Rostraver Township to get more than $1M in American Rescue Act funding

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com

Rostraver Township officials expect to receive a little over $1 million through the American Rescue Act and recently learned how those funds may be spent.
The money, which totals $1,088,240, is expected to be dispersed in two payments, half this June and half in June 2022, with all the money to be spent by 2024, according to Rostraver Township Manager Jeff Keffer, who made the report at Wednesday’s work session.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession
Keffer said the money can be used for COVID-19 expenses, to make up lost revenue using 2019 as the base year and making improvements to water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
“We can think out of the box if it is COVID-related,” Keffer said.
For example, Keffer said municipalities could use the money to buy more plow trucks to have only one person in a truck to meet COVID-19 protocols, which would qualify as an allowable expense.
Keffer said since the township is receiving more than $1 million, it will be subject to federal audit.
Commissioners board President John Lorenzo proposed extending the water line to the Lutz Run area, which has been promised public water for the past 20 years.
“I think that would be a great first starting point because those people need it,” Lorenzo said.

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