Taking stock

The Lancaster County Planning Commission is applying to the National Parks Service for $65,150 in federal funds under the federal Preserve America initiative to "assist in the completion of the Lancaster County Historic Resource Inventory."

The application was approved by the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners at their weekly meeting on Wednesday.

It's an effort to work with municipalities to identify what they have that is unique, special, and deserving of future preservation efforts, explained Scott Standish, Director of Long-range and Heritage Planning with the Lancaster County Planning Commission.

He added that it will assist the planning commission in developing the county's long-term heritage and comprehensive plans.

In addition to the $65,150 in requested federal funding, $76,910 of local money is also going toward the "inventory" effort. Of the latter figure, each of 14 municipalities is contributing $1,000 to the effort, the county is giving roughly $25,000, and in-kind servives are also being counted toward the total.

You can learn more about the Cultural Heritage Element of the County Comprehensive Plan on the County Planning Commission's website here.

Also on Wednesday, the Commissioners approved an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) "for an encumbrance of Liquid Fuels Tax Funds for the replacement of the Eshelman Mill Road Bridge, known as Mill #2, located in West Lampeter Township and the City of Lancaster."

$1.5 million in state funding through PENNDOT is available for the replacement of that bridge, with construction expected to begin next year, according to Assistant County Engineer, Keith Harner.

Currently, county engineers are in the design phase of the project.

The funding comes from a state tax on gasoline sales, which is then apportioned to localities based on a certain formula. No part of this $1.5 million is county money.