[0:00] Anybody else? Anybody else?
>> Monday meeting, Monday the 24th of
[0:04] August 2026, 3:02
p.m.
[0:09] Welcome.
Welcome. Call to order.
[0:13] We have a quorum.
Welcome. Quorum.
[0:18] Any conflicts of interest declarations
on any action items?
[0:23] Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.
Welcome. Minutes
[0:28] Welcome.
>> Minutes from the
[0:30] » June 22nd, 20
Welcome. 26 meeting.
[0:35] Welcome. Look at those.
Welcome. Welcome.
[0:39] » Motion to approve.
>> Motion by Leslie is our second.
[0:43] » I second the motion.
>> Seconded.
[0:46] » I
>> Move that seconded. Any further
[0:50] discussion?
Welcome.
[0:52] » Call for question on the motion. All
those in favor signify by saying "Aye".
[0:56] » Aye.
>> Aye. Motion carries unanimously.
[0:59] Public comment.
Any public comment on the agenda?
[1:04] » No.
>> No public comment.
[1:08] Welcome.
>> Item number four.
[1:10] Chairman recognizes uh
Welcome.
[1:13] » Executive Director Rich Fitzgerald for
his
[1:16] Welcome. Words of wisdom.
>> Words of wisdom.
[1:19] » Wow. Putting a little pressure on me,
Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Um
[1:24] Let me start off by thanking uh those
and everybody really participated in
[1:28] this. The policy conference with
long-range plan uh that we had the last
[1:33] meeting at South Point. Uh we were
honored to have uh Lieutenant Governor
[1:36] Austin Davis come to present Excuse me,
the picture up there. And a lot of
[1:41] stakeholders that really engaged
throughout the whole process. And I know
[1:44] Lily Gobrecht ski, Director Gobrecht
will go over more in detail uh that
[1:48] process and uh where it goes from here
at that point. But I I thought it was
[1:53] very, very successful. Uh first thanks
to friends in Washington County got it
[1:57] south point and it went went very well.
Uh,
[2:00] next, the DC fly-in that is happens
every year with the Allegheny on fronts
[2:06] and we've been doing it the last 3
years. Um, they're going to be a little
[2:09] bit later this year. Usually it occurs
more in mid-December.
[2:13] Um, you see the the dates on there, the
September 29th and 30th. Uh, DJ has been
[2:19] working with uh, Matt Smith and um, and
Amy Downs on putting the process
[2:25] together. He can go through more of the
details during his presentation. Uh, but
[2:29] again, we're going to be looking to have
uh, some round table discussions with
[2:33] our friends in the business community
uh, who obviously have businesses uh, in
[2:38] in your various counties, whether it be
around manufacturing or other
[2:42] developments that could be could be
possible. So, uh, with the Tech Council
[2:46] and the Tech Council and a few other uh,
stakeholders, we're going to be making
[2:50] some presentations to our delegation on
some of the needs obviously that we will
[2:54] be having. Uh, the other thing that
obviously is a big deal is the uh,
[2:58] surface transportation uh,
reauthorization.
[3:02] Um, right now it looks like a continuing
resolution but we're hoping uh, that
[3:06] they can reauthorize it at a at a robust
level to give us some of the needs uh,
[3:11] fill some of the needs that we have. Uh,
some of the projects and uh,
[3:15] come about since our last meeting,
obviously the Commercial Street Bridge
[3:19] opening at the uh, Parkway East. Uh,
PennDOT, give them a lot of credit. They
[3:24] got that done uh, way ahead of schedule.
Um, there was it is pretty they did a
[3:29] very good job with detours and getting
people to be able to from some of the
[3:33] eastern suburbs of the Allegheny County
and the eastern counties of Westmoreland
[3:38] and Indiana to be able to get into uh,
into the city uh, relatively uh,
[3:43] as easily as they could when you close a
road that has 100,000 cars a day going
[3:47] through it. Um, some of the upcoming
projects that are be be next as we go
[3:52] from east to west, the Banksville Road
data change is really about improving
[3:57] the flow from the Parkway West, which is
one of the state
[4:00] one of the country's most congested
areas coming down Green Tree Hill. And
[4:05] then and then the work that we had
authorized for our local which you know,
[4:10] asked for a number of years ago, the
bathtub project, the flooding project on
[4:14] the Parkway
in in in town or the Monongahela River.
[4:18] So, really kudos to PennDOT for the for
the good work that they had done.
[4:24] There's another huge huge project that
PennDOT's involved with and Lily and
[4:27] Brasky again will go over this a little
bit dealing with our friends in Homer
[4:31] City and some of the big equipment that
they've got to get delivered there. I
[4:35] know there was a meeting last week with
a lot of the communities going through
[4:38] and and and it's going to be uh it's
going to be pretty impactful for for
[4:42] some of the folks who are there.
Also, rural health care and again, a lot
[4:46] of this uh General Assembly will be
going over this
[4:49] in the in the full commission meeting.
Lily's stuff will be in the full
[4:53] commission meeting that she'll be going
through some of the projects that we
[4:56] talked about. Our rural health care is
the state is you know, continuing to
[5:00] put that plan together and we want to
make sure that our
[5:03] that our region is is at the table and
and part of what what's going on. So,
[5:08] General will be going over some of that
in the full commission meeting. She'll
[5:11] also be going over the Build Back Better
Regional Challenge Grant that this
[5:15] region was was given. It was one of the
biggest grants
[5:18] that the nation gave out a number of
years ago. It's coming to an end. It was
[5:22] originally designed to end in September.
They've given a few month extension on
[5:28] that, but we've done some really good
work on that challenge grant and and
[5:31] provided a lot of opportunities for
workforce training and job applications
[5:37] for people throughout the region, which
is very good. DJ is also going to go
[5:42] over the data center work. We we had
that uh
[5:47] up at uh up in Butler County at the uh
uh Steel Fitters
[5:51] uh about a month ago, uh which people
were presenting some of our our
[5:55] hyperscalers and some of the folks on
what what's going on. And we've seen,
[5:59] you know, some of the changes in the in
the uh political environment when it
[6:02] comes to data centers since many of us
have been been involved in this over the
[6:06] last year, year and a half. Uh
obviously, the governor just last week
[6:10] came out with some major initiatives
uh that uh maybe uh Laura can fill fill
[6:16] us in when DJ begins his presentation
uh on a lot on a lot of that. So, um
[6:22] that was my presentation for the
Executive Board of Workforce and more
[6:25] for the uh for the Kilgore Committee.
The commission.
[6:31] To uh Rich, any questions on Rich's
report?
[6:35] » Era.
>> Um
[6:37] Could you speak to what kind of
applicants you're looking for for the
[6:40] Build Back Better Challenge?
Regional challenge.
[6:45] » We're at the We're at the short the
Jenkins. You know, we have our point
[6:48] person on the domestic.
>> So, we're at the tail end of this. We're
[6:51] pretty much most of the activities are
going to end in the next 30 days with
[6:54] the the financial piece ending in the
next 90 days. But, historically, um
[6:59] about 10,000 individuals have been
trained across multiple facets, right?
[7:03] So, we've had uh through our community
college everything from But, if if
[7:07] anybody's still interested in Some
people uh CCAC still has scholarships
[7:11] available. The community college has
still got scholarships available. The
[7:14] Workforce Investment Board still has
dollars available.
[7:18] » So, this is money that's already been
allocated to those entities and now
[7:22] they're just an extension on the money
that they have the time to get it out to
[7:27] potential grantees. Okay.
>> Yes.
[7:30] » This was awarded back, I think, in 2022.
Uh previous administration, and yes, it
[7:36] is.
>> So, if we don't get the money out, then
[7:38] it goes back. So, we want So, we want
people who We want to enroll people in
[7:43] programs through the Workforce
Investment Board and CCHEE and other
[7:46] community colleges up state as we have
so that we can get that get them get
[7:51] that money in their pockets so that they
can do these programs.
[7:54] » Yes, the majority is pretty much already
obligated so have somebody there's still
[7:59] a little bit of scholarship money during
the year but really most of everything's
[8:02] going to close out in this month but
it's when you think about the fact that
[8:05] they're going to have to invoice us and
everything else. Sure. The other
[8:08] challenge too is interesting fact about
PDAs only a shut down for about 6 weeks.
[8:13] During and that closes out during our
end of our grant. So, that was one of
[8:17] the reasons we also asked for the
extension.
[8:19] » Yeah, the other challenge is that it was
supposed to end for our sub awards on
[8:22] September 18th which is right in the
middle of a month which is also
[8:26] especially for the university system
it's right in the middle of a school
[8:29] year. So, we really wanted to allow all
through it to the end of December for
[8:33] completers so we could say how many
people actually started and finished.
[8:37] » Yes.
>> And so what will happen and I'll talk
[8:39] about this more in the next week. Um,
there were still some dollars available
[8:43] but I would say we're probably at about
like 80 to 85% expenditure rate already
[8:47] and so who's still Allied Mechanical is
probably one of our largest partners.
[8:51] They're for example maybe they have a
couple hundred thousand dollars left.
[8:55] Um,
CCAC might have a hundred thousand
[8:58] dollars left. Like small pockets of
money but still talk to them because
[9:01] they're going to be follow up projects.
>> You could send us a breakdown you know,
[9:05] I don't expect you to remember
everything off the top of your head but
[9:07] if you could send us maybe by county
what programs still have money's
[9:11] available.
>> So that you know, we can tap into our
[9:14] networks of
that we're actually tied to. Yeah.
[9:17] » And I'll mention this next week. My
biggest concern believe it or not is on
[9:20] match. It's not on the actual. I think
we're going to spend the dollars with no
[9:23] issue, right? So, a lot of this also is
it's a reimbursement style grant which
[9:29] means John Smith might start that
program and they can only ask us for
[9:33] money as they're training. Yeah, so
that's that's the other challenge and
[9:37] the thing with equipment. They might
have purchased the equipment, but they
[9:40] can't ask us for reimbursement until
it's on site and then they invoice us
[9:43] back. So, this has been I'm really
looking forward to when this is all said
[9:48] and done talking about the pros and cons
on all of that. It's really
[9:50] It helped so many people, but when you
think about federal dollars and how they
[9:55] can move quickly,
we worked at the speed of of government
[9:58] or so with the speed of business and I
think that was one of the the biggest
[10:01] challenges. And so, we've helped a ton
of people, but we're in that real kind
[10:05] of the tail end of this. I I think we're
going to come out of all of the issues,
[10:10] but I would I completely agree with you.
I would love to that assistance just
[10:14] take us right over the edge. So, I will
get that together. Thank you for that.
[10:17] » Thank you, Jen. Do you mind including me
on that as well? I would love to.
[10:19] Absolutely.
Great. Thanks.
[10:23] » Sorry.
[10:28] » The anyone else wants to Rich's report?
Any questions?
[10:34] Okay, we're going to
number five, OCM update.
[10:38] DJ Ryan, the
has the floor.
[10:42] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Hi, everybody.
Um I'm standing up here because I have a
[10:45] lot to talk to you about and I thought
this would keep me uh
[10:49] keep me moving with it. So, um
I I want to say like anybody has
[10:53] questions as we're going through this uh
rather long presentation. Please feel
[10:56] free to let me know, but um there's a
few things that we wanted to make sure
[10:59] that you had an in-depth uh knowledge on
before we uh got into the fall. So, the
[11:04] first one of these um I know that some
of you were at C-CAP and we talked about
[11:08] House Bill 522. I wanted to make sure
that everyone on the executive committee
[11:12] was in the loop on this uh legislation.
So, I'm going to start from the very
[11:15] beginning of this.
Uh a bill was introduced by uh
[11:19] Representative Sharon Brooks. She's a
representative from the northeastern
[11:22] part of the state and essentially it
would When I When we saw this at first,
[11:27] we said that the legislation says a
majority of MPO boards, meaning the the
[11:32] full commission, has to be made up of
elected officials. I went, "Oh, okay,
[11:35] well, that's no problem. We already meet
that requirement. We're fine."
[11:39] But, if you look deeper into the
legislation, they define elected
[11:43] official to be a municipal official, not
county official.
[11:47] Uh which
I would I I'll give you a little bit of
[11:51] why I I think we ought to that would
represent a challenge for an
[11:54] organization like ours, um specifically
the fact that we have well over 500
[11:58] municipalities. So, how do you pick
which ones are going to sit on the
[12:01] board? Um federal law requires us to
have the city Pittsburgh on the board
[12:05] because they are the largest
municipality in our area. But, uh beyond
[12:09] that, I don't you know, who wants to go
through and pick out our favorite 20
[12:13] municipalities, whatever to put them on
our board here. Um we have 55 voting
[12:18] members of the Southwestern Pennsylvania
Commission. 29 of those are county-level
[12:23] elected officials right now. So, we
either have to
[12:27] add another 28 municipal elected
officials to our board, or we have to
[12:33] completely adjust the board size and do
some other high-crazy math to figure
[12:36] this out. And
because we are So, we are technically a
[12:41] you know, the the state permits us
through legislation that was passed back
[12:44] in the '50s. I actually have a copy of
it here that I was reading today.
[12:48] Um
but we also are governed by a lot of
[12:51] federal requirements. So, we would have
to when we went through some massive
[12:54] bylaws change that would fit you know,
for this legislation, we have to go to
[12:58] the federal government as well. And
there are some federal provisions that
[13:02] require proportional representation
based on population as well. So, there
[13:06] could be situations in which we're
seeing half of our board seats go to
[13:10] Allegheny County.
And no offense to Allegheny County, but
[13:14] we have a lot more counties than than
just one here. So, um this could create
[13:18] a lot of problems for an organization
like ours. Um
[13:21] I will tell you that we had
conversations with the other MPOs and
[13:25] RPOs in Pennsylvania,
uh where we discussed this legislation
[13:29] and they all have very similar concerns.
And so,
[13:34] uh what we did um at both SPC, but also
DVRPC, Lehigh Valley, um North Northeast
[13:40] Commission, all of the MPOs and RPOs in
the state got on a call. We agreed that
[13:46] it would be helpful to educate our
elected officials on the impact of this
[13:50] legislation would have to us. And
therefore, we sent a letter, um SPC sent
[13:54] individual letter and as did every other
organization, um similar language, but
[13:58] yeah, all individual letters to uh
Chairman Nielsen of the Transportation
[14:02] Committee, uh Representative Grove is
the prime sponsor, Representative
[14:06] Benninghoff is the minority chair of
transportation, and all of the
[14:09] co-sponsors. Simply explained to them
that this would this would require some
[14:14] significant challenges on our end and
might not do uh ultimately what you what
[14:19] you intend.
Uh I want to make sure that you're all
[14:21] aware of that, but also um our friends
at BUCANN were telling us there is
[14:26] I'm not I Chuck, you've been telling me
if I'm putting words in your mouth,
[14:29] little to no chance that this
legislation is going to move out of the
[14:31] Transportation Committee. Is that a fair
characterization? Okay. Um so, I want to
[14:35] make sure that you all Did you hear that
point? There's little to no chance this
[14:38] is moving out of transportation.
Even less of a chance that it gets
[14:41] passed by the full house, passed by the
Senate, and then adopted as law. So, I I
[14:46] but I want you to know that this is a
discussion that's out there.
[14:49] Um
if any of you have questions about the
[14:52] makeup of SPC, how it up you know, all
the ins and outs of how we why we exist
[14:56] and how we exist, um I will try very
hard to get an answer for you, but um
[15:00] there's a lot of different pieces to it,
but I think it's safe to say that the
[15:03] opinion of of your staff at SPC is that
uh the way that things are structured
[15:08] here right now seems to work pretty well
for everybody. I'd like to keep it that
[15:10] way.
Um
[15:12] does anybody have questions about that
legislation before we
[15:17] move forward?
[15:20] » Just wondering what the intent was by
representative to change the makeup.
[15:26] » So, as I understand it and um I don't
want to say you know, this is a public
[15:31] meeting. I certainly don't want to say
anything um
[15:33] that that I don't know for sure. But, as
I understand it the representative uh
[15:37] used to serve as the mayor of a major
municipality in her district and there
[15:42] is a infrastructure project there that
the municipality and PennDOT are having
[15:48] some pretty severe disagreements on and
the municipality doesn't feel that it's
[15:53] needs to represent it on their MPO
board. And so, the other is a problem
[15:58] that she's trying to solve in her
community.
[16:01] Um it is not
in our opinion this the problem that can
[16:06] solve for the whole state.
[16:10] » Yeah, I agree.
>> I just wanted to say that uh I think it
[16:12] was 2 years ago we did a all look at our
bylaws.
[16:17] And you know, we didn't change things
that we didn't think needed to be
[16:21] changed. But, there you know, there are
representatives
[16:26] you know, of all um these entities. Your
entities, you know, are represented
[16:32] here. Some that you appoint, some that
are elected officials. So,
[16:36] if you looked at even all the appointed,
you would see that they're you know,
[16:39] from various municipalities.
>> Exactly. And we're yeah, I I agree with
[16:44] you on that. I mean, we're very I think
we done a good job. Um this organization
[16:49] has done a good job. It ensures that you
know, all voices are represented not
[16:53] only at the commission level, but also
through the public participation panels
[16:56] that we have in each county and
everything else. So, um again, I don't
[16:59] think this legislation is going
anywhere. We will continue to watch very
[17:03] closely in case it does and uh
you would
[17:06] you will all be my very first phone call
if something happens.
[17:10] I'm not worried and the legislative
session ends after the election and I'm
[17:13] fairly certain that I
speak for
[17:15] so.
I think we're safe.
[17:19] Anything else on this?
[17:23] Okay.
Next
[17:25] as you as you probably know the federal
government is discussing reauthorization
[17:30] of service transportation legislation.
It seems like we're going to get a
[17:35] continuing resolution.
That would get us past the November
[17:40] elections.
What that means in essence is that there
[17:43] is no long-term plan but that they'll
discuss it yeah. They're going to come
[17:48] back to this after the elections.
It would maintain level funding for
[17:51] SPC's federal projects for the time
being but it could affect some of our
[17:57] federal discretionary programs. So a CR
could either delay or change the the
[18:02] specifics on
some of these federal discretionary
[18:05] programs that we've announced.
Lilly and I are going to keep tabs on
[18:09] these things and we'll certainly let you
know if you hear anything about that.
[18:12] But for right now I don't is it safe to
say we don't have to
[18:15] worry?
>> Not probably most likely not the ones we
[18:18] announced all that like when we
announced that we added that disclaimer
[18:22] just to make just to make sure that
everyone is aware that that's always a
[18:25] possibility because we don't have any
authorization of funding after September
[18:28] right now.
Most likely what it could affect is
[18:32] other federal discretionary programs. So
like if you're looking to apply for safe
[18:36] streets or build or back out like it
could decrease the amount of funding if
[18:40] any that's available as part of those
programs.
[18:45] » And of course we hope to
we hope to see a long-term proposal that
[18:50] gives us as much money as we possibly
can use.
[18:53] There are a couple of the Build America
250 Act is the name of the legislation
[18:56] that's working its way through the
house. The Senate has not released a
[18:59] formal legislative package about service
transportation but we do have a DC
[19:05] fly-in coming up so hopefully we'll
learn some more at that and certainly
[19:09] get commissioners the opportunity to
voice their opinions with the federal
[19:12] officials.
>> Any questions on the real?
[19:15] » Is it real is it already expired? You
don't expire?
[19:19] » It expires at the end of this fiscal
year.
[19:22] » The end of September.
>> September 30th.
[19:24] And the
Um which is the same as the rest of the
[19:27] budget cycle.
Um but we we're pretty confident that
[19:30] they're not going to ask any budget. We
found that already.
[19:34] Any supplements it'll just be the
It'll just be the
[19:37] CR.
>> Okay.
[19:39] » Um
That brings me to the DC fly-in. So most
[19:44] of you have done this with us before. If
you haven't it's a really unique
[19:48] opportunity for us to get in front of
federal officials directly
[19:52] and there's a lot of really discussion
that happens in those meetings.
[19:56] This year is September 29th and 30th.
Again, this this event is specifically
[20:01] for the elected county commissioners,
county executive, and mayor
[20:06] that attend as part of our delegation.
Of course the Allegheny Conference does
[20:09] invite other business leaders. So some
of you who get invitations uh
[20:13] you know through other means, but the
the conference has asked us to invite
[20:16] those folks.
There's a kickoff event on the 29th and
[20:19] then a reception after that. And then on
the 30th is the county spotlight event
[20:24] which is going to be
a different format than what we did last
[20:28] year and then what than what we did in
Harrisburg.
[20:31] They're they're going at this from a
perspective of these priority industries
[20:35] that the federal government really needs
to support here in Southwestern
[20:39] Pennsylvania. And there will be
information you may have gotten the
[20:42] email while I've been standing up here
actually from the Allegheny Oh, we
[20:46] great. How's that for timing? So you got
an email from
[20:49] from Rich Fitzgerald Matt Smith inviting
you with all the details. Book your
[20:53] hotels as soon as possible. They will
run out. Um but if you have any
[20:57] questions about that please don't
hesitate to let me know. We're still
[21:01] getting things together specifics and
whatnot, but wanted to make sure you had
[21:04] the date.
>> Is the hotel changed this year?
[21:07] » Yes, it is a different the hotel block
is a different hotel than last year.
[21:11] A cheaper one.
I think it's I'm not I think it's a nice
[21:14] hotel.
It's a Hilton. It's fine. They take
[21:18] their directives.
I judge my hotels solely based on
[21:22] whether they have
[21:26] Any questions about DC?
[21:32] Next I know Rich Lewis did this earlier.
Governor Shapiro signed an executive
[21:37] order on the 18th regarding data
centers. So
[21:41] when we went to Harrisburg we talked a
lot about what the governor calls strict
[21:44] standards, responsible data center
development. There were provisions in
[21:48] there that I know many of you have been
hearing about in your communities.
[21:52] Concerns around everything from
electricity and electricity costs to
[21:58] the two resource usage to kind of
eyesore and light and noise pollution
[22:03] issues and things like that.
I know we discussed that at length in
[22:06] Harrisburg. What the governor did was
sign an executive order that basically
[22:10] says all of these things that he was
that he's been pushing for and then many
[22:14] elected officials in Harrisburg pushing
for now are requirements if you want to
[22:19] get a permit from the DEP.
And so specifically I want to call out a
[22:23] couple things here.
Any data center developer I'm major data
[22:28] center developer there's a kilowatt
or megawatt number of it's it's pretty
[22:32] low threshold is required to bring your
own electricity and pay all associated
[22:37] costs with transmission and everything
else. There's some provisions there
[22:41] about PJM
auctions and things like that. So it's
[22:44] pretty detailed.
They also have to work with the local
[22:48] governments early in the process. So
I've been talking to all of you and to
[22:52] many of your colleagues about community
benefit agreements. I know I've come to
[22:56] several of your counties to discuss
community benefit agreements.
[22:59] And this is going to be hopefully make
it easier for
[23:04] you to execute a strong community
benefit agreement. Um if you have if I
[23:08] haven't talked to you, you're interested
in learning about this at all or I can
[23:11] be helpful or this organization can be
helpful to you, please don't hesitate to
[23:14] reach out to us.
Uh we want to make sure that your
[23:16] communities are getting what they
deserve if they decide to have a data
[23:20] center into the community.
Uh also, it requires them to uh
[23:24] developers to hire and train local
workers. Uh
[23:28] and also addresses concerns like
uh water and other natural resource uh
[23:34] usage issues. And again, all of this is
conditional
[23:37] on getting the DEP uh permit approval.
So, there's also I know several of you
[23:42] are working on uh changes to your zoning
codes to
[23:45] uh
specifically for data centers or any
[23:47] development similar to them.
Uh and so, I know that this could be on
[23:51] top of what you're already doing. Some
of it could be redundant, but um doing
[23:55] it statewide uh hopefully will make sure
everyone is on the same playing field.
[23:59] Uh I know some of you are running into
regulatory issues and you know, the
[24:02] amount of time you have to get all of
the legislation through the DEP. So, um
[24:07] this is
hopefully a help, but um again, we
[24:10] continue to monitor it and um
you know, we'll happy to answer
[24:14] questions that you have on it, you know,
case-by-case. Right now, I know Laura is
[24:17] here from the governor's office, so uh
if you have any questions about this
[24:20] executive order that
that she or I can be helpful with,
[24:24] I'm happy to answer them as we get
thoughts on the back.
[24:27] » Yeah, and I'll just jump in and say this
is really just to make sure that the
[24:31] local communities
understand and support what's going on.
[24:35] And I will give a huge shoutout to DJ
and the work that he's been doing
[24:39] already and that he will continue to do.
I have, you know, there's five of me
[24:43] across Pennsylvania. No one else have
been DJ that is doing this.
[24:47] Um it it's a really really lucky thing
that we have here and
[24:52] I think that the main point behind um of
the executive order is to make sure that
[24:57] the the good projects are getting
through and the bad projects are not.
[25:01] So, I know that for so many of the
projects here in Southwestern
[25:03] Pennsylvania, so much of this is already
underway. So, kudos to and to the
[25:08] companies here and to all of you who
have been working with them. Um
[25:12] to just to to throw out a few very
specific things, um like DJ said,
[25:17] DEP is key here with basically without
the DEP approval,
[25:21] nothing really will happen. So, contact
DEP early and often. If you need the
[25:26] correct people, please please reach out
to me. I'm happy to help with those
[25:29] connections if you need anything.
Um and just
[25:35] be sure that your local communities um
correct information. We know that in
[25:40] this online world, there is just so much
misinformation out there um
[25:44] that may or may not apply to your
So, I think education here is key um
[25:51] and communication. So, anything that we
in the governor's office can do uh to
[25:56] continue these conversations, please
reach out to me. I'm here.
[25:59] I'm happy to answer any questions.
Right now or at any time.
[26:05] Be sure
>> Any any question on this or for me or
[26:07] for her?
[26:10] » Yeah, be sure
to send you all a copy if you'd like.
[26:13] » be great.
>> All right, yeah.
[26:14] I'll do that.
>> And then the amendment to our ordinance
[26:17] at the county, I think it
looked at all the ordinance points to
[26:22] perjury.
We looked at a lot of them.
[26:25] The commissioner from Loudoun County uh
came to one of our
[26:31] one of our
sessions in which you helped them.
[26:36] You were the MC for the
making sure there were graded in for
[26:41] ordinance to make sure we protect the
citizens of this county.
[26:46] » And Steuben County you zoning?
>> Yes.
[26:48] » You have county it's not
>> complete. It's only 31 42
[26:52] municipalities. They can either do it
themselves
[26:56] So, make sure agreement to do the do it
for it.
[27:00] We have 31, I think we have 42.
But, we're going to share with this
[27:05] ordinance amendment with the other
municipalities to do their own.
[27:08] Hopefully,
they will
[27:10] you know, take a look at it as well.
But, it's uh
[27:14] it's stringent, but it's you know, it's
fair.
[27:17] Hopefully,
you know, we can get that in place no
[27:21] later than October. So.
>> Um one other thing to mention, and I
[27:25] know I've sent this to some of you after
discussions, but DCD does have a local
[27:29] local toolkit that that can be shared
with municipalities. Colonel John is
[27:33] online and so
jump in with any other information on
[27:37] that. But, when I send out the material,
that's all.
[27:41] » Be sure I have a copy of it in my
office. So, if you want to
[27:44] » Yeah. Um
we will uh you know, there's
[27:50] This is the construction of these
facilities at our expense. So, I don't
[27:53] know if it's going to have a lot of
impact not just to that community, but
[27:58] to larger communities. And uh I'm just
previewing my report for you in the full
[28:02] commission meeting where we're going to
talk about major uh the movement of
[28:05] freight major freight uh for the
Commerce City project. And um so, I
[28:09] think that
you will find that I we will keep
[28:13] talking to you about these issues about
developments that are happening in the
[28:16] region. Uh
not only legislative and policy
[28:19] developments, but the action and the
construction of these assets. Congress
[28:22] has a lot to look at on the policy.
Um all right, let me uh let me move on
[28:27] then um
to a couple other things uh that I can
[28:31] go through a little quicker. Uh first of
all, I wanted to let you know that the
[28:34] US Army Corps of Engineers uh who, you
know, is near and dear to my heart, um
[28:39] and we have talked about a lot and
worked with a lot around the locks and
[28:42] dams. Um I know several of you have
worked with them on on other issues like
[28:45] the straw and whatnot. Um currently have
a study with uh Chartiers Creek that
[28:49] Mason's working on uh through the Water
Resource Center. And one of the great
[28:53] things about the Army Corps is that
they're
[28:55] our district is the Pittsburgh district.
It's a pretty large footprint that goes
[28:59] all the way to Ohio and West Virginia
and uh I think even in the portions of
[29:03] New York. And under a new plan through
the Army Corps, they're going to realign
[29:08] the boundaries for these districts and
Pittsburgh will be moved under the
[29:13] Baltimore district.
Um, issue.
[29:16] That is
that annoys me a lot because it is
[29:20] another reason that, you know,
Pittsburgh needs to be prominent with
[29:23] that replacement plan. And if you put
the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in
[29:27] the same district as the Chesapeake Bay,
I do not think that we're going to get
[29:30] the attention that we deserve. Um, I
could stand up here for 3 hours to talk
[29:34] to you about how important the inland
waterway system is here, but um
[29:37] I think I've done that at this point
already the time that I've been here,
[29:40] but um
they're the plan is the way they're
[29:44] doing it is that where whatever
watershed your state capital is in
[29:47] is how they're they're pushing everybody
in the whole state into that same thing.
[29:51] So, Chesapeake Bay watershed terrorist
or something.
[29:54] Anyway, it's it's a problem for here. We
would lose. Um
[29:59] and that there'll be a different
district as soon as you cross the river
[30:02] out of Beaver County as soon as you
cross the state line out of Beaver
[30:04] County on the Ohio River. Um
and we would lose the entire Monongahela
[30:08] being in the same district and, you
know, all of that. So, um
[30:12] it is it is a pretty big concern. It is
not a congressional act that would
[30:17] change these boundaries, but uh
Congressman Deluzio did put an amendment
[30:21] into the Water Resources Development
Act, which is done every 3 years. Um and
[30:25] that is it is still in the bill. It's a
good uh passed out of the committee uh
[30:28] unanimously. It's still in the bill. And
um so we're hoping that it will stay
[30:34] there and it would essentially uh
prohibit the Army Corps from doing this
[30:38] without any consultation or public
outreach period.
[30:41] Um I many of you know I sit on the
commission for the Port of Pittsburgh
[30:44] and this is something we're talking
about a lot there. Uh, there is there
[30:48] may be an opportunity if this becomes a
bigger debate for you as commissioners
[30:53] to weigh in. Uh, so we'll certainly keep
you posted as that happens. But goal is
[30:57] to keep our our commander and our staff
here in Pittsburgh.
[31:01] Uh, lastly, Keystone Transportation
Funding Coalition.
[31:06] This is the group that we have been uh,
that Lily and I have been meeting with.
[31:09] Um, thanks to Chuck and and Buchanan for
for getting us into this into these
[31:14] meetings. Essentially, this is a group
that wants to pass a new Act 89.
[31:19] Um, as you know, Act 89 ran out a couple
years ago and uh,
[31:23] you know, there was a substantial over
funding that's been that's been kind of
[31:26] stopping the gap, but we are we need to
find a long-term solution and there's a
[31:31] pretty diverse group of people um,
both from construction side, from
[31:35] transit advocates, from uh, local
governments, um, from transit agencies,
[31:40] uh, also organizations like ours who
have been sitting down and discussing
[31:44] uh, plans to help to craft a new piece
of legislation uh, similar to Act 89.
[31:49] Uh,
those meetings are continuing. We expect
[31:52] that next legislative session, so next
year, uh, that you'll start to see some
[31:56] some advocacy in earnest there. And uh,
we'll be reaching out to all of you to
[32:00] talk about that uh, when it becomes
it becomes more concrete. And um, we are
[32:05] not planning and although we've done
this sometimes in the past, there are no
[32:08] plans right now for a large contingent
of commissioners to go to Harrisburg
[32:11] this fall. Um, especially since there's
not a whole lot of session time anyway
[32:15] with the election. Um, but if uh,
anybody has any particular issues that
[32:19] they need uh,
they have questions on or need uh,
[32:23] anything answered, please don't hesitate
to reach out to me or Chuck or
[32:26] Ken or
Buchanan or you uh, in the next couple
[32:29] months.
Anybody have questions on any of that?
[32:36] Well, I am all done.
Uh, thank you all and uh you know, like
[32:39] I said, please don't hesitate to eat.
[32:43] » Thanks. Uh
EJ
[32:46] about
Uh we're going to now enter into
[32:49] executive session.
Move to executive session.
[32:55] Look at this book.
>> Hello.
[32:58] » It's a secret.
[33:03] » Then I was the staff in CTEs
and I think we gave them a loan in 2025.
[33:09] » Yes, for me and you.
>> Yeah, they could be, yeah, right. Yes,
[33:14] they were
>> Glad to see them.
[33:16] » Yeah.
>> from
[33:18] » I'm Germany.
Yeah, so we gave EA the county gave them
[33:24] um a grant
to do like some COVID-era EG money last
[33:29] year.
>> So they were up five.
[33:31] » Handwashing station and some other like
air filtration.
[33:34] » So
>> Uh so we went down.
[33:38] Check in and we're working inside a hot
like a vacant property. Spanned again,
[33:41] so
Um They were just very grateful. So it
[33:45] was fun to see.
>> And then Wylie's another one that we I
[33:47] think we've had shared
>> Yeah, yeah, yes, we did a big Yeah, we
[33:50] did a big one for them. We just gave
them another
[33:53] » Did we up that by like
>> We got Earth Day. Yeah.
[33:56] » I think that's where we're at so.
>> So
[33:58] » Yeah.
>> And I can't stress this enough, y'all.
[34:00] Again, everything that you approve in
this room is going to a small business
[34:03] and it helps them grow, right? Whether
>> the business was sold, the equipment
[34:06] that you're
>> that you were saying yes to, this truly
[34:09] is benefiting small business in our
region and it and whether it's an
[34:12] Allegheny County or Fayette County, we
we've done work in all of them. So Uh
[34:17] I'm so grateful for a loophole. I
actually got a text from Todd saying if
[34:19] we could go after additional loan funds,
can we do that? So we're going to be
[34:23] looking into that as well. It's just
they don't offer them up as much as they
[34:26] used to.
>> You talking about Wylie?
[34:28] » Weird about Wylie.
>> Yeah, sure.
[34:31] » So the
Rich would know this. So Welly started
[34:35] and I told the executive the story. So
Ben played Little League for me.
[34:40] But he couldn't field for
So he was on the bench giving out water
[34:44] bottles and that's where he came up with
the idea.
[34:48] At least that's my story and I'm
sticking to it.
[34:50] » Ben does not cooperate.
[34:54] » He still can't field.
[35:00] You're starting.
>> Yeah.
[35:01] » Yeah.
>> Sorry.
[35:02] » No, it's Here's like this is how long
these things take. I remember years and
[35:06] years ago, maybe four or five years, I
had just been in the position a short
[35:09] period of time and he had reached out
about any type of business grants, he
[35:12] said. Thinking about creating this then
we're talking all about it. I said
[35:16] unfortunately for for-profit business,
there's not a tremendous amount of
[35:19] things out there. So over the years he
had worked with us and then
[35:22] talking to Todd who who runs our loan
program, he said
[35:25] great company called Welly. I was like,
"Ben!" I was like, "I'm so excited." And
[35:28] so we talked about his business and
again, it just shows that these things
[35:32] don't always happen overnight, but the
seeds that we plant here really do
[35:36] blossom into things that truly help our
small businesses. So I just can't thank
[35:39] y'all enough.
>> Small businesses to use.
[35:42] » That is so key cuz all interest
>> my cousin's company in Westmoreland
[35:47] County is making caps.
>> So don't we all I think it'll be the
[35:53] whole all the components will be made in
Pennsylvania
[35:56] and it will be the first reusable water
bottle ever to be made entirely in the
[36:01] United States.
>> Yeah. Like if you look at
[36:05] » It's all They're all designed in the US
and then they're made in China. So this
[36:08] will be the first water bottles that
Uh no, this isn't a Welly. This is not a
[36:14] Welly. I'm waiting for them to
[36:21] » We need to move on now. We have here
out of executive session meeting. We
[36:25] need a motion on action item on
corporate resolution
[36:30] 06-26
[36:33] L L NTO Dental LLC.
>> I'll make it.
[36:38] » Thank you.
>> Pat makes a motion. Is there a second?
[36:41] » Second.
>> Second by Dick.
[36:44] Motion is properly seconded. Further
discussion.
[36:49] Vote for question on the motion. All
those in favor of the motion signify by
[36:52] saying I.
>> I.
[36:53] » I. Motion carries unanimously.
>> Thank you so much.
[36:57] » Other business? Uh
any to be talked about?
[37:02] » This is Shane.
>> Shane.
[37:05] Reminder, the next meeting uh of the
full commission and the executive
[37:09] committee
is October the 26th,
[37:13] 2026. We have a motion to adjourn.
>> I'll make it.
[37:17] » Second.
>> Sarah's. Sarah second by
[37:22] » Be sure.
>> Laura.
[37:24] All those in favor signify by saying I.
>> I.
[37:27] » Motion carries unanimously.
I feel motion adjourned.
[37:31] » We're good then.