HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-23 Commissioner Minutes
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012
The Franklin County Commissioners met Tuesday, October 23, 2012, with the
following members present: David S. Keller, Robert L. Thomas 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.
On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by Robert L. Thomas;
unanimously approved to adopt the agenda.
There was no public comment.
The minutes of October 16, 2012 and October 18, 2012 meetings were reviewed.
These will be approved Thursday, October 25, 2012.
The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. Sean Crager, Chief
Information Officer was present to explain board action #3, an agreement with the
Borough of Chambersburg to utilize a fiber optic network. Mr. Crager explained the
reason for this agreement and the need to do this now. This will move the County from
a microwave network at 100 Meg network to 10 gigabytes network which is 100 times
more bandwidth. He said this will support the County’s IT initiatives and the benefits will
come from productivity, increase data security and backups, greater data sharing and
this will get us caught up to everyone else in the world. After Mr. Crager answered a
few questions from the Board, Chairman Keller said this agreement will be approved on
Thursday. The board action items will be approved Thursday, October 25, 2012.
Richard Wynn, Human Services Administrator met with the Board for the Human
Services Block Grant Public Hearing. Mr. Wynn wanted to mention that this week is Red
Ribbon Week and there are staff along with Special Agent Mr. LeCardre educating
students in local schools about drug and alcohol abuse. Mr. Wynn reported the
timelines were very constrictive as it was less than a month ago we were told we were
selected as a pilot block grant county and we only have till October 31, 2012 to submit
the final plan. Due to this we did not have time to have an ideal process. Twenty
counties were accepted out of thirty that applied. He said two public hearings were
th
scheduled for today and next Tuesday, October 30. Mr. Wynn explained why Franklin
County applied: we must be more efficient than most other counties due to serious
m
under capitated funding; ore flexibility to adjust throughout the fiscal year; retain up to
3% of any unspent funds; we can better determine the best place to spend our limited
dollars than Harrisburg would; both Franklin and Fulton County already have integrated
Human Service structures in place; we can in future years do local planning to apply
funds where most needed; this process allows us to assess current services, determine
what services are most effective and address gaps; we can deliver services in new
integrated ways that get more “bang for the buck” versus current state determined/over-
regulated methods; and the state reporting will now be streamlined. The Planning
Committee was selected from advisory board members, community members, and staff
and they have met two times. The Planning Committee is recommending that six of the
seven funds receive at least 100% of their original allocation. Act 152 was reduced by
20% or $37,960 to be reallocated to Human Services Development Fund and the
Housing Assistance Program. Mr. Wynn said future plans will include the following:
broader constituency to include consumer representation; the process will be ongoing,
reviewing budget performance throughout the year and at year end; the Block Grant plan
can be revised throughout the year as circumstances present themselves; and the
committee will decide what measurements will be needed to add to current data to help
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make difficult allocation decisions. Commissioner Thomas said the committee is
recommending doing nothing except one fund that doesn’t get spent anyway and moving
to an area where there is a need. Previously any money left over would go back to the
state but now 3% can be retained instead of going back to Philadelphia. After a brief
question and answer from the Board, Chairman Keller said that no decisions are going
to be made between now and next Tuesday so now is the opportunity to share
comments, questions or concerns.
Alicia Kanelopoulos, PA Mental Health Consumer Association asked why there
were no consumers on the committee. Everyone on the committee were with the
advisory board or agencies, why? Mr. Wynn responded timeframe was so short that he
didn’t have time to have a meaningful long process that could include all people that
should have been included, he only had a couple weeks to pull this off. Commissioner
Thomas said that from this point forward there will be representation.
Sherri Morgan said that we knew this since early spring and the time constraints
are ridiculous. County is to include people with disabilities in this process and to have a
meeting without including this if it’s important people will come. Ms. Morgan asked if
they can provide written testimony and the response was yes they can. She spoke to
Todd Rock about this and he was against the block grant but he was asked by the
County Commissioners to go along with this. He heard from family members that did not
want in the block grant. Since 1940 family members were not receiving the funds that
were needed. There is a lack of leadership and it’s a little late now to get a delegation to
go to Harrisburg. Where was this years ago or in the spring when had Todd Rock who
was willing to help get away from the block grant.
Charlie Morgan said forgot to ask us, thank you.
Commissioner Thomas said the process requires two public hearings to get input
on the way may change this process. Have not heard anything about the change, if they
don’t agree they should not keep spending it in the silo then they should speak up.
Sheri Morgan said the public hearings are at 10:00 AM on Tuesday mornings
and the Board is clueless that most people can’t be here at those times. Plus the
presentation is not given at a lower level literacy which is a requirement.
Terry McCarthy asked if the waivers are designed to shift more money, what is
the purpose of a waiver. Rick Wynn responded that is correct so far from what the State
has told him.
Cody Reed said funding is way too low and it was cut by 20% and they are
making as much of a match as can. Is there any way to ask for more money from the
state as citizens and consumers with the Board’s help? Chairman Keller said the level
of funding is determined by the State and Federal legislators. He said the
Commissioners attend CCAP conferences quarterly and have asked for adequate
funding and they will continue to talk to the association and legislators to make sure
there is accurate funding. When looking at per capita funding compared to other
counties we get less. They have spoken to legislators to achieve some fairness
because consumers get the short end of the stick. Can only squeeze so much as is
evidence with Rick serving as Drug & Alcohol Director to save $50,000 towards Drug &
Alcohol funding. Mr. Wynn said at least one Commissioner and himself go to Harrisburg
and speak to legislators on a yearly basis every year since he’s been the Administrator.
The Human Services Committee’s number 1 priority is to increase funding in these
areas.
Continued on page 3
Alicia Kanelopoulos asked if do this block grant and MH/ID/EI goes nonprofit in
July what will happen with this fund? Chairman Keller said it’s not been decided that
transition is going to be made, but regardless if goes nonprofit funding will be 100% of
what the State has allocated. Ms. Kanelopoulos asked what happens next year than?
Chairman Keller said that is a legitimate question for the Planning Committee.
Commissioner Ziobrowski said he shares Dr. Morgan's concerns about
abandoning the funding silos that have been created over time. However, the analogy he
uses is that it is that serving food "family style" results in more efficiency and less waste
than serving portions to individuals. He agrees with Commissioner Thomas that the
initial spending would follow historical patterns, but the potential is there, as the
percentage of funding that is block granted increases, for commissioners to make poor
decisions. The public should hold the commissioners accountable. He said he feels the
commissioners are up to the challenge, and feels the block grant is the way to go.
Ken Wuertenberg, Mental Health Association said he’s appreciative to hold their
body parts to the fire however hands was what not what he was considering. He said
going forward it’s a prudent decision to not change anything. The biggest concern
moving forward with the process assures fairness in the system. He disagrees with
Rick’s reason to not include consumers, he could have made phone calls and had
people there. He said next year there is no excuse that should not include consumer
representation. Chairman Keller said if Mr. Wuertenberg has anyone in particular to
serve on the committee to provide that information to him. Mr. Wuertenberg would like
to see an application process for determining who those folks are. At hearing in Fulton
County he heard that the county mental health is currently over contracted for amount of
funding that is available. Mr. Wynn said it was a possibility until heard the allocation
amount. He did not recommend to make any changes at this time because can handle
that with reallocating money but reports change every week. Mr. Wuertenberg’s concern
going forward as he can see the scenario begin to count on flexibility as year
progresses. Providers don’t get paid then. Commissioner Thomas said several years
ago when didn’t have a state budget this county went ahead and funded on a current
level so that programs wouldn’t stop. Mr. Wuertenberg said positive steps have
occurred and County did step up at that point but most counties didn’t step up and the
Mental Health Association had to extend out thousands of dollars and took years to pay
off those loans. He doesn’t want to see a comfort with notion that have money coming
at end and can make up the difference and get sloppy.
Commissioner Thomas said he understands the issue about consumers not
being on the committee but those that are on the committee are advocates for
consumers like Megan Shreve, Manny Diaz, Ann Spotswood. Alecia Kanelopoulos said
they are working for the agency and not people with illnesses like her.
Commissioner Thomas said he will not be here next week and but he trusts
Commissioner Ziobrowski and Chairman Keller will listen to them closely and make a
prudent decision.
On a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski; seconded by Robert L. Thomas;
unanimously approved to enter an executive session at 10:59 a.m. this date for the
purpose to review Personnel matters. The Board reconvened into regular session at
11:55 a.m.
Continued on page 4
The Board reviewed employee benefits for 2013 and are satisfied that staff came
up with a package with no increase for the employees and the County. The Board gave
consensus to proceed to authorize staff to communicate to employees to move forward
with the insurance plan.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m. with a motion by Robert G. Ziobrowski;
seconded by Robert L. Thomas.
FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS