Kudos to commissioners

Editor, Gettysburg Times,

Well done to the Adams County Commissioners. When the County was notified that it would be receiving $20M in pandemic relief funding, Gettysburg DFA made two suggestions. First, we urged the County to follow a transparent process in deciding how the funds would be allocated and spent. We were very pleased that the county went to the trouble to request public input on this funding and communicated well throughout the process.

In addition, we suggested that the county set aside funds for affordable housing.

We are pleased with the County’s effort. Exactly half the funding has been set aside for transformative investments, with half of that going to the broadband initiative and $5M for a variety of community projects. Of the community project funding, a total of at least $1.4M went for affordable housing, including $465,000 to SCCAP for construction of affordable housing units; $368,900 to CARES for homeless housing; $323,100 to Adams County Economic Development Corporation to provide down payment assistance, and $250,000 to Anthony’s Way Foundation for transitional housing.

The county faces an affordable housing crisis, as expertly explained by Bill Gilmartin and Steve Niebler in DFA’s Op-Ed in last Friday’s (March 24) Gettysburg Times. This funding will not solve the problem, but it’s an excellent start.

Jeff Colvin and Leon Reed, DFA Co-chairs,
Gettysburg