A required Community Development Block Grant hearing took place Wednesday night to discuss current and upcoming projects planned by Mahoning Township supervisors. The hearing was convened by Carbon County Planning and Economic Development Planning Director David Bodnar as a requirement for being an entitlement community.

Bodnar reviewed the current funding project which is to replace the Rex Road bridge at a cost of $84,237 consisting of $69,075 in project costs and $15,155 in administrative costs. He said the category for the project was street improvements. In addition to the current project, Bodnar said he needed to complete an application for the upcoming three years and asked what projects the township might be considering. He mentioned he understood that the township was looking into further street improvements.Chairman John Wieczorek told Bodnar that his assessment was accurate, adding that "it could change."Supervisor Bruce Steigerwalt said the township did have a plan, which included repaving Lower Nis Hollow Road, but he said the project no longer qualified for the lower-income requirement for such projects.Steigerwalt said the current project entails replacing the Rex Road bridge with a concrete deck but leaving the dimensions the same. He said increasing the width of the bridge could cost several years of funds.Wieczorek asked if the funds could be used in the planned renovations of the township building to install or upgrade the restrooms to handicapped accessible ones. Bodnar said he would need to research the specifics to determine if it would qualify. He told Wieczorek funds typically needed to be used for projects that primarily serve the community, and even though the building is used for elections twice each year, it still is a government building most of the time.He also told the board that funds could be used for permanent recreational facilities for the community.Since there was no public comment or questions, the hearing closed with supervisors promising to provide Bodnar with intended plans for the next three years for the application process.