Carbon County officials are looking for public input for the 2017 Community Development Block Grant program funds for communities.

On Thursday, the county commissioners voted to advertise a second public hearing notice for the projects, which include:Entitlement projects• Franklin Township: $69,054 for reconstructing and repaving Red Hill Road, phase 1. A hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 in the administration building, 889 Fairylane Road, Lehighton• Jim Thorpe: $72,470 for water/sewer improvements to the School Street Water Main. A hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 at Memorial Hall, 103 E. 10th St.• Lehighton: $77,202 for ADA handicap ramps at Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth streets, as well as Poplar, King and Queen alleys. A hearing will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at the borough hall, 1 Constitution Ave., second floor.• Mahoning Township: $69,336 for reconstructing and resurfacing Pine and Douglas streets. A hearing will take place at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at the township building, 2685 Mahoning Drive East.• Palmerton: $76,636 for reconstructing and resurfacing Avenue A. A hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at the borough hall, 443 Delaware Ave.Nonentitlement projectsHearings for nonentitlement project communities, which are selected annually by the county to share in a portion of CDBG designated to Carbon County, will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Summit Hill Borough Hall, 40 W. Amidon St., Suite 3.Projects include:• Weissport: $81,500 for Bridge Street stormwater improvements.• Summit Hill: $108,731 for Ginder Field improvements.Commissioner William O'Gurek spoke about the importance of the CDBG program to Carbon County communities since there have been suggestions by the current presidential administration on eliminating the program."You see those projects touch about seven of our municipalities and are extremely important to development," he said. "If that money goes away as has been suggested by the administration in Washington, it would be a terrible thing for our municipalities and we would be left trying to get sewer, water and recreation projects done without the funding. Collectively those projects total about $550,000."He spoke of the Summit Hill project in particular since it has been an ongoing project to renovate the current Ginder Field playground area.Last year, Carbon County allocated $37,500 to match a state grant the borough had received for the beginning of the improvements.The project will include playground equipment improvements, the pavilion and bathroom facilities upgrades."Summit Hill couldn't do that without the help of the county and state," O'Gurek said.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein added that the board tries to share the money it receives for nonentitlement communities as much as possible, looking to see who got funding and when to try and spread the money to as many municipalities as possible over the years.The CDBG program includes requirements, which determine if a community is an entitlement or nonentitlement community.To be considered an entitlement community, the municipality must have over 4,000 residents and be considered low to moderate income. If a municipality doesn't meet that criteria, then they are considered a nonentitlement community.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that he hopes the administration would choose to keep the program but remove the requirement of income guidelines."If funding is available, just give it to the borough instead of the low to moderate income requirement because it's much appreciated," he said.