HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-22 Commissioner Minutes
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2020
The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 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 Commissioners meeting was held remotely and everyone participated by
phone or video conferencing including commissioners, staff, public and press. The
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A roll call vote was taken and individuals participating in the meeting remotely
identified themselves.
Chairman Keller asked for approval of the agenda with modifications and asked
Carrie Gray, County Administrator, to explain the changes. Ms. Gray asked to revise the
agenda at 1:00 p.m. to insert an additional executive session to discuss potential
litigation and rearrange the agenda items after the approval of actions. On a motion by
John T. Flannery; seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to adopt
the amended agenda.
There was no public comment.
The minutes of the April 15, 2020 meeting were reviewed. These will be decided
upon in the afternoon approval session.
The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Ms. Gray provided
information on action item #6, revised quote from AllCom for video surveillance
equipment and that there was an error on the invoice so the amount changed. She
stated the amount of cameras did not change.
Mark Orndorff, County Solicitor, was present to request approval of action item
#1, settlement agreement with WASHCO Highlands. He explained that he previously
met with the Commissioners during an executive session and briefed them on the
settlement. Mr. Orndorff said that the Chambersburg Area School District gave their
approval so he is recommending the Commissioners approve the agreement. Board of
Commissioners approved settlement of the Appeal of Washco Highlands of Greenvillage
II, LLC, tax assessment appeal, No. 2012-4704. The property is located at 5219
Applecross Avenue, Chambersburg, PA. The original assessment is $517,520.00. On a
motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved
an assessment of $440,000.00. The settlement was previously approved by all parties
and interveners, including the taxpayer, Chambersburg Area School District, and
Franklin County Board of Assessment.
The Board recessed and will reconvene at 1:00 p.m. for final approval of the
items that were reviewed.
The Board reconvened at 1:00 p.m.
There was no public comment.
On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid.
On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved the minutes of the April 15, 2020 meeting.
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The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by John T.
Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of
the Board to execute change order #01 from Frank B. Lesher Co., Inc. to revise the
lighting fixture in corridor 113 from a type S to a smaller fixture and to also revise the
quantity from seven fixtures to nine, at a cost of $779.00, for the new Administration
Building.
The Board reviewed additional Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by
John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the
Chairman of the Board to execute change order #01 from Triad Engineering for
oversight of the removal of a 1,000 gallon heating oil tank at a cost of $2,772.28, for the
Franklin County Lincoln Way East Parking project.
The Board reviewed Fiscal matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded
by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the supplemental appropriation for
additional budget for the balance of the 2019-2020 Hazard Material Response Fund
(HMRF) grant. The HMRF grant was under-budgeted at the time of 2020 budget
preparation. Awarded funds must be expended by June 30, 2020. There is no cost to
the county for these grant funds.
The Board reviewed Grants matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery,
seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the grant request to PA
Department of Economic Development for South Central Community Action Program
(SCCAP) requesting $171,221 to provide Rapid Rehousing and Essential Services to
homeless households in Franklin County. Waynesboro Community and Human
Services (WCHS) is requesting $100,945 to provide Rapid Rehousing and Emergency
Shelter to homeless households in Franklin County. WCHS will also provide
Homelessness Prevention Services to Franklin County households to prevent homeless
situations for these households. Funding will also be used by each agency to input data
into the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) database as required
by the ESG grant. Each agency has applied for the 3.75% administrative cost allowed
by the grant. The ESG grant requires a dollar for dollar match, which is being provided
by the subrecipient agencies SCCAP and WCHS.
The Board reviewed Risk Management matters. On a motion by John T.
Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the revised quote
from AllCom Global Services for video surveillance equipment for the Archives Phase I
project for the installation of 17 interior and exterior cameras, for a cost of $28,718.02.
This will replace the quote approved on April 8, 2020.
The Board reviewed Tax Services matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery,
seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the request for exoneration
of taxes for Jeffery Adams due to a data entry error when preparing an interim bill.
In accordance with PA Act notifications, the Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources notified the County of their Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection Chapter 105 GP-11 Permit application for a footbridge
replacement project within Michaux State Forest, located in Quincy Township.
The Board reviewed information regarding Earth Day. Steve Thomas, Director of
Planning, explained that right now we are all in unprecedented times, even during these
ave across
the county. So on behalf of the Planning Department and Renfrew Institute they
appreciate the commissioners support for the Earth Day Proclamation for 2020. He
continued that the environmental protection of our resources across the county is one of
the key tenants of our comprehensive plan. It identifies sustaining open space and
historic resources across the county. Mr. Thomas continued that we have an active
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farmland protection program and partner with community organizations for forest and
stream preservation and find it valuable to guard our recreational and natural areas. He
tradition for the Board of Commissioners to present the proclamation at Renfrew Institute
can do it again this year. The Commissioners thank them for their efforts but if they can
express this small token of support by approving this proclamation they are happy to do
so. Commissioner Ziobrowski said he was a freshman in College in 1970 when the first
Earth Day was created and he is delighted to see the enthusiasm remains and
especially with a lot of our younger folks having an even greater enthusiasm for
environmental issues so he fully supports the proclamation. On a motion by John T.
Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to sign Franklin
County Proclamation #2020-04 proclaiming April 22, 2020 as Earth Day in Franklin
County and that the attached proclamation be made a part of these minutes.
On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 1:14 p.m. this date for the
purpose to review personnel and potential litigation matters. Ms. Gray announced that
action may be required for the potential litigation discussion. The Board reconvened into
regular session at 2:09 p.m.
Chairman Keller said that last week the Board discussed delaying the deadlines
related to county property tax payments. Staff and the solicitor prepared a resolution for
their consideration but the Board decided to delay a decision until the Governor signed a
bill that the PA Legislature unanimously passed last week. The resolution is to extend
the discount period for Franklin County property and library taxes through August 31,
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2020, the face period would be September 1 to October 31 and the penalty period of
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10% would be November 1 through December 31, 2020. This is consistent with
legislation that was passed by both PA legislature and signed yesterday by the
Governor. He believes the resolution is consistent with the law and the intent of the
legislation and the governor as worded matches with guidance they gave to staff and the
solicitor last week and takes advantage of the authority that the legislature and the
governor has given us to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus on our
community and our economy as much as reasonably possible to the extent it could be
done by deferring property tax deadlines. He is in favor of the resolution and invites a
motion to adopt the resolution today. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by
Robert G. Ziobrowski; with the following comments: He is in favor of allowing additional
time for individuals and businesses to adjust financially to the coronavirus. He is in favor
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of delaying the due date for the face amount until October 31. Municipalities will have
sufficient time to decide whether to support the extension and inform taxpayers.
Commissioner Ziobrowski continued that adjusting the discount period will cause
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townships to have to call special meetings prior to April 30 if they wish to extend the
discount, or have bifurcated payment if they don't. This will cause confusion to the
taxpayers, and additional expenses to the county in the form of notices of underpayment
or overpayment. He continued that 85% of taxpayers paid during the discount period in
2019. This year's collections are running similar to 2019 (likely many are due to
automatic mortgage escrow payments). We use $150,000 as the average value of real
estate when computing impact. A person with an assessment based on $150,000 will
save $10.13 in discount. A commercial or industrial taxpayer with a $1 million dollar real
estate value will save $68.59. In his opinion these amounts do not justify the additional
confusion and/or expense associated with changing the discount period. In summary,
he thinks extra time to pay taxes is very important to taxpayers. Extra time for a 2%
discount has little impact on their fiscal situation and could be problematic for
municipalities and tax collection. Commissioner Flannery said that anything we can do
at this point to help our taxpayers is essential during this virus. There are many people
suffering right now. He supports extending the discount to allow our taxpayers that extra
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time and for those unemployed should do everything we can to help our taxpayers. He
supports moving forward with what was proposed. Chairman Keller responded that this
may not be something the majority of all taxpayers take advantage of but it will help a
significant number of them and he agrees with Commissioner Flannery that we need to
do everything we can to help our residents. He acknowledges the potential
complications that were raised by tax collectors and municipalities that Commissioner
Ziobrowski raised and those complications can transpire but he believes they are
manageable. We should be reminded that this is likely to be a one-time proposition and
next year we will be back to normal as far as tax collections. He is still in favor of moving
forward. Chairman Keller thanked the staff and county solicitor for their work on
developing this resolution. Commissioners Keller and Flannery voted yay and
Commissioner Ziobrowski voted nay. Resolution #2020-05 was adopted and that the
attached resolution be made a part of these minutes.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. with a motion by John T. Flannery;
seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski.
Carrie E. Gray
County Administrator/Chief Clerk
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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David S. Keller, Chairman
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John T. Flannery
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Robert G. Ziobrowski