[0:00] show at 10:00 to go.

[0:02] >> And we got to fix that clock. It's off

[0:04] by a minute. Man, [clears throat]

[0:08] » good morning everyone and welcome. Uh we

[0:11] will call this regular meeting of the

[0:13] Lawrence Board of Commissioners to

[0:15] order. Today is uh Tuesday, January 6 of

[0:20] 2026.

[0:23] An adjustment on our

[0:25] >> agenda.

[0:28] A lot of us are doing that uh this time

[0:31] of year. We always uh start our meeting

[0:34] with the pledge of allegiance. Then if

[0:36] we could remain standing for a moment of

[0:38] silence and Commissioner Kennedy, could

[0:39] you lead us in the pledge?

[0:41] >> I aliance to the flag of the United

[0:44] States of America and to the republic

[0:47] for which it stands. One nation under

[0:50] God, indivisible, liberty and justice

[0:53] for all.

[0:54] >> We'll have a moment of silence, please.

[0:59] Thank you all very much. Uh Vanessa,

[1:02] could you call the role, please?

[1:04] >> Commissioner Sado,

[1:05] >> yes. Here.

[1:06] >> Commissioner Kennedy

[1:07] >> here.

[1:07] >> Commissioner

[1:08] >> here. We have a quorum. Uh

[1:12] ask everybody to put their cell phones

[1:15] on silent if you wouldn't mind. And uh

[1:18] right now we have no members of the

[1:22] public in the audience. for that matter.

[1:24] We we have no audience right now, but if

[1:27] anybody should come in, we'll give uh

[1:29] we'll give opportunities for public

[1:31] comment

[1:33] and should also [clears throat] just for

[1:35] the record note that we're live

[1:36] streaming this meeting and that it's

[1:39] being recorded.

[1:41] Uh we often we always give time for any

[1:45] of our role officers, but none of them

[1:46] are here today and that's all right.

[1:48] They don't have to be. And again at this

[1:51] point we have no members of the public.

[1:54] So we move on to uh fiscal and

[1:56] contractual. We do have a repository uh

[2:01] property that has been submitted to us

[2:03] by the tax claim office. This is a

[2:06] parcel in Palaski Township uh

[2:09] specifically

[2:11] uh 798 Rainer Road. Parcel ID number

[2:16] 29-901065.

[2:22] The uh bidder is Bruce Rener. He made a

[2:28] $500 bid on this parcel

[2:33] and uh

[2:35] the Palaski Township supervisors voted

[2:38] to accept the bid on December 19 of

[2:42] 2025. Also, the uh Wilmington Area

[2:46] School Board voted likewise on December

[2:52] uh 11 of 2025. So, that now leaves it to

[2:55] us. This is resolution one, I assume,

[2:58] >> of 2026.

[3:00] So, I will open it for you gentlemen. Uh

[3:04] if either of you wish to make a motion,

[3:07] >> I'll make a motion. We accept the bid

[3:09] and I'll second it.

[3:10] >> Thank you so much, Chris or Dan. Any

[3:12] concerns or comments? Hearing none,

[3:14] we'll ask Vanessa to call the role.

[3:16] >> Commissioner Senado,

[3:17] >> yes.

[3:18] >> Commissioner Kennedy,

[3:19] >> yes.

[3:19] >> Commissioner Bour,

[3:20] >> yes.

[3:20] >> Motion carries.

[3:21] >> Thank you. Also in our packet, we have

[3:23] the warrant register from uh December 29

[3:27] of 2025. It's also known as the check

[3:30] reconciliation register. It's been

[3:32] submitted to us by the county

[3:33] controllers's office. I'll give my

[3:35] colleagues whatever time they need to

[3:37] look it over. And once you've done so, I would certainly entertain a motion for us to accept uh this document.

[3:56] » I'll make that motion and I'll second

[3:58] the motion.

[3:59] >> Thank you both. Uh any concerns,

[4:01] gentlemen? Hearing none. Vanessa, could

[4:04] you call the role, please? Commissioner

[4:06] Sanado,

[4:07] >> yes.

[4:07] >> Commissioner Kennedy,

[4:08] >> yes.

[4:08] >> Commissioner Bogler,

[4:10] >> yes.

[4:10] >> Motion carries.

[4:11] >> Thank you. Also in our packet, we have

[4:13] the uh minutes of our

[4:16] Tuesday, December 30 uh commissioners

[4:19] meeting. I'll again give my colleagues

[4:22] time to review them and

[4:25] when they've done so, uh would entertain

[4:27] a motion for us to adopt the minutes.

[4:40] I'll make that motion.

[4:41] >> I'll second that motion.

[4:42] >> I thank you both. Any questions or

[4:44] concerns regarding the minutes? Uh if

[4:46] not, we'll ask Vanessa to call the RO,

[4:49] please.

[4:49] >> Commissioner Sotto,

[4:50] >> yes.

[4:51] >> Commissioner Kennedy,

[4:52] >> yes.

[4:52] >> Commissioner Vogore,

[4:53] >> yes.

[4:54] >> Motion carries.

[4:54] >> Thank you. One document, one one piece

[4:57] of written correspondence has come in to

[4:59] us that we'll enter into the record.

[5:01] It's dated December 22 of 2025. It is

[5:05] sent to us by RA

[5:08] Engineering, which is based here in

[5:10] Lawrence County. uh on behalf of Three

[5:14] Rivers Aggregate. This project is uh the

[5:18] Old Ash Mine and they're letting us know

[5:22] that they are submitting uh uh a

[5:26] document to the uh uh Department of

[5:30] Environmental Protection.

[5:33] This is uh for permitting an

[5:36] approximately 126.4 4 acre non-coal sand

[5:41] and gravel surface mine

[5:45] uh on properties in both uh well and

[5:48] here it specifically does say in

[5:50] Lawrence County Plane Grove Township.

[5:53] [laughter]

[5:53] Uh the proposed permit area is located

[5:56] west of West Park Road and north of

[5:59] Corey Road. Again, that's out in Plane

[6:03] Road Township. again they will be

[6:06] applying to the D.

[6:08] The law requires that we be notified of

[6:11] this and uh I would imagine that the

[6:14] township of Plane Grove the supervisors

[6:17] out there have also received this

[6:18] document. Um any concerns or discussion

[6:22] gentlemen?

[6:24] Would one of you wish to make a motion

[6:25] for us to accept this uh correspondence?

[6:28] I'll make a motion we accept the

[6:30] correspondence and I'll second. Thank

[6:32] you both. And if there are no other

[6:34] concerns, we can ask for a roll call.

[6:36] >> Commissioner Sonado,

[6:37] >> yes.

[6:38] >> Commissioner Kennedy,

[6:39] >> yes.

[6:39] >> Commissioner Cogler,

[6:40] >> yes.

[6:40] >> Motion carries.

[6:41] >> Thank you very much.

[6:43] >> Uh reports. Uh Commissioner reports and

[6:46] comments. Mr. Sonata, you're first

[6:48] today.

[6:48] >> Well, I'm just going to uh pass this

[6:51] week chairman. I mean, it's a one that

[6:53] we've had. I haven't been able to attend

[6:55] very much. So looking forward to uh

[6:59] meeting with the commissioners from

[7:00] Mercer County next Tuesday. I know we

[7:03] have our quarterly meeting and as always

[7:06] been helpful to us because I think we

[7:08] have such a good working relationship

[7:10] with the three commissioners from Mercer

[7:12] County and Lawrence and Mercer have a

[7:14] lot of things in common and I know the

[7:16] past two years I think we've had a good

[7:18] working relationship and it's been

[7:20] positive for us. So, that's what I'm

[7:22] looking forward to next Tuesday. And

[7:24] also on Monday, uh we're going to be

[7:26] heading up to the Indiana County uh to

[7:28] meet with the whole region from uh the

[7:31] Northwest sector. Um and I just think

[7:34] that's very helpful to us as well. Uh

[7:36] many of our counties have similar

[7:38] interests and uh it's important we

[7:41] develop those relationships with the commissioners in the Northwest.

[7:45] And we've been very fortunate because as

[7:48] we said many times, Mr. chairman. Uh

[7:50] Morris County has both a northwest

[7:54] [clears throat] and a southwest we're

[7:55] members of and uh we've developed good

[7:58] working relationships. I know you have

[7:59] over the years and uh with your guidance

[8:02] uh you introduced us to some very

[8:04] important people that's been helpful to

[8:06] us in Lawrence County, especially

[8:07] Commissioner Kennedy down in the

[8:09] southwest. He's made many visits uh to

[8:12] deal with economic development. So

[8:15] that's pretty much all I have.

[8:17] >> Thank you, sir. Uh, I'll turn it over to

[8:19] Commissioner Kennedy for

[8:21] >> couple things. One, yesterday was a

[8:23] historic day around here. Um, and we uh

[8:28] I'll start trying to look out. U we we

[8:32] had swearing in of three new judges and

[8:36] our new sheriff in town. So,

[8:39] plus uh the other three that got sworn

[8:42] in again. So, proud of them. Glad they

[8:46] stepped up their plate.

[8:48] We got some good people in the

[8:50] courthouse. It's nice. Uh second thing

[8:53] is you forgot about this one. Next week

[8:55] we get to go to act state.

[8:57] >> That's right.

[8:58] >> Um so uh hopefully we'll get to go down

[9:01] there after they win on Monday night.

[9:04] We'll uh we're going down to talk about

[9:07] the NFL draft 2026. Get some more

[9:10] information on that and what they what

[9:14] help they're going to need from Orange

[9:15] County. I think is one of the topical

[9:17] discussions we're going to hear next

[9:19] week. So I already talked to Vince about

[9:22] that new sheriff and he's well aware

[9:25] they've already

[9:29] that'll be an interesting day for us to

[9:31] see what's going on. Besides that,

[9:33] that's all I have. I'm embarrassed to

[9:36] ask this question, but you two probably

[9:38] know this meeting uh regarding the

[9:42] draft. Is it specifically for county

[9:45] commissioners or have they invited

[9:47] tourism people, economic development

[9:49] people? I can't recall.

[9:51] >> I I thought it was just addressed to us.

[9:54] >> I think it is to us. I know that uh our

[9:57] Lawrence tour is very well aware and are

[10:00] working with them.

[10:01] >> Yeah. I said on that board and I think

[10:05] it's just for us because you know it's

[10:08] the whole region all 10 of us.

[10:09] >> Yeah.

[10:10] >> And uh you know the goal is is

[10:12] Commissioner Kennedy stated, we want to

[10:15] tap into any resources we can here in

[10:17] county. And I know that Janet Jenny has

[10:20] reached out to them as far as any

[10:22] activities in Lawrence County

[10:26] drugs. I mean, because you're talking

[10:28] tens of thousands of people coming in

[10:30] for that event. So, I want you I commend

[10:33] our local tourist promotion agency for

[10:36] being very active, proactive on this

[10:38] issue. And uh you I'm glad that uh Danny

[10:42] talked to our sheriff because that's

[10:44] going to involve uh law law enforcement.

[10:46] It's also going to involve uh you know

[10:49] EMS and everything just because they've

[10:52] given us the guidelines. But you know

[10:54] what? We want to be prepared because

[10:55] hey, Lawrence County is part of that

[10:56] region. You may be farther out, but

[10:59] there are people that don't want to stay

[11:00] right in the city and that's the

[11:02] opportunity we have.

[11:04] >> The big thing is they don't have enough

[11:05] rooms at the city for everybody. So they

[11:07] got to rely on me in all areas. I know

[11:10] Debbie watcher yesterday asked me about

[11:12] it and she said find out if I can go

[11:14] with you guys. So I'm going to reach out

[11:16] and see if she like to do an article on

[11:18] it. What it's going to do to affect us.

[11:21] >> It's good. You're both absolutely right.

[11:24] I I look for our hotels here in the

[11:26] county to be filled. I would imagine.

[11:29] Well, thank you both. Uh, I have just a

[11:32] couple other items to talk about beyond

[11:36] what you gentlemen have brought up. Uh,

[11:39] Dan was absolutely right. Yesterday

[11:43] uh was historic in this county. We've

[11:45] never in the history of Lawrence County

[11:48] had three judges sworn in at one time.

[11:51] For that matter, I don't believe we've

[11:52] ever had two at the same time. So, it

[11:55] was certainly uh historic for the for

[11:58] the county. Um, I will note that uh on a positive note, we've been invited

[12:05] uh this coming Friday to attend a ribbon

[12:08] cutting ceremony at the Wilson Lumber

[12:11] Company out in Machanic Township.

[12:13] They're opening their new facility and I

[12:16] believe they're expanding. Yes.

[12:18] >> Uh which is a good thing. We're real pleased [laughter] about that. And

[12:23] uh as uh was noted by my colleague uh

[12:28] Commissioner

[12:30] Sonata

[12:32] uh next Tuesday, week from today at 1:30

[12:36] we will have the quarterly meeting of

[12:38] the West Central Job Partnership

[12:40] Governing Board and we rotate the board

[12:43] consists of the three of us and the

[12:45] three Mercer County commissioners and we

[12:47] move back and forth. So, next week's

[12:49] meeting, it's our turn to host. And that

[12:52] meeting will be here in this room at

[12:54] 1:30 on the 13th of January, open to the

[12:58] public. And we'll be uh electing a new

[13:02] chair. I believe I've served as chair

[13:04] for the last two years. And we again we

[13:06] rotate that as well. So, one of the

[13:08] Mercer County Commissioners, it will be

[13:10] up to them to determine who will who

[13:13] will now chair that board. Uh final

[13:16] thing that I have is that we were we

[13:19] were advised by the Commonwealth of the

[13:22] uh bid thresholds

[13:24] uh for for public contracts and

[13:27] purchases each year. It changes based

[13:30] upon the consumer price index. So for uh

[13:34] according to the state rules we will

[13:37] adhere to contracts or purchases under

[13:41] 13,200

[13:43] require no formal bidding or price

[13:46] quotations.

[13:48] Contracts or purchases between 13,200

[13:52] and $24,500

[13:55] require three written or andor

[13:58] telephonic price quotes. And then

[14:01] finally, contracts or purchases greater

[14:04] than $24,500

[14:07] require formal bidding and public

[14:09] notice. I and and Dan, help me with I'll

[14:12] give that to you. You probably have it,

[14:14] but

[14:14] >> I do.

[14:16] >> If I'm not mistaken, this applies to

[14:19] counties and burrows, townships, and

[14:21] cities. This would be applicable to our

[14:23] local municipalities. They're in a

[14:25] state.

[14:26] >> Okay. Thank you for confirming that.

[14:30] Alrighty. Well, this is uh this is uh

[14:33] this doesn't happen very often, but as

[14:36] [clears throat] we sit here today at

[14:37] first meeting of the new year, we

[14:39] actually have no new resolutions for

[14:42] consideration.

[14:44] Um, of course, the holidays uh added to

[14:47] that. Vanessa, do we have things lined

[14:50] up for next week yet?

[14:51] >> I have one.

[14:52] >> Okay,

[14:53] >> that's it.

[14:54] >> Okay. And I'm sure some more will come

[14:56] in, but uh this doesn't happen very

[14:58] often. We have no new business for for

[15:01] us to vote on which actually drops us

[15:04] down to announcements and we've touched

[15:06] on some of these already. This board

[15:08] will meet again on a week from today,

[15:11] Tuesday, January 13 at 10:00 a.m. in

[15:14] this room. It's open to the public. We

[15:16] noted the West Central Job Partnership

[15:18] Governing Board meeting. Also, a week

[15:21] from today at 1:30 in this room, open to

[15:23] the public. The Lawrence County Planning

[15:26] Commission is scheduled to meet one week

[15:29] from tomorrow, uh, Wednesday, January 14

[15:34] at noon at the Weber's Catering location

[15:38] on US Route 422 in Shenango Township.

[15:42] Not the Weber's Catering up in

[15:44] Wilmington Township. This is the one in

[15:46] Shenango Township. And that meeting is

[15:49] open to the public.

[15:51] Speaking of public, we open the floor

[15:54] for public comments, but we'll note for

[15:55] the record there are no members of the

[15:58] public in attendance. And so I'll ask uh

[16:02] my fellow commissioners if they have any

[16:04] closing concerns or remarks. Mr. Sonat,

[16:08] the only thing I'll do I'll emphasize

[16:09] what both of you said. It was historic

[16:11] here yesterday and it was good to see

[16:14] Judge McCome. Yeah. Here uh you know

[16:17] he's very well respected in the

[16:19] community. may have health issues, but

[16:21] he looks great and it was nice to see

[16:23] him back. And I wish our other judges,

[16:26] Judge Aker and Judge Hodge, the best in

[16:28] their retirement or semi-retirement. I

[16:31] think Judge H is going to come see their

[16:33] judge now. So, right. And Judge always

[16:35] good to see Judge M. And I think the

[16:37] three judges that got elected are going

[16:40] to do a good job up there. And I think

[16:41] it was stressed yesterday, chairman,

[16:43] that uh we've had a very good working

[16:46] relationship with the judges in the past

[16:48] and uh we look forward to that same

[16:50] relationship going forward with the

[16:51] three new judges. I I would I would

[16:54] certainly agree. And before I jump to

[16:56] Dan here, I'll note that uh this morning

[16:59] at about 20 to 8, uh Judge Flannry

[17:02] walked in the door getting ready to

[17:04] start his day. And uh we asked him, we

[17:06] said, "What's on your agenda today?" and

[17:08] he said, "We have a uh an assessment

[17:11] appeal uh that started at 9:30. In fact,

[17:14] our solicitor is in court right now with Judge Flannry." So, but he was here

[17:19] bright and early and I'm sure the other

[17:21] two judges rolled in early as well and

[17:24] of course, Judge Cox. Uh Dan, closing

[17:27] comments? The only one I have is to talk

[17:30] briefly about Wilson Lumber. The nice

[17:33] thing is they could have went to Mercer

[17:35] County. They had property up there, but

[17:37] they stayed in Lawrence County. So, we

[17:39] have to suggest to them, thank you for

[17:41] staying here in Lawrence County. It's

[17:44] going to be a nice operation up there

[17:46] for them. So, be interesting to see what

[17:49] all they've done because I've got to

[17:50] watch it grow.

[17:51] >> Yeah.

[17:52] >> As I've gone by every day, but be

[17:54] interested and see what they've done.

[17:57] >> Is that the old Newcastle battery site?

[17:59] >> Yes.

[18:00] >> That's what I thought.

[18:01] >> Oh, that reminds me real quick. And I I

[18:03] we may have talked about it last

[18:05] Tuesday, but I'm not sure. Uh but it's

[18:09] been announced that uh a colleague of

[18:12] ours from Bonango County, County

[18:14] Commissioner Chip Abramovic

[18:16] has been named uh the new director of

[18:20] Forward Lawrence and we know Mr. Kennedy

[18:23] serves on that board. Excuse me.

[18:26] Mr. Kennedy serves on that board and uh

[18:29] Commissioner Abramovic is going to start

[18:31] I believe in early February

[18:33] >> February third

[18:34] >> and uh I've known Chip I think he's in

[18:37] his third term now as a commissioner so

[18:39] he and I have been acquainted for if I

[18:42] do the math about 10 years and you

[18:44] gentlemen have gotten to know him over

[18:45] the last two years. Uh he'll bring a lot

[18:48] to the table. He's energetic. Uh he's

[18:52] wellconed.

[18:54] uh he uh uh

[18:57] was chair for a number of years of the

[18:59] Northwest Regional Planning Commission

[19:02] and uh equally important uh this is

[19:05] where his statewide connections come in.

[19:08] He was uh active in the has been active

[19:11] in the state county commissioners

[19:13] association in leadership uh vice chair president. He's held all the all

[19:20] the important seats in statewide

[19:22] leadership. So, I think it was an

[19:24] excellent choice and we're all going to

[19:26] work with him. You'll work with him most

[19:29] closely since you're on the board. But,

[19:31] uh, I commend forward Lawrence for uh,

[19:34] an excellent choice. I don't know if you

[19:36] gentlemen have more to ask.

[19:37] >> The only thing I can say is, you know, I

[19:38] met Chip at my daughter's wedding at the

[19:40] Alman Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh in

[19:43] the elevator. uh didn't know who he was,

[19:45] but him and I got talking on the

[19:48] elevator when we were going down and and

[19:50] I said, "I just gotten elected in the

[19:52] primaries of county commissioner

[19:54] Lawrence County." He said, "That's funny

[19:56] because I'm a county commissioner in

[19:58] Bernango County." So, we hit it off

[20:00] pretty good and Chip and I have fast

[20:02] become good friends. He's a good guy. I

[20:05] think u he's already got his boots on

[20:08] ground. He's he's I heard from him

[20:10] yesterday. um today he might show up

[20:13] here. We don't know yet, but he he said

[20:15] if he gets done up there early, he's

[20:17] gonna show up this afternoon and we're

[20:19] going to start going around and visit

[20:21] some people and get him introduced to

[20:23] Lawrence County pretty quick in the next

[20:25] month. So when he hits February 3rd,

[20:28] he's ready to go.

[20:30] He'll be well prepared. So thank you for

[20:33] that information. And Chris, any other

[20:36] comments? I just like to say I met him

[20:38] two years ago and you introduced us when

[20:40] we went off to the county and I've had a

[20:43] good chance to meet with him but you

[20:44] also mentioned he was very active in the

[20:47] national association commission right

[20:50] which I'm trying to play play somewhat

[20:52] of a role as well as representing us

[20:54] that group and uh you know I spent some

[20:56] time with Chip and Nico last year and he

[20:59] is well connected Washington DC as well

[21:02] I think that's going to pay dividends I

[21:04] commend forwardlords uh I I know it's an

[21:06] extensive search. They're looking for

[21:08] the best person possible. And you know,

[21:10] Chip, reading his resume, it's quite

[21:13] impressive. I didn't even know some of

[21:14] the things that he has done or served

[21:16] that until I actually read the paper

[21:19] because he's very humble individual, but

[21:21] uh he knows what has to be done. And I

[21:23] think that's what you need and you need

[21:25] a fresh set of eyeships.

[21:29] I think Ben Bush did a very good job at

[21:31] that. he came in uh and I think Chip is

[21:34] going to follow in his footsteps as far

[21:36] as uh you know seeing the ways of

[21:38] helping and he understands local

[21:40] government, he understands state

[21:42] government, federal government. So I

[21:44] think those are the important thing. You

[21:45] got to develop those relationships and

[21:47] we've got to all be on the same team

[21:48] moving forward. I think he brings that

[21:51] to the table. I know you've known him

[21:52] the longest and you spoke quite highly

[21:55] of him when we first introduced us to

[21:57] him and I think I think it's a good

[21:59] choice and I know he's enthused and

[22:02] that's what you need right now. So I

[22:05] think prayer and I thank you both

[22:06] gentlemen. Uh Joe or Vanessa anything

[22:10] we've uh forgotten

[22:13] >> everything's well with you I hope it is

[22:15] >> good to hear. Well, we thank you all

[22:18] again. We did not have any folks from

[22:21] the public today, but uh there being no

[22:23] other business to be brought before the

[22:24] court, may I have an adjournment motion?

[22:26] I'll make that motion and I'll second.

[22:28] >> Thank you both. All those in favor,

[22:30] please say I. I oppose. Same sign.

[22:31] Motion carried. We are ajourned. Thank

[22:33] you all.

[22:34] >> Joe, you think you can keep it this way

[22:35] all [clears throat] year? [laughter]

[22:39] » We had to stretch it out. We don't want

[22:40] you around 15 [clears throat] minutes.

[22:42] >> I can get rid of some resolutions.

[22:46] >> [laughter]

[22:47] >> Now listen and and you know we saw

January 6th, 2026 Commissioner's Meeting

Transcript