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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-25 Commissioner Minutes TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016 The Franklin County Commissioners met Tuesday, October 25, 2016, with the following members present: David S. Keller and Robert L. Thomas. 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 L. Thomas; seconded by David S. Keller; unanimously approved to adopt the agenda. There was no public comment. The minutes of the October 18, 2016 and October 20, 2016 meetings were reviewed. These will be approved Thursday, October 27, 2016. The Board reviewed Agreements, Contracts and Reports. John Thierwechter, DES Director, was present to provide more information on the Haz Mat Response vehicle that is on the board action listing. Mr. Thierwechter explained that his department did research on the most cost effective vehicle. He explained the current vehicle and a second vehicle are in need of repairs and need replaced. This vehicle will replace both of these vehicles. He explained the extra features that are on this vehicle and how it needs to be large enough to pull a decon trailer. The package was put together to best suit their needs. The items will be approved Thursday, October 27, 2016. John Hart, County Administrator, provided his review of the Magisterial District Judge (MDJ) proposals for 39-3-06. Mr. Hart complemented the parties that submitted proposals. He explained the County is looking to upgrade and relocate the MDJ office in the Mercersburg Borough. The County advertised to solicit interested parties and the Mercersburg Fire Company and Mr. Brake responded to the advertisement of interest. He said County Administration a criteria matrix for the proposals. He said the matrix considered location, design, lease, and price and site feasibility. Research was also completed with the County's GIS department to review the center of the area, average distance for travel distance for residents and also looked at defendants and their travel distance. Based on this information, both locations are fairly even when looking at the average time for those scenarios. He met with the parties two weeks ago and there was a good discussion on how proposals needed to come back and he asked for rent to be spelled out so he could compare apples to apples. Both parties responded that they understood the clarification email that Mr. Hart sent out last Friday. Mr. Brake's proposal would be a new facility and the fire company is to remodel the VFW on Veterans Way. Mr. Hart said location preference is to keep the MDJ office in Mercersburg Borough due to residents are familiar with the location and local law enforcement is nearby. He said with the design and layout, new design would be better since it's built just for the MDJ office and it will have all the amenities. As far as price and lease, Mr. Hart said both submitted prices but one was lower than the other. Mr. Hart said the MDJ's in the boroughs of Greencastle and Chambersburg feel it's beneficial to have local law enforcement able to respond in a quick time frame. He said with taking all criteria into consideration, he is recommending to go with the Fire Company's proposal, due to lease costs, remaining in the borough, and access to law enforcement. He said the Fire Company's price is $150,000 less over a 20 year lease. Chairman Keller wanted to give both parties consideration to speak. Mr. Brake said he had just a few minor comments, he complimented Mr. Hart as he did organize the process in a proper and fair manner. He does question the need to keep it in Mercersburg since he feels the St. Thomas location is a closer location to the 4500 people then in Mercersburg. He said with people coming from Fannett Metal it would be a dead heat. Mr. Brake said Mercersburg Police Department is less than a full time department. He said they measured it to St. Continued on page 2 Thomas when seeking assistance from the State Police and it would be 8 miles. Commissioner Thomas stated that he appreciates Mr. Brake's comments. He said this is the fourth new district judge quarters since he has been here and this process is the most thorough he has been through. Chairman Keller thanked everyone for their interest in the project. He said the Board agrees with the recommendation but Commissioner Ziobrowski is not here so maybe he would like to weigh in before a formal decision is made to proceed. Commissioner Thomas said both were very good proposals so he doesn't see any reason not to proceed. Chairman Keller responded that out of respect to Commissioner Ziobrowski he would like to give him time to comment. He said they will look for Mr. Ziobrowski to return and they will communicate with everyone next Tuesday. Chairman Keller said that on Thursday of last week, Teresa Beckner, Fiscal Director, presented the 2017 all request budget. He said this morning was slighted for the Board to provide guidance to staff on how to proceed. He said that there are 7 million in requests which is something that can't be done unless we want to significantly increase taxes. John Hart, County Administrator, said he appreciates the board's comments. He said staff has begun preliminary review of operating costs. He is looking forward to direction from the board on how to proceed with various initiatives. Mr. Hart said he would match Franklin County against any other county with the number of initiatives that we have and we would like to keep moving forward. He said we are digging deeper into workflows and making it easier for managers to do their jobs and to have the right equipment. Chairman Keller said in general he is looking for minimum expansion in the budget. He feels a tax increase is not necessary. The Board was told last Thursday we are projecting savings of$2.3 million for 2016 which is a good thing. He said county employees are holding off on certain things until they are necessary and they appreciate that in large part due to management staff and he knows that Mr. Hart keeps an eye on everything and savings reflect on that. Chairman Keller asked that if we use $2.3 million in savings on staffing and health care benefits, and we currently have increases in wages to review due to new Department of Labor change in the law. We need to maintain as many folks as possible and attract good quality folks in the future. He said as far as equipment needs and hardware and software, he recommends using Funds 40 and 41. He said we have reduced positions more then we have added but none the less, he would like to maintain staffing levels as close to status quo as possible. He knows that not all positions requested affect the general fund but we have added significant positions in the last few years but he is asking them to be selective and to compare to some of the policies that he mentioned last Thursday. One item he would like to ask them to take a look at us duties and responsibilities of a Greenway and Open Space Coordinator position that really focuses on implementing the greenway and open space plan. He said the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has funds to help fund such a position. He is looking for minimal expansion in the budget. He is not sure what the state budget process holds for us in the next few years so we need to maintain resources for that. Chairman Keller said any facility improvements are to be considered, and need to maintain a solid financial position. As far as priorities, we need to look at limited expansion in the budget and need to keep an eye on jail population. He would like this to stay a priority and any money spent on criminal justice and Human Services since there are a number of initiatives underway including: medicated assisted treatment, diversion, and treatment court. All these things will have a positive impact on the jail population. He said we need to continue maintaining our employees from the front lines to top lines of administration with level pay and benefits. He said to specifically continue the healthy living initiative which is showing positive results and other things Human Resources is doing to maintain employee morale. We have really good people working for us so we want to make sure coming to work every day is positive for them and they are taking good care of themselves. Chairman Keller said with technology, we need to continue to invest in work flow and expanded use of Laserfische, document management, better information sharing, continue to try to Continued on page 3 reduce amount of duplication of effort, reducing paper flow, and trying to leverage our investment and improved connectivity between offices. Commissioner Thomas said that he concurs with most of what Chairman Keller said. He does not want to see any increases or see us go into the surplus that we have. He thinks we will need to go surplus next year because of the state budget and their possible tax increases. He concurs with the Open Space Coordinator but he would like to share it with a Recycling Coordinator since Franklin County does not have a Recycling Coordinator. He said recycling is getting more noticed in the community and with the municipalities and if we could get a position paid for, it could be a hybrid position. He said Carrie Gray, Assistant County Administrator, knows there is a lot of discussion coming out of Washington concerning using data, we need to use data. We could review positions in areas where we could increase efficiencies and if there is cost savings. Commissioner Thomas said we have one grant in requesting a state coresponder with police since a lot of the population in the jail is the mentally ill. If these people can be diverted at that point, it could reduce the jail population. If we are not successful in getting that grant, he is not so sure we could use contingency to fund the position. This is an important priority if we can make it happen. If there is anything else on that line that can reduce costs elsewhere, he is open to it. There are a lot of balls juggling right now and we need to prioritize and need to hold the line. We need to look at efficiency of services on the back end if we can reduce costs and look at some positions that may not be necessary. Chairman Keller said he is ok with considering greenways position with recycling. In terms of looking at opportunity for positions that aren't necessary, he is not opposed to that but he thinks with the initiatives going on right now and with document sharing he is hoping over time to streamline some of the offices, especially with the Courts. He said there are still a lot of manual processes on the court side. We have made progress on our side to streamline processes and sharing information more effectively and quickly. Mr. Hart said Fiscal staff, Carrie and him will discuss their recommendations and comments. They will be looking at initiatives that reduce costs and will consider no or limited expansion. Any initiatives that help reduce jail population will get particular attention.. Mr. Hart and staff will review everything and come back to the Board with questions. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 a.m. with a motion by Robert L. Thomas; seconded by David S. Keller. FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS