North Huntingdon could lose its $30,000 grant for covid-related expenses because township officials are thumbing their noses at state public health mandates designed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

County Commissioner Doug Chew said Wednesday during an online forum that the county is bound by contract to distribute federal CARES Act money only to entities that comply with state public health mandates.

Township commissioners have spoken out against state limits on public gatherings and ordered its police to ignore businesses violating them. Last week they took an even more strident posture, rejecting the suggestion that they hold virtual meetings to avoid violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s newest mandate limiting indoor gatherings to 10 people.

Jeff Silka, township manager, and Zachary Haigis said Thursday they were not aware of the concerns raised by the county commissioners.

Haigis said he signed documents Thursday and were sent to the county so the township could get reimbursed for its covid-related expense, which includes sanitization cost, shields and personal protection equipment.

Although Haigis had said the public still is welcome to attend the commissioners’ meetings, only five persons attended during the snowstorm Wednesday and department heads were told they did not have to attend.

Striking out against Wolf, township Commissioner Ronald Zona, a retired state police trooper, called the new mandate “unenforceable” during the Dec. 10 meeting. Commissioner Zachary Haigis invited the public to attend commissioner meetings after nixing a suggestion that the meetings be held virtually to comply with the governor’s edit to limit indoor gathering to 10 people. Commissioner Virginia Stump, however, was the lone commissioner who spoke for holding the meeting via Zoom. The township does not have the capacity to conduct a meeting both on Zoom and in person.

“I think you can actually get more people involved in the public process,” with something like Facebook live, such as other communities, Stump said.

“What about the liability. … What if someone gets sick here?” Stump questioned.

The commissioners did not take a vote on the matter at the Dec. 10 meeting.

Township solicitor Bruce Dice dismissed Wolf’s order as a political opinion, not a legal one.

Dice said he would not be surprised if someone has filed a lawsuit over getting sick from covid.

Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Wolf, did not respond to a request for a comment.

The township’s stance drew harsh condemnations from speakers at an online forum Wednesday sponsored by the Voice of Westmoreland. Members of the grassroots progressive group are petitioning county commissioners to take a strong leadership role in advocating for public health issues.

That role should extend to delivering a message to municipal officials who violate public health guidelines to limit covid-19 infection, they said.

Chew said county commissioners have made note of those actions and reached out to North Huntingdon officials.

“We told them we can vote to rescind that money and apparently they don’t even care,” Chew said.

Haigis, president of the board of commissioners, said he did not speak to the county commissioners on the matter and was not aware of any of the other officials that might have spoken to them

At Wednesday’s meeting, North Huntingdon residents Diana Gray and Mary Kay Nafaa criticized township officials for “politicizing what should be health and safety issues.”

The women said they’re concerned that township leaders are contributing to false narratives about the seriousness of covid-19. They encouraged Chew and his fellow commissioners, all of whom have contracted the virus, to act quickly to withdraw the grant.

Swift action, they said, would send a message.

“I live in North Huntingdon Township,” Nafaa said. “Just take the money back.”

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