Uniontown mayor previews grant‑funded projects, warns council must front money for matches

Mayor Gerky opened the July 2 meeting by thanking volunteers who organized recent community events and by reviewing the city’s current capital and grant portfolio, emphasizing that many of the opportunities require the city to front costs before reimbursement.

“The 902 grant is for our sewage plant,” Gerky said, describing a request that includes equipment such as an excavator, a coupler and a grapple with an estimated purchase price the packet lists as $241,000 and a local match of $24,155. He told the council the school‑zone lighting project across Uniontown schools is a $300,000 grant and that the city must often “front that money” before being reimbursed.

Gerky and staff discussed a federal LSA grant for trucks and spreaders that would require a roughly $97,000 match to pursue nearly $1 million in equipment, and a DCED multimodal transportation application for the Sheepkin Trail corridor (application amount read in the record as $1,336,828). County staffer Art Capella and street‑sewage lead Sean Paulinsky were identified as assisting with those applications.

Council and staff also flagged several capital maintenance needs: a long‑deferred fire department roof (previous bids years earlier ranged from roughly $80,000–$100,000; council discussion put a current, rough figure near $130,000), an aging city hall generator with anecdotal replacement estimates of about $90,000, and the need for improved salt storage and aging public works equipment. Public Works Director John Pollinsky separately described aging plow trucks and a 2003 spreader box that is increasingly difficult to maintain.

On reserves and federal relief, Gerky reviewed the general fund and ARPA dollars. He noted the city’s budget is approximately $7 million a year and said staff guidance put an appropriate reserve target near 16–24% of annual expenditures (he cited roughly $1.4 million as a 20% benchmark). City staff explained the ARPA funds that were used as revenue replacement are treated as expended for Department of Treasury reporting and are currently held in a capital improvement fund.

Gerky urged the council to weigh the timing and cash flow needs of pursuing grants that require up‑front local funding. “We have to front that money,” he said, noting staff and county partners will assist in preparing applications and managing reimbursements.

Next steps: the council approved multiple grant applications and authorized staff to submit required materials during the meeting’s consent/resolution items; the Mayor and staff indicated additional budget and project scheduling conversations will follow as grant awards and match requirements are clarified.