State Representative Jeff Pyle and State Senator Joe Pittman have pledged their support for funding to keep locks open on the Allegheny River next summer.
The Allegheny River Development Corporation, a non-profit group dedicated to keeping the locks open on the Allegheny River to recreational traffic, may be getting some funding next year.
ARDC has held annual fund-raising activities to pay nearly $100 per hour per lock to the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain a lock master to operate the locks throughout the summer season.
This past year, ARDC paid a professional grant purveyor, Wellington Strategies, who confirmed ARDC would be receiving a large grant for its operations. However, Wellington CEO, Joseph Kuklis, was accused of falsely representing to organizations that he procured grants for them, and that he forged letters and documents to mislead clients.
“We had planned our schedule based on notification that we were going to be receiving funding from a grant,” ARDC Vice-President Brian Szep told the Kittanning Paper. “What we have come to find out is that our (grant consultant, Joseph Kuklis, deceived us.”
“We were operating on reserves, believing we were going to have the grant shortly,” Szep said.
While ARDC says they will still fund some hours on Labor Day weekend, its reserves have been depleted and it has no money to keep the locks open for next year.
Through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), State Representative Jeff Pyle and State Senator Joe Pittman have arranged for $160,000 to be allocated for the group. However, Pittman said they have to fill out the paperwork and go through the grant application process with the DCED.
“We can advocate on their behalf, but they still have to go through the proper process to have the dollars come down,” said Pittman.
“A lot of times, if these guys have never done it, it can be intimidating because the paperwork is rather long and extensive,” Pyle said. “We’re not allowed to fill it out for them, but we can kind of coach them.”
Pittman said the partnership of ARDC and the Army Corps of Engineers is one of the first agreements of its kind in the nation to keep local locks open.
“We recognize the Allegheny River and the importance it is to Armstrong County,” Pittman said. “It’s a very difficult situation. ARDC has put together (a plan to) continue to operate the locks and dams. It is pretty unique. And so we’ve talked a lot. We have commitments to help fund in 2020 the operations of the locks and dams. And we’ve got to go through the normal process to get those dollars. But, the dollars are committed and it will give the ARDC the opportunity to operate the locks next year, but I’ve got to tell you, the community has to step forward and take more ownership of this and support the ARDC in what it does to keep that river flowing.”
Pyle said investing in the mission of ARDC has rewards in the local communities.
“We have spoken to a number of folks about what he economic impact of these locks being open would be. I was told the number was in the range of $400,000. Now from a budgeting standpoint, if I can invest $160,000 and get back $400,000, it’s a no-brainer. Like Joe said, the state’s not going to continue carrying the whole load. We’ve got to have a local effort. ARDC is trying, and now we have to see where they end up.”
“We have had this great partnership with ARDC,” said Carol Vernon, Army Corps of Engineers Chief of Public Affairs. “It has been a wonderful thing, because ordinarily we wouldn’t have been able to open at all because the Corps does not have the funding to open those locks. Because of the partnership with ARDC, we have been able to open to the public for recreational lockages for the last several seasons.”
Szep said the organization will continue to accept donations to ARDC, Post Office Box 364, Kittanning, PA 16201.