BELLEFONTE — This week’s Board of Commissioners meeting highlighted two major developments in the community.
One Million Penn State Degrees
During the Summer 2026 commencement ceremonies taking place this weekend, The Pennsylvania State University will confer its one millionth degree. Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos and Director of Local Government and Community Relations Julian Morales joined the Commissioners for the recognition.
For 170 years, the Land Grant institution in our own backyard has been pushing for the enhancement of our community and beyond. The Commissioners noted the longstanding partnership between the County and the University, which has helped both parties contribute as much as possible to the community.
Sotiropoulos reiterated this point, sharing, “It’s beyond the numbers how many lives have changed; how much human potential has been unleashed through Penn State education; and, more so, what these graduates do for Centre County, the Commonwealth, and the world!”
The Commissioners shared their gratitude and congratulations to Penn State, each noting the legacy that Penn State has played in their lives—each Commissioners’ family has at least one Penn State degree.
“It is an enormous honor to be the first university in Pennsylvania and one of only a handful of universities in the country to reach this milestone,” the Provost shared in closing.
BOC Awards Funds to Mountaintop Regional Water Authority
Each year, the County is allocated federal dollars from a block grant earmarked for community development projects, especially projects serving communities with lower incomes. The County’s share of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds after administrative costs is $278,857. Commissioner Higgins noted that these CDBG dollars help support infrastructure that otherwise may be too costly for rural municipalities to cover without assistance.
The Commissioners discussed the decision process with Leslie Hosterman, Community Development Project Coordinator. Hosterman shared summaries of the three projects under consideration.
First, the Miles Township Authority East requested $223K to install a permanent emergency generator at their local water treatment plant. The goal of this project is to ensure drinking water and fire protection during power outages. When completed, the improvements would benefit 199 households, 52% of which are designated low or moderate income.
Second, Unionville Borough requested funds to support water line replacement projects. The total cost of the replacement project would be $700K, so the Borough broke the project into phases, the first of which would cost $266K. This project aims to reduce water loss caused by aging water lines and to improve water service reliability. The first phase of this proposed upgrade would benefit 51 households in a system of 132 customers; 62% of these households are low or moderate income.
Finally, Mountaintop Regional Water Authority requested funds for a water loss improvement project. The total cost for the proposed improvements is $1.6M. CDBG funds would support efforts to address significant water loss, improve system reliability, and make system improvements to meet DEP requirements for water loss. In total, the project would serve upwards of 1200 residents across multiple municipalities, where 72% of households are low or moderate income.
After summarizing the projects, Hosterman shared how a strategic decision now could make for a more compelling application in early 2027, when the County could request state money to continue supplementing a development project.
After discussing the issue, the Commissioners agreed that considering the regional impact and the number of people served by a single project, the standout project was the Mountaintop Regional Water Authority water loss improvement project. The Commissioners unanimously agreed to devote 100% of the County’s CDBG net funding to the Mountaintop Regional Water Authority project.
