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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-07-23 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, July 23, 2025 The Franklin County Commissioners met on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, with the following members present: Dean A. Horst, John T. Flannery, and Robert G. Ziobrowski. Commissioner Horst presided and after calling the meeting to order, a Moment of Silence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, proceeded with the business of the day. County Administrator Carrie Gray asked that 3.04 the agreement with Thomson Reuters be moved to the regular agenda. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery; the Board unanimously approved to adopt the amended agenda. The minutes of the July 16, 2025 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery; the Board unanimously approved the minutes. There was public comment from Valerie Jordan who stated there are a lot of people in the county who know she is. She has had cops come up to her and say Mrs. Jordan without her it but for one certain area. Last night she paid a $19,451.84 credit card bill off. Her personal life costs her a lot more than her government life. When people complain about their school tax and their county tax, they need to look at their personal life. But she was here again for the reason of, with approval from her husband for what she was about to say. She really doesn't appreciate some numbers found in the county's budgets. For 2025; All Services and Operations: $162.7 million, Use of Reserves: $13.6 million, Trust Fund: $8.9 million for Affordable Housing. In 2024; All Services and Operations: $171.2 million, Use of Reserves: $20.1 million, Trust Fund: $13.3 million for Affordable Housing Finally in 2020; All Services and Operations: $141.1 million, Use of Reserves: $29.3 million, Trust Fund: $12.5 million for Affordable Housing. She Googled that "County officials might cut into an affordable housing trust fund during budget crunches, when facing a budget deficit, or when prioritizing other county needs. These funds are often seen as a dedicated revenue source for affordable housing, but they can be vulnerable to reallocation during financial Hardship-Budget Shortfalls: When a county faces a budget deficit, officials may look to cut funding from various areas, including affordable housing trust funds, to balance the budget." end quote. She then Googled: "Yes, trust fund expenses can increase over time due to several factors including the complexity of the trust, changes in asset values and the need for professional services." end quote. She can easily travel around this county and see two subgroups of people: children and the elderly. Some may feel they are a burden on our society. Frankly, she doesn't. she sees them as treasures giving back in ways which God intended it to always be: smiling faces. That said, you must live with them and appropriate accordingly without elderly. You must also take care of a dedicated trust fund regardless of how you feel about those of us in the county who need affordable housing. There are 298 kids in the school district that are homeless. She learned that yesterday from a social worker she sat next to. She is very passionate about this because at one time she was nearly homeless but her parents saved her from a disastrous first marriage. She then asked how many elderly are negatively affected by taking from this Trust Fund? How many employees could lose their jobs because of the budget cutting? One is too many to her. She again asked that the budget be put back on the main page. She knows it it. Post your meeting on YouTube. There are videos already up there, so that when you feel like attacking her, the world can see it and she can send it to her family in New Jersey and they can watch it. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery; the Board unanimously approved all consent agenda items to include: All bills presented and ordered paid in the amount of $397,313.27. Grant proposal to support the purchase of one set of extra-large, archival flat file (map) cases to house oversized surveys, plans, maps and other land records found in The Atherton Collection of Geospatial Information (1750-1950). One hundred percent of the requested funds will be spent to obtain one set of oversized map cases. The cost of map case is $5,496.45; Shipping & Handling is an additional $662.34 for a Total of $6,158.79. Archives plans to request the balance of the cost from Franklin County's Records Improvement Committee using the available funding. Correction to the agreement between the County of Franklin and Comcast to upgrade the internet connection at the Greencastle MDJ office. Cost is approximately $120.00 less over the two-year term than the original contract signed on March 5, 2025. The connection speed will still improve to 300 MB. Addendum to the agreement between the County of Franklin and TK Elevator Corporation to add back the three elevators, previously removed due to the Courthouse Annex renovations, as well as a wheelchair lift to the current TKE agreement. The chair lift is $65.00 per month and each elevator is $75.00 per month, increasing the monthly total by $290.00. Approval needed to accept repository sale bids to start generating taxes to collect on the properties in Greene, Guilford, Hamilton, Letterkenny, Metal, Quincy and St. Thomas Townships. The Board reviewed regular agenda items. Ms. Gray provided a high-level overview of each of the actions. The Board approved the job description for Community Connections Forensic Housing Case Manager. Commissioner Horst asked if this is in the Public Defender office. Ms. Gray said they will report to the Public Defender and to the Warden at the Jail. Commissioner Horst stated that this is technically a new position. Ms. Gray asked Human Services Director who would sign the time sheets. Human Resources Director Tiffany Bloyer stated the Public Defender will sign off on time sheets. Ms. Gray stated the Public Defender would be the supervisor in the system but they would work with both the Jail and Public Defenders office. Commissioner Horst then wanted to verify that this was a grant funded position. Ms. Gray stated yes. It is a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to enhance services for indigent On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery; the Board unanimously approved the job description. Ms. Gray introduced Director of Procurement Ms. Robin Harmon who stated the agreement between the County of Franklin and Thomson Reuters to provide Thomson Reuters printed legal reference books which are used by various County departments including the Prothonotary, District Attorney, Clerk of Courts, all 39th Judicial District Judges, Court Administration, Public Defender, Domestic Relations, and Children & Youth to ensure they have up to date information for all legal functions of each department. This is a Professional Service and the contract is for 3 years. The default was a seven percent increase, but it was negotiated down. The year one cost is $22,065.06 and the price will increase four percent for each year of the contract. About 95% of the total cost of $68,878.40 will be paid by the General Fund. Commissioner Horst thanked Judge Sponseller, Judge Krom, the District Attorney, and Divorce Master for their decreased requests and commend them for looking at this and helping save costs for the County. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by John T. Flannery; the Board unanimously approved the contract. Ms. Gray introduced Human Resources Director Tiffany Bloyer to present the 2025 Nursing Scholarships. There continues to be a significant need for skilled nurses here in Franklin County. Several years ago the Commissioners recognized this and constructed a scholarship program for nurses from the sale of our Nursing Home. They set aside a portion of money to go towards scholarships. These have been presented since 2017. There are six highly qualified applicants that are selected to receive the scholarship. Herself along with two Chief Nursing Officers, one from WellSpan and the other from Keystone, come together and review applications, transcripts, references, what the future goals are, everything from wanting to be a nurse in Franklin County to wanting to continue on to be a Physician Assistant but want to start as a and work in Franklin County. Commissioner Horst stated that it is always a pleasure giving out these scholarships and is a delight to see young adults knowing what they want to do and to see them willing to know what they are, know who they are and the passions that God put blessing. He then congratulated them and told them to enjoy their time in college learning to be a nurse and please come back. Commissioner Flannery congratulated the recipients. Commissioner Ziobrowski stated that this is a noble profession and congratulations. Ms. Bloyer then introduced the 2025 recipients: Ms. Brooklyn Baxter, a graduate of Greencastle Area High School and will be attending James Madison University, Ms. Cameron Bender, a graduate of Chambersburg Area High School and will be attending Penn State University, Ms. Kate Flynn, a graduate of Greencastle Area High School and will be attending Penn State University, Ms. Lillian Henry, a graduate of Mason Dixon Homeschoolers Association and will be attending Wilson College, and Ms. Masalyna Miller, a graduate of Greencastle Area High School and will be attending Wilson College, and Ms. Samantha West, a graduate of Shalom Christain Acadamy and will be attending Huntingdon University. The Emergency Management Coordinator Certification was bestowed to DES Director Mary K. Seville by Rob Then, Director of the Cental Office from Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). He wanted to publicly recognize Ms. Seville for her achievement. PEMA requires that all newly appointed emergency management coordinators have to pass training, an exam, and finally a functional exercise where PEMA comes in and putsa scenario to the coordinator and they have their EOC activated and all their staff there working. Ms. proud of how they performed and the community should know that if there is ever a bad day in Franklin County, she and her staff are well equipped and have the knowledge to get the county through a disaster and support the citizens here within the county. He then presented Ms. County Administration, and everybody that has helped along the way. The exercise was a fun time she hoped for everyone and was the first one done since Mr. Jake Crider had done one. It gave everyone a taste of what it could be but hopefully they never have to do that for real. Thank you to everybody but especially to the DES staff because with it. Commissioner Horst stated that he was the a sign of leadership when you can control that many people because it can turn into a chaotic scene very quickly. He asked how many people where there that day. Ms. Seville stated there were about 30 people. Commissioner Horst continued that there was a lot people talking, a lot of direction and he was quite impressed watching her as she led her team and how the team responded. It's a sign of a great organization there when the response is that quick. Nobody questioned, they just did what they had to do and it was good. He then congratulated her. Commissioner Flannery stated he was there that morning and he knows that they were politely told to back out of the way and it was amazing. He would have liked to have been able to see more of it but he was happy he stayed out of the way. There was a sense of security. A good feeling that the people in that room, he could completely trust and can assure all the residents of Franklin County that they should feel confident. He then thanked her and thanked her staff. Commissioner Ziobrowski stated that the most important responsibility they have as Commissioners is the safety and security of the county. They are the first response of the first responders and they are very proud of the work that she and her staff do. There was a five-minute recess at 10:35 a.m. The Board reconvened at 10:40 a.m. Ms. Gray introduced Director of Tax Services Jodi Martin to present the Tax Services program to keep everyone well acquainted with the different programs with their emerging trends, topics of interest and any concerns they may have. Her presentation was made a part of these minutes. Commissioner Horst asked how the staff was affected by the functionality with the change with the new software and getting rid of the old paper tax cards. Ms. Martin stated e use of the old tax cards so that the data is put into the CAMA software and filing the old property cards back over into Archives. She hopes to have Archives take full possession of those cards at the end of the month. The software does change their process some and they have to set up a different way to do the valuing system. There will be a learning curve. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked if this software helps do what they do and if it will help with a reassessment that will happen some day. asked if these things are helping the office towards that. Ms. Martin replied absolutely. She thinks the new software and implementing some changes is definitely helping them move forward and be better prepared. Ms. Martin continued that on the website under the government tab, the public can find all kinds of information on tax assessment, tax claim, links to their online subscription sites, forms that are available for change of address and appeal forms, homestead forms, and facts and answers to questions. Commissioner Horst thanked Ms. Martin for the useful information. Ms. Martin continued that the office is very public facing and there is a lot of information and different aspects. There are 73,000 parcels and every bill that goes out, every or changed, every land use permit, it somehow can affect any one of those at any time. Commissioner Ziobrowski stated that they had a lot of questions because of those talk to the Commissioners about and therefore they have a great interest in the whole process of tax collection. Commissioner Horst asked one final question about the staffing in the office with the new software and if they are enjoying the change. The reason he wanted to ask is when you mention the word change everybody sort of cringes a little bit. Ms. Martin stated she has been pleasantly pleased with the new software and how the staff is grasping it. They started doing testing back in May and it has been a continual process of testing. There was something sent back to the vendor to be corrected and they will have a new layout she believes on July 30th. new software. Commissioner Horst stated that they always preach efficiencies and he thinks this one is a huge efficiency boost and he is excited to see it in full action. The meeting was adjourned at 11:23 a.m. on a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery. Carrie E. Gray County Administrator/Chief Clerk FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ____________________________________ Dean A. Horst, Chairman ____________________________________ John T. Flannery ___________________________________ Robert G. Ziobrowski