Montco Seeks $1.5 Million in Grants to Aid 300 Households ‘Experiencing or At Risk of Homelessness’

Rachel Ravina | The Reporter•

The entrance to One Montgomery Plaza in Norristown, where many county offices are housed.

Montgomery County applied for $1.5 million in state grant funding last month to finance initiatives aimed at furthering efforts to mitigate homeless and maintain housing.

Elected officials permitted the application to the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund to go forward during a county commissioners meeting last month.

Kayleigh Silver, administrator of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Housing and Community Development, said funding could benefit at least 300 households. Addressing the trio of county commissioners during a Nov. 2 meeting that those of "very low or low income” status "who are either experiencing homelessness to regain and maintain permanent housing” would be eligible to receive assistance.

All 67 counties in Pennsylvania are eligible to apply for program funding, overseen by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, according to Silver. The fund is grown through "a number of sources,” she said in her presentation, "including a portion of the Realty Transfer Tax, and money from the National Housing Trust Fund.”

Silver stressed the program aims to "remove barriers to obtaining permanent housing” through "direct financial assistance” for rent payments, security deposits, and utility arrearage payments. Silver said the grant money would also go homeless outreach services, "landlord mitigation” efforts as well as case management services and resources.

Silver said the application was made on behalf of the department’s Your Way Home program and would specifically "support households experiencing or at risk of homelessness.”

County commissioners also authorized several contract amendments related to the reconnection of a county-owned bridge along Mill Creek Road in Lower Merion Township. Work on the bridge, also known as County Bridge No. 6, was authorized through a handful of contracts previously awarded in 2020 and 2022. However, assets and infrastructure department representatives requested nearly $290,000 more to further construction efforts during a Nov. 16 meeting.

A previously awarded $2.6 million agreement with Richard E. Pierson Construction Company Inc., of Pilesgrove, New Jersey, required another roughly $186,100 "for costs related to the unanticipated, changed conditions of the bridge site, due to changed site conditions as a result of heavy groundwater infiltration requiring reinforcement of the support of excavation area, additional pumps and the need for underwater concrete curing.”

The contract stipulated needed "guiderail updates” to comply with state transportation regulations, as well as "unforeseen utility relocation services and a temporary residential driveway allowing safe access for residents.” The contract was also extended through April 19, 2024. The revised figure now stands at roughly $2.79 million.

Another $176,235 contract awarded to Fort Washington-based McMahon Associates Inc. in July 2022 required around $33,044 more for "unanticipated, changed conditions of the bridge site due to heavy groundwater infiltration requiring reinforcement of the support of excavation area, additional pumps and the need for underwater concrete curing.”

The revised agreement, which stands at $209,279, was extended until April 29, 2024.

A roughly $287,757 engineering services contract authorized in October 2020 with Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, of Hunt Valley, Maryland, was revised to include another $70,855, citing an "extension of inspection services due to change in bridge site construction conditions. Changed site conditions are due to heavy groundwater infiltration requiring reinforcement of the support of excavation area, additional pumps and the need for underwater concrete curing.”

That revised contract, which stands at $421,112, was extended until April 19, 2024.

Additionally, a $200,000 agreement with Gallagher Benefits Services Inc., of Radnor, covered "employee benefit consulting and related administration services.” The contract stipulated that financial review, development, acquisition, and maintenance of various insurance benefits for county employees and dependents.

A previously authorized request for proposals on behalf of the county’s human services department netted six responses. While $200,000 would go to the contract’s "initial one-year period,” the entire term would last three years, and include two annual renewal terms.

The next Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Dec. 14 on the eighth floor of One Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede St., Norristown. Those interested in attending can also do so virtually. Visit montgomerycountypa.gov for more information.

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