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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-26 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2022 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, October 26, 2022, 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. Kim Wertz from Chambersburg, provided public comment and asked for more information on board action item #3, application for 2022 Community Development Block Grant application. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid. The minutes of the October 19, 2022 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the minutes. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller asked Carrie Gray, County Administrator, to provide information on the item mentioned during public comment. Ms. Gray explained that the certification, language access plan and disclosure report are required as part of what the County needs to provide to PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) in order for us to apply for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Cody Barnhart, Planner III, explained further that those are technical documents from DCED that are submitted and signed on an annual basis for the CDBG program applications. The documents provide an overview of the requirements from the County that this information is correct to the best of our knowledge. It also includes documents specific to each municipal project from the municipality. Ms. Gray explained that she is familiar with the language access plan: ifa certain percentage of the population speaks a language other than English then we are required to provide information in that language. Commissioner Flannery asked for more information of action item #1, proposal from Newcomer and Associates. Ms. Gray explained that they will provide architectural and engineering services to move Magisterial art of the Court Facility Improvement Project and the plan is to relocate his office to Loudon Street, which is currently leased to the County for the Community Connections Division which would remain in the building also. This location was approved by the President Judge and the MDJ. This proposal is moving forward with developing specifications and construction documents for the landlord to consider the renovations that would be required in order to house the MDJ office on Loudon Street. A lease proposal will be developed for the board to consider. This approach is s. Gray mentioned. If the Board agrees to the lease terms, then the landlord would complete the architectural and engineering services done that the landlord would change his mind because process. Chairman Keller stated that for additional background MDJ Manns is currently in the Old Sears Building, 218 N. Second Street, and the reason we are finding a new home for that office is because when the land development plan for the Administration building was approved, Continued on page 2 one of the requirements or the stipulations that the Borough gave was that in order to satisfy onsite parking requirements the 218 building would need to be demolished and replaced with parking. One option was to relocate MDJ Manns to the Courthouse Annex after it was renovated but it was determined that there is not enough room with the other court related offices that needed to go in there. The items will be decided upon in the afternoon session. This is the date for the Board to provide guidance and direction to staff on the 2023 preliminary budget that was presented to them last Wednesday by Teresa Beckner, Fiscal Director. Chairman Keller asked Ms. Beckner if there have been any changes from last week or if she has any follow up guidance. Ms. Beckner responded that there have been no changes in terms of what was presented last week. The presentation related to what the budget would cost the county if all requests from the departments were approved by the Board. The impact to the General Fund which takes care of all operations also considering t the county share from those not fully funded by outside sources do flow through to the General Fund showed a net impact to the General Fund of roughly $11 million of additional revenue that we would need. Fiscal staff is in the process of going through individual budgets and looking for additional revenue and just waiting for final direction from the Board. Chairman Keller said the past guidance has addressed whether or not a tax increase is necessary but in his view there should be no tax increase this year. He thinks we can balance the budget with prudent use of savings from this year as well as reserves and unique this year is the availability of American Recovery Plan Act funding. Out of the $30 million allocated to Franklin County $20 million is available to us for county purposes. So his recommendation is that we take a look at capital and personnel expansion requests and as always, dwindle it down to what is timely and appropriate and utilize savings from this year in General Fund reserves and as well as American Recovery Plan Act dollars to the extent that we need to supplement the budget. We still have funds 40 & 41 to utilize. Fund 40 is for facility related improvements and fund 41 is for other capital equipment needs that can include computers and vehicles. Given the amount of American Recovery Plan Act funds available, we should not have to substantially tap into funds 40 and 41. The General Fund should be the fund of last resort. We have budgeted to use between $3 and 4 million of General Fund reserves over the past several years. He continued that with recovery plan dollars we do not need to use General Fund dollars to that extent, if at all. This is his suggested approach. Commissioner Flannery said most people know where he stands when you say discuss he every leader in the county to do the best they can. This is the wish list and he kindly asks that we try to sharpen our pencils a little bit as Chairman Keller suggested other ways we can address the deficit. Commissioner Ziobrowski agrees with his colleagues but his only request is that we make sure our employees are taken care of since they are seeing higher prices with n on their pay structure but he wants them to keep in mind that those employees are the reason they are so successful. Chairman Keller stated that the budget that will come back to them in a few weeks will reflect a no cost increase in medical health care -funded plan a couple years ago which is helping to make ends meet. We switched to a health savings account structure and lastly the wellness program that we revised a few years ago has been embraced by employees as well and has helped us avoid what other counties are seeing in terms of health care cost increases and for the second year in a row we have a zero increase. Our Human Resources team, County Administration, Fiscal and most importantly our employees have all worked together. They will look for Ms. Beckner to come back in a few weeks with a preliminary budget for formal consideration. Continued on page 3 On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 11:28 a.m. for the purpose of reviewing potential litigation and real estate matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to reconvene into regular session at 12:09 p.m. No action was required after the executive session. 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. There was no public comment. The Board reviewed Commissioners Office matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the proposal from Newcomer Associates for architectural and engineering services for the MDJ Manns Loudon Street building renovation for a maximum amount of $97,500.00. The Board reviewed Department of Emergency Services matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the motion to approve the grant agreement between the County of Franklin and PA Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for the Hazardous Materials Preparedness (HMEP) Grant Program in the amount of $11,706.00, for a grant term of October 1, 2022 through October 30, 2025. This multi-year grant has three performance periods: October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023, October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024 and October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. The Board reviewed Planning Office matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved Resolution #2022-29, General Application Certification, Language Access Plan Certification, and Disclosure Report for the Fiscal Year 2022 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, along with other required documentation to the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for funding during the upcoming fiscal year. The Board reviewed additional Planning 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 grant application to the PA Department of Environmental Protection requesting $201,897.15 for the 2023 Mosquito and Tick Borne Disease Control grant. 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 execute the quote from Shank's Lawn Equipment LLC to purchase an Exmark Lawn mower at a cost of $13,962.30. Requests for quotes were obtained with only one response received. This company is on the Costars contract listing. The current mower has reached its life expectancy current mower in trade for $800 off the original price of the new mower reflected in the price above. The Board reviewed Tax Claim matters. On a motion by John T. Flannery, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to accept the bid made by Charles E. Manahan, II in the amount of $500.00 on the repository sale of a mobile home located in Washington Township. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Century Engineering notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Public Drinking Water Permit Application being applied by Indian Lake Camp Corporation for the installation of Iron and Manganese treatment on property located in Metal Township. Continued on page 4 In accordance with PA Act notifications, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection General Permit Application being applied by the Borough of Chambersburg for an in-stream habitat project (GP-1) along the Falling Spring Branch located in the Borough of Chambersburg. The meeting was adjourned at 2:07 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