Centre County Commissioners Award Nearly $280K in Block Grant Funds to Mountaintop Regional Water Project

The Centre County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to direct all $278,857 in the county’s 2026 Community Development Block Grant funding to a water loss improvement project serving communities in northern Centre County. 

The decision came after commissioners considered three rural water infrastructure projects seeking a share of the federal funding. 

The selected project, submitted by the Mountaintop Regional Water Authority, would address significant water loss and pressure issues across its system while helping the authority meet Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requirements. 

The $1.6 million project would serve roughly 1,267 residents across Snowshoe Borough, Snowshoe Township and Burnside Township. About 72% of the households in the project area were identified as low- or moderate-income. Federal rules require that for a project to receive CDBG funding, at least 51% of its beneficiaries are in the low-to-moderate income range.

The proposed improvements include pressure-reducing valves, replacement of pressure-control infrastructure, construction of a booster pump station and a new transmission main. 

Commissioners said the project stood out because of its regional reach and the number of residents who could benefit from the improvements. 

The award to the authority represents the entirety of the county’s CDBG allocation for 2026, after administrative costs. The federal program provides funding for community development projects, particularly those benefiting low and moderate-income communities. 

Commissioner Higgins said the grants are particularly important for rural municipalities that can struggle to fund major infrastructure projects on their own. 

“For some of the less well-off areas, even in Centre County, their water and sewer authorities couldn’t survive without a grant like this once every 10 or 20 years from the county or from the feds,” Higgins said. 

Community development project coordinator Leslie Hosterman presented commissioners with details on the three projects that had been submitted for consideration.

The Miles Township Water Authority East requested $223,000 for a permanent emergency generator at its water treatment plant. 

The generator, along with an automatic transfer switch, fuel storage and integration with existing plant controls, would allow the facility to continue providing drinking water and fire protection during power outages. The project would benefit about 199 households, with 52.8% identified as low- or moderate-income. 

Unionville Borough requested $266,000 toward the first phase of a larger water line replacement project estimated to cost more than $700,000. The project would replace aging water lines to reduce water loss and improve reliability. 

The first phase would replace about 410 linear feet of water line and install two fire hydrants. It would serve approximately 51 households within a system of 132 customers, with 62.3% identified as low- or moderate-income. 

The Mountaintop Regional Water Authority project was the largest of the three proposals and would serve residents across multiple municipalities. 

Hosterman said the authority’s system faces challenges caused in part by Centre County’s mountainous terrain. 

Water pressure must be maintained for customers at higher elevations, which can create excessive pressure for homes and infrastructure in lower-lying areas. 

Mountaintop Regional Water Authority representative Peary Schmoke told commissioners that water pressure can range from about 35 to 40 pounds per square inch at higher elevations to 140 to 150 psi in areas farther down the system. 

“It’s way too much pressure for the houses built in the 1860s, 1870s with copper,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s too much pressure, and it’s causing a lot of our leaks from excessive pressure…It’ll make a big difference in there.”

The authority is also under a DEP decree related to water loss. The proposed improvements would help the authority address those requirements while improving the reliability of the system. 

Commissioners also considered how this year’s CDBG award could position the county to seek additional state funding for the project through a competitive CDBG program in 2027. 

Hosterman said the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development recommends counties commit at least 75% of their annual entitlement allocation toward a project if they intend to pursue additional competitive funding for it. 

Commissioners discussed whether committing the full allocation could strengthen the county’s future application.

“Although it is a challenge deciding which of these projects to choose, it appears to me that from previous experience that we need to go all in and with our allocation to be competitive,” Higgins said. 

The commissioners ultimately agreed that the Mountaintop project had the strongest regional impact and served the largest number of residents.

The county is expected to submit its CDBG application by the end of October following required citizen participation steps and a public hearing later this month.