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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-01 Commissioner Minutes THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018 The Franklin County Commissioners met Thursday, March 1, 2018, 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. Carrie Gray, County Administrator, asked to amend the agenda to include an amendment to action item #3, Election Systems and Software Purchase Order due to a modification on the amount. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to adopt the amended agenda. Chairman Keller provided a special welcome to Ben Stapleford who is a Mont Alto student shadowing the Assistant County Administrator today. There was no public comment. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved all bills presented and ordered paid. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the minutes of the February 20, 2018 and February 22, 2018 meetings. The Board reviewed Commissioners' Office matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and BOPIC to provide English — Spanish Interpreter services at a cost of$45.00 for first hour and $11.15 per 15-minute unit after the first hour with 24+ hour notice. For less than 24 hour notice $55.00 for first hour and $13.75 per 15-minute unit after first hour. Additional costs include document translation at$0.12 per word and phone conference at$15.00 per 15-minute unit. This agreement is for the period of January 16, 2018 through December 31, 2018. The Board reviewed Elections/Commissioners' Office matters. Ms. Gray explained that this amendment is an increase in the amount of approximately $93.00 in order to purchase protection software that is not an option as originally believed. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to approve to amend the purchase order approved on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from Election Systems and Software LLC. for the purchase of two Dell Optiplex desktop computers, a duplex laser printer and a USB cable to process results on election night. The amendment is to change the total cost from $4,959.33 to $5,052.67 to include Symantec Endpoint Protection, which is a requirement of the State. The current computers are 12 years old and Windows XP is no longer supported. This cost also includes off-site installation to upgrade the software on each precinct counter and Automark. The Board reviewed Fiscal/Grants matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and Over the Rainbow Children's Advocacy Center to provide pass through funds from the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency Grant in the amount of$50,000.00. The funding will pay for staff wages and benefits for the CAC Director. The Board reviewed Fiscal/Grants matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of$50,000.00 for Over the Rainbow Children's Advocacy Center to provide pass through funds from the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency Grant. The funding will pay for staff wages and benefits of the CAC Director. The Board reviewed Grants matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and West Chester University to provide professional evaluator services to include data collection and analysis on behalf of the County related to the Jail to Community Treatment Program at a cost of$37,458.00 for the period of August 10, 2017 through April 18, 2018. The cost is covered under the Department of Corrections Non-narcotic MAT grant funding. The Board reviewed Information Technology Services matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved for the Chairman of the Board to approve the annual Maintenance Renewal between the County of Franklin and General Code for renewal of LaserFiche software and licensing at a cost of$80,144.00 for the period of March 24, 2018 through March 23, 2019. The Board reviewed Jail matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and Alere Toxicology Services, Inc. to provide laboratory toxicology testing for inmates. Cost will vary based on the number and type of testing required. The Board reviewed additional Jail matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the proposal from Diagnostino Electronic Services, Inc. to provide maintenance on the existing 11 video conferencing units at the Jail for a total cost of$15,339.00 for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020. The Board reviewed Prothonotary matters. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the agreement between the County of Franklin and Courtney J. Graham, Esquire to provide contract attorney services at a cost of$2,029.00 for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. In accordance with PA Acts 14, 67, 68 and 127 notifications, Franklin County Conservation District notified the County of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection G-P7 permit application being applied by Jay Hawbaker for installing a culvert stream crossing and stream bank fencing on property located in Antrim Township. The Board held a discussion on the Court Facility Improvement Project Financing. John Hart, Project Manager, explained that interest rates are low at this time but it is more likely than not that the rates will increase in the next couple of months. He is recommending going out for a bond issue in the amount of$55M but the project is anticipated to cost $67M. He continued that he is recommending borrowing $55M now to take advantage of the interest rates with the chance to borrow more money later if needed, hopefully with lower interest rates as well. Mr. Hart commented that we don't want to borrow more than we need. John Frey, Director of PFM Financial Advisors, LLC., provided information on the 15 year historical municipal bond rates and how the rates have increased significantly since December 2017. He explained that the long term rates have remained constant the past couple of weeks and are still well below the historical average. Mr. Frey provided a snapshot of the county's current debt service payments and that the debt is being paid off rapidly. He explained further that the debt service will be complete in 2024. Mr. Frey noted that, as part of this financing, the plan will include refinancing a portion of the debt. Bonds will be sized to provide a $55M deposit into our construction account at settlement. Mr. Frey said that upon authorization he can return in two months with locked in interest rates provided by an underwriter, with settlement and receiving the funds within 30 days. Commissioner Thomas said that John Frey was here a couple of months ago and presented how we can do this based on retiring debt. Chairman Keller said we've refinanced 2-3 bonds the past couple of years and had competitive rates, and our financial position is similarly strong compared to the last time we went out to re-finance a bond. He asked Mr. Frey if he feels we will get a lot of interest from potential buyers on the bond. Mr. Frey responded that February had the lowest amount of bond issues in a decade. A lot of them went out to market before December because of the new tax law. That means that there is a low supply of bonds for investors and that brings out demand. We can take advantage of that, and underwriter and investors will be interested in a bond of this amountissued by a high quality issuer such as Franklin County. Mr. Frey explained that he will put together a preliminary official statement and documents to go to investors and underwriters in addition will provide the County's current Standard and Poor's credit rating. The last credit rating was in May of 2014 and we were rated AA which is a very good credit rating. He will return to have the Board vote on locked interest rates for the bond in mid-April. Commissioner Ziobrowski said we have been talking about this and dealing with it for some time. It may appear that we don't reflect the gravity of the situation. Borrowing $55M is a lot of money. He is pleased that we are able to hedge our bets and take a prudent and conservative approach to this and the fact that we'll be able to do this with a 1.5 mill increase. We are taking a cautious and prudent approach and he fully approves it. Chairman Keller agrees and it's wise to minimize our risk. We are still expecting the costs to be $67M. He continued that it is prudent to lock in the financing now to contain the cost of the project. Commissioner Thomas said that Commissioner Ziobrowski made a good point. This is just a step in the process. This goes back 20 years ago when we were in the Courthouse. We used to have one judge and now we have five. We used to have four staff in District Attorney's office but now we have 25. He said we have grown. It is impressive to him that we'll be able to do this for not a big tax increase and serve the community for a long time. Nothing is free, he understands it. But, we need to lock in the money now. Chairman Keller responded that we don't want to borrow more money than is necessary. We may borrow another $12 million but let's wait to see exactly what is needed when the bids come out. He is totally supportive of moving forward. John Hart suggested a motion by the Board. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved to move forward with issuing a bond for $55M of net proceeds. Commissioner Ziobrowski expanded on Commissioner Thomas's comments that we rolled this out almost two months ago and the response he has heard from constituents has been remarkably positive. He continued that public sentiment is never unanimous in cases like this, the board has answered questions and it still wants to answer more. Commissioner Thomas responded that decisions like this are not easy, but it is the right thing to do and it needs to happen. The Board held a public hearing for the 2015 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) modification. Sam Thrush, Planner, explained that he is here requesting the Board modify the 2015 CDBG contract. Mr. Thrush indicated that the Letterkenny Township Municipal Program was approved at$57,000.00 for their Skyline Drive Sewer Lateral project and came in under budget by $6,910.00 so these funds can be reprogrammed to another approved activity. He further explained that the Homes for America allocation in the amount of$26,451.00 is recommended to be reallocated by the State because Homes for America has not yet acquired the property. Mr. Thrush is recommending to move a total of$33,451.00 to the Borough of Greencastle for their curb ramp project. Reprogramming the available funds would make a total of $88,361.00 available to Greencastle for their project. The funds would add 15 curb ramps totaling 41 curb ramps along Williamson Avenue and elsewhere in the borough. Mr. Thrush explained that they held a public hearing at the Borough of Greencastle office on Monday and two individuals were in attendance, a Council Board member and the Borough Manager. Chairman Keller commended Letterkenny Municipal Authority for completing their project under budget. The Chairman opened the floor up for public comments. Eden Ratliff, Greencastle Borough Manager was present and explained where the additional ramps will be added and that this application is a good opportunity to compliment the sidewalk project in the Borough. Commissioner Thomas asked if this would take care of all the ADA ramps in the Borough but Mr. Ratliff explained that it will not and they will have 2016 CDBG money to include more ramps. They are required to have a ramp at every intersection. There were no other public comments. On a motion by Robert L. Thomas, seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski; unanimously approved the proposed modification with the expectation that Mr. Thrush will send the documents in the near future for the Board to approve. The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m. with a motion by Robert L. Thomas; seconded by Robert G. Ziobrowski. FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS