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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-19 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2022 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, October 19, 2022, with the following members present: David S. Keller, John T. Flannery and Robert G. Ziobrowski. Chairman Keller presided and after calling the meeting to order, a Moment of Silence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, proceeded with the business of the day. The meeting was live streamed. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. There was no public comment. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid. The minutes of the October 12, 2022 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the minutes. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked for more information about item #7, agreement with Origami Risk and how we will benefit. Morgan Yiengst, Human Resources Coordinator, explained that the Origami Risk system is a Risk Management information system that primarily handles incident reporting. It will be a countywide system for employees to use to report incidents for Risk and Workers Comp to track. It will streamline everything since now they use paper. This will be immediate and and use Access which is outdated and not sustainable. This is more of a long term solution that we can build on. It can also be used for certificates of insurance and fleet management of county vehicles if we opt into those services later down the road. Carrie Gray stated that in addition to it being more user friendly and decreasing the time it takes staff to alert Risk and Human Resources it will be able to analyze the data in the system to identify preventable accidents or trends in incidents. We can tailor our training for the workforce, tailor outreach and identify ways we may mitigate instances in the future. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that there is a safety component to analyze risk and see patterns and a certain level of efficiency which is -fund Workers -fund it correctly it would ultimately go to the General Fund or it would on investment. Ms. Gray responded that it is a significant investment and he identified many of the factors that would result in needing to be considered for return on investment. It is also important is for us to be aware of the incident as soon as possible, for litigation purposes. We have tried altern able to produce results in the way this off-the-shelf solution provides. It is a substantial investment but we have identified this for the PCorp Risk grant funds for 2 years and some funding will come from Workers Comp. We could approach the Records Improvement Committee for potential funding also. The items will be decided upon in the afternoon session. Teresa Beckner, Fiscal Director, presented the 2023 preliminary budget to the Board. Ms. Beckner informed the Board this budget is a preliminary budget and includes all requests submitted from every operation in the County. She explained the report is separated into two distinct areas due to how the various areas are operated and managed. She continued that the -funded dental and health insurance funds. County Operations includes: Elected Officials; Human Services; Courts and related operations; Jail; Emergency Services and the 911 Center; Property Management; internal county services; debt service; and capital activities that include the Courthouse Annex project, Bridge Projects (LF) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Continued on page 2 Ms. Beckner explained the revenues under county operations include all taxes levied and collected, such as property taxes for debt service and general purpose and hotel taxes collected by the County. Intergovernmental Revenues are funds expected from both state and federal governments that include funds passed to the county for operating Human Service programs, CDBG projects, and Domestic Relations services. Ms. Beckner explained that fees and charges are assessed by elected officials for various services, as well as across internal operations for occupancy and services provided to county operations. She explained that miscellaneous revenues could be contributions, rents, reimbursements not classified elsewhere and issuing debt (assuming issue debt for planned renovation of the Courthouse Annex). Ms. Beckner explained the Transfers IN is internal transactions, to one fund from another. On the expense side, operating costs encompass a wide range of what it takes to operate County departments. This would include supplies and equipment, training and travel, maintenance and repairs, vehicle operations, outside contracted services that includes human service providers, debt service and rent and utilities. Ms. Beckner explained that transfers OUT are paid by one fund to another. This is the opposite side of what she just explained. It includes payments made by the General Fund to others, including support for human services, Domestic Relations Services, and 911 operations. Capital is the amount budgeted for completion of projects currently in process and the planned renovation of the Courthouse Annex. Expansion is made up of capital and personnel requests by departmen year budget that include the following: technology enhancements for software, hardware and infrastructure; public safety equipment; building upgrades and renovations; vehicles; computers; furniture; and other new or replacement equipment. Comp and Self-funded dental. Revenue includes investment income including interest and dividends and fees and charges which includes contributions includes gains and losses on investments. Ms. Beckner concluded that expenses in fiduciary funds are much the same as operating funds that include personnel, operating costs and expansion. Ms. Beckner explained the total budget for All Services and Operations based on all requests is just over $173.2 million, of which $155.6 million relates to general county operations and $17.7 million relates to the fiduciary-type funds. Total revenues for all requests and all funds amount to $154.5 million. A net use of reserves (prior year revenue collections) is indicated for operations across all-county is at $18.8 million. Of the $18.8 million in reserves requested, $11 million is General Fund and the rest is debt service, liquid fuels and CDBG. Total county requests: 17 full-time and 4 part-time for a total of 21 new positions. General Fund operations make up 15 of the 17 full-time and all of the part-time requests. Moving on, she said we can see what the General Fund (GF) looks like. Presented here is a projection for 2022 shown beside the requests for 2023. Revenues are classified the same as presented for all departments and activities of the County. The property taxes for the service and are relatively flat and will be more accurate when they are ready to present a proposed budget in a few weeks. Ms. Beckner reported that the assumptions discussed for all county operations are the same ones used in looking at just the General Fund. Operating costs which is shown separately. Operating costs from department requests total $17.6 million. Operating transfers from General Fund are the amounts the county spends to support other county operations. Overall the increase from the amount projected for 2022 is almost $2.2 million, or 39.7%. Human Services are $4.3 million of the $7.7 million total and the largest piece under Human Services is Children & Youth which is a $1.1 million increase from the 2022 projection. Commissioner Ziobrowski stated that Children & Youth is a mandated service and that they should lobby the legislators to increase their contribution. Ms. Beckner continued that Continued on page 3 Personnel Expansion requests for the General Fund amount to almost $3.4 million. This is a combination of personnel reclassifications and 15 additional full-time and 4 part-time positions. The capital requests are the same types as discussed when looking at all county operations that includes computers, minor equipment, software, vehicles, building repairs and improvements, safety equipment, security equipment and technology, building repairs and improvements, safety and security equipment and technology, funding for new projects, and funding for new projects. The largest share is for the largest operation of $1.1 million related to jail operations, primarily for facility repairs and improvements, equipment replacements and safety and security repairs and upgrades. Ms. Beckner said in summary that the total revenue is flat but the expense growth of almost $10 million. Overall results for the General Fund show $51.1 million in revenue and $62.1 million in expenses, leaving a gap of $11 million needed from reserves in order to balance the budget. Ms. Beckner stated that we started 2022 with almost $14.8 million in unrestricted reserves. Unrestricted reserves are those that are not restricted by regulations and can be spent for operations. It is county policy, as well as best practice by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), to maintain healthy reserve balances, which are defined as 60-90 days of General Fund expenses. The recommended reserve balances (based on 2022 projected spending) are: 45 days = $6.4 million; 60 days = $8.6 million; 90 days = $12.8 million. If the Board were to approve the budget as requested by departments and presented here, the expenses) at the end of 2023. Ms. Beckner asked if there were any questions or comments. Chairman Keller stated that in addition to restricted reserves we have fund 40 for should be ending 2022 with roughly $5 Million to work with which is important to know. Ms. Beckner responded that it is not considered here. Chairman Keller continued that their guidance in the past has been they are not going to write a check for all the requests, he use whatever reserves we have at end of this year and use funds 40 and 41 to keep the ship sailing and address replacing computers, vehicles that need replaced and are beyond their her to take this year. He continued that the practice has been that we receive the all-request information, ponder for a week and come back and provide high-level guidance for her to take and craft the proposed budget. He would assume that some of these expenses, the American Recovery Plan Act dollars we will distribute $10 million of the $30 million to the community across the county to be used for water and sewer, for municipality support and for nonprofits support but the $20 million we have to work with and a lot of expenses would be considered eligible expenses to use those funds. We should think about making prudent use of those funds. Commissioner Flannery stated that the $11 million is a big deficit, when looked at capital expenses he assumes in 2023 and in talking about the Courthouse Annex; the estimated cost is $11 million. Ms. Beckner said she built everything around $10 million. Commissioner Flannery continued that one line item balances it and it will not be a recurring item in years to come which eases his mind a li Ziobrowski asked if she anticipated a bond or a loan for that money in the income. Ms. Beckner said that the $11 million there does not have any of the Courthouse Annex in it. When looking at the all services under the miscellaneous and revenue piece that includes borrowing of $10 million and under expense side where they see capital that includes $11.8M that includes spending $10 million for that renovation. Commissioner Flannery responded that it completely rains on his parade. Commissioner Ziobrowski stated that the fund 40 and 41 roughly $5 million is not included in the $14 million that we have in reserves. Ms. Beckner responded that it is not included. Ms. Gray announced that deliberation is scheduled for next week but we can push it out if needed. The Board recessed and will reconvene at 2:00 p.m. for final approval of the items that were reviewed. Continued on page 4 The Board reconvened at 2:00 p.m. There was no public comment. The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the contract between County of Franklin and The Zigmund Co. to act as an advisor regarding insurance related matters including reviewing renewal applications, audits, insurance proposals, and loss run reports. The contract is at a cost of $5,000.00 for the period of November 1, 2022 through October 31, 2023. The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the proposal from Hammel Associates Architects, LLC to provide architectural and engineering services for the Franklin County Courthouse Restoration Project at a cost of $80,030.00 and an additional $3,500.00 for estimated reimbursable expenses. The Board reviewed Fiscal matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $39,930.00 for the South Central Center of Community Actions contracting their case management services to the staff in the Community Connections. The Board reviewed additional Fiscal matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $93,857.00 to utilize grant funding expanding support services and housing for program participants due to Community Connections department taking on the Housing Urban Development grants for Supportive Housing Program and Shelter Plus Care. The costs associated with these grants are 75% Federal funded with a 25% County match. The Board reviewed Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the grant application to PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to request grant funds in the amount of $382,386.00 for the purchase and upgrade of hardware and software equipment, support non-sworn personnel costs, support non-recurring personnel costs for sworn officers, and support policy development and evidence-ce. The grant period will be January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. This action will replace the approved action taken by the Commissioners on October 12, 2022. The Board reviewed additional Grants/CJAB matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the grant application to PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to request grant funds in the amount of $263,000.00 for the purchase and upgrade of technology and information technology improvements and support non-sworn personnel costs for the Franklin County Detectives. The grant period will be January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. This action will replace the approved action taken by the Commissioners on October 12, 2022. The Board reviewed Human Resources matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the contract between County of Franklin and Origami Risk to provide integrated SaaS solutions designed to help manage critical workflows, leverage analytics, and engage with stakeholders at a cost of $209,525.00 for the period of October 19, 2022 through October 19, 2025. Their comprehensive risk management information system (RMIS) will serve as a command center for identifying, reducing, and financing risk across all departments. It will serve as a means of reporting workplace injuries and incidents. This software will provide us with the ability to compile incident data and analyze risk more effectively. Their software has the capability to Continued on page 5 build on existing modules to include assistance with liability claims management, Certificate of Insurance (COI) tracking, vendor & contract management, asset tracking (i.e. fleet management), automated workflows & notifications including documents, notes, tasks, emails, & files. The cost of implementation is being spread across the first 3 years of the contract. The Board reviewed Jail matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the agreement between County of Franklin and Gregory King d/b/a Scissors Palace to provide barber services to housed inmates at a cost of $30,000 for the period of November 2, 2022 through December 31, 2026. Inmates with funds will cover the cost of these services. Inmates that are indigent will be charged as a negative cost. The Board reviewed Juvenile Probation matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the contract between County of Franklin and Central Counties Youth Center for detention bed services at a rate of $395.00 per day for July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. This contract allows Franklin County youth to be held in the secure detention center pending court proceedings on an as needed basis for an agreed upon price when Franklin County places a youth in the facility. The Board reviewed MH/IDD/EI matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the contract listing for all contracts and addendums for Fiscal Years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 for the MH/IDD/EI Departments. Contract listing is maintained for proper accounting of all contracts to include vendor name and address, type(s) of service provided and rate(s) charged for services. The Board reviewed Planning matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the Subrecipient Agreement between Franklin County and Waynesboro Community and Human Services (WCHS) for an approved project for the Fiscal Year 2021 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for WCHS to receive $9,000.00. Funding under this contract will be allocated to nursing salaries to expand in- home care to individuals who are ill or disabled. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Metal Township Municipal Authority notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection NPDES Renewal Permit Application being applied for the Fannettsburg Wastewater Treatment Plant System on property located in Metal Township. The Board reviewed information regarding National Substance Abuse Prevention Month. Lynn Stclair and Karen Johnston from Healthy Communities Partnership were present to receive the proclamation. Ms. StClair thanked the Commissioners for hosting them and signing the proclamation today. She wanted to share that the PA Youth Survey has been released and th it showed that by 12 grade 29.5% of the students in the Chambersburg Area School District numbers and coming up with a plan. Karen Johnston, thanked the Commissioners for issuing the proclamation for prevention month and for the support, not only from the Commissioners but also from the County through the Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol departments who not only serve on the coalition but help with the funding pieces. Chambersburg Cares started many years ago prior to getting the Drug Free Communities Grant. She wanted to let them know that five years ago they were awarded the grant for $125,000 per year for five years and this is the first public announcement that they have just been awarded years 6-10 of the Drug Free Communities Grant. They will continue their work in Chambersburg and they have found that it works better to narrow it down to community focus so they will reach out to Greencastle, Mercersburg and Waynesboro to see whether they want to take a look at it also. Goals of the coalition are to increase community collaboration and to reduce substance use. She continued that our kids are suffering not only from use and experimentation of substances but they are also struggling with mental health and depression both of which are extremely high. She continued that the grant does not allow them to look at these things but as a coalition they look Continued on page 6 at them as very important. They want to make sure they are addressing those issues because through the pandemic they got even higher. Ms. Johnston wanted to note that vaping is huge in astounding, if they are going to do anything with prevention, they need to take a hard look at Kauffman, it costs $125,000 to get a liquor license in PA, and it only costs $300 to get a license for a vape shop that goes right up beside our schools. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that one rationale for vaping was it would help people quit smoking. Is that rationale credible? Ms. Johnston said absolutely not. We are just starting to get data about the harms of vaping. One of the things they have learned is that some of the devices they use can provide 3 packs of cigarettes a device and some kids use 3 devices a day. Increase of nicotine has gone up exponentially whether its youth or an adult they are getting more nicotine by far. Commissioner Ziobrowski also heard that nicotine can be a gateway drug. Ms. Johnston responded absolutely. The other troubling thing is that some kids and adults are making their own or buying off the internet. There was recently an overdose death in a Mifflin County School from fentanyl in a vape pen. They are putting all kinds of substances in vape pens. There is no smell of drugs in the vape pen so they could be doing drugs right outside of the high school. She has informed parents to go to administration because they are very concerned about drugs in these vape pens right outside of the schools. It happens every day in the walls of our schools, they are using THC and fentanyl. There have been several overdoses in the schools that are pen related. Need to get the information out there. The other issue is that very expensive. Commissioner Flannery asked what is in the vape. Ms. J a vapor with water and juice and there is a battery that lights it up and ignites it and puts the vapor in the air. Water mixed with different chemicals are in the vial. They are no longer allowed to sell the flavors online but they can still get them in the shops. They do contain a percentage of nicotine. Chairman Keller appreciates everything that Healthy Communities partnership does in the community. They have been spearheading prevention efforts for years the Drug Free grant without them and pushing the school districts to get Johnson found out that it will be 6 more years. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to sign Franklin County Proclamation #2022-23 proclaiming the month of October 2022 as National Substance Abuse Prevention Month in Franklin County and that the attached proclamation be made a part of these minutes. The meeting was adjourned at 2:25 p.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery. Carrie E. Gray County Administrator/Chief Clerk FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ____________________________________ David S. Keller, Chairman ____________________________________ John T. Flannery ___________________________________ Robert G. Ziobrowski