Members of County Council say Davis prematurely pledged $5 million in COVID-19 relief aid to a manufacturing project without council approval

Erie County Executive Brenton Davis has frequently voiced his support for a proposed manufacturing and research center at Penn State Behrend.

But some members of Erie County Council say that support has gone too far, and that Davis has already committed public funds to the project without council approval.

Council members, including Vice Chairwoman Mary Rennie, said Davis' actions were unlawful and a violation of the Home Rule Charter, which gives county council — not the county executive — the authority to appropriate and commit funds.

"There is no way that anybody can sit here and say to me that it is OK what the administration did," Rennie said during a council finance meeting Thursday.

Davis seeks investment in plastics, battery testing

The proposed center is part of Penn State Behrend's Project RESOLVE, a multi-phase effort to make Erie County a leader in plastics research, employment, entrepreneurism and environmental remediation.

The first phase of the project involves the construction of a Center for Manufacturing Competitiveness at Behrend's Knowledge Park. The center would include a plastics laboratory and a battery-testing facility and seek to be a magnet for employment and investment, especially at the local Wabtec Corp. plant.

To support the project, Davis wants to use $5 million from the 2022 American Rescue Plan...

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