HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-20 Commissioner Minutes THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016
The Franklin County Commissioners met Thursday, October 20, 2016, with the
following members present: David S. Keller, Robert L. Thomas 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.
On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved to adopt the agenda.
There was no public comment.
On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid.
On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved the minutes of the October 11, 2016 and October 13, 2016
meetings.
The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by Robert L.
Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the renewal
proposal between the County of Franklin and The Zigmund Co. Ltd., for insurance
consulting services which remain the same as 2016: $5,000.00 charged annually, plus
an hourly fee of$100.00 for consultation and $50.00 for clerical support time; federal
mileage rate per travel mile, and other expenses incurred, if any, for the period of
November 1, 2016 through October 31, 2017.
The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by
Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the
Change Order for the 2016 Bridge Maintenance Program agreement between the
County of Franklin and Lobar Associates, Inc. to increase the contract cost
by $12,3900.00. Significant repairs are required on the deck surface of Bridge#113, due
to defects that were not visible until the removal of the bridge surface material. All other
terms and conditions of the original agreement will remain in full force and effect.
The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by
Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the
Franklin County Records Improvement Committee recommendation to provide funding
for a vendor to scan in the backlog of Clerk of Court paper documents. This approval
will also include the purchase of a large format scanner/printer and related computer.
The Board reviewed Emergency Services matters. On a motion by Robert L.
Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of
the Board to execute the contract between the County of Franklin and Department of
Public Safety Training and Certification of Bucks County Community College to provide
a maximum of 200 hours of onsite, non-certification, training courses at Franklin County
Department of Emergency Services for the calendar year of 2017, at a cost of
$1,200.00. Provides DES and local responders with national and state level fire, rescue,
emergency medical and hazardous materials training. Students are responsible for
required manuals; DES provides required equipment, expendable items and the
classroom for hands-on sessions. The Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness
Grant will cover the cost.
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The Board reviewed Jail matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded
by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the quote from Stanley Convergent
Security Solutions, Inc. for the purchase of four additional fixed cameras to satisfy the
2016 PREA Audit compliance requirements, at a cost of$17,290.00. Quote also
includes installation, programming and warranty. Installation must be completed by
December 31, 2016. This is a proprietary system. Company is on State contract.
The Board reviewed Information Technology Services matters. On a motion by
Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the
Chairman of the Board to execute the renewal agreement between the County of
Franklin and Gettle, Inc., to provide emergency support for the fiber network and
wireless airfiber connections at a cost of$2,390.00, for the period of October 10, 2016
through October 9, 2017. This agreement also includes 4-hour response time in the
event of an emergency, as well as an annual inspection of current equipment.
The Board reviewed Property Management matters. On a motion by Robert L.
Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of
the Board to execute the proposal from Andoco, Inc. dba CVR Rentals to provide
biweekly mat cleaning service for the tenant entrance of the Commissioners Complex at
a cost of$572.00, for the period of January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017.
The Board reviewed additional Property Management matters. On a motion by
Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the
agreement between the County of Franklin and RA Hill General Contractor to provide
excessive snow removal at the Courthouse complex, Franklin Farm Lane and the
Administrative Annex on an as needed basis at an estimated cost of $1,500.00, for the
period of January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. Daily rates and premium rates
are based on the type of equipment used for a specific job.
The Board reviewed Risk Management matters. On a motion by Robert L.
Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the Business
Associate Agreement between the County of Franklin and Tuscarora Managed Care
Alliance to cover services the County provides to Tuscarora Managed Care Alliance.
The Archives department will be scanning medical records from a TMCA provider that is
no longer in business.
In accordance with PA Acts 14, 67, 68 and 127 notifications, Shelly, Witter & Fox
notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection NPDES
Permit application being applied by John & Jacqueline Marquiss for the construction of
single family dwelling, driveways and stormwater management, located in Antrim
Township.
In accordance with PA Acts 14, 67, 68 and 127 notifications, Red Barn notified
the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection NPDES CAFO
Permit application being applied by Tuscarora Farms, LLC for a swine operation located
in Willow Hill.
In accordance with PA Acts 14, 67, 68 and 127 notifications, ECS Mid-Atlantic,
LLC notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Joint
Permit application being applied by Walmart Stores East, LP for a proposed Walmart in
Hamilton Township.
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In accordance with PA Acts 14, 67, 68 and 127 notifications, William A. Brindle
Associates, Inc. notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection NPDES Permit application being applied by Delvin R. Zullinger for an
additional chicken house and a relocation and expansion of the PCSM controls, located
in Letterkenny Township.
Teresa Beckner, Fiscal Director, presented the 2017 preliminary budget to the
Board. Ms. Beckner informed the Board this budget is an all request budget and
includes all requests submitted. She said it is still in the early stages of the process but
this is the opportunity for the Board to see where we are right now. She reviewed and
explained the revenues and expense line items. Ms. Beckner said the all services and
operations total for revenue is $102.9 million and expenses is $104.6 million. There
were a total of 17 full time positions and 2 part time positions requested in this budget.
She said general fund makes up 12 full-time and 1 part-time of the positions requested.
Ms. Beckner explained the general fund 2016 year-end projected expenses and revenue
compared to 2017 requests. She explained the 2017 requested budget includes health
insurance, which is in the process of being finalized, and assumes a 5.5% increase to
the county's cost. The overall increase in needs for county contribution to human
services, HazMat and Domestic Relations is $671,000 or 15.4 %. The most significant
areas of increase were in Human Services with an increase of$615,000 or 23.7% and
the majority of this is in Children and Youth Services due to an increase in services.
Domestic Relations increase is $24,000 or 3.6%. Ms. Beckner explained that we started
2016 with just over$12 million in unrestricted reserves and that the recommended
reserve balance based on 2016 projected actual spending is 60-90 days of general fund
cash requirements which would range from $7.2 million to $10.9 million.
John Hart, County Administrator, said that Teresa Beckner provided a good
overview but he wants to hit the high points. He explained that many of the requests are
efficiency initiatives where we have spent a fair amount of time in the last five to six
years on. Mr. Hart mentioned the following initiatives: Scanning projects; upgrades to
our infrastructure; workflow processes; caseworkers taking IPads in the field to complete
paperwork; P2P which is vendor management and electronic bidding initiatives; logic
models, need to be setting goals and objectives for operations and measure them and
look at their results; Children & Youth paper on demand project; assessors taking IPads
or devices in the field to do assessments; establishing another computer center at 911
center as a backup in case anything goes down; evidence based practices and initiatives
in Human Services to make sure the programs are providing good results for
consumers; and there are roadmap initiatives. Mr. Hart said he is proud of our
managers and proud of Franklin County. He said there are $6 M worth of increases in
this budget and staff has already started looking at processes now. We will ask for cost
analysis for requested positions to be sure they are needed for essential functions. He
asked the Board to review the information provided and provide general guidance at the
next board meeting on October 25th. Once staff receives direction from the board, they
will dig deeper into the budget process.
Chairman Keller said he appreciates all the work that has been done at this point
and Mr. Hart hit it on the head when he said we need to establish priorities. He said
year after year, personnel requests and capital requests are all legitimate and if we have
the resources, they could all be funded but that's not the case. The Board will say yes to
some things and no to a majority of requests but from his point of view, some priorities
will be to continue to look at the criminal justice realm and Human Services and make
progress with the current jail population, along with the heroin epidemic and issues that
go along with that. Information technology and using GIS to see where hotspots are with
substance abuse issues so information technology is key. He wants to continue to look
at continuity of operations. He said, as always, we have to find a balance and can't
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forget about quality of life. We need to continue with what we are doing in the Planning
Office and working with FCADC and the Chambers on economic development and at the
same time make our community a great place to work and play. Quality of life and
economic development initiatives are inter-related. These are some of the issues that
bubble up for him when he is reviewing the budget. Chairman Keller said we do need to
live within our means and his goal is to try to continue to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of government and customer service while at the same time trying to avoid a
tax increase.
Commissioner Thomas mentioned some of the initiatives that he and Ms. Gray
are working on together that include Data Driven Justice. He said there are challenges
with integrating services but we need to treat the whole person. He learned the other
day that there are chronically unemployed people that we need to teach them new skills
but also need to get inside their minds. This is a different behavior and it will work better
and make job training better but some programs don't provide that piece of the puzzle.
He said early intervention or diversion of mental health folks in the justice system, it's
better to get them help at the beginning with other types of care. The reality is we need
to look more at evidence based initiatives. Commissioner Thomas said he didn't hear
anything he didn't agree with in what Chairman Keller said.
Chairman Keller said the board will review the requests and provide guidance to
staff next Tuesday.
On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 10:26 a.m. this date for the
purpose to review Personnel matters. No action will be required after executive session.
The Board reconvened into regular session at 10:46 a.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 a.m. with a motion by Robert L. Thomas;
seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski.
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS