State official urges Dunmore to seek up to $200,000 a year in STMP grant funding

Jonas Crass, a local government specialist with the Governor's Center for Government Services at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, urged Dunmore Borough Council on Feb. 9 to review recommendations from the borough's Strategic Management Planning Program and prepare to apply for phase‑three funding in June.

Crass told council the borough “is able to get those recommendations funded up to $200,000 a year at a 10 percent match,” meaning a roughly $20,000 local contribution for a $200,000 award. He said DCED also offers multimodal funding (typically a 50 percent match) and that municipalities can layer state funds with PennDOT grants for transportation projects.

Why it matters: the STMP funding can pay for studies and capital improvements such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, police, fire and EMS studies, regionalization and consolidation planning, and other strategic recommendations the borough has already identified. Crass said he and Borough Manager Greg Wolff have discussed potential recommendations and that the June grant round is the window for phase‑three resolutions.

Crass said municipalities often have multiple years in which to draw STMP funds after a final report is presented and that Dunmore could seek funding for up to five years following its final report. He encouraged council to review recommendations, identify priorities and contact DCED for application verbiage; he offered to send the resolution language for council review.

Council members thanked Crass for the briefing and said staff would follow up to review the recommendations and consider a resolution before the June deadline.