DAUPHIN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Legislative Meeting
Wednesday, April 5, 2006 (10:00am)

MEMBERS PRESENT

Jeff Haste, Chairman
Dominic D. DiFrancesco, II, Vice Chairman
George P. Hartwick, III, Secretary

STAFF PRESENT

Bill Tully, Esq., Solicitor; Chad Saylor, Chief Clerk; Marie Rebuck, Controller; Bob Dick, Treasurer; Diane McNaughton, Press Secretary; Gary Serhan, Controller's Office; Randy Baratucci, Purchasing Director; Tom Guenther, IT Director; Mike Yohe, Budget Director; Carolyn Thompson, Court Administrator; Leila McAdoo, DCED; Melanie McCaffrey, Solicitor's Office; Dan Robinson, DCED Director; Scott Burford, Spring Creek Administrator; Dave Schreiber, Personnel; Garry Esworthy, Risk Manager; Kay Sinner, Personnel; Faye Fisher, Personnel Director; Elke Moyer, Human Services; Donna Miller, Risk Management Office; Lena Martinez, Commissioners' Office; Kacey Truax, Commissioners' Office; Julia Nace, Assistant Chief Clerk; Mike Pries, Security Director; Edgar Cohen, Director of Facilities Maintenance; Jena Wolgemuth, Commissioners' Office.

GUESTS PRESENT

Dwendy Johnson, Alison Mohn, Bobbie Malinak, Elaine Barbush, M. Nichelle Chivis, David Gash, Mary Swanger, Kaitlyn Smith (Channel 8), and news cameras from Channels 21, 27 and 43.

MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Haste, Chairman of the Board, called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Everyone observed a moment of silence.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. Haste: We have the March 8, 2006 and March 15, 2006 Commissioners' Meeting Minutes. Is there a motion to approve?

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Hartwick to approve the March 8, 2006 and March 15, 2006 Commissioners' Meeting Minutes. All were in favor. Motion carries.

Mr. Haste: We also have the March 8, 2006 Salary Board Meeting Minutes. The Salary Board consists of the three Commissioners and the Controller. Is there a motion to approve?

It was moved by Mr. Hartwick and seconded by Mr. DiFrancesco to approve the March 8, 2006 Salary Board Meeting Minutes. All were in favor. Motion carries.

EXECUTIVE SESSIONS HELD BETWEEN MEETINGS

Mr. Saylor: Commissioners as you know we just held an Executive Session for the purposes of discussing litigation and labor issues. That is the only Executive Session that I have.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There was none.

DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS/GUESTS

Mr. Haste: I will call upon my colleague Commissioner Hartwick for a proclamation.

1. Commissioners
   1. Presentation of an Organ Donor Month Proclamation. Guests: Dwendy Johnson, Gift of Life Donor Program; Alison Mohn, donor family member; Bobbie Malinak, donor family member & transplant recipient

Mr. Hartwick: It gives me great honor today to be able to provide a proclamation to the Gift of Life Donor Program who is represented here today by my former babysitters. If any of you want the dirt on me you won't have to look far, but to the second row of individuals who changed my diapers. It is great to see them. We are here also because of a special young man who has left this world, but will never ever leave our hearts. He continues to make a difference every day for lives of individuals. The judge of a man and the judge of a person is made by how they are able to affect lives even if they are not here. Ryan Mohn continues to affect lives in a major way. As you go down the road you see billboards talking about organ donations. You are able to see an individual who not only was an unbelievable athlete and a great kid, but also somebody who is continually changing lives. His tragedy has sprung many new lives and I know for a fact that Ryan Mohn will always be remembered. Ryan Mohn has unbelievable advocates in the community of Steelton, as well as an unbelievable family that will never allow his tragic death to be held in vain any way. They continue to push and continue to make sure other lives are saved as a result of Ryan's tragedy. They continue to make sure that they make sense out of something that certainly did not make sense. It was tough to understand at that time. I believe all the Board of Commissioners, even prior to this proclamation today, are organ donors. We don't need to have somebody come before us. But to raise the awareness and the importance of organ donations and to get rid of and dispel some of the myths about organ donation and to understand that the ability to be able to change lives, the ability to be able to save lives, can happen far beyond yourself. It can happen based upon an individual who was a bright light in Steelton, a great young kid. To be able to raise this issue in a way that is going to continue to try and save additional lives is something that is very difficult. It is something that I know we will remember Ryan and his family for. With that today I wanted to present a proclamation to the Gift of Life donor program.

We, the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, join medical professionals, grieving families, transplant patients, the Gift of Life Donor Program and the community at large in declaring April 2006 as "Donate Life Month," in grateful tribute to organ donors like Ryan Mohn, who, at their moment of death, have given others a second chance at life;

Whereas, nationally, 97,000 people are tied to machines and hospital beds, awaiting a life-saving transplant, a number that has doubled in the past 10 years;

Whereas, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, the transplantation of organs and tissue is possible - allowing men, women and children who would otherwise be consigned to lives of pain, misery and suffering to lead long, active, productive lives;

Whereas, every day, lives are transformed through miraculous kidney, heart, liver, pancreas, lung, cornea, skin, bone, and heart valve transplants;

Whereas, when families are enduring the most tragic moments of their lives, many make the heroic decision to save someone else's, by donating the organs and tissue of their loved one, and allowing their love to live on;

Whereas, many residents in our own neighborhoods still wait for a life-saving organ, and their cure exists within our own minds and bodies;

Whereas, we urge everyone to take the simple step of placing the organ donor designation on their driver's license and informing their family of their decision;

Therefore, we join the 253,300 residents of Dauphin County in commending organ donors, past, present and future; we lovingly embrace those who mourn the passing of a loved one but hail the passing on of a life-saving organ; and in honor of these true heroes, we do hereby proclaim April 2006 to be "Donate Life Month" in Dauphin County.

With that said, I would like to call on my colleagues to add any additional comments.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Just to add very briefly, George said it so eloquently, how important this program is and what it means to the lives of those that live on. Death is a very difficult thing for all of us to deal with. It is particularly difficult when it is a child or young person. We talk about the celebration of life at the time of death and trying to keep our focus not on the sadness that we feel, but on the fact that we want to celebrate the life that was with us that we carry forward so that person lives on in our memories. This program is terrific because not only do we celebrate the memories that we have but it gives other people the hope to move on. It allows other people to experience a more fulfilled life and in some active way, in more than memory, it allows that individual to live on with tremendous impact to the community. As always I offer condolences to the family's that have suffered loss and offer a thank you. Your family and others in the community were thoughtful enough to donate something so precious as to give another person life. It is a terrific program, we have supported it in Dauphin County and we will continue to support it. I urge all the people in the community to take a look at this and consider it. If you are not already doing it, sign up.

Mr. Hartwick: Just one other comment. I know also Diane McNaughton, one of our own and Christian McNaughton, my cousin who also passed. I know Diane has been very active with organ donation and has been an advocate for making sense out of that and I just wanted to make sure that I acknowledged that as well today. Thanks Diane for all of your work.

Mr. Haste: Both George and Nick said it very well. I am just sitting here thinking about some things that happened in my own family and how probably 15-20 years ago this was an unknown, something that was sort of rare. Thanks to organizations such as the gift of life and the courageous families out there who participate in the process, it is probably not as uncommon as it once was. Sitting here I know people who have been on both sides of this. I have family members who have been donors and I know family members who have been recipients. It is amazing that we as a people are able to be giving enough and caring enough. I do think that goes back to the heart of individuals that we truly are good at heart. This is just another sign of the best of mankind that we can continue to give beyond our own life here on Earth. I want to thank everyone who has been involved in that.

Mr. Hartwick: I would like if you could join me in welcoming Dwendy Johnson from the Gift of Life Donor Program, and my two babysitters, Alison Mohn and Bobbie Jean Mailinak. Please come up and receive the proclamation.

(The group was presented with the proclamation, pictures were taken and applause were given.)

Ms. Johnson: I work as a Satellite Community Coordinator at Gift of Life and I am housed right here in Harrisburg, so bringing this to attention today is very important to us to spread the word about organ and tissue donation. I had given each of you a lapel pin as well as some information about organ and tissue donation. This is a flyer that is part of the Ordinary People with Extraordinary Powers campaign. The campaign is across Pennsylvania to bring awareness. This is also the campaign that Ryan Mohn is featured on all of our billboards in this area.

Thank you very much for bringing this to the attention of Dauphin County in the hopes that we can increase those numbers of people donating organs for transplant.

1. Garry Esworthy, Risk Manager
   1. Spring Creek Insurance

Mr. Esworthy: First of all congratulations Commissioner Hartwick on becoming a father.

Mr. Hartwick: Thank you.

Mr. Esworthy: I am here today to bring you an update on the worker's comp at Spring Creek. Just responding back on the Commissioners' request for information. The first document you will see in front of you is the PA Work Injuries and Illnesses Report for 2004, this is the latest information. It shows the injury and illness rates in selected industries in Pennsylvania for both 2003 and 2004. For the Nursing and Residential Care Facilities, if you look at that, you will see per 1,000 workers in 2004 the rate was 23.9, whereas Spring Creek's rate was 15.01. In 2003 the rate was 23.6 and Spring Creek's rate was 14.48. This shows that we are well below the industry average for workplace injuries at a nursing facility.

What I am about to go into is the cost. I know Commissioner Hartwick has some issues as to why it is costing us a little bit more money in these last few years it has and I will address that. The next item that I really want you to take a look at is the document which is headed, Continued Worker's Comp Costs for Long-Term Indemnity Claims. There are six claims that are on there that are long-term indemnity, which individuals who were out and have been out for some time if you look at the dates of the injuries 1986, 1995, 2000, 1996 and two from 2004. If you look in the one column which is Weekly Rate and then you look at the Yearly Rate and the Life Expectancy and then the total indemnity payments expected to be paid out to those claimants over the course of their life. If you add all those up the expectancy for us on those claims is about $2.1 million over the next 31.4 years.

These claimants have for one reason or another had injuries that prohibit them from coming back to work and prevent us from finding alternate employment for them. They will be out on comp and we will be paying them. This issue always comes back and the question is do I try to negotiate something with a long settlement issue or do I continue paying them out at a weekly rate? That is something that the actuarial will look at and decide from there. Up to this point I have always taken the stance that I would rather take it and pay them the weekly rate over the course of a lifetime and that is a risk. Rather than just look at the lump sum payment and paying them out. Since we are self-insured I would rather take it on a weekly basis rather than just give a lump sum payment to them.

One of those injuries happens to be a 3.3, which is an indemnity payment of $84,000. That was for loss of a limb. This occurred not through amputation, but through paralysis of a limb due to a work related injury. That is a specific loss and therefore we will be paying only the $84,000 to that claimant, then we will be done with it. That is why it is a 3.3 year even though it occurred in 2000.

The other claimant you will see on there and I identified those with a claimant number of 3474, which is the fourth one down, this yearly rate is to be determined by the wages. That is a loss of earnings. This individual happens to be working and happens to report those wages to us. The individual is presently residing in Florida so we wouldn't know if he/she was working or not. They have elected to report that back to us so the comp rate is adjusted by their wages. They will report back to us their weekly wages and we will make those adjustments accordingly. Some individuals could be working but I have no idea. If I could find that out and they were getting something I could adjust their rates also. It is very difficult to do that. For the most part, they are not working. That explains that particular document. Are there any questions on the indemnity payments? (There were none.)

Then I will go forward. In the next few pages you will see some recaps of 2003, 2004 and 2005 worker's comp expenses. I will just take 2003 since those are on top you will see that there are current claims to be paid for the medical/legal indemnity payments. There you will see the paid medical and paid legal dollars. That is the total amount that was paid in 2003. If you look at the yellow column past that those are payments being made for claims that occurred prior to 2003. We always have claims outstanding. When I look at this I kind of look at the current claim status for what we are at right now. If you look at 2003 we had a total of 71 claims. The total for that payment was $322,139.44. If you broke it out you would see the $55,437.68 is for the current year, 2003, and the past claims were $266,701.00. Then each year I break it out the same way. If you look at 2004 we had a total of 70 claims and a total payout of $376,590.93 for Spring Creek. For the year 2004 we had $104,442.36. Also we had $272,000 paid out for past claims. In 2005 you see we had a total of 57 injuries and we paid off $412,576.14 and for the year we paid out $135,385.25 and for the past claims about $277,000. Those are for claims that occurred prior to 2005. You will see some highlighted areas (in pink) where we had some large amounts paid out for claims that were awarded to individuals which were in litigation. We decided to take it and pay those fees out. So you will see some higher amounts in there.

Each year you do see the increase in dollars spent, usually on the current payments. Part of the reason why is because medical charges are very high. Each year that is not under our control. We can't go out and shop for the best dollars, although the State does cap those payments, but they increase the medical fees. One of the big things is our legal expenses. What we are doing right now is we are taking a very strong stance on all claims that are questionable throughout the county, not just at Spring Creek. If we believe there is merit to disputing that claim we will dispute it. Unfortunately that costs us legal fees. The message is going out that you need to have a legitimate claim. If you have a legitimate claim we will take care of you from start to finish. If you don't have a legitimate claim we will fight that. That is part of the process that we are doing right now. To that fact, if you have looked and I think to Donna's credit and to the current Spring Creek Administration's credit, in January of 2006 there was not one claim at Spring Creek. That is the first time in history that has ever occurred. We are making headways and that is due to the changes that occurred out there. We are below industry average and not above it. We are where we need to be. The problem that I see right now are the current claim costs and how much they are going to cost us in the future. We are trying to negate that as much as possible. Any questions?

Mr. Hartwick: Yes, it is confusing to me, and I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this, but the claims go down, we're below industry average, the amount from the past claims remained pretty consistent and the number of claims dropped.

Mr. Esworthy: Right.

Mr. Hartwick: But the amount of our payments significantly increases.

Mr. Esworthy: That is correct. Part of that reasoning is this. Part of those paid medical claims when you start looking at them in the present, when you have an old claim they may not be treating you with the physician on an every week basis. They may be treating with the physician every month. So your medical costs won't be as high as someone who is clearly injured and who is treating with the doctor every five or ten days that we are presently getting IME's for. We are doing extraordinary physical therapy and getting them back to work. Those are all part of the costs in getting an injured employee back to work. Historically what would have occurred before is that employees were not brought back to work. They were left out and that was a cost to us. That is what you can see on these claims that are part of the long-term indemnity claims. By bringing them back you do incur a certain cost. That is why I am saying to you that we are below the industry average on claims, but we are pursuing them legally, pursuing them medically and that will incur the costs for a while. That is just what we have to do.

Mr. Hartwick: So we are spending more money on legal expenses and it is costing us a ton more money to go after them. But our claims are going down, our experiences are going down and our costs are skyrocketing, is that what you are saying?

Mr. Esworthy: The costs you see are skyrocketing, as you would say, but it is either pay me now or pay me later. I've decided to pay it now because if we don't have these under control and an employee does go out under indemnity it is very difficult to get them back to work. It is very difficult to do that. Once they are out it is next to impossible and that is partially because of the policies and procedures that are set forth by the Department of Labor and Industry, the workers comp referees. Referees are very claim oriented. It is difficult, once that employee is out, and they see this as extra income, they don't want to come back to work. We are making a very hard effort to say no, we have a place for you, and that is positive. We don't want to see any employee out. You go out and you could lose your medical benefits, you lose a substantial amount of income because it is only 2/3. I have an obligation to bring that employee back and make them productive. Unfortunately that is costing us a bit of money right now.

Mr. Hartwick: It just goes to the point that I was making. When we actually asked you to try and get the information as you take a look at our claims they are reduced, we are below industry standard but yet the costs continue to go against Spring Creek's bottom line, which is putting it in a whole lot more challenging financial position. When we talk about the finances of the place this is one more thing that from a financial standpoint even though changes are being made to reduce the number of claims, below the industry standard, the costs go up significantly. I think it is misleading because the actual factors are all pointing towards us moving in the other direction but the costs continue to rise because of our philosophy. That is an issue I often related to the future of our facility. All of these costs are going towards our bottom line making it look like it is in a worse financial position. Meanwhile the things that are happening within those sectors are moving in a positive direction and that shouldn't have a negative financial impact. That was my concern and that confirmed my numbers. Thank you.

SALARY BOARD

A complete copy of Salary Board minutes is on file in the Chief Clerk's office.

PERSONNEL

Ms. Sinner: On the Personnel Packet that I presented last week I just would like to pull the request to fill the Correctional Officer position. It is item #1. The person that was resigning rescinded his resignation.

Mr. Hartwick: Say that again please.

Ms. Sinner: On the first personnel transactions listing the request to fill a vacancy of a correctional officer probation position, it is item #1, we are going to pull that. That is not vacant now.

Mr. Haste: Who was that?

Ms. Sinner: John Langdon.

Mr. Haste: The Warden didn't mention it.

Ms. Sinner: The Warden accepted his rescission of his resignation so he is going to continue working there. It is a Correctional Officer III. He has been here a while. I have no other changes.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Hartwick to approve the amended Personnel Packet. All were in favor. Motion carries.

PURCHASE ORDERS

Mr. Baratucci: The Purchase Order packet is the same as last week other than we resolved all of the budget issues. There are no addendums. If you have any questions I am here, if not, it is there for your approval.

Mr. Haste: Any questions? (There were none.)

It was moved by Mr. Hartwick and seconded by Mr. DiFrancesco to approve the Purchase Order packet. All were in favor. Motion carries.

REPORT FROM BUDGET & FINANCE - MIKE YOHE, BUDGET DIRECTOR

Report from the Office of Budget & Finance
April 5, 2006

• March 24, 2006 transferred $943,619.74 to the Payables account from the County's Concentration account for checks issued that week. (Real Estate Transfer Taxes approximately $730,000)
• March 31, 2006 transferred $4,479,355.47 to the Payables account and $1,852,149.83 to the Payroll account from the County's Concentration account for checks issued that week.
• Total Term Investments - N/A
• Balance today in INVEST account $127,469.05 rate 4.710%
• Balance today in Community Banks investment account $119,025.61 rate 4.770% (This rate equals today's Community Banks 91-day TBill rate of 4.620% plus 15 basis points)
• Balance today in Graystone Bank investment account $14,999,443.78 rate 5.010% (This rate equals last month's average 1-month LIBOR rate of 4.760% plus 25 basis points)
• Balance today in Commerce Bank investment account $19,400,412.01 rate 4.855% (This rate equals today's 91-day T-Bill rate of 4.535% plus 32 basis points)
• Balance today in Sovereign Bank investment account $19,400,303.98 rate 4.880% (This rate equals today's 1-month LIBOR rate of 4.830% plus 5 basis points)

No T.R.A.N. Line of Credit required for 2006.

Mr. Yohe: Graystone is the high bid for April. They can only go up to 15 now, but next week they are going to bump up to 20. Next Thursday they should be right around $20 million.

Like I said you can see already Commerce and Sovereign have more than Graystone. That gap is going to grow. If I see either Commerce or Sovereign starting to pull away from the other one I will direct most of the excess money to them in an effort to get the highest return that we can. Right now they are so close that I am going to leave them equal.

Mr. Hartwick: Can you envision the INVEST account continuing to rise and be a competitor in the mix?

Mr. Yohe: Not as long as we continue the practice that we are doing. That is one of their gauges that they look at as to what is the going market. They make sure that we are ahead of that although that gap is close. I really expect Commerce and Sovereign to grow. They hadn't really rebounded from last week's Fed action. It usually takes about a week or two until their rates start to climb. They may actually be a little bit ahead of Graystone by the end of the month. I figure since Graystone is only getting up to $20 million that we will give them the bulk of it and bump them up for now to get them that return early in the month.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Have we stabilized in terms of the spreads?

Mr. Yohe: Yes.

Mr. DiFrancesco: They are all solid now?

Mr. Yohe: They are all solid. In fact two of them bumped them up a little bit for this one. I will make that very clear in the next process. Any other questions? (There were none.)

REPORT FROM CHIEF CLERK/CHIEF OF STAFF - CHAD SAYLOR

Mr. Saylor: Commissioners I have nothing unless you have any questions of me.

SOLICITOR'S REPORT-BILL TULLY, ESQ.

Mr. Tully: I have nothing to add to the report but will be happy to answer any questions.

MATTERS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

Mr. Haste: We have Matters Requiring Board Action items A through X. Are there any items that need to be pulled out separately?

Mr. Hartwick: No.

Mr. DiFrancesco: No.

Mr. Haste: Is there a motion to approve?

It was moved by Mr. Hartwick and seconded by Mr. DiFrancesco to approve the Matters Requiring Board Action items A through X. All were in favor. Motion carries.

1. Training Packet
2. Approval of FY05/06 Per Diem Rates between Children & Youth Agency and:
   1. Specialized Treatment Services, Inc.
      1. Residential Services $165.00/day
      2. Sex Offender Services:
         1. Psycho/Sexual Eval. with ABEL $500.00/eval.
      3. Individual Therapy $ 75.00/session
         1. Group Therapy $ 60.00/2 hr. session
         2. Therapeutic Polygraph $275.00/session
   2. Kendu Corporation
      1. Boys to Young Men $101.40/day
      2. Girls to Women $136.50/day
   3. York County Youth Development Center
      1. Detention $262.32/day
      2. Shelter $357.41/day
   4. Ministries of Eden Sex Offender Services:
1. In-Home Services $55.00/day
3. Satisfaction Pieces for the following individuals:
   1. Lionel H. Randolph for property located at 1833 Berryhill St., Harrisburg.
   2. Sandra L. Good for property located at 32 S. 4th St., Steelton.
4. Subordination Agreement for Megan M. Albert on property located at 147 S. 4th St., Steelton.
5. Commissioners Approval to contribute the County's pro rata share ($8,544.00) for appraisal services and trial costs needed to ascertain the true value of properties located at Hershey Foods West Plant - Tax Parcel No. 4-008-035; Hershey Foods Corp. Technical Center - Tax Parcel Nos. 24-029-034 and 24-029-040, and Hershey Community Center - Tax Parcel Nos. 24-023-010 and 24-023-007.
6. Resolution No. 11-2006 authorizing the allocation of Small Business Loan monies to JK Car Care.
7. Resolution No. 12-2006 authorizing the allocation of Small Business Loan monies to Corbin-Frye Productions.
8. Approval of Settlement Agreement (for 60%) with Klett, Rooney, Lieber & Schorling.
9. Approval of a Grant Agreement - Emergency Management Performance Grant Program - EMPG FFY 2006 in the amt. of $36,486.
10. Volunteer Transportation Agreement between Area Agency on Aging and Autumn Leaves-East Hanover.
11. Adoption Assistance Agreements:
    1. 2006-10
    2. 2006-12
    3. 2006-13
    4. 2006-14
    5. 2006-15
12. Purchase of Services Agreements between Children & Youth Agency and:
    1. York County Youth Development Center
    2. Kendu Corporation, Inc. FY05/06
    3. Rent-A-Space (Independent Living Grant Program)
13. GIS License Agreements between Information Technology and the following:
    1. Lower Paxton Township Fireman's Relief Association
    2. Susquehanna Township Authority
14. Purchase of Service Agreements between MH/MR and:
    1. Merle J. Crawford, OTR/L - FY05/06
    2. Pinnacle Health Hospital - FY04/05
    3. Pinnacle Health Hospital - FY05/06
    4. Colonial Pines Golden Age Home, Inc. - FY05/06
    5. Gateway Community Services - FY05/06
15. Addendum to FY05/06 Purchase of Service Agreements between MH/MR and:
    1. Keystone Service Systems, Inc. - Addendum #1
    2. Edgewater Psychiatric Center - Addendum #1
16. Approval of a Permit Application with the City of Harrisburg for rental of various facilities on City Island for the annual Human Services "Summer-Fest".
17. Approval of an Auctioneer Contract with Kerry Pae Auctioneers to conduct auction sales of real estate tax parcel two (2) times per year for the Tax Claim Office.
18. Purchase of Service Agreement between Spring Creek and Neighborhood Services of Lancaster, Inc.
19. Authorization to Enter (Waiver of Claim) between Dauphin County and the PA Department of Transportation for road improvements along Route 441 in the vicinity of the Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.
20. Appointment/Reappointment to the Dauphin County Conservation District Board of Directors:
    1. Ronald Kopp
    2. James Szymborski
21. Real Estate Tax Refund/exonerations:
    1. Refund of 2004 real estate taxes to Quail Hollow Development Corp., for the Scott Meadow Ct., Lot 94A, parcel #35-123-069, in the amt. of $516.34.
22. Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement between Dauphin County and Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.
23. Contract (#C000019133) For New Communities Program between Dauphin County and the PA Dept. of Community & Economic Development in the amt. of $50,000 for the Main Street Regional Coordination Program of Northern Dauphin County.
24. Approval of the Local Economic Development Assistance Program contract, LEDA Grant (Project #C000019202) between Dauphin County Community and Economic Development Agency and the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development in the amt. of $77,390.00.

FORMER BUSINESS

Mr. Haste: Any former business? (There was none.)

NEW BUSINESS

Mr. Haste: Any new business? (There was none.)

COMMISSIONERS' DISCUSSION & ACTIONS

Mr. DiFrancesco: We have had a series of events happen here in our community over the last month or so that have been high profile in terms of the two young ladies who died in the city that were alcohol related incidents. On Sunday evening I had the unfortunate responsibility to go to a young woman's funeral who was 20 years old who died as a result of an addiction to heroin. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. One, to commend this young woman's parents because they had the courage to write in the obituary exactly what had happened to their daughter. I hope that every single parent in Central PA who saw that in the Patriot-News took the opportunity to sit down with that obituary and talk to their child. Clearly this child was active, intelligent, articulate and talented. These are not kids who lack the intelligence to make good sound decisions. Obviously there is something grabbing at our community where drugs are too available and our children don't understand the absolute danger that comes as a result of starting drug use and drinking. I will never waiver in my philosophy, my belief, that underage drinking is never appropriate, ever under any circumstances. Never should a parent endorse the practice by thinking it is safer to have them do it in their presence. You have no idea what any one of our individual tolerances are. You have no idea what child will end up living a life of alcoholism, not because of some choice but because of some addiction to it. Sunday evening was heart-wrenching as a parent to see hundreds of kids, most probably graduated with this young lady, show up and cry and mourn the loss of their friend. Any parent can relate to the parents standing by the casket of their daughter who was stolen way too young. It was an unfortunate incident. I have said it time and again we are not doing enough, because we could never do enough, as long as one child dies as a result of addiction or alcohol. We are not doing enough in our community to reach out and deliver the message.

We are not talking about enforcement. I could care less about enforcement. I don't care how many people go to prison. What I care about is when a child is hurting or hooked on something that is poisoning them that we are able to get to that child and provide whatever counseling that we can, whatever support to that family that we can to try and get that life back. We have got to continue to push. I have seen it time and again and will tell you that it gets to the point where this is probably not a healthy response, but I get angry and infuriated when I read about a school for instance instituting a policy where they test kids for alcohol use at dances and there are parents in the community that actually stand up and challenge the school on their policy. They say they are infringing on my child's rights. What exactly is the message there? You are infringing on my child's rights to underage drink? Everything we do needs to be designed at identifying kids that have issues that possibly somebody can help them resolve. I for one will stand as a force that says I would love to have a drug dog in every single school in Dauphin County. I would love to have that. Again, not to arrest people but because I want to keep the drugs out of the schools. I want to identify when kids come to school in possession or having been around it or are dealing with it to try to save lives. That's what this is all about. It is frustrating and saddening to see the loss of beautiful young kids. Certainly choices that they made, but at the same time our community is getting very bizarre when we allow so much to happen. We accept so much and buy into the whole concept that everybody is doing it now, therefore..I said this last week, an article runs that says 80% of the kids that go to college binge drink. Each and every one of us has the responsibility to look at our children and say we want our children to be part of the 20% that don't. Maybe that 20% will become 30% and then 50% and then eventually it's 80% the other way. I truly hope that we don't have to go through another month where we have such high profile losses or any losses at all. These are things that we should be able to reach out to, to prevent and to provide better service. I'll be doing everything I can to carry this message forward. It is just sad. My condolences go out to the families for their loss and in this particular case the extraordinary effort by this family to promote a cause that may save the lives of other children. Thank you.

Mr. Hartwick: I just have some comments to make about what I believe is something that is extremely troubling that occurred Monday of this week. I actually left my house for one specific purpose, to leave my new born baby, to go out to promote a positive event that's happening in the City of Harrisburg. As I arrived I saw it received zero media attention. We hear stories about death and tragedy, shootings and violence that is occurring in the City and it is happening in numbers that we have not seen before. This program that I went to try to help on Monday at 10pm is called Night Hoops. It provides a faith-based positive recreational outlet for kids to keep them off the streets. They are going to be having an event on Friday night at 7pm at the Camp Curtin gym. This has spawned out of the Weed and Seed program in the Central Allison Hill District.

When I went there I was extremely disappointed that there was no media attention at all. Let me tell you I don't think that there was a death that the media didn't cover in the City of Harrisburg and continue to talk about over and over, reinforcing all of the negative stereotypes. In this day and age where we have fewer opportunities for kids out there we need to try to do all we can to get kids, particularly who's home life is not great, into positive opportunities. It is our obligation to do that for kids in the community. As I went there I listened. There was a young kid there who had described to us the experience that he had of getting robbed two weeks ago. This kid is a good kid. He went and borrowed a gun with the intent of going back and retaliating and killing the people that actually had robbed him that day. His peers who he had reached out to, to acquire a gun, told him before he goes and does something irrational, before you end up killing somebody, before you end up killing yourself, before you end up in Dauphin County Prison why don't you come to our group in the church to be able to talk about what you are going to be able to do. We need to talk to you about this before you do something that you are going to be sorry for, for the rest of your life. The kid went and used the opportunity to be able to change his mind. He gave back the gun and there is one less loss of life in the City of Harrisburg because of the positive opportunity that was provided this kid, in a church, in an athletic environment. We can't get that story out because the media doesn't want to cover that story. We can't get that story out because that is something that is positive and would provide an opportunity for kids rather than showing them that this is just another normal day of drug activity in uptown Harrisburg. Look, this kid is not into drugs, this kid is not into the bad element, he was walking down the street and got robbed and was going to turn around and retaliate. Because a program exists where he felt confident with his peers in going to them before he went and did something he was going to be sorry for, he chose life rather than making the wrong choice. If we say these programs that are out there don't save lives this is a perfect example of where they do. The problem is we don't get any coverage or we don't have the same type of involvement and circus act that surrounds all of the negative stuff. I want to challenge all of you to come out on Friday to be able to support this event. It is going to be filled with basketball celebrities, it's going to be at the Camp Curtin gym. People will be there from Street Hoops, movie stars and they are actually involving the Harrisburg City Police. There will also be many participants and teachers there who are doing it just to see their kids get dunked on. Whatever reason that you need to come out and be a part of this. It is going to be a great event on Friday and we want to encourage you all to come. As kids go down this road to move them into more positive opportunities because they do exist in Dauphin County. We are partnering with a lot of these groups and organizations that are making a difference. I want to encourage you to get the word around and also to spread the word about the opportunities that exist to help save lives not the trash that you see on TV. That is not everybody in our community. You don't have to be involved with drugs or crime to end up in the exact same spot as this young man. We ask for you help and support to be out there on Friday.

CORRESPONDENCE

Mr. Haste: We have correspondence that we have received this week, items A through G that will be handled by the staff appropriately.

1. Notification from Erdman, Anthony, and Associates, Inc., indicating they intend to submit a joint permit application to DEP for a water obstruction and encroachment permit for the stabilization of Loyalton Park Tributary located in Washington Township.
2. Notification from Light-Heigel & Associates, Inc., indicating the Evangelical Free Church of Hershey intends to apply to DEP for a general NPDES permit for stormwater discharges associated with construction of athletic fields, paved parking and drives and buildings located on Route 743, Conewago Township, Dauphin County.
3. Notification from Hersheypark indicating that the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company has filed an application modification for approval with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission for the continued groundwater withdrawal at the Hersheypark property located in Hershey, Dauphin County.
4. Notification from R. J. Fisher & Associates, Inc., on behalf of McNaughton Company, indicating they intend to file an application with DEP through the Dauphin County Conservation District for a general NPDES permit for stormwater discharges associated with construction activities for the Northwoods Crossing extended development, Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County.
5. Notification from National Survey & Engineering, on behalf of Doppco Development, indicating they intend to submit an application to DEP for an NPDES permit for the construction of a commercial retail building located at 3462 Paxton Street, Paxton Street Commons, Swatara Township, Dauphin County.
6. Notification from Dawood Associates, Inc. indicating they intend to apply to the Dauphin County Conservation District for an NPDES permit for a proposed project for 3 single family homes on approximately 60.7 acres in Middle Paxton Township east side of Blue Mountain Parkway, Middle Paxton Township.
7. Notification from Buchart Horn, Inc., on behalf of Conewago Township, indicating they intend to apply to DEP for a Part II Water Quality Management Permit for construction of three sewage pumping stations in the township.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There was none.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Hartwick to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned.