CLEARFIELD – At Tuesday’s regular meeting, the Clearfield County Commissioners tabled awarding Hotel Tax Discretionary Funds to the Clearfield YMCA and asked Solicitor Kim Kesner to provide his written opinion upon his review of Pennsylvania’s Hotel Tax statues.
Commissioner Joan Robinson-McMillen said the county has one seat on the Visit Clearfield County (VCC) board. Normally, she said any hotel tax discretionary funds not used by the commissioners go back into the tourism general fund. However, Robinson-McMillen said they had a large amount available this year, and it couldn’t possibly be spent, especially being held to the VCC’s grant requirements.
According to her, many groups request hotel tax discretionary funds that are not for marketing and media, and they’re still very worthwhile programs. She said many of these festivals and programs wouldn’t exist without these funds. She said, “They do promote tourism and bring people in to support our hotels, our restaurants and our downtown businesses.”
Robinson-McMillen asked the VCC to allow the county to carry over its hotel tax discretionary funds with the stipulation that they would be spent down very quickly. She said they wouldn’t have to follow the exact grant requirements and application as the VCC. Robinson-McMillen said programs only had to show they were promoting tourism throughout Clearfield County.
She said the Clearfield YMCA sought hotel tax discretionary funds in the amount of $6,847 for programs throughout the next year. She said the Clearfield YMCA would be bringing in more than 700 people to numerous swimming championship and tournament events, and these people would be staying in local hotels, eating at local restaurants and shopping in local stores.
Robinson-McMillen sought a motion to approve the hotel tax discretionary funds to the Clearfield YMCA. At that point, Commissioner John A. Sobel said he held a seat on the board of directors at the Clearfield YMCA and shouldn’t take part in the board’s vote. Commissioner Mark B. McCracken said he intended to vote against it, as he wasn’t sure the Clearfield YMCA’s application fit the state’s requirements of the hotel tax grant program.
Robinson-McMillen turned to Sobel and said he would have to vote on the matter. Sobel said that perhaps he was “jumping the gun,” but he believed the county had more discretion under the new arrangement and just had to “put heads in beds.” Robinson-McMillen agreed. McCracken said the state had questioned counties – not Clearfield – in the past, and he wanted to confirm the Clearfield YMCA’s application fell within the state’s requirements of the hotel tax grant program.
Kesner said the VCC distributes the hotel tax discretionary funds to the county, which previously followed the grant requirements stipulated by the VCC. He said the commissioners were now being released from the VCC grant requirements that were more limiting than the state’s for the hotel tax grant program. Kesner said he would be willing to review the state’s hotel tax statutes and to provide his written opinion on the matter.
Sobel suggested that the commissioners table action until next week’s work session, which the board did.
Also, Veterans Affairs Director Betina Nicklas reported the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) has loosened enrollment regulations for veterans of the Vietnam War that are considered in-country. She said they usually follow parameters before granting approval, such as income and whether you’re service-connected. Nicklas said they’re encouraging veterans who were previously denied to enroll again.
Nicklas said the VBA is presuming service connection for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma occurring in veterans who served in Vietnam, as well as Blue Water veterans who served on its offshore waters. She said these veterans do not need to prove connection between their disease and military service to be eligible to receive VA disability compensation.
She said the VBA is presuming that Lou Gehrig’s disease diagnosed in a veteran from any era is related to their military service, so long as they served on active duty for at least 90 consecutive days. Because the VBA opened up Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, she said spouses of veterans who have passed in recent years with this service-connected disease are able file a Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC) claim.
Any veteran with healthcare benefits questions should contact Nicklas at the Veterans Affairs Office at 814-765-4611. The VA Office is located at 212 E. Locust St., Suite 104, Clearfield and open from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
In other business, the commissioners:
- approved an agreement with Lee Simpson Associates Inc. for the River Street Bridge Project in Curwensville Borough. Robinson-McMillen said bids are expected to be awarded July 23, and construction will not get under way until after Curwensville Days. In addition, she said the bridge project will not hinder any businesses, and they expect it will be completed Oct. 15. Robinson-McMillen said afterward the bridge will be wider and the sidewalks safer.
- approved the appointment of Joe Varacallo to the Clearfield – Jefferson Airport Authority.
- approved the application to the Loss Prevention Grant Program, which is offered to improve the safety of the county and its buildings. Robinson-McMillen said the Clearfield County Administrative Offices building has been damaged in the past. In addition, she said its surroundings are dark and its Children & Youth workers often access the building at nighttime. Robinson-McMillen said the grant would provide surveillance cameras for the back alleyway to not only allow their employees to feel safer, but also to deter vandals. Sobel said the surveillance cameras would also assist local police with identifying individuals when an incident occurs in the area of the CCAO. Robinson-McMillen said the project will cost $4,714 and the grant is for $2,347; and with the grant being awarded annually, the county’s goal is to equip all of its buildings with surveillance cameras.
- approved Liquid Fuel allocations in the amount of $3,300 to Burnside Borough; $3,300 to Grampian Borough; $3,347.69 to Houtzdale Borough; $3,617.31 to Osceola Mills Borough; and $4,810.89 to Morris Township.
