ALLENTOWN, Pa. — More than $1 million in coronavirus pandemic-relief grants soon should be on its way to Allentown nonprofits after City Council finally freed up those funds Wednesday.
Also, council members are backing a statewide effort to ban drivers from using handheld devices, with the city embarking on its newly launched Safe Streets for All program.
Allentown is set to shift $1.2 million in federal funding to create a Community Reinvestment Fund, a move that residents and some nonprofit leaders have demanded for months.
The city is “a few months away” from distributing its remaining coronavirus pandemic recovery funds, as it still has to set up an application process and establish committees to score those applications.Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
That money represents the last unspent funding of the $57.1 million Allentown got from the American Rescue Plan Act — money that must be allocated by the end of 2024, Allentown Finance Director Bina Patel has said.
Council in February introduced a proposal to use that money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic and implement recommendations from a soon-to-be-released housing study.
Council's Budget and Finance Committee shifted gears in late March, recommending the full council spend the city’s remaining ARPA money on critical infrastructure projects and to offset any potential tax increase in 2025.
A week later, council looked set to vote on an amendment to use all $1.2 million to support findings from the housing study.
But members eventually settled on a plan that will see the city’s administration put $1.2 million in ARPA money into revenue replacement before creating a Community Reinvestment Fund with an equal amount.
Those transfers remove stringent restrictions and deadlines on ARPA funding, and the new fund will let more nonprofits qualify for grants, according to city Community and Economic Development Director Vicky Kistler.
Mayor Matt Tuerk said in April the city is “a few months away” from distributing those funds, as it still has to set up an application process and establish committees to score those applications.
Support for hand-held device ban
Council unanimously approved a resolution to throw its support behind a bill in the state Senate that would ban drivers from using hand-held phones and similar items.
Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe County, sponsored a bill that would establish a $50 fine — plus court costs and other fees — for “all forms of phone use” while driving on state roadways.
She’s sponsored similar efforts since 2012 without success.
“The use of mobile phones and other electronic devices while driving has emerged as one of the leading causes of distracted-driving crashes. The purpose of this bill is not to penalize drivers but to protect innocent drivers,” she said, likening her bill to the state’s DUI laws.State Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe County
“The use of mobile phones and other electronic devices while driving has emerged as one of the leading causes of distracted-driving crashes,” Brown said last year in a memo to colleagues about her bill.
“The purpose of this bill is not to penalize drivers but to protect innocent drivers,” she said, likening her bill to the state’s DUI laws.
Council’s support for the bill comes shortly after Tuerk launched the city’s Safe Streets for All program, which aims to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
More than 4,000 crashes were reported in 2023 on Allentown streets, including 136 that involved pedestrians, according to statistics provided by the city.
Five pedestrians were killed last year, and a dozen others were seriously injured, the city’s stats show.
The Safe Streets for All program is funded by a $312,000 grant from the U.S. Transportation Department, which a steering committee will use to analyze streets’ safety and develop a “holistic approach” and “roadmap for safety improvements.”
