Centre County Commissioners yesterday granted the sale of a half-acre lot of county land to the county's housing authority for the construction of 20 units of low-income housing, a county housing official said.

Authority officials plan to construct one 14-unit apartment building and renovate an existing building on the property to hold six, two-bedroom units that could house 40 people combined, said Pat Casher, director of the county's housing authority.

The authority agreed to pay $170,000 for the property and a section of the Willowbank Building, known as "the infirmary" - part of the old Centre County hospital complex located in downtown Bellefonte, Casher said.

The authority has received approval for $816,000 in federal grant money and also $200,000 from the Centre County's Community Development's Block Grant program, he said.

Construction could begin this winter with the project completed by summer of next year, Casher said.

Under the authority's plan, low-income families could live in the project for about five years at which point they would be expected to purchase a home on their own, he said.

"We'll help them locate (a home) and there will probably be some help with a down payment," Casher said.

Commissioners granted the approval to enable the authority to meet a federal Housing and Urban Development agency's deadline for the submission of the purchase agreement and the county's offer of sale, he said.

In other business, Centre County Commissioner Keith Bierly read a letter he sent to the county's Office of Community Alternatives and Criminal Justice program - a State College-based, non-profit bail supervision program, said Susan Veneziano, county deputy chief clerk.

In his letter, addressed to the program's chairman, Bierly stated that the program should no longer supervise people released to their custody who are charged with murder, rape, aggravated assault or robbery, Venesiano said.

But CACJ assistant director Karen Ott, said the program cannot legally turn away anyone, regardless of their offense.

"Under the agreement we have with the Centre County Court, we cannot turn away any individual that is placed under our supervision," Ott said.

The Alternatives Criminal Justice Counseling program, which receives both state and county funds, offer victim restitution, Ott said.

Bierly voted against allocating the funds last November while the other commissioners approved, Vensiano said.