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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-06 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, May 6, 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. away this past Monday. Mr. Shank is the father of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge and prior County Solicitor Mary Beth Shank. He was a great husband, father, Republican, public servant and personal friend. His work as tax collector of the Borough of Chambersburg for many years and his friendship and work in the community will not be forgotten, he will be missed greatly. The Commissioners will more formally memorialize Buzz in the near future but in the meantime our prayers and condolences go out to his family and friends and he asks that everyone join them for a moment of silence in remembering him. The Commissioners meeting was held remotely and everyone participated by phone or video conferencing including commissioners, staff, public and press. The A roll call vote was taken and individuals participating in the meeting remotely identified themselves. Carrie Gray, County Administrator, asked to amend the agenda to include an change policy for the rate of pay offer for the candidate of the Drug & Alcohol Administrator position. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to adopt the amended agenda. Chairman Keller reported that the Commissioners have received two public comments from the recently instituted public comment form that the Board implemented last week. Nancy Seiders from Guilford Township asked for the weeds to be cut along our Franklin Farm Lane property and also asked for some frequency of land surveyors occurring on Franklin Farm Lane. Marian Quinn from St. Thomas Township asked the Board to urge the governor to look at getting Pennsylvania moving again on a county-by- county basis as opposed to a regional approach. He will follow up at a subsequent meeting with responses to both of those comments. There was no public comment. The minutes of the April 29, 2020 meeting were reviewed. These will be decided upon in the afternoon approval session. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller asked Carrie Gray to provide more information on the change orders with Lobar and the grant applications for the Commonwealth for election-related expenses. Ms. Gray turned it over to John Hart, Project Manager, to explain the change orders from Lobar that have four different pieces to it. Mr. Hart acknowledged Loretta McClure, Risk Manager, who is heading up the security and access part of the change order for the door hardware changes that result in a substantial decrease. Ms. McClure explained the decision to move from a traditional electronic access system to new technology that involves power over ethernet. Through a team approach, Allcom Global Services, ASSA dware and supply worked with Risk Management to convert the original door hardware specifications to the new ASSA Abloy POE system. She continued that by doing this the County is able to realize a savings by eliminating Continued on page 2 most card readers on the walls, electronic controllers in the mechanical closets, and simplify preventive maintenance. The security access card readers will now be a part of the door lever, the secure doors are controlled through data cables and switches vs the electronic controllers. We are also able to anticipate a long term savings in utility savings since this system will use much less electricity then the traditional system. Mr. eels this is a good approach and it will be easy to maintain and easy to control. Mr. Hart explained the other parts of the change order that include revisions to the cold formed metal framing that will hold the glass in the main entrance area; add chases for conduit, electric and data along the elevator shaft and cleaning up all the overexcavation downtown with unsuitable soil, rock or anything that was there before they poured the footers. Mr. Hart did some math this morning that we are at less than one half percent of change orders for the general contractor for the new courthouse project. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked how much time we have lost and overall impact on the entire project. Mr. Hart responded that we lost roughly 30 days depending on when they got back on site. As far as completion date, he is still pushing to end August 2021 date for completion of new courthouse and October 2020 date for completion of Administration building. He compliments the contractors for getting back up and running. Rain has been the main issue that may put some delayed days in but they will keep working to stay on schedule. Jean Byers, Deputy Chief Clerk, explained the two election grants from the Pennsylvania Department of State that Congress has made available to Pennsylvania. For the election security grant we are to receive $77,000 for expenditures from December 2019 up through December 2022, which is a multi- year grant. She continued that we will use this grant to pay for the central scanner that we recently purchased that was almost $55,000. She is also looking to use the funds to help pay for a server that will help with election night results and for a high speed letter opener to open up the envelopes of the absentee ballots we have been receiving. The next grant is specifically related to expenses that arose due to COVID-19 in the amount of $66,000 that we need to spend by the end of this year. She is planning to use this for personal protective equipment for pollworkers and temporary employees working in Voter Registration that are helping with receiving all the mail in ballots. She also purchased table top dividers to spread voters out and some other supplies. The goal is to look at each grant and try to be smart on what we are using the funds for so we can take full advantage of the grants. The items will be approved in the afternoon approval session. 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 29, 2020 meeting. The Board reviewed Aging Office matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the application to the Department of Agriculture to renew the period of June 4, 2020 through June 3, 2021. The license is required in order for the center to serve congregate and home delivered meals. Continued on page 3 The Board reviewed Children & Youth matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the updated contract listing for all contracts and addendums for Fiscal Year 2019/2020 for the Children & Youth department. 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 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 #15 from Lobar, Inc. for the New and Historic Courthouse project for a decreased amount of $119,665.09. This change order includes revisions to the cold formed metal framing for an additional amount of $19,802.57; door hardware changes to ASSA Abloy for a decreased amount of $150,628.24; add chases for an additional amount of $3,515.97; and over excavate unsuitable soil for an additional amount of $7,644.61. The Board reviewed Elections matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the Notice of Intent to the Pennsylvania Department of State to request and accept grant funds in the amount of $76,896.09 for reimbursement for purchases related to Act 77 such as; a high speed central scanner, letter opener and cardboard table top privacy dividers. Purchases must be made between December 21, 2019 and December 31, 2022. The Board reviewed additional Elections matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the Notice of Intent to the Pennsylvania Department of State to request and receive funds in the amount of $65,893.25 for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to seek reimbursement for purchases related to personal protective equipment, including but not limited to, safety supplies for pollworkers and increased staffing. The Board reviewed Human Services Block Grant matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the revision to the PA Dept. of Human Services, Bureau of Financial Operations Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Human Services Block Grant annual report of income and expenditures to add additional footnotes to the PATH portion of the report. There were no changes to the original numbers reported. The Board reviewed Tax Claim matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the approval to accept a bid on the repository list made by Shane Cisney in the amount of $100.00 to purchase a mobile home located on Mickey Inn Road, Chambersburg. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Dominion Energy Services, Inc. notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection General Renewal Permit being applied for the Chambersburg Compressor Station, located in the Borough of Chambersburg. The Board met with Tiffany Bloyer, Human Resources Director and the Controller Harold Wissinger for Salary Board matters. Also in attendance was Stacie Horvath, Human Services Administrator, Ashley McCullough, Aging Care Manager III and Doug Amsley, Director, Franklin County Children & Youth Services. Continued on page 4 The Board reviewed Personnel matters. Ms. Gray and Stacie Horvath explained the reason for the revised position description and that the prior revision date for this position description was 2000 so some changes were needed to make the job description more up to date with the current duties of the position. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the revised position description for Director, Area Agency on Aging. The Board reviewed information regarding Mental Health Month. Cori Seilhamer, Program Specialist in Mental Health/Intellectual Development Disabilities explained that today is also National Nurses Week and next week is National Law Enforcement Week so she would like everyone to keep them in mind also. She explained that we need to keep ourselves mentally and physically healthy. We also need to keep in mind all the aging population and youth that have missed lots of milestones. The seniors that have missed out on their senior events for their senior year as well as those of us working and those of us not working. She feels the anxiety and fear that lives inside all of us will come out very strong in the next several months. Ms. Seilhamer said their jobs are not only to continue to provide services to those that have serious mental illness needs as well as everyone out there in the community that needs help. We need to look out for each other and take care of each other. She thanked the Commissioners for remembering Mental Health Month. Stacey Brookens, MH/IDD/EI Administrator said she echoes everything Cori mentioned about the importance of mental health care especially at this time right now when all our family and friends are dealing with a global pandemic that no one was prepared for and the uncertainty in what the next few weeks and months will hold that may increase mental health pressures for many people. She continued that this pandemic has put more intense stress that we are all trying to deal with, the worry of health for themselves and for their loved ones, fear of financial hardship, loneliness and growing depression so we need to be advocates for those individuals if anyone sees someone in need to reach out to them and support them the best we can. Ms. Brookens provided statistics that 1 in 5 adults in America experience mental illness and 1 in 20 adults in America live with a serious mental illness. 76% of Americans think that mental health is just as important as their physical health but yet 52% of Americans tried to grin and bear it instead of seeing a doctor when they as much as possible and reach out to those individuals that are in need. Jim Gilbert, Mental Health Program Specialist wanted to mention the community providers whom have developed collaborative ventures and working together and commend them for their willingness to think outside the box and be willing to do things creatively so the and especially Stacey and Erin during this time. Dr. Sheri Morgan, Epidemiologist at Mental Health Association of Franklin & Fulton Counties explained that the Mental Health Association during outreach always asks their clients and any people in the community checking on their mental health. They are hearing lately that their clients are having difficulty accessing their medications and groceries. Some are having difficulty doing their therapy virtually or online. Some are having paranoia or panic attacks or nature of their disease they are having a hard time doing therapy over the phone. She wanted to mention how Carrie Gray helped her locate masks for their clients and she did it in as swift way possible. She wanted to acknowledge the Franklin County Commissioners, Emergency Management, David Sense from Chambersburg and Carrie Gray for going out of their way and meeting the needs of their clients. Stacie Horvath, Human Services Administrator asked for contact numbers that can be provided for anyone that needs help at this time. The following numbers were provided: National Suicide prevention hotline 1-800-273-8255; Mental Health Association helpline available every day from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM is 717-264-2916; and the local crisis number is 717-264-2555. Ms. Horvath thanked the county for offering all employees the EAP program for all that need to talk. There are many staff putting in many many hours and Continued on page 5 more folks are exhausted and trying to serve the public. She thanked the County for having this program available. Chairman Keller read the proclamation. Commissioner Ziobrowski complimented the staff and that we have an extraordinary team who have stepped up during this crisis and complement Dr. Morgan as an Epidemiologist brings a special perspective to this whole crisis and dealing with the mental health issues. He thanked everyone for the great work they are doing. Commissioner Flannery thanked everyone and appreciates all the work they all are doing. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to sign Franklin County Proclamation #2020-05 proclaiming the month of May as Mental Health month and that the attached proclamation be made a part of these minutes. The meeting was adjourned at 1:46 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