Erie County to shift Township Infrastructure Program to competitive, scored process

County Administrator Hank Solowiej told the Erie County Commissioners on March 26 that the Township Infrastructure Program will operate on a competitive basis this year rather than providing equal funds to participating townships. He said the county will use a formal scoring sheet and ranking system to evaluate submitted projects and prioritize funding.

Solowiej said the County Engineer has been instructed to communicate the change to township officials so they understand the revised application and evaluation process. The administration did not provide the scoring criteria or a timeline for application and award at the meeting.

The change reflects an administrative decision to allocate limited infrastructure dollars by ranked need or merit instead of equal disbursements; commissioners did not take a separate formal vote on the program change during the session.

Next steps cited at the meeting include distribution of the scoring sheet to townships and the ranking of projects once applications are submitted. No additional funding amounts or decision dates were specified during the discussion.