McKeesport makes plans for stimulus money
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Mayor Michael Cherepko talked this week about what McKeesport hopes to do with the more than $27 million worth of American Rescue Plan stimulus funding it is estimated to receive.
But the mayor cautioned that the city must first learn how the money can be spent and what types of initiatives and projects fall within those parameters
Under the legislation, counties in Pennsylvania will receive a combined total of $2.8 billion. Metropolitan cities, which McKeesport is considered by the federal government, will receive a combined $2.4 billion, and municipalities with fewer than 50,000 residents will share $936 million.
“You may have seen, we haven’t gotten the details of it yet, but with the American Rescue Plan, we’re looking to most likely have $27.3 million allocated to the City of McKeesport,” Cherepko said. “When you talk about prayers being answered. We couldn’t be any more grateful.”
During an interview with the Mon Valley Independent in March, Cherepko pointed out that the American Rescue Plan figure exceeds the city’s annual budget of around $22 million.
“It’s money that’s much needed here,” Cherepko said Wednesday. “It’s money that will allow us to push the McKeesport Rising that we’ve been doing for years with all the demolitions and paving projects.”
McKeesport Rising, created by the Cherepko administration, is a budgeted initiative. Its purpose is to demolish blighted properties that are deemed beyond repair, restore historic commercial properties and market them for new development, pave roads, aid current homeowners with repairs and upgrades to their homes and more.
The mayor said he’s spoken with some council members about what the city should do with the money. He said Councilwoman LuEthel Nesbit suggested possibly allocating some of the money “into grants for those that might want to buy a lot next to them to cut down on the cost.”
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