Lucerne County Releases Top Applicants for $60 Million in American Rescue Funds

The Lucerne County Council has received a list of 75 top-scoring third-party organizations to collectively receive $60 million in federal funding for the American county bailout plan.

Members of the Board did not know until today which organizations made the list due to the process established for evaluating applications.

On Thursday, several board members said they have concerns about some of the projects slated for funding.

“I personally don’t believe the list as it stands will be well received by the public,” Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said, citing the inclusion of private business and the absence of some of the worthy organizations he expected to make the list. .

“I’m not happy with this. That’s what it all comes down to at the end of the day.”

Instead of relying on advice from the board or an administrative committee, the 11 board members decided to review the applications themselves so that everyone had a chance to participate.

The county’s American Rescue consultant created an online portal for council members to individually review and evaluate the 139 external applications based on the same factors, such as project impact on county priorities, community outcomes, racial equity and inclusion, and an overview of the project as a whole. budget.

Since the list of awards is based on an independent assessment and parameters of the board, board members should not change it without reason, because adding and removing after the names are disclosed defeats the purpose of the established scoring system.

Council members said this was an unusual situation because council members did not select recipients jointly through normal discussion, debate, and majority preference.

While this process was intended to prevent bias, outside interference, and lobbying, board members were concerned that they did not know which recipients would appear on the list of awards and how the board and the public would react to the end result.

Board members were required to refrain from evaluating individual applicants if they had a conflict of interest.

A vote on the actual awards is expected at the February 14 board meeting.

Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting helped set up the board’s validation engine and reviewed projects that made the list of awards compliant with federal requirements. The board hired Booth to prevent later audit and compliance issues.

Before Booth came up with the final list, the board ruled that no organization would receive more than one award.

After deducting external earmarked appropriations, internal county government projects, and already approved appropriations, the county will have $17.2 million in remaining American Rescue funds, according to Booth Management.

List of recipients:

• Allied Services Personal Care, running a business called Allied Services Center City Skilled Nursing: $1,860,856.

• Photo Amy Bezek LLC, $300,000.

• Ashley District, $6 million.

• Avoca Hose Co. No. 1, $75,515.

• Back Mountain Recreation Inc., $156,900.

• Beaver Brook Association, $120,000.

• Berwick District Integrated Sewer Service, $408,195.

• Butler Township (Police), $121,003.59.

• Candy’s Place Cancer Health Center, $115,900.

• City of Hazleton, $995,357.

• City of Wilkes-Barre Industrial Development Authority, $3 million.

• General Ministries, $500,000.

• District of Coningham, $785,000.

• Conyngham Valley Community Organization, $119,507.34.

• Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc./Lucerne County Fair, $100,000.

• Dallas City Council, $735,000.

• Dantone Vending LLC, $38,633.33.

• Diamond City Partnership Inc., $494,624.

• Dinners for children, $200,000.

• DMC Graphics, $8,075.

• Dr. Joseph Costello, $50,000.

• DuPont, $99,861.

• Ecumenical Enterprises Inc., $1,262,300.

• Edwardsville, $341,170.

• FM Kirby Performing Arts Center, $586,150.

• Fork Over Love Inc., $508,063.52

• Harvis Lake City Hall, $500,000.

• Greater Hazleton United Sewer Authority, $5,093,150.

• Greater Hazleton Senior Citizens Inc., $385,000.

• Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA, $487,353.

• IBEW Local 163, JATC, $500,000.

• Jenkins Township, $122,000.

• Jewish Community Alliance of Northeast Pennsylvania, $15,331,739.40.

• Northeastern Pennsylvania Junior Achievement, $150,829.

• Keystone Mission, $750,000.

• Lower South Valley Land Bank, $600,000.

• Lucerne County Library System, $54,380.

• Lucerne County Transportation Authority, $161,000.

• Maternal and Family Health Services, Inc., $469,141.

• Michael S. Baloga (Foot and Ankle Center), $63,300.

• Mission Mikelin, $50,000.

• City of Hazel Township, $3,368,750.

• Including NEPA, $95,440.

• New Roots Inc., $409,392.

• City of Newport, $395,738.50

• North Branch Land Fund, $122,125.

• North Lake Improvement Association, $88,980.

• Oblates of St. Joseph, $79,868.

• Parks and Recreation/City of Hazleton, $26,244.

• Plains Fire Department, $539,854.

• Plymouth, $2,508,572.

• Power and Success Inc., $100,000.

• Ruth Matthews Burger Women with Children Program at Misericordia University, $140,000.

• Second Family Memory Care LLC, $203,551.62.

• Staggers Southern Cuisine, $25,000

• Street Art Society NEPA Inc., $33,000.

• Sugar Loaf Town, $35,500.

• Swoyersville Little League, $40,000

• Svoyersville Park and Recreation Board, $250,000.

• Food Dignity Project, $1,234,172.16.

• Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce and Industry, $810,000.

• Institute, $150,191.

• United Way of Greater Hazleton Inc., $200,000.

• United Way of Wyoming Valley, $210,000.

• ValentinXStudios, $10,975.

• Medical Volunteers, $1,500,000.

• Volunteers of America from Pennsylvania, $578,600.

• West Hazleton Fire Company, $155,000.

• White Haven Fire Company No. 1, $850,000.

• White Harbor Rescue Team, $117,000.

• Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Development Corporation 2, $72,100.

• Wilkes-Barre Community Gardens, $40,000.

• Willow Foundation, $675,100.

• Wyoming area, $1,138,700.

• Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity, $48,615.

Contact Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or tweet @TLJenLearnAndes.