County commissioners Wednesday agreed to buy five new cellphones to operate an application that the Election Bureau will use to inventory equipment used at polling places and manage staff.

The phones, which along with the contract will cost $5,500 over four years, will be used to run the apps from EasyVote Solutions.

In June, commissioners amended the county’s contract with EasyVote to buy the app for $16,340.

Solicitor Wil White said the app has modules for inventory and staff management.

The inventory function can track equipment by using the bar codes on the equipment, said Adam Price, the bureau’s precinct and poll worker coordinator.

He said the app will be used by staff to document equipment when it is dropped off at polls before elections and when staff picks up the equipment after elections.

Tracking the equipment improves security and documents the chain of custody of the equipment, Price added.

White said the phones will be dedicated for Election Bureau use and will help ensure that equipment is delivered to the correct places.

The equipment includes voting machines, tables and chairs.

In other election business, commissioners will vote Sept. 21 on the relocation of polling places in Concord and Clearfield townships. In Concord Township, the site would be moved from the municipal building on Hooker Road to Concord Presbyterian Church, 673 Hooker Road. In Clearfield Township, the site would be moved from the municipal building on McGrady Road to the St. John Catholic Church social hall, 668 Clearfield Road.

Price said the rooms at both municipal buildings were too small to accommodate voters, and the Clearfiled Township poll was located at St. John’s before it was moved to the municipal building.

In unrelated business, the commissioners extended the county Redevelopment Authority’s agreement to run the blight mitigation initiative for three years to Sept. 30, 2025, and to increase the demolition budget to $100,000 from $50,000.

An agreement for the authority to administer a $250,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund to acquire and rehabilitate houses was approved.

The commissioners also approved an addendum to an agreement with the county Housing Authority to allocate $80,000 for the emergency residential rehabilitation program.

Executive Director Ed Mauk said $75,000 awarded earlier this year has been exhausted, and two allocations of $75,000 were used last year. Program funding is used to repair damages considered life threatening at homes of people who can’t afford the repairs, he said.

The commissioners approved a $186,859 contract to replace the roof at a building at 530 Fairground Hill Road where Butler Township Magisterial District Court 50-1-01 is relocating. The court is located at 121 Sunnyview Circle. The contract is with Strongland Roofing Systems of Vandergrift in Westmoreland County.

Last month, the commissioners approved a 10-year lease for part of the building with an option to buy in year eight with Valley View Estates and a renovation contract.