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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-15 Commissioner Minutes WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 The Franklin County Commissioners met Wednesday, November 15, 2023, 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 Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. Kim Wertz from Chambersburg provided public comment and wanted to thank the Board of Commissioners since she is going to be chairing the Community Support Program this to be a co-chair but since coming here she has learned so much. Valarie Jordan from Fayetteville provided public comment and wanted to mention that last week Jean Byers allowed her to see the machine that does the mail-in ballots. She wanted to put it out there that mail-in ballots are safe. She mentioned that the Pennsylvania rule about electioneering being at least 10 feet away from the entrance of a polling place needs to change feet away. Ms. Jordan would like Dean and John to go back to Marlin Stouffer and make him stop since he was on the Since Marlin is an election denier they should invite him to visit and look at the machines. She also contacted the school superintendents to have seniors visit and see the machines. She told a story about Marlin that he asked her to try to stop someone from getting a grant. She stated that they should continue to do grants because they help people. She is still upset that Chambersburg School Board denied a grant for playground equipment because it was for the children. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved all bills presented including jail vouchers and ordered paid. The minutes of the November 8, 2023 meeting were reviewed. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the minutes. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Chairman Keller wanted to mention that the first board action item is time sensitive which is a resolution to declare a limited emergency in order to replace a chiller that is part of the HVAC system at the Jail life safety issue. They need to get that moving and defer on the normal bidding requirements. Carrie Gray, County Administrator, provided more information that the chiller is part of the original HVAC system that was installed when the Jail was built in 2007. As a 17 year old chiller the HVAC techs with Carter Goble Lee have said that it has had a good life since they normally run 10 years. We have been able to repair it for the past two years but unfortunately the issue this time is a bladder that is leaking on the roof and causing some deterioration of the membrane on the roof. The problem with the chiller has created an urgent situation. They wanted to bring this resolution before the board which, if they approve today, enables us to fix the HVAC system by replacing this chiller so that we can expedite the process and get the HVAC system running back to full capacity. Fortunately with the weather turning cooler we chiller but we still need to make sure we can get it up to full capacity and get repaired over the colder months so when the warmer months hit we will be good to go. Chairman Keller said this process is permitted by state law and he sees no reason to wait till this afternoon to approve it. If no other questions, he Continued on page 2 welcomes a motion to approve the resolution as presented. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked if the chiller is used primarily for air conditioning. Ms. Gray responded that it is used primarily for air conditioning but in warmer temperatures it also is used to cool some air for when the weather is warmer. He asked if there are instances that it is used in the winter time even in moderate weather when it gets humid to keep mold down. Ms. Gray responded that her understanding is it is used when the weather is warmer but she can get that answer for him. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked if we will be soliciting quotes from different vendors. Ms. Gray responded if they would like them to do that they can. He hopes they will get more than one quote. He said that at Prison Board yesterday the Warden mentioned that a chiller this size takes a year to get so they are looking to use a hybrid situation where they will be using four chillers and they would reach out to more than one vendor to get the best price. Chairman Keller said time is of the essence as long as soliciting multiple quotes is not going to delay it. He suggests if the items that we have to purchase are on the state contract that that would be a prudent alternative to seeking multiple bids. John Thierwechter, Assistant County Administrator, said that anytime the temperature hits 60 degrees that unit is functional and it is something that controls humidity in the facility so that is a very important factor as well. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that we are not going to wait till June although time is of the essence may be an overstatement since it Flannery stated at Prison Board yesterday when the chiller initially went out it was around the 60 degree mark because the Warden said that the condensation from the humidity did build on the concrete floors which causes a slippery situation and could cause some serious implications for the county. So if we get a warm spell here hopefully it does happen this year for our sake. Commissioner Ziobrowski said he hopes we hear from more than one vendor or at least have other options. Ms. Gray responded that we could do both and we can act post haste and make g at all and is there a backup. Ms. Gray responded that no there is no backup and Mr. Thierwechter -25% and there is not a backup. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved Resolution #2023-23 declaring a limited emergency in the Franklin County Jail with respect to a failed 250 ton McQuay Chiller. The remaining items will be decided upon in the afternoon session. The Board reviewed an appointment to the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to appoint DES Director Larry Glenn Holloway for a term of November 15, 2023 through December 31, 2026. Laura Burke, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross and Gloria Guba, Community Volunteer Leader, were present to provide an update on the activities of the Red Cross. Ms. Burke said she has eight counties in South Central Pennsylvania. She is delighted to be here to talk about the Red Cross today. She knows that they have given presentations in the past and she wanted to share some of the impacts that have happened over the past couple of months. Gloria Guba, a resident of Franklin County said she moved here in late 2012 and resides in Fayetteville. One of the first outreach actions she took when she moved here was to seek someone in leadership with the American Red Cross. She started with the Red Cross when she was very young and learned how to swim and eventually became a water safety instructor and lifeguard because of the American Red Cross and she owes them a lot. She works to support the mission of the Red Cross and the work of the Executive Director. Ms. Burke shared a presentation, which is attached to these minutes, to show the following impacts since July: They had three events in disaster response with supporting 12 individuals; 15 volunteers supporting their mission in the county and they would love to see growth here and anything the county or the commissioners could do to help get more volunteers since there are all sorts of opportunities for volunteers; they logged over 6,900 volunteer hours. Ninety percent of their workforce is volunteer, not just in disaster but in Continued on page 3 leadership opportunities, they support the military community and had 36 cases of service to armed forces; a big piece of their mission is blood collection where they collect 40% of the two seconds someone is in need of life saving blood. They collected 925 units of blood in the county. One unit of blood can be broken into three parts and support three patient lives. They would like to grow that number in Franklin County and have businesses host blood drives. Ms. Burke said that having a robust youth preparedness program where they are talking to children in an age appropriate way starting in kindergarten through college and to have programs tailored to each. Youth attend these programs and take the information home and talk to their grownup. This is an area that they really want to expand in Franklin County and educate youth about home fire safety, flood safety and any other hazard that they are susceptible to in their specific geography. They do this free of charge and have a opportunity to address a number of the following priorities that the organization has in our county: To expand Red Cross outreach and awareness; spreading the word about the face of the Red Cross before disasters or mass care is needed; recruiting additional volunteers is always important particularly in disaster response and when we need folks to help install smoke alarms and to do the work that clearly needs to be done. Her background is in public education so she would like more involvement in school personnel and the students; documenting blood donor collection centers that they do have and thinking of ways to enhance the number and diversity of those centers throughout the county; and finally participating in community events and being present there so folks see them and see what they have to offer. She shared what mber of resources they have for those folks who face disasters that are extremely traumatizing and reflect extreme loss to individuals which includes involvement from: The Franklin County Housing Authority, the Central Food Bank, the Borough of Greencastle, Habitat for Humanity, Waynesboro Community and Human Services, sustained to the extent they would like to see would be the school program in elementary schools where they go into the classroom and work with the children and their teachers, she would love to see this at the secondary schools and having Red Cross clubs there and mentor alarm installation is very important and in helping with this in the Borough of Chambersburg a couple of months ago she learned that she had multiple inoperable smoke alarms in her home. What we do can inform and enhance learning in terms of safety for self and for others. She Ziobrowski commented that when he was in the fifth grade he was a representative on the grade school Red Cross Board, he asked if they still have these groups. Laura responded that they have groups at the high school level but not at the fifth grade level. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked Gloria if where she lives in Fayetteville there are several attached units, he asked how she goes about telling her neighbors to change their smoke alarms. She explained that they have an individual that sends out mass mailings to all residents every Monday, but there is a lot of word of mouth, and spreading the word that they can come out with the help of the fire department and smoke detector installation. She stated that the partnership with the fire department in Chambersburg is outstanding. Commissioner Ziobrowski said that she Gloria responded that they provide a list of client resources that includes information on how the Red Cross can support them and how to recover and one of the documents is access to services with contacts of the Red Cross. They are there to respond to their needs. Flannery thanked both of them for coming in to gi a world without the Red Cross which is a testament to the great work that they do. On a personal note he will be talking to leaders in the community and the education field so that maybe he can get them to volunteer to help out. He will make a commitment to them that he will reach out and spread the word and spread the great message they brought here today. Chairman Keller said that getting out to the youth is a number one priority for him and getting Continued on page 4 into schools is a challenge due to them only having so much time for curriculum-related items and the extracurricular stuff is a tough nut to crack. Have they had any luck reaching out to Cub Scouts, Boy and Girl Scouts, 4H, or the Boys and Girls Club, where they may be looking for this type of programming? Laura said it does not necessarily have to be in the school district because there are only so many hours in a day for curriculum so they will reach out to those organizations and meet them where they are. Gloria said that the Salvation Army wants to start stepped up to want to volunteer and to be partners with them on a number of levels. 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 Jail matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and County of Lehigh for Lehigh County Jail to house Franklin County juvenile inmates at a cost of $150.00 per day per inmate for the period of November 15, 2023 through December 31, 2026. Lehigh County Jail is required to treat the Juvenile inmates as their own by providing housing, security, meals, healthcare and services comparable to services available at the Franklin County Jail. The County of Lehigh will abide by the state regulations of Title 37 and all PREA regulations. The County of Franklin will be responsible for all transportation requirements and all housing costs associated with housing a juvenile. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Manitowoc notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection NPDES permit being applied by Grove US LLC (Shady Grove PA Plant) for a discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity on property located in Antrim Township. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Darren Shenk DShenk Consulting, LLC notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection NPDES permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations being applied by Allen Rice, Dream Farms on property located in Newburg, PA. In accordance with PA Act notifications, Shippensburg Borough Authority notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Well 2 Groundwater Withdrawal renewal permit being applied for water to continue to be used for public water supply on property located in Shippensburg Borough. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 2:02 p.m. for the purpose of real estate matters. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved to reconvene into regular session at 2:14 p.m. Action may be required after the executive session. Chairman Keller said based on the conversation during the executive session there is a request for a motion to enter into a Letter of Intent for lease of property in the Borough of Chambersburg and he turned it over to Carrie Gray to provide the details. Ms. Gray explained that the property is at 630 Norland Avenue, Chambersburg owned by Brian Zohler for lease of space in the range of $16.70 to $17.10 per square feet. The annual escalation would be contingent upon the CPIU rate anywhere from 1-5%. The property is approximately 3,050 square feet. On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski, seconded by John T. Flannery; unanimously approved the Letter of Intent as outlined by Carrie Gray. Continued on page 5 The meeting was adjourned at 2:17 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 volunteers Youth Preparedness Education Smoke Alarm Installation Sickle Cell InitiativeExpand free Free Building and developing Grow shelter agreements To Learn More, Contact Laura Burke, Executive Director