Mercer Co. to upgrade polling places
MERCER, Pa. -- All Mercer County polling places are expected to be handicapped accessible by the May 2006 primary election.
A public hearing will be held within a month to give the public the opportunity to comment on using Community Development Block Grant funds for this purpose.
Mercer County Commissioner Michele Brooks said Wednesday that those funds, which are expected to be approved, will go toward alterations which must be made to township and borough municipal buildings where polling takes place. While many of these are small alterations, others involve more costly work, such as paving, to bring them up to Americans With Disabilities Act standards. These involve only municipalities too small to receive their own CDBG entitlement funds.
She added that she has learned that other state money is available for polling places which are held in private buildings, such as churches, which do not qualify for the CDBG funds, and is working on applying for these.
While compliance with the ADA is mandated by January 2006, Brooks said that encumbrance of funds would be considered compliance, even if money is awarded for work that cannot be done during cold weather. She said work must, in any case, be done before the May primary election.