DAUPHIN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
WORKSHOP MEETING
MAY 21, 2008 10:00 A.M.

MEMBERS PRESENT

Jeff Haste, Chairman
Dominic D. DiFrancesco, II, Vice Chairman
George P. Hartwick, III, Secretary (Left to attend a 10:30 Meeting)

STAFF PRESENT

Chad Saylor, Chief Clerk; Marie E. Rebuck, Controller; Janis Creason, Treasurer; William Tully, Esq., Solicitor; J. Scott Burford, Deputy Chief Clerk; Steve Howe, Director of Tax Assessment; Bruce Foreman, Esq., Solicitor's Office; Steve Libhart, District Attorney's Office; Mike Pries, Director of Safety & Security; Kim Robison, Director of Domestic Relations; Carolyn Thompson, Court Administrator; Kay Lengle, Personnel; Randy Baratucci, Director of Purchasing; Tom Guenther, Director of IT; Ken Rapp, Director of Public Defender's Office; Dan Eisenhauer, Director of MH/MR; Leila McAdoo, Solicitor's Office; David Feidt, Solicitor's Office; Dave Schreiber, Personnel; Courtney Hair, Commissioners' Office; Diane McNaughton, Commissioners' Office; Amy Richards, Commissioners' Office; Greg Schneider, Budget & Finance; Jena Wolgemuth, Commissioners' Office; Brenda Hoffer, Commissioners' Office; Ken Gordan, Tax Assessment; Jason Kutalakis, Children & Youth; Karen Lingle, Tax Claim; Hope Rohde, Children & Youth; Jennifer Horn, Children & Youth; Jessica Weaver, Children & Youth; Yaivette Roberts, Children & Youth; Michael Beckstein, Children & Youth; Judith Turnbaugh, Children & Youth; Muhsinah Abdullah, Children & Youth; Liz Tobin, Children & Youth and Richie-Ann Martz, Assistant Chief Clerk

GUESTS PRESENT

Garry Lenton, Gary Fetterhoff, Sharon Fetterhoff, Dale Maljevac, Greg Rupert, Rich Bowra, Kathy Silks, Karen Cullings, Jim Pianka and Catherine Alloway

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 five sets of meeting minutes that we will take up at next week's Legislative Meeting.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Mr. Haste: We are at the point in time in the meeting for public participation. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to address the Board at this time? (There was none.)

DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS/GUESTS

1. Commissioners
   1. Proclamation - Foster Parent Month

Mr. Hartwick: It gives me great pride and pleasure today to be able to recognize a much needed opportunity for families in Dauphin County, in particular for children, but the actual efforts of our foster families in Dauphin County. Right now, I believe we have 100 foster homes in Dauphin County. We also have 500 kids that are in care. So, the need for foster families is great in Dauphin County. I know with five children of my own, taking care of my kids is such a challenge. I respect the individuals who actually step out on faith and have a commitment, to a higher power, to be able to give and open their homes and hearts to kids, who have been bounced around from location to location. We have many times some very traumatic experiences. Through no fault of their own they find themselves in a position where they have no stable home. Foster families step up to the plate in Dauphin County to be able to provide that stability in times of crisis and trouble. They deserve our recognition and our support today. In recognition of the actual Foster Parent Appreciation Month, we have many of our staff in the audience today that we want to recognize, but we also prepared a Proclamation to recognize this event today.

(Mr. Hartwick read the Proclamation.)

Office of County Commissioner
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Proclamation

We, the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, are honored to recognize and applaud the many generous, loving and dedicated foster parents in Dauphin County who open their homes and hearts to young children and teens who need a warm, secure place to live, and we, as a community and family, thank you deeply for your kind-hearted efforts;

Whereas, these exceptionally hard-working foster parents offer one of life's most basic needs, yet most meaningful gifts - a safe, caring environment - for children who have experienced abuse, neglect, hardship and other horrific trauma, and who need extra patience and support; foster parents are essential to supporting the 3,000-plus children in Pennsylvania who need a family to care for them as they await a permanent home;

Whereas, we are also very grateful for Dauphin County Children and Youth employees, who ensure that the parents in the 104 foster homes in the county are properly trained and equipped to deal with the around-the-clock care critical to foster children;

Whereas, although foster parenting is not without its challenges, its rewards are immeasurable, for both child and parent;

Whereas, foster parents hail from all backgrounds, economic situations, races, religions and nationalities, and although they may provide a loving home for only a limited period of time, the impact they have on a child's life is everlasting;

Therefore, we join the 253,300 residents of Dauphin County in honoring foster parents, who offer unselfish, self-sacrificing love and a welcoming home to those who crave it; we thank and commend these hard-working families who nurture, support, protect and love without end; and in grateful recognition thereof, we do hereby proudly proclaim May 2008 as "Foster Parent Appreciation Month" in Dauphin County.

(Applause was given.)

Mr. DiFrancesco: The only thing that I can say this morning, in honor of the foster families that are here and those that they represent that are not here today, it asks the question what is the single most thing that we can do in our community to aid much of the juvenile problem that we experience. It would be to have more foster families, more loving and compassionate people who are willing to open their home to kids. So many of whom have no chance based on the fact that they just have no family structure around them. Literally, this is probably one of the most significant places where we can invest resources to try to get more volunteers out and get more families. For those that are doing it right now all I can offer to you is a heartfelt thank you, because I know that there is great need in this community for more families. I also know for a fact that it is not easy when you open your home to a child who already is struggling with issues. It takes a very strong person, strong in mental fortitude and strong in faith to give that child the stability and foundation to try to get their lives in order. This is a very important Proclamation that we passed today. I just want to thank those in the audience who are either foster families or those who facilitate and support those foster families. Thank you.

Mr. Haste: I too would like to thank the 104 foster families that we have in Dauphin County for their continued commitment to our community. When you think about difficult jobs in life this has to be one of the toughest when you take a child or children in who are probably at one of their toughest times and you need to get them back on the right course, love them, give them discipline and things like that, and set them on that course. Then sometimes you have to hand them off to someone else. I think once you put that much emotion in, to me it would be very difficult to hand off. I understand the role that you have. I understand, at times, that it's probably very difficult for you to do as well. I want to thank you for that.

Mr. Hartwick: We do have one foster parent with us today, Peggy Morehead. She is not with us?

C&Y Staff: No.

Mr. Hartwick: I apologize for that. Hopefully the other ones that are on my list are actually here today who are our staff, that has done an outstanding job of supporting foster parents. They have done an outstanding job of supporting our foster parents in the community. The individuals who are here that represent foster families in our Children and Youth Agency: Hope Rohde, Muhsinah Abdullah, Valerie Laughlin, Jennifer Horn, Currin Haines, Michael Beckstein, Yaivette Roberts, Jessica Weaver, Jessica Keiter, Lauren Harris, Jude Turnbaugh, Jenna Shickley, Liz Tobin and the Solicitor Jason Kutalakis.

(Applause was given and pictures were taken.)

1. Commissioners
   1. Retirement Proclamation - Gary Fetterhoff

Mr. Hartwick: I want to pay special tribute to somebody who tried to slide into retirement without having any of us know, but we all know who the gentleman is. I appreciate his work and expertise that he has given to the County over a number of years. I remember when I went out and worked in the position of a tax assessor. It opened my eyes about the amount of work that you guys have in order to keep up with new buildings and new construction. We all know here that 75% of all Dauphin County's revenue comes as a result of the work that the tax assessors do. We certainly do value and appreciate your expertise and your work. You have done an outstanding job of keeping us moving in the right direction and ensuring that the County has the growth based upon the new development and the construction that we have had over the years. People think tax assessment is based on politics. We need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for what the public wants fairness, open government, integrity and honesty. I believe that is something that is exemplified by our own office. You guys are not the most sought after people. When you see the tax assessor, everybody wants to hide. You manage to do your job with great competence. You do your job despite some of the issues that we have had with our computer software. You worked through a lot of challenges. Gary, specifically, we know how much you like public acknowledgement so there was no way that we were going to let you leave today without being able to say a few words. I'm glad your wife was able to join us today as well.

(Mr. Hartwick read the Proclamation.)

Office of County Commissioner
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Proclamation

We, the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, are honored to applaud Gary Fetterhoff for his 33 years of exemplary service to the people of Dauphin County through his work in the Office of Tax Assessment, and we recognize with both joy and sadness his richly deserved retirement from county service;

Whereas, since assuming the role of Commercial/Industrial Assessor-Appraiser in the mid-1970s, Gary has worked tirelessly on behalf of Tax Assessment and the cause of good government; he has been a member of the Assessors' Association of Pennsylvania for more than 30 years and also earned accreditation as a Certified Pennsylvania Evaluator (CPE);

Whereas, in addition to his impressive years of government service, his interest in the lives of his children—Nichole and Craig— led to his involvement in youth baseball, where he served as both a coach and an umpire; he was also active in football and cheerleading, illustrating his commendable level of commitment to his family, the Halifax community at large, the philosophy of teamwork and the pursuit of excellence;

Whereas, Gary promises to remain a dynamic, devoted community leader, husband, father, grandfather and friend to many; as a dedicated professional and humanitarian, Gary's profound faith has inspired him and his wife, Sharon, to start a new church, which meets weekly in their home;

Therefore, we join the 253,300 residents of Dauphin County in honoring Gary Fetterhoff for his decades of service to Dauphin County, his hard work, his community service and his evident leadership; as a property value expert, we hope Gary fully realizes his own value as an employee and an individual; we thank and commend him for a lifetime of outstanding achievements; we congratulate him most warmly on his well-earned retirement and wish him continued health and happiness in the years to come; and in grateful recognition thereof, we do hereby proudly proclaim May 21, 2008 as "Gary Fetterhoff Day" in Dauphin County.

(Applause was given.)

Mr. DiFrancesco: It is always a mixed emotional time like this when you see a longtime employee leave. You're almost saddened, but at the same time you are thrilled with the retirement and to hear that you are starting a church brings me even greater joy. Congratulations on that venture. I'm sitting here trying to figure out if that is more challenging or less challenging, but it will certainly be more fulfilling. I wish you every blessing and good wishes as you move forward in your career. Thank you for your service to Dauphin County.

Mr. Haste: I won't belabor it. Just thank you and congratulations!

Mr. Hartwick: We often don't hear about the things that people do outside of County government. We have employees that are so committed to the community, the kids, to the faith community and it shows that we have public servants truly in Dauphin County that not only do that in their job, but they actually do that in their lives. We want to thank you for setting a good example. Thank you.

(Pictures were taken and applause given.)

1. Dale Maljevac, Critical Care Transport Nurse (PSHMC Life Lion Team)
   Gregory Rupert, Program Director (PSHMC Life Lion Team)
   1. Presentation to Commissioners

Mr. DiFrancesco: I get to go next in the Proclamation business this morning. This is an exciting opportunity for all of us today too. I would like to call forward our guests, Dale Maljevac and Gregory Rupert. It is not often that we get to honor members of our community, but in turn it looks like they bring goodies to celebrate as well. Please, if you would be kind, take a seat at the table. I have a Proclamation that I would like to read, but you can begin first.

Mr. Maljevac: On behalf of Life Lion, in celebration of EMS Week, we would like to give you a picture of the helicopter flying over the State Capitol. This was actually taken by one of our other helicopters that flew over the State Capitol several years ago.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I know that picture will proudly hang in an appropriate place, more than likely right out here. Each one of these will hang with great pride in our offices as well. We thank you for that. We thank you for the gifts and cake that I'm sure everybody in the audience will be thrilled to share.

Mr. Maljevac: Please share the cake and the picture on the cake actually represents the realignment out at Penn State Hershey. University EMS is now Life Lion EMS and this cake represents the programs coming together. Because we serve Dauphin County, we wanted to make sure that we included a picture of your ambulance on there and it is now in Swatara and Hummelstown and those areas. University EMS is Life Lion EMS and they are still serving the community and we wanted to make sure that you were aware of that.

Mr. DiFrancesco: If I could add, just for a minute, because we would like to take this opportunity in light of your visit to of course welcome you here today, to thank you for your service, but you stand representing a more broad field that is out there everyday doing the same job that you do, both volunteer and career members, who everyday come to the aid of people in our community when they make calls and need assistance. At this time, I would like to read a Proclamation on behalf of the Board that we would like to give to you on behalf of the EMS community.

(Mr. DiFrancesco read the Proclamation.)

Office of County Commissioner
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Proclamation

We, the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, are honored to join friends, family members and fellow emergency personnel in paying tribute to the caring, capable men and women who provide expert emergency medical service to the injured and the ill in Dauphin County;

Whereas, the emergency medical service teams, including the dedicated professionals at Penn State Hershey Medical Center Life Lion Team, provide a vital public service, standing ready to respond to every cry for help in a moment's notice and to provide lifesaving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

Whereas, access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury, whether it is at the hands of a car accident, heart attack, crime, fire, or other jarring tragedy;

Whereas, the emergency medical services system consists of a myriad of professionals working together to provide life-sustaining and life-saving care, including physicians, nurses, medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, educators and administrators;

Whereas, members of Dauphin County's emergency medical service teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their lifesaving skills, so that they can be at their very best in times of crisis, and when life and death decisions hang in the balance;

Therefore, we join with the 253,300 residents of Dauphin County in honoring these often unsung heroes who spring seamlessly into action in response to every frantic call to 9-1-1; we thank them for the work they do to keep Dauphin County safe and our citizens alive; and in grateful recognition thereof, we do hereby proclaim May 19-25, 2008 as "Emergency Medical Services Week" in Dauphin County.

(Applause was given.)

Mr. DiFrancesco: Just on one personal note while I don't know that I should or can take credit for this, I have to tell you that as a Penn State grad every time I see that helicopter flying through the air I take enormous pride, maybe more so than when I'm sitting on the 50 yard line watching the team play. It is very exciting to have you here and I'm also excited to hear about the realignment that the name will be going on the land based units as well. Thank you for the service.

Mr. Hartwick: I certainly do appreciate your service. I have seen the Life Lion do so much good for so many people in this area. It is a critical component to our emergency management system throughout the region. The life-saving opportunities that are offered through your ability to get there quick, to get individuals to the next needed care, particularly in some of the rural areas in Dauphin County is something that is a huge commitment you have to try to save lives and do something again that you are called to do and you do a damn good job of it. As well as the public education that you provide to kids and the community about the services you provide, I have seen you on Steel-High's football field and a couple times I have seen you out and active in the community. I know those are things that you do, usually based upon your own willingness to donate your time and efforts. All of those efforts don't go unnoticed and we sincerely appreciate the role that you play in our community.

Mr. Haste: As you were sitting here and Nick touched on it a little bit. The pride that you have when you see this, especially in a ceremony like this or when we are talking about it, but at the same time when you are involved in an accident and you hear that Life Lion was called, how you sort of get that sinking feeling, because you know if you were called it is not a good situation. It is sort of weird that in this time you have this sense of pride and you feel good about it and then other times it is like oh my goodness they are coming. We are blessed in this area to have you here. I'm sure you guys could say the number of lives that have been saved in our community because you are here that would have been lost if it wouldn't for you is greatly appreciated.

Commissioners: Thank you for the gifts.

(Pictures were taken.)

1. Stephen Libhart, District Attorney's Office
   1. Intergovernmental Agreement and Authority Designation for PennDOT

Mr. Libhart: The thing I have for presentation this morning is an Agreement to authorize Dauphin County to have access to the PennDOT Infrastructure, their IT infrastructure, for us to submit our annual request for funds to do DUI checkpoints, cops and shops. For whatever reason, they are making every municipality execute one of these documents this year. They also will not be asking for us to have a manual signature page to send in. This will be authenticated by whomever you decide to designate as the signature authority. The documents before you indicate the Chief Clerk/Chief of Staff as the signature authority, but if you want somebody else I will just amend the document to indicate that individual. It is basically just an agreement that we won't misuse the access that we have to PennDOT's record system.

Mr. Haste: Is this for next week's action or do you need action today?

Mr. Libhart: You can take action either today or next week. It is not time sensitive.

Mr. Haste: Put it on next week.

1. Dan Eisenhauer, Director, Mental Health/Mental Retardation
   1. 2009/2012 MH Plan

Mr. Eisenhauer: I'm here on behalf of the Mental Health Program to present to you an overview of the Mental Health Plan for a three-year period, FY 2009/2012. This is the actual draft plan that we will ask you to consider approving at next week's Legislative Session. I prepared a Power Point, because a 160-page document is too much to go over in a short session. This year obviously mental health has radically changed the planning guidelines for County MH programs. They want us to basically develop a 3-year strategic plan about how we serve increasing members of people in our community with essentially flat resources. Our plan actually has several different components, a forensic plan, a housing plan to assist people who are homeless and then what we call the traditional, sort of an assessment of our system. I'll just quickly run through the highlights of what our planning process has been.

First of all, we have been working on developing the plan since November. It was a monumental effort to compile all the information and data that the State requested, so, we had numerous collaboration teams. We did surveys. We did focus groups. We had consumers who were interviewing other consumers about their housing needs, forensic needs, all ways of getting additional data and input into our plan. We also did a resources and strengths assessment and have listed some of the resources and strengths for Dauphin County. One is the jail diversion program, which we will be updating more formally next week. So far our jail diversion program has greatly exceeded expectations. In nine months we have diverted more individuals from Prison than we had planned to do for the full first year. So, in nine months we have already exceeded our annual target.

Our JEREMY Project is a program for transition age youth. It helps children and young adults, ages 16 to 25, sort of migrate from a child system to an adult mental health system. As kids are aging out of one system and moving into another system there are a lot of issues. A lot of kids are separating from their parents, determining independent living and employment services and we have a dedicated project for that.

What we call Gate Keeping and Coordination is how we manage our State hospital resources and our extended acute resources. We also have to work on a philosophical shift in how we deliver services that we call the Recovery and Resiliency. One of our strengths is our provider network in Dauphin County and we do have housing resources.

Unmet needs that we are trying to address in the next three years are system transformation. Again the growing demand for services with essentially flat capacity and I will show you some data a little bit later about what we mean about that. What we call morbidity and mortality, there is a growing body of evidence that adults with serious mental illness have a life expectancy of 25 years less than a general population. So, people that we serve, besides their mental illness, are often diagnosed with diabetes, heart conditions and numerous other physical health concerns. They often have poor access to physical healthcare. So, it is one of the issues that we are trying to plan for. We also have, as Bob Burns and the Aging folks will tell you, the beginning of what we call the baby boomer bubble. There is a growing number of citizens in Dauphin County and the Commonwealth that are age 60 and over and so the demand for mental health services for older adults is also increasing.

Our other unmet need is, as you are aware, we have been working with Pinnacle Hospital and Hershey Medical Center on the merger of PPI. That was essentially to preserve existing inpatient services in Dauphin County, but that remains a challenge. Some of our data, we have seen a 33% increase in the number of people that we served in one year. Going from 2005/06 to 2006/07 there was a dramatic increase and again with essentially flat funding. The services that people are getting are outpatient services, intensive case management, social rehabilitation services and employment. On the positive side, we have seen a decreased use of hospitalization in favor of community services. That is a positive. We have been able to use an inpatient extended acute care program and rely less on the State hospital system. One of the other concerns is that we have a growing increase in the number of kids that are receiving residential services. The Commissioners talked about this earlier, it is part of the same concerns about kids involved in the juvenile justice system, children and youth system and kids in the mental health system. We are seeing an increase in the number of kids needing to be placed in facilities. Again, on a positive side, we have seen a decrease in involuntary hospitalizations.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Can I ask you a question regarding the use of residential services? Are you talking about a group home setting or are you talking about more or less foster care that is set up to handle kids like this?

Mr. Eisenhauer: No, it is a structured residential program, with a combination of housing and treatment. It is more like a hospital environment, but it is a structured residential treatment program.

Mr. DiFrancesco: So, we don't really have more or less like foster homes for challenged kids?

Mr. Eisenhauer: We do. For the data purposes, we kind of put those together with what we call facility based RTF and community based or CRL host home is sort of a partner model to foster care. We are seeing an increase in both.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I was curious to see how many homes you have available and whether or not there is a need. Obviously I'm sure there is a need to get more, but I'm also certain that would require some very specific skills.

Mr. Eisenhauer: Right. In addition to the training that a foster parent might receive for Children & Youth, sometimes they are some of the same homes. Some families will agree to do foster services for Children & Youth and also accept kids with mental health needs in what we call a Community Residential Home for Kids with Mental Illness. Some of the parents are cross trained, but some are specific to one or the other system.

In spite of the demand for services, we continue to have what we have identified as underserved population. What we consider any complicating factor in addition to a person's mental illness. If people have cultural language difficulties we don't do as good a job with those folks as we might. Upper Dauphin County is an underserved area. We hope that with the new Upper Dauphin Human Services Center our presence will help. We will be consolidating the case management unit in that location, which currently is in a separate location in upper Dauphin. We have a homeless population in Dauphin County in that over the years has sort of gone up and down a little bit. We are currently on a positive down turn in the number of homeless people, but still a significant number of people with mental illness and substance abuse are homeless. Deaf and hard of hearing population, people with brain injuries, HIV/AIDS, again forensic involvement, people 60+ and people with physical illness or disabilities.

The large part of the plan was to identify what our needs are and then try to figure out where we are going with that. We have priorities for our system and again this is with the caveat of essentially no new funds for any of these priorities. These are just system changes that we are expected to make because "it is the right thing to do." We will be doing some strategic planning around how we implement evidenced-based programs. The Federal government has identified several blue ribbon programs. Not many for adults with mental illness, but certainly some for kids with mental illness that we can try to look to implement here in Dauphin County. We have to do a better job about staff recruitment and retention. It is difficult. Wages are flat in our system and have been for some time. So, we have difficulty with recruitment and training. We are working on developing and implementing more consumer run services. There is a growing body of evidence that having consumers involved in the delivery of services improves the outcome for other consumers who receive service. Basically if you get the input of people that have sort of been there and done that, they can help form better relationships with treatment providers and consumers and actually get better outcomes. So, we have been doing that in Dauphin County and we are trying to do more. Increased participation of persons and families receiving services and a long term project is the creation of housing supports and sustaining recovery oriented services.

We do outline funding requests in our plan for the next three years. We have not much hope that any of these will be funded, but we do submit funding requests. One is that the State has not given us a COLA on all of our funds. Even in years when the department gives us a COLA, we don't get a COLA on all of our funds. So, one of our issues is we should receive a COLA on all of our funds. The second one is the increase in cost for training around evidenced based practices. The other one is we estimated the cost in our provider network to give people just a 4% increase and salary costs $650,000 annually in our system. Again, the State, in addition to closing Harrisburg State Hospital, there is continued pressure on the State and the Federal government as a result of the Olmstead ruling to continue to work on the institutionalization efforts. So, we have submitted a plan. We don't know if it will be funded, but we are submitting a plan to discharge eight more people from Danville State Hospital. Admissions and discharges occur on a weekly or monthly basis, but this would be permanently reducing the census at Danville again. Outreach to older persons, we have identified a growing population of people, age 60+, who need mental health services. There are often barriers and people seeking services so we need to do outreach to try to help people get engaged in services.

The other part of our plan is part of our housing plan. We receive categorical funds for projects for assistance in the transition from homelessness. It is not a lot of money. It is roughly $71,000 of Federal funds. We use it for training in our shelter programs in the homeless programs in Dauphin County. We also do crisis service and crisis outreach to people who are homeless. We serve about 300 people actually in our outreach program a year. For $71,000 it is a pretty effective use of funds.

Our straight housing plan, which is another required component in the 160 some pages. We needed to do an inventory of all of our existing housing resources in Dauphin County, both public and private. Meaning Section 8 programs, Housing Authority operated programs, as well as Mental Health Funded Residential Programs. Within that, the State wants us to look at are we using all our mental health funds as effectively as we can. They would like us to not spend our funds on housing programs. They want us to try to migrate our funding to HUD Funding for Housing and mental health funds for services. That is a long term project in Dauphin County to essentially convert existing group homes, decertify those homes and have people get low-income housing and we provide supports through other ways. It is a five year plan. We have identified a couple providers that we can try to pilot this. We have done something like this in the past. If we are funding a residential program, the largest part is the 24/7 staffing component. If we can reduce that and still serve people effectively it would be a positive change. Again, we are not looking to do it on a large scale, but we do need to see if there are any opportunities to do that.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I realize the push is on to deinstitutionalize and get people as close to living on their own as possible, but what are we seeing in these programs in terms of increases in crime and I don't mean crime impact on the community, I mean just somebody all of a sudden is living on their own and a situation pops up where the local law enforcement is not prepared really to deal with that? How is the impact?

Mr. Eisenhauer: I can tell you that we have a fundamental disagreement with the State about some parts of that direction. We believe, and our data in Dauphin County shows that, while it may not be a large number of people there are absolutely a number of people that need 24/7 supervised living arrangements. Maybe not all of their lives, but certainly people stepping down from inpatient treatment, people coming from Danville State Hospital, people leaving Dauphin County Prison and people that we are trying to divert from Dauphin County Prison.

Mr. DiFrancesco: We want to divert as many out that shouldn't be in the Prison. I'm concerned that if the State doesn't acknowledge that some people do need to be in a more institutional setting, then we are going to have more people in the Prison that shouldn't be there, because the support is just not going to be adequate enough.

Mr. Eisenhauer: We agree and that is why I'm saying that we are not volunteering to decertify any group homes. We will do an honest assessment in our residential continuum to see if there are any programs that are candidates for that transition. I guess part of our concern in Dauphin County, we actually did that transition about five or seven years ago before the State asked us to do it. We feel like we have already done that transition before they asked us to and now they are putting pressure on all counties to do it. Our response has been that we kind of already did that. There is very little left for us to convert. It is not a mandate to do it. It is a policy change and we are negotiating what that means for Dauphin County.

Mr. DiFrancesco: In your opinion is the State trying to eliminate all State hospitals or reduce it down to maybe one or two hospitals?

Mr. Eisenhauer: I can't project.

Mr. DiFrancesco: So, they haven't been on record for that?

Mr. Eisenhauer: No. They have been on record as staying in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling about Olmstead. They need to continue deinstitutionalization efforts. The pace is open to negotiation. In this administration, Harrisburg State Hospital was the first and they are currently working on closing the Mayview State Hospital. So, two State hospitals in one administration is a pretty significant pace when we are down to nine statewide.

Mr. Haste: I was trying to sit here and really not say what I was thinking, but it. The closing of the State hospitals was a mistake. As far as I'm concerned there is nothing but a bunch of nitwits who read some book and they are running around up there in the hallways hugging each other because they think they are doing something good. And, they can put these little flowery press releases out and they think they are doing a good thing, but they are not. Part of this plan, as I was reading it, all the State has done is closed their facility and forced us to make smaller facilities that they are not calling State hospitals or whatever, but we have to fill the gap. We have to go around and build 14 or 16 bed homes to do the same thing that was done up there at a cost to the taxpayers that is inefficient. It is more inefficient to run a series of 14 or 16 bed homes with different staff than it is to have one large facility with wings and staff that can address this issue. It is nothing but a bunch of goofballs up there who have made a policy and decided that they are going to make us pay for it. The other thing is if we didn't put this plan together, underserved communities and I only saw the criminal justice side mentioned twice. I saw the jail diversion and I saw the forensics. For us to be effective in this and care about the taxpayers who have to pay for all of this and I'm just as concerned about these individuals that we have to serve, but I'm also concerned about the taxpayers who have to pay for it. We ought to focus more on programs like the jail diversion, because if we can get those people on another course we are not taxing the local municipal police force like Nick said, because they are not used to dealing with this. We are not putting them in jail cells out there. On an email that we got we have 1000 people in jail and about 220 needing services. They ought to be elsewhere. If we don't do it that is going to add to the jail space and we are paying for it. It is not just that this is flat lined or no income, it is going to cost the taxpayers dollars. Until these people get out of there and start walking the streets to see what is going on, they sit up there saying we've got it all wrong, we are trying to mainstream these people. There are certain individuals that can't be mainstreamed. Until they realize that and until they realize that it is safer for those people and safer for the public in a different way they are getting it wrong. I'm somewhat irritated that we are sitting here trying to play nice with them when we know that they have screwed it up. The State has messed this program up. We are housing people out at DCP that are sitting there waiting for a bed to open and a bed that we know probably will not open, because of what the State is doing. The system is wrong. They have gone down the wrong track and until we start screaming that they are on the wrong track I don't think they are going to do anything.

Mr. Eisenhauer: I agree. My assessment and when our staff was putting this plan together one of the things is there is a forensic plan that is a component so it is more than just two bullets, but you are right. We have been saying to the State for 15 years you can't starve the County-based program for mental health services and pile on all the other initiatives that there are and expect us to sort of come out equal. By default, you can argue on one sense that it is efficient, because they don't give us anymore funds, but we see the impact coming out in other ways. As you said, we do have a homeless population and we do have a difficult to serve population. We have two people that are probably going to be discharged from Danville against our advice from the County this week that we don't think are ready to leave. We are in a battle with the State on those two individuals. One of them has a forensic history and one of them has a homeless history. We agree that there are individuals that need that level of care.

Mr. Haste: This policy is costing the taxpayers more money. I think we should have as the first paragraph that we respectfully think you have messed up and let them know that we don't agree with them.

Mr. Eisenhauer: We have circulated the full plan to the Commissioners and I have written the executive summary and that is in the last paragraph. I would be more than happy to move it up.

Mr. Haste: The first thing that we should say is that they screwed up.

Mr. Eisenhauer: It doesn't say it quite that clear, but I can make it as clear as you want.

Mr. Haste: This is the year of nonpolitical correctness. I'm just tired of it. When they closed them they said that they would help us out and we went down that road and we said okay we will work with you. Well, we have done that for how many years and it doesn't work.

Mr. Eisenhauer: We have been successful in serving the people that were discharged by large, but we have not been successful at maintaining the level of service to meet the growing capacity.

Mr. Haste: Those people are waiting for forensic beds, tell me how we are better serving them staying in DCP?

Mr. Eisenhauer: I'm not.

Mr. Haste: I'm not saying you. Ask the Secretary. I want to ask the Secretary and have her tell us how they are better served. They are not. This program is a failure.

Mr. DiFrancesco: There is a serious concern that I have too with the simple logic behind this, we are going through a transition, we are taking people out of institutional settings as Commissioner Haste has mentioned in the name of serving them better, which I disagree totally, but we take these out of an institutional setting, I believe the motivation is to save money. They shut the hospitals down. They put more pressure on us to provide now community-based services and yet they lock your budget at no growth for how many years?

Mr. Eisenhauer: Two of the last three years have been essentially zero growth. The proposed budget for 08/09 is a 0% COLA again.

Mr. DiFrancesco: So, basically what we are hearing from the State is we are washing our hands of this responsibility, we are passing it onto you and oh by the way we don't care how you fund it we're not giving you any of the savings that we have or any additional money or resources. Regardless of the budget and regardless of the money that they have in their budget, you have an obligation, the State has an obligation, to meet the needs of these people. If they want to give up that obligation completely and trade it all to us then fine we will do it and we will do it our way. We will probably do a much better job. But, then get them out of the revenue stream completely and let us decide what it will take to do the job. My frustration is the fact that you know far too much today we see government, because there is no money in the budget, decide that they are not going to take on the responsibility as opposed to finding a way within the budget to do the better job. Again, as Commissioner Haste said, they pass it downstream, they don't give anymore money and guess what we just go from the State and Federal government picking up these things to more or less income tax funded mechanism to now it shifting down to the counties where the property taxes are once again going to have to cover any kind of a gap. Once again instead of providing property tax relief, they go round and about and make more of a burden on the property owners, because now they have to foot more of the bill, because they at the Commonwealth are shirking their responsibilities to these citizens. If you want to come up with a plan then you have a responsibility to come up with a plan that serves this community better, but also provides adequate funding to make it happen. You do not have, and again to the State, you do not have the luxury of sitting back and saying oops sorry no money, can't do anything about it. You guys take care of it.

Mr. Haste: I'll go back to the Block Grant. They ought to give us whatever money they feel is appropriate and then walk away and let us do our job. Cut the strings.

Mr. DiFrancesco: It is absolutely obscene that even one individual would be sitting in Dauphin County Prison who should be in a different setting. They are only there by virtue of the fact that somebody has left them down by letting them out of a facility that is much better suited to serve them. For all the do-good philosophy out there, there is a practical side that somebody needs to look at.

Mr. Eisenhauer: That gets me to the last page. Believe it or not we have a little bit of money from my Help Choices Reinvestment Program to invest in three housing initiatives in Dauphin County. We are supplying very tiny amounts of funding compared to the cost of these projects, but we have two primarily HUD funded housing programs for people with disabilities. We are proposing to supplement Volunteers of America's HUD 811 Program in a capital investment. The HUD funds aren't enough to actually complete the construction. They have to do additional fundraising. So, we are proposing to support Volunteers of America's Baldwin Village, which is the 811 operating by the Housing Authority of the County of Dauphin and then Paxton Ministries is looking at developing another housing program. We would do a one-time capital investment.

Mr. Haste: Where is that project going to be at?

Mr. Eisenhauer: It doesn't have a location yet. It is in the planning stages. It would be four to six individuals. The total amount of housing and it is one-time housing funds is $128,000.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I'm only looking for brief answers. Do you see an advantage for mental health to play more of an active role in the schools? Like right now, we have Juvenile Probation officers in the schools and some Children & Youth workers in the schools. In some cases should we start exploring options to put mental health workers in the schools?

Mr. Eisenhauer: We are and we have. We have student assistance programs in something like 15 outpatient satellite clinics in schools throughout Dauphin County.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I would like to chat with you about that. I was unaware of that. What has the impact been? I know you said there's still some struggles in transition, but what has the impact been on the Pinnacle/Penn State alliance?

Mr. Eisenhauer: They have not yet been able to fully staff the facility. They still have to do some renovations on the 6th Floor and get it staffed. At the end of the process they will have 74 beds. They currently are still only operating at 54. We still have essentially the same concerns about emergency room traffic and people needing to go to other hospitals out of the area.

Mr. DiFrancesco: It's just a matter of them simply not having enough.

Mr. Eisenhauer: I think it is summertime before the renovations are completed and the staffing is ramped up.

Mr. DiFrancesco: My last question. Is family group decision-making a part of the mental health cases at all? Do we actually use that system in cases where.

Mr. Eisenhauer: Where we overlap with Children & Youth and Juvenile Probation.

Mr. DiFrancesco: What about adults as well?

Mr. Eisenhauer: We have similar planning models. That is one of the things I have been talking about with our Human Services Director. We have similar planning models with different means. Same concept.

Mr. Saylor: The funding requests, have you talked with Jack about these in terms of getting a grant? I know he had some priorities.

Mr. Eisenhauer: I have not, because this is an exercise of requesting the funds as part of our appropriation.

Mr. Haste: It is part of the budget process.

Mr. Eisenhauer: Yes, it is part of the State budget process.

Mr. Haste: Once they reject it then we can do that.

Mr. Saylor: Just from reading some of them sound like they might be good opportunities to go for grants.

Mr. Eisenhauer: They are.

1. Rich Bowra, Executive Director, Dauphin County Library System
   Kathy Silks, President, DCLS Board of Trustees
   Karen Cullings, Community Relations Director, DCLS
   1. General Update on Library System

Ms. Silks: I'm Kathy Silks and I'm President of the Board of Trustees of Dauphin County Library System. I would like to introduce Rich Bowra, Executive Director and Karen Cullings who is the Community Relations Director.

First of all I want to thank the County and thank the three of you specifically for your leadership in supporting libraries with funding. Dauphin County is among the top Third Class Counties in terms of per capita county funding for libraries. We are very grateful for that. What does Dauphin County Library System mean to residents of the County? Even though there are three of us squeezing in I thought I would add a few more voices to the table. DCLS is an essential partner for parents in encouraging early literacy. Christina of Wiconisco tells us "My family moved to the upper Dauphin area four years ago knowing no one. Lykens Library family became a huge part of our family. Story time was their first school and the summer programs their summer camp. As a stay at home mother my escape from everyday is in the books and movies I get from the library. DCLS is a rich resource for educators who are dedicated to their students' broad ranging knowledge and competencies." William, a teacher in Harrisburg School District and an online DCLS user, tells us "We have a shortage of libraries and resource materials in the elementary schools. If our public libraries are cut in hours and resources, this will eliminate an extremely important alternate source of library books and resources. As a result, we will put our children at risk for not being properly prepared to enter the competitive labor market." DCLS is an important and affordable resource for adults who are seeking to change careers or find employment. Kim of suburban Harrisburg told us "I'm going back to school to be a nurse and I haven't written a paper in 20 years. I went to the reference desk and asked Aaron if he knew how I could find scholarly journals required for my paper. He went through step-by-step of how to reference scholarly journals and how to even do it at home. This will be a great help considering I have four kids. He even gave me all the paperwork as to how to do it with step-by-step instructions."

We are here today to present a general update on the library, its services, operations and resources. We do have handouts for you that we will present later.

Mr. Bowra: You were talking about Tax Assessment in that they are responsible for about 75% of the revenue that comes into Dauphin County, I thought it would be interesting to articulate where our money comes from as well. About 60% of our income comes from Dauphin County. That is very important to us. We are in the fifth year of our increase in funding from the County that took place just as the Commissioners took office. Our secondary funding is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That is just as the previous presenter was talking about State funding has been very much of an issue for us as well. In the period between 2001 and 2008, the funding was initially cut 37% at the same time when the Commissioners increased our millage. When we made our appeal five years ago it was not with the intent or the expectation that the State money would be reduced. Through the dips and then some of the restoration in that period of seven years the funding has increased for 12 million people in the State by $500,000 or 5 cents per capita in that seven year period. What also happened when the State money was reduced, the State has a formula that would reward municipalities for increasing their funding, an incentive formula as it is called. When the cuts were made and subsequently restored, there was so much fear among the legislature that there would be so many libraries that would lose because they did not get strong municipal funding, that incentive formula for the last six years has been abandoned and does not work for us as well. That is an issue. Karen will present on one of our other sources of funding, which is certainly the grants that we go after as well. Like any other organization we have had budget pressures from increased cost of books and technology. With Commissioner DiFrancesco last year we were talking about our network and if you have seen the TV commercial where you have the Slozkes, we were the Slozkes. It was waiting for pages to load, it was taking a minute or more in many cases. We had to upgrade our band width and that is at no small cost. In addition to the budget pressures and as Karen will talk about money we raised, we want to take a look at what happened in terms of the whole issue of looking at other efficiencies as well. In the Fall of 2007, we did suspend a lot of our adult programming that is not funded by other issues other than endowments and things of that sort. We have looked at various workflow efficiencies in the system. This is at a time when our use is growing. As I said earlier, our circulation, we are getting 5% more books in the hands of people, our program attendance is up, had 43,000 people last year with computer questions and things of that sort. So, things are certainly moving forward, but we are still trying to look at how we can scale some things back. In our strategic plan we put a number of issues on hold as well. We just do not feel we have the resources to do them at this point. In terms of other efficiencies that we are doing, we are doing a capital campaign now for the Hummelstown facility and rather than hire a campaign manager, Karen is doing that work. Our facilities projects, rather than hiring clerks, we are doing those jobs. Healthcare, of course, cost containment is a major issue as well. We worked with Chad and Scott this past year to look and see how our costs compare with the County and if there is ever any way of partnering. We found with our aggressive staff we actually were able to get a reduction of $41,000 this year in health costs, which is a less of a cost than what the County is at this point per person. It is not the same plan, but we try to push those costs back as well. We are using volunteers, hiring a volunteer coordinator this year as well, exploring different partnerships with different groups and organizations. We recently had a conversation about a group that we are looking at with materials in our Kline Library, and then different customer services efficiencies as well. We got a grant to put self-checkout machines in our East Shore Library about a year from now. We are looking at those things all when our use is up. We are getting ready to gear up for our summer reading program. It keeps the kids reading skills sharp during the summer so they don't lose ground. We had record attendance last year. We are getting ready to do that as well. We have a lot of great ideas. We have a very creative staff and we have a lot to do, but we are not looking at the County for doing all that heavy lifting. We do a lot ourselves as well.

Mr. Haste: You gave 60%, you didn't say where the other 40% comes from?

Mr. Bowra: The State is probably 25% or so. What I can do is provide you with a full breakdown, but fundraising and grants are part of that and fees and other general income. It is a real variety of things that make up that final roughly 15%, but I can certainly provide more detailed information to you.

Ms. Cullings: There is an income and expense breakdown in the annual report that I have in your packages here if you want to look at the pie chart.

The first thing that I wanted to share with you is a piece of good news regarding the investment in the community for funding libraries that Commonwealth recently commissioned a study to look at that. There is a certain irony in that I know, but it was conducted by the University of North Carolina. It determined that for every $1 spent on public libraries in Pennsylvania, the community gets back $5.50 in value. I give you a nod on the head for being ahead of the curve in knowing that investing in libraries is a good idea.

Two things that we can't provide to the citizens normally out of our operating budget are building improvements and new services or high ticket expansion or upgrades of services that we offer. We have two options available to us to fund those kinds of things. We have either State level grants or grants from other sources and fundraising in a community. We do both of those pretty aggressively; especially in recent years. Rich mentioned the capital campaign. We have actually been in capital campaign since 2001. This is our third campaign since 2001. The first was a broad campaign to raise the money for the different library projects that we have been working on. The second two were sub-campaigns for the neighborhoods in the areas where those libraries are being placed. Since that time we have raised $2.5 million in capital campaign funds. I'm happy to let you know that we are nearing the million dollar mark for Hummelstown in pledges. The other thing that we do is go after the grant funding. It is mainly State grants, but also grants from other resources like Verizon and places like that. For instance, four years ago we applied to be eligible to receive the EITC Funding, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Funding. We were successful in that and have raised $150,000 in four years towards funding just the summer reading program to keep the kids reading and learning over the summer so they are not coming back to school at a deficit. We have also gotten State grants for things like updating the computerized catalog and instituting wireless access, things that we can't do out of the operating budget, because they are just too expensive. Between those two sources, the capital campaign since 2001 and the fundraising that we have done over the last four years, we have raised nearly $9 million. We think that figure is a great figure to us. That is a vote of confidence that we see from individuals, families, businesses and foundations that were willing to give a charitable donation for library services. That figure includes everything from hundreds of thousands of dollars from a foundation for a building project to a child putting their change in the dinosaur bank at the children's department when they are checking out books. It is a pretty broad range. There are some challenges that we are going to look at in the next couple years. We are going to be out of campaign and we will need to turn to annual funding to try and raise funds. Our major donors will still be paying off campaign pledges and of course the economy is what it is right now so the people that we are turning to are going to have less discretionary income for making charitable donations. However, historically when the economy takes a downturn, library use goes up. You are already starting to see that with the figures that Rich mentioned for library use. We will start to see much more library use in probably I would guess a tougher time for those people to give us annual fund donations and other kinds of donations. We are looking at other ways to address that. I won't bore you with them right now, but if you have questions on them I can talk to you about that. The service demand is definitely going up and it is definitely changing.

Mr. Haste: Have you seen any grants or are you aware of any grants that if you had local money you could bring in more money?

Ms. Cullins: I don't know specifically of any of those except the State.

Mr. Bowra: We have gotten two grants, what are called State Keystone Grants for some of the facilities' improvements, one for Hummelstown and one for downtown. Those required matching money. We received $2.3 million through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Projects Program. We had to match that with $2.3 million in other funds. A lot of the grants that we do go after, even some of the State Library Grants, for equipment, once you get past a certain threshold you need to match that money as well.

Mr. Haste: When you come before us at budget this Fall, if you could have between now and then take a look at those types of programs to see, for instance, if we were to put more money in what that could be leveraged against to bring back in. That may help.

Mr. Bowra: When you talk about leveraging funds, the perfect lever was in place in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with that incentive program, which we would have seen maybe another $150,000 from the State with the last millage increase. Unfortunately in the Secretary's and the Governor's budget that main lever that was our primary lever was disabled.

Mr. Haste: This Administration promises one thing and then does something else.

Ms. Silks: One more voice, Beth of Highspire, she tells us "The library is an outlet for many young and inter-city youth. Many of the children have desolate home situations." We have heard about some of those today. Libraries provide good study habits and educational values, the library offers free study materials, internet usage, guidance, instruction and an invaluable safe haven. I hope you have seen from the statistics and the stories that we have told you that libraries are changing, but irrelevance is stronger than ever; the impact that we have on families, children, educators and people who are dedicated to lifelong learning. We appreciate the relationship that we have with you and everything you do to make our mission possible here in Dauphin County. We look forward to further talks about how our impact can not only stay the same, but grow. Thank you.

Mr. DiFrancesco: It has been a real honor to serve in the oversight role for the Library System over the past four years. I have been able to witness a lot of the good programming that you are doing. I have been able to see how valuable the library is in terms of meeting goals outside of your goals, but actually they match as you mentioned the summer reading program, giving kids a safe haven and an alternative to the streets, the enthusiasm that comes through the reading to the young children, teaching them how important it is to read and the fun that can be achieved through reading books. Obviously literacy is a foundation of growth. It is an important keystone to keep kids out of an institutional system we do not want them to be in. It is a great alternative, as you already mentioned, to a weak economy where families that cannot afford to go on vacation can afford to use some of the more community-based services like the library system and the alternatives that it provides. It is a critical part of this community, I think most people appreciate it, but unfortunately some people, with the growth in the use of the internet and computers in every home, look at it and say why do you really need a library any more. The bottom line is the library continues to serve a critical role and as you already mentioned today growth in services continues. The demands for services continue to grow. Just a couple observations that we are so lucky to have the Dauphin County Library System in terms of you as leaders, you have been remarkably aggressive and successful in going after additional alternative forms of money, grants and so forth. You have an incredible devoted group of volunteers that serve on your board. People are very passionate about libraries and will do anything and will give anything of time, effort and money to keep that library system going strong. You have had a series of very generous public donors. I think from the communities' perspective, I'm going to stress it one more time, when you see a new building project going up that is not your operating money that comes from your tax money that comes into you, nor is it necessarily that State funding, grant money yes, but it is not your core bread and butter operational budget. It is you going out and finding ways to continue to improve the system based on a lot of private investment, not tax dollars. Sometimes people like, Hummelstown is a classic example of what is going on there, you're looking at tremendously improving that facility, but it is not going to be using tax dollars to do that. You are going to go out and get a lot of private contributions. You are going from a library right now that is frightening to be in, literally, it is so tight in that building that to have these nice facilities is going to be so much of an improvement and the fact that you can do that without using the tax assessments is a remarkable thing. You guys are great. The challenges that you face in terms of the Governor and the administration, basically taking four years to recover back to where we were from the cuts.

Mr. Bowra: Five years.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Five years to recover. Basically we walk in the door day one and they cut your budget and then over the next five years progress back to a place that you were five years ago and celebrate that as a victory. That's not a victory. That did great damage to the systems across this Commonwealth. Once again it is a situation where we acknowledge the fact that you know that money is tight and we are operating our budget as we promised to do, with business objectives. You don't spend more than you take in, but we don't have the luxury of sitting back and saying you know what we can't provide this service any more, because there is just no money there for it. We are creative. We find ways to make it work. You are creative and you find ways to make it work. Unfortunately what you are up against, with the State funding and so forth, it is challenging. Add to that a lot of things we didn't talk about today in terms of you have to hold your salaries down, because the State is not giving you money and then the State turns around and has librarians down the street making much more money than what your people are making and they are cherry-picking your employees as well.

Mr. Bowra: We had a 61% turnover rate this past year.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Your challenges are great and I just want to commend you for what you do to continue to serve this community, because the libraries are just absolutely critical. We can't afford to lose them and we can't afford to back track in any way. We are going to partner with you and keep it rolling forward. Thank you for coming out today and sharing a little bit, a few of the things that you are doing.

PERSONNEL

Ms. Lengle: The first items I have in the Personnel Packet are the Salary Board requests. Are there any questions on those? (There was none.)

The Personnel Listings are rather large. This is a window. There is an Addendum, because there was a New Hire that we got at the last minute that we wanted to put before you. I do have some hires that the departments need them to start before next Wednesday's Meeting. I would like to ask for a vote on those.

Mr. Haste: They need them or they would like to? Which ones are they?

Ms. Lengle: New Hire #16, they are shorthanded. New Hire #17 is also a critical position and New Hire #23. I just want to point out #24 was already listed. It is the same as New Hire #16. The ones that need voted on would be New Hires #16, 17 and 23.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Haste that the Board approve New Hires #16, #17 and #23 as listed in the Personnel Packet; motion carried.

Ms. Lengle: New Hire #16 we were trying to get that one through last week. Change #39 has an incorrect effective date. It should be June 2, 2008 for the effective date.

Mr. Saylor: I would just point out on the New Hires, the hiring window closes this month and does not open again until August. There are a number of new hires coming in June, however, a lot of them are through the Courts, such as Domestic Relations along with Probation. There are some for the Prison and some of the row officers. On the Addendum I noticed an EMA hire. These are folks that we give some leeway and discretion to so unless there is a concern with any of these I can pursue them. I just wanted to point that out. I will send a reminder out to the directors that the window doesn't open again until August and ask them to be mindful of that.

Ms. Lengle: Are there any questions on anything else in the Packet? (There was none.)

PURCHASE ORDERS

Mr. Baratucci: You should have all received your Purchase Order Packet yesterday. I wanted to point out something on the Packet, on Page 8, we had a computer glitch. The amount that was supposed to print there did not print so I wrote it in on your packets. The same thing occurred on Page 35. I also wanted to point out Page 8, because that is the latest deal with gas. I know that is such a popular subject in the public. This is our Central Pennsylvania Consortium Joint Bid. We did end up getting a firm price this year. That is something that the vendors were not willing to do, but for some reason this year did. The price of $3.2899 a gallon will be our price from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. Seeing how things are going that could end up being attractive for us. Of course that is the price less taxes so it looks a little better, but it is still a pretty good price considering where things seem to be going. This amount of money though, as you can see on the budget that is listed there, that $130,000 is what is remaining in our entire 2008 gasoline budget. We are estimating to spend nearly $165,000 for the rest of the year. From July 1 that doesn't include what we still have to spend between now and July 1. So obviously some budget adjustments will need to be done there, but as you well know that is a result of the way prices have been going. Our previous agreement fluctuated with the cost. I just wanted to point that out, because that is an interesting one that has some relevance with what is going on today in the world. Do you have any questions on the Packet itself, otherwise everything can move to next week for approvals? We will take care of the budget issues.

Bid Award - DJ Wenner's Office

Mr. Baratucci: About a month ago we opened a bid for renovations to MDJ Wenner's Office, his new office. He is moving to another building and there are some renovations that are needed for that building. We received five bids, HRG, our Engineer on the Project, read the bids and is recommending the low bid. I believe there are some budgetary issues that still have to be resolved, but at this point Commissioner Haste asked that I put this on the Agenda today, because of the time constraints involved. The recommendation from the interested parties is to go with Real Services, Inc. who is the low bid at $263,700. That is what is before you. Do you have any comments or questions?

Mr. Haste: We are working to lower that number, but it appears what we need to do is to accept this one and work with them on a change order on some discretionary items that we might be able to change to bring the price down. All of these came in substantially over what was anticipated.

Mr. Baratucci: We are working with HRG who is working with Real Services to identify some areas where we may be able to do some change order deducts. Obviously they will come before you after we make the bid award.

Mr. Haste: There is a timing issue that we need to move on this because Mr. Wenner will need to vacate his office sometime this Fall. We need to have a place for him to go.

Mr. Baratucci: If you award it then I can contact the Engineer from HRG and have him try to get those deducts in order and bring them before you for action as well.

Mr. DiFrancesco: Number 5 and 9, did they not submit bids?

Mr. Baratucci: Correct, they picked up the plans, but did not submit a plan. That is one of the issues that we talked about. The other four bids were substantially higher so we felt that this was the best way to go is to take the one that we do have that is at least $40,000 lower than the rest and try to work with that vendor and identify some areas where we might be able to get some deducts.

Mr. DiFrancesco: I'll assume that the bid package was written tight enough that we won't be surprised by "oh by the way, but here now your cost is $352,000."

Mr. Tully: Can't guarantee it, but we don't foresee. New construction I kind of doubt it. That is the good news. It is when you deal with the old stuff and you encounter that is where you usually run into a problem.

Mr. Haste: The fear was if we rebid people would see the difference and at least the one would know what he left on the table. If they came back the fear was and what the trend they have been saying in projects instead of having other ones closer to the $263,000 chances are the $263,000 would be up into the $300,000's.

Mr. Baratucci: Timing is a consideration too because it takes awhile to do a re-bid. Real Services has indicated that they are willing to work with us to see what we can identify. They seem good to work with.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Haste that the Board award the bid for renovations to MDJ Wenner's new office to the low bidder, Real Services, Inc. at a bid price of $263,700; motion carried.

TRAINING PACKET

Mr. Haste: It appears that we should approve #12 and #20 of the Training Packet. They both would occur next Wednesday.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Haste that the Board approve Items #12 and #20 of the Training Packet; motion carried.

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Refund of 2008 Real Estate Taxes - Bryan & Barbara Perry - Parcel #25-006-21 - $548.82.
2. Hazardous Materials Response Fund Grant Application for 2008-2009 Funding Year in the amount of $300,511.27. (***A VOTE IS REQUESTED 5/21/08***)
3. TMI Tax Settlement. (***A VOTE IS REQUESTED 5/21/08***)

Mr. Haste: It appears that Items B and C need a vote. I think we are familiar with both of those.

It was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Haste that the Board approve Items B and C listed above under Items for Discussion; motion carried.

SOLICITOR'S REPORT - WILLIAM TULLY, ESQ.

Mr. Tully: I have nothing to add to the report. Everything should be ready for action by next week. If there are any questions I would be happy to answer them. (There was none.)

CHIEF CLERK'S REPORT - CHAD SAYLOR

Mr. Saylor: I have nothing to report unless there are any questions of me. (There was none.)

COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS

Mr. DiFrancesco: I would just like to take a moment to talk about Item C that we approved today, the TMI Tax Settlement. Simply to say it worked very well this year. Partnering with the school district and Londonderry Township to come up with a proposal that was fair and one that basically TMI could embrace and the fact that TMI had sent some of their higher level officials in to take the procedure and process very seriously I have to say all parties involved really worked well together at the table. I just want to thank those parties. This could have been a real difficult process, but it is a situation now where the community was served very well. Everybody came to the table basically acknowledging that they had a responsibility. I think they have fulfilled their responsibility and the number that we arrived at was acceptable to all. Obviously I think both sides would have fought for a different number, but the bottom line I think the mindset was very good. Everybody had the community's best interest in mind and the system worked the way it should. I was very pleased on the way the whole system worked out.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Mr. Haste: We are again at the point in time in the meeting for public participation. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to address the Board? (There was none.)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, it was moved by Mr. DiFrancesco and seconded by Mr. Haste that the Board adjourn.