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Act 152 Grant

McKean County Act 152 Guidelines and Application and Review Process

The McKean County ACT 152 program solely provides a source of grant funding to aid in the removal of
blighted properties in McKean County. The responsibility for designating properties as blight and
complying with applicable rules, regulations and legal processes related to this designation are the
responsibility of the municipality in which the property is located, with the County assuming no liability
for these processes or activities. The Responsibility for complying with all applicable rules, regulations
and legal process related to the removal of the blighted structure are solely the responsibility of the
applicant, with the County assuming no liability for these processes or activities.

Application Process
Applicants must complete the appropriate application (municipal or private land owner) and provide all
required documentation to be considered for the program. The maximum grant request allowed for
each project is $10,000 and any expenses above this limit will be the responsibility of the applicant.
Incomplete applications (form or required documents) will not be reviewed.
Municipal applicants must comply with all State purchasing and procurement regulations and may be
asked to provide documentation to show compliance prior to receiving reimbursement. Tipping fees /
disposal fees may be estimated by the contractor, but will be reimbursed to the applicant based on
actual costs documented on weigh slips and invoices from the landfill, with the total reimbursement not
to exceed the grant award.
Private Land Owner applicants are required to request and receive proposals from a minimum of three
contractors prior to submitting an application. The private land owner is required to select the lowest
bidder and must include documentation of their request for proposals and submitted proposals with
their grant application. Tipping fees / disposal fees may be estimated by the contractor, but will be
reimbursed to the applicant based on actual costs documented on weigh slips and invoices from the
landfill, with the total reimbursement not to exceed the grant award.

Review Committee
Per Ordinance Number 2 of 2017, the Review Board will consist of a representative from each of the
following agencies:
  • McKean County Redevelopment Authority
  • Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development
  • McKean County Planning Commission
  • McKean County Office of Economic Development
Review Criteria
Grant applications will be reviewed and prioritized on the following criteria:

Visibility of project (Scale of 1 – 10)
A score of 1 would be a project with low visibility, while a scale of 10 would be a project with very high
visibility. An example of a 1 would be a structure located on a side street or rural back road with little
traffic, a 5 may be a structure located on a side road or rural back road with heavier traffic (potentially a
heavily used school route, commercial district, etc.), and a 10 would be a project located on a primary
transportation corridor in a heavily traveled area (Route 6, Route 219, Main Streets, etc.)
McKean County Act 152 Guidelines Application and Review Process 4 26 2021.docx

Cost Effectiveness (Scale of 1 – 10)
A score of 1 would be a project that is expensive and would not have a very high impact, a score of 5
would be something that is moderately priced and would have a moderate impact, and a 10 would be a
project that is lower cost and allows for a high impact or a larger number of projects to be completed.

Condition of the Property (Scale of 1 – 10)
A score of 1 would be for a project that has structural issues but does not appear to be in danger of
immediate collapse, a score of 5 would be a project that has major structural issues and a moderate
threat of immediate collapse or danger, and a 10 would be a project with extreme structural issues and
significant threat of immediate collapse or danger.

Time in the Program (Scale of 1 – 5)
All projects start with a score of 1, an additional point will be added for each review cycle a project is
considered up to a maximum of 5 points.

Award
The review committee will meet in March and June annually to rank projects. Following each meeting,
the committee will then draft a report to be presented to the County Commissioners, this report will
contain the committee’s ranking of projects and recommendation on which projects to fund. The
County Commissioners will evaluate the information presented by the review committee and will then
determine which applicants will receive grant awards. The County anticipates awarding 3 – 4 grants per
project review cycle with no more than 2 awards per grant cycle in any single community. All grant
recipients (municipal and private landowners) will have to sign a grant contract / agreement prior to
work beginning.
For Municipal projects, prior to the commencement of demolition, municipalities must place a lien
against the property in the amount of the grant, or at its discretion in the amount of the grant and
related municipal expenses, with lien forgiveness on the ten (10) year anniversary date of the date the
lien was filed. In the event of repayment of the lien, the County Act 152 program will be reimbursed the
amount of the grant, and in the event of a partial repayment, the lien proceeds will be distributed to the
County and Municipality on a pro rata basis.
For Private Landowner projects, private landowners will have to sign a Lien agreement prior to
commencement of the project, agreeing to have a lien in the amount of the grant placed against the
property, with lien forgiveness on the ten (10) year anniversary date of the date the lien agreement was
executed.
The applicant will have 60 days from the execution of the grant contract to complete their project and
request reimbursement.

Reimbursement
This is a reimbursement grant. The grant recipient will enter into an agreement with the contractor and
the landfill and will be responsible for paying all project fees. Upon completion of the project, the
applicant will then submit documentation including: invoices from contractor, weigh slips fro