not receive any of the funds until the infrastructure is completed and that they only receive the amount used.

Developer for the project is Berks Homes, which also built homes in West End Terrace.

Metzger said, for full disclosure that both he and Sortman had received campaign contributions from the developers during their campaigns for commissioner last year. He indicated that the county’s solicitor said that as long as they did not receive any personal benefit from approving the award of the Housing Starts Initiative grant monies that it would be okay to vote on the agenda item. Sortman was not at the meeting so was unable to vote, but Metzger stressed that although he voted with the third commissioner, Mark Mussina, that he will not benefit in any way personally from the vote and that he is not tied to the developers.

A tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act hearing was held during the meeting to give public notice to discuss the Lycoming County Authority’s issuance of tax-exempt revenue bonds for various capital projects in the amount of $2.286 million.

William Dayton, chief executive officer at Firetree Place, 600 Campbell St., explained that the monies will be used for capital expansion projects at Firetreet.

“We will be adding up to nine new classrooms for our early learning and child care programs,” Dayton said.

Currently Firetree accommodates about 120 youth per day ranging in age from three up to 12. With the expansion, Dayton indicated that number could increase to 200.

“Also with that expansion, the early learning and child care programs will be moved into the new sector of this project and therefore opening up space in our current facility that kind of been unused at this point because it’s been taken over by early learning and child care,” he said.

“Therefore we can provide more activities for the community to partake in throughout the day,” Dayton added.

Dayton pointed out that the need for more early learning and childcare in the county was one of the reasons Firetree is seeking to expand.

“Currently our programs are always filled,” Dayton said.

“We’re sitting on about 90 children on our waiting list for our after school club and 60 for before school care and 30 in our preschool,” he said.

In other business, the commissioners granted 2024 tax exemptions for the following churches due to filing new deeds because of name changes: Cogan House Community Church, 3779 Cogan House Road for the church community hall; Cogan House Community Church, 3782 Cogan House Road, for the church; Centennial Chapel of Cogan Valley, 2724 Cogan House Road, for the church; Big Woods Bible Church, 19 Wagner Rod; and Liberty Bible Church, 250 Mulberry St. There was no loss of taxes because they do not pay taxes on those properties because they were churches and remain churches.

Two other properties: Eldred Township, 40 Grange Drive, purchased the property next to it, which also has a garage on it, to turn into a park for a loss of $264.03 in taxes; and the Lycoming Clinton County Commission for Community Action (STEP), 181 Daugherty’s Run Road, a property for building a garage for buses used by STEP and also for having an office and training space for transportation staff for a loss of $1,496 in taxes.

“When an exemption is granted it’s always effective for the following year. Any taxes outstanding this year are still due and payable, which are Eldred Township and Lycoming County Commission for Community Action,” explained Brooke Wright, the county’s chief assessor.

In other business, the commissioners approved the following action items:awarding R&L Development Company, Inc. the landfill well drilling contract in the amount of $263,041; the purchase of four drums of odor control product from Kroff for $20,794; the Request for Proposal release and advertisement for the Williamsport Cross Pipe Rehabilitation Project, which os 80 percent funded by a Federal Economic Development Administration grant; the encumbrance of $100,000 each of County Liquid Fuels funding for the maintenance of county bridges 105 and 111; an addendum to the agreement with the SEDA Council of Government Joint Rail Authority for use of the River Walk parking lot; the hazardous material response fund agreement for 2024-25 with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) in the amount of $16,318; a change order with H&P Construction in the amount of $2,015; the Radiation Emergency Response Fund Agreement for 2024-25 with PEMA in the amount of $5,876; and the bill of sale for surplus property to Scott Clark in the amount of $582.

Under personnel, the commissioners approved filling the following positions at the rates of pay listed: Jody Butters and Madisyn Barker, full-time resident supervisors I, union, at the Pre-Release Center, $18.64 each; Andrew Venema, full-time equipment operator at Resource Management, $20.34 per hour; and Marquis Delgado, full-time juvenile probation II, union, $23.82 per hour.

The next commissioners’ meeting will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 26, in the Commissioners’ Board Room, 3rd floor, Third Street Plaza, 33 West Third St.