Blair County commissioners approve submission of state grant for countywide fire radio replacement

Blair County commissioners voted to approve submission of a statewide Local Share Account (LSA) grant application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development seeking funding to replace mobile radios used by the county's volunteer fire companies.

County officials said the county is the primary sponsor of the project on behalf of local fire departments and described the application as part of the Blair County Regional Fire Radio Project. The application was presented during the Oct. 23, 2025, meeting and the motion to submit the application was approved by the board.

The discussion that accompanied the motion focused on the difficulty of securing sustainable funding for emergency communications equipment. A commissioner observed that state LSA funding is oversubscribed and called attention to the broader, recurring problem of counties being required to provide equipment without steady revenue streams. Another commissioner and staff said the County Commissioners Association has lobbied for moving legacy landline fees to cell phone charges to restore a dedicated revenue source for 9-1-1 and emergency management services. The board acknowledged those limitations while approving the grant submission.

The transcript includes a numeric amount in the presenter's remarks that is unclear in audio (the amount is not specified in meeting records provided here). The board did not adopt a final contract at the meeting; it approved only the submission of the grant application for consideration by the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

The board set no specific implementation schedule at the meeting; follow-up and any award would be contingent on CFA approval and would require subsequent county action to accept funds and award contracts.