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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-08 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2021 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 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 John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. 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. The minutes of the December 1, 2021 meeting were reviewed. These will be decided upon in the afternoon approval session. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller asked for more information on item #6, the cost sharing agreement with Cumberland County. Kenana Korkutovic, Planner in the Planning Department explained that the bridge is on Stonewall Road and the county line is in the middle of the creek so both Cumberland and Franklin own the bridge. Cumberland is paying 100% of the replacement costs of the bridge and we only have to pay for right away costs which were $1 for the one and $298 for the other right of way. Ms. Gray explained that historically Cumberland County has taken responsibility for the bridge and we only realized recently that it was a joint effort. She continued that Cumberland County has always maintained and inspected the bridge but this management agreement would still let us have a seat at the table moving forward. The items will be decided upon in the afternoon approval session. Dr. George Pomeroy, professor, and Edward Schick, graduate student, both from Shippensburg University, presented an update on the Franklin County Housing and Inventory analysis. Steve Thomas, Planning Director, explained that when he was brought on board one of the items he was to look at was housing in Franklin County. Dr. Pomeroy explained the presentation included an overview of the project, including information sources, the selected and preliminary results by source/topic, some observations and next steps. Dr. Pomeroy explained that the overview will include the following: executive summary; community profile which is pertinent current and future socio-demographic conditions at the county and municipal level; housing inventory and market conditions where they selected ACS data and characteristics and analysis of the housing considerations from other sources; housing ecosystem where they conducted housing stakeholders and housing programming in Franklin County; and key person interviews; analysis / assessment / issues where they looked at leading issues, focused finding, and policy considerations and story map in cooperation with Kara Shindle in GIS to complement formal the report. He shared with the Board that they looked at several County specific information sources and provided more information on the sources. Dr. Pomeroy explained the Selected American Community Survey (ACS) items that included the following: 2015-2019 ACS data; over two dozen tables related to socio-demographics, households, and housing in hand and formatted. He provided notable numbers, observations, th growth (8 fastest since 2010; 155,932); municipal growth; the share of the population of 65+ increased by 3.6% between 2010 2019 and now is 1 out of 5 households; Hispanic / Latino population growing (4.3% , 6,438 people as per ACS; 6.9% / 10,764 as per census); disabled populations by type of disability, highlighting need for accessible units; female householders w/o spouse/partner (13,483, 22.3%), including those with children under 18 (2689, 4.4%); while the majority of housing units are owner occupied (73%), Continued on page 2 there is a substantial share of renter occupied units; the median value of housing in the county is around $187,500 ($191K for units w/ mortgage). Dr. Pomeroy provided a chart showing the market statistics for real estate sales from 2015-2020 that included units sold by type, average days on the market, type of financing and list vs. sale price. Mr. Schick explained the Franklin County Planning Subdivision Reports slide showing how lots have increased from 2016-2020. He also provided information on evictions in Franklin County and stated that Franklin County has a lower eviction rate than the state average and that there is a trend of decreasing rates and number of evictions in Franklin County. Dr. Pomeroy explained the burdened housing chart that shows that there is 22.8% of households with cost burdens and 10.8% with severe burdens. The next chart showed that overall there is a trend of increased rent from 2017-2021 in Cumberland and Washington Counties that are comparable to those of Franklin County. Dr. Pomeroy identified the key persons who were interviewed and their feedback as well as issues they identified which included affordable housing, workforce housing and homelessness. They also noted an increased cost of apartments; and distinctive populations with special needs that includes the Hispanic community and formerly incarcerated and those with mental health needs; non-local/absentee landlords. Some localized trends that were identified included: Significant housing needs; lack of section 8 complexes in Chambersburg and Waynesboro; communities that need 8-n and concerns for Emergency Rental Assistance turnaround time. Mr. Schick provided more information on additional feedback that included 84 students in the Chambersburg School District are homeless and that many families with children in the county are living in hotels. There is also education and the need to end stigma on affordable housing. He said there are supply chain issues that have compounded this along with labor shortage, especially low rates and stimulus monies since there are some people walking around with more money for housing. Dr. Pomeroy wanted to mention that there was a good spirit of cooperation among the key stakeholders and everyone they talked to was helpful and it was the strongest group of folks wanting to collaborate. Next steps include: Detailed narrative writing; compilation of housing resources; draft feedback from selected stakeholders and maps on the story map. Commissioner Ziobrowski said he was surprised to see that the population of 65+ has increased that much and asked if that is nationwide. Dr. Pomeroy responded that he will get more detail on that question. Steve Thomas responded that there is a national trend of younger professionals moving to southern states so the outflux of the younger population may be one of the reasons for the increased percent of the population who are 65+. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked about the census data related to the Hispanic Latino population and Dr. Pomeroy said there were some surprises with the data and since it was sampled during the pandemic that could be problematic but there could be other factors. Commissioner Flannery asked what the county should do with this information going forward. Ms. Gray responded that this is a baseline and intended to help with the strategic plan to see where housing needs to go and they hope to pull key stakeholders together. Dr. Pomeroy suggested this information will work well in the comprehensive plan. Mr. Thomas said this will fold into the comprehensive plan and lays the groundwork for the strategic housing plan and now that we have a housing program it will help with that also. Chairman Keller asked how the burdened housing statistics compare statewide and Dr. Pomeroy responded that Franklin County compares favorably and the state average is lower than the national average. Chairman Keller commented that this is an economic development issue and when employers move here and bring some of their employees from out of state they have a hard time finding housing in our area. If they are looking for more people to talk to he suggested Mike Ross can help or others in the area that may have faced challenges. Commissioner Ziobrowski suggested also talking to Sam Small who has been a local Realtor for many years who may have some insight. Mr. Thomas explained that they will bring a no cost contract extension to wrap up this project and he thanked Dr. Pomeroy and Mr. Schick for the continued volunteerism on the Planning Commission. The Board recessed and will reconvene at 2:00 p.m. for final approval of the items that were reviewed. The Board reconvened at 2:00 p.m. Continued on page 3 There was no public comment. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the minutes of the December 1, 2021 meeting. 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 #EC-027, EC-028 and EC-032 from Lobar, Inc. to install nine additional receptacles in the Judicial Center, as requested by Owner at the Judicial Center Project at a total cost of $2,924.80. The Board reviewed Department of Emergency Services matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute CPE Maintenance Quote from Lumen (CenturyLink) to provide maintenance coverage for the Cisco phones used at Emergency Services in the amount of $12,142.37, for the period of December 21, 2021 through December 20, 2022. The Board reviewed Information Technology Services matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the quote from Morefield Communications to pre-purchase an amount of block time from Morefield Communications which allows the County to use their services to troubleshoot and resolve Mitel Phone system troubles as well as advanced networking support in the amount of $15,000.00. By pre-paying we get their services at a discounted rate and can immediately ask them to support those systems. The Board reviewed additional Information Technology Services matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the quote from AccessIT Group for renewal of Check Point firewall support in the amount of $58,380.00. This provides protection at the internet gateway as well as functionality which includes VPN client access, Intrusion Detection and Prevention Services, and web filtering. The Board reviewed Jail matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the quote from Candoris to purchase for a new server to host body cams at the Jail in the amount of $18,389.60 for the period of December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2031. The purchase will meet the project's standards of: SQLCAL 2019 ENG OLP NL LCLGOV VLIC USRCAL, WIN SVR STD CORE and PowerEdge R740XD. The Board reviewed Planning matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the Bridge cost sharing agreement between the County of Franklin and County of Cumberland to identify Cumberland County as the entity with management responsibility. Franklin and Cumberland agree to pay 50% of management responsibility costs and to conduct a joint annual meeting to review management responsibilities. The Board reviewed additional Planning matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the reimbursement agreement between the County of Franklin and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation for Bridge 121 (Heisey Road) which current agreement is set to expire on 12/31/2021. There are still invoices that have not been received by the County; this is for a time extension until 06/30/2022. This extension has no associated cost. The construction for the bridge has been completed and the bridge is open to the public. The Board reviewed Property Management matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to provide preventative maintenance, licensing fees and water testing that is mandated by the Continued on page 4 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the amount of $1,468.95 at the Greencastle Senior Activity Center and to provide preventative maintenance, water treatment and sampling as well as licensing that is mandated by DEP in the amount of $3,155.88 at the Adult Probation Office. The contract period is for January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022. The Board reviewed additional Property Management matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to execute the renewal of the agreements between the County of Franklin and Diamond Automatic Sprinkler in the amount of $2,860.00 for the period of January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Diamond Automatic Sprinkler will provide annual Inspections of the Automatic Sprinkler Systems which will include the additional recommended backflow preventer tests at Department of Emergency Services, Archives and Administration Annex Building. The Board reviewed Tax Claim matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to accept a bid made by Cumberland Valley Investments, Inc. in the amount of $100.00 on the repository sale of a mobile home located in Hamilton Township. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Trinity Consultants notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection State Only Operating Permit Renewal Application being applied by Texas Eastern Transmission, LP Chambersburg Compressor Station located in the Borough of Chambersburg. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 2:06 p.m. this date for the purpose of reviewing pending litigation matters. Ms. Gray stated that action will be requested after the executive session. The Board reconvened into regular session at 2:30 p.m. approval by municipalities in regards to the national opioid litigation involving distributor manufacturing and Johnson & Johnson. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to move forward as Attorney Sulcove requested. The Board held a Retirement Board meeting. Lee Martin, Marquette Associates Managing Director, met with the Board to provide a report of the Franklin County Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Fund. The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. with a motion by John T. Flannery; seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski. Carrie E. Gray County Administrator/Chief Clerk FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ____________________________________ David S. Keller, Chairman ____________________________________ John T. Flannery ___________________________________ Robert G. Ziobrowski