[0:03] So call this meeting Lebanon County Commissioners to order. We will begin

[0:06] our meeting as it is our tradition to observe a moment of silence. Please

[0:17] thank you. Will you all please join in the flag? I aliance to the flag of the

[0:26] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:31] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:37] » Thank you. Now it is time for public comment. Do we

[0:41] have any public comment this morning? You gentlemen in the back here, would

[0:47] you please step up to the table here? You if you want, you can have a seat.

[0:52] Would

[0:55] you gentlemen please uh as I told you earlier please introduce yourselves for

[1:00] the record and then you may proceed with whatever you have to present.

[1:06] » My name is Jameson Hammond and I live in the city of Lebanon.

[1:11] » Welcome Jameson. >> My name is Jakamo and I also live in the

[1:16] city of Lebanon. >> Welcome Jaco. Go ahead.

[1:21] Okay. >> Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My

[1:25] name is Jameson, and I love Halloween. Reason one,

[1:30] trickor treat. Reason two, costumes. Reason three, it's Halloween. It's on

[1:36] Halloween. And I would Good morning, ladies and

[1:41] gentlemen. And I would like to know how come trick-or-treating got changed to

[1:45] October 29th instead of October 31st.

[1:51] I can give a brief answer. >> Well, we have it's really not our

[1:55] decision to do that. The municipalities, but go ahead.

[1:59] » What has been established by the municipalities who are in charge of

[2:03] setting the date for their area is that their chiefs of police get together and

[2:09] they hold a meeting and decide what day trickor treat should be held. A lot of

[2:15] times it is on October 31st. I don't know why they changed it this year, but

[2:20] the municipalities then usually adopt what the police recommend. So that's my

[2:26] recollection of what goes on. So you may have to contact a police chief and ask

[2:32] them that that would be my suggestion. I think it's a great question.

[2:38] » You live in the city of Lebanon, so you go go to the mayor's office, too. Okay.

[2:42] » So, thank you both and good job. >> Thank you.

[2:53] Takama, Lebanon City. I just want to remind everybody uh to stop out and

[2:59] visit the uh the Wallet Heels out at Campbell Town uh Community Park. It's

[3:05] there until Sunday at 2:00 p.m. It's open 24 hours a day. So, uh, you know,

[3:12] it it isn't often that things like this come into Lebanon County. It's usually

[3:17] Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the larger cities. So, while it's here and in our

[3:21] community, please stop out and visit it. And I was there last night. It's really

[3:25] something to see. >> Thank you.

[3:29] Anyone else? [clears throat] >> If not, then we'll move along and we'll

[3:34] entertain a motion to approve the minutes from meeting on August 20th. And

[3:39] uh we'll note also uh that this board met in executive session uh earlier this

[3:45] morning prior to this meeting to discuss certain personnel matters.

[3:50] » Make a motion to approve the minutes as presented.

[3:53] » I'll second a motion. >> Motion second. Are there questions,

[3:56] comments? None. All in favor of the motion, please say I. Oppose. Same sign.

[4:02] That approval.

[4:05] Tina, please introduce yourself for the record and you may proceed with your

[4:09] report. >> Tina Tobias, acting treasur. We started

[4:14] with a cash balance of 1,851,453.32.

[4:20] We had receipts of 1,31,65.72.

[4:27] brought our cash total to $2,883,594

[4:34] less our expenditures of1,262,912

[4:40] and less our tax claim of $53,1527

[4:46] which brought our cash balance to $1,567,8975

[4:53] and that includes payroll for tomorrow. Absolutely.

[4:57] Second >> motion and second. Other questions or

[5:00] comments? None. All in favor of the motion, please

[5:03] say I. Both same sign. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[5:07] » Thank you.

[5:11] » Yeah. Right on time. >> Introduce yourself and proceed.

[5:16] » SH, director of human resources under personnel transactions,

[5:22] resignations, and terminations. Marissa Belleville, caseworker one, children and

[5:26] youth resignation effective September 3rd. Braden Carvalo, full-time

[5:30] correctional officer at the jail. Resignation effective August 24th. Class

[5:34] working August 14th. Ronen Schaefer, full-time correctional officer at the

[5:39] jail. Removal effective August 28th. Jacob Martino, full-time correctional

[5:43] officer at the jail removal effective August 28th. Lisa Turpin, DJ offport 1.

[5:49] MDJ Dissinger, retirement effective October 24th. Joseph Charles, adult

[5:54] probation officer, one probation services, resignation effective

[5:57] September 4th. And Olivia Lee, casual call, direct support aid inova center

[6:02] termination effective August 25th. >> I'll make a motion to accept the

[6:07] resignations and terminations as presented.

[6:10] » Second. Second. Questions, comments? None. All in favor, please say I.

[6:15] » I. Oppose. Same sign. Approve. >> Moving on to changes, status, transfers,

[6:20] and promotions. George Kuster, voluntary demotion from Aging Care Manager 2,

[6:25] Protective Services Investigator to Aging Care Manager 2 at Area Agency on

[6:29] Aging at the rate of $1,732.60 bi-weekly, effective September 14th.

[6:35] Caitlyn Mhan's promotion from caseworker one to caseworker two in children and

[6:39] youth at the rate of $1,732.60 bi-weekly, effective September 28th. and

[6:46] the following three caseworker one's promotion to caseworker two and children

[6:51] and youth 3 to $1,73260 all effective September 27th and that's

[6:56] Sarah Gottenstein Lee Lamp and Kiara Hamma

[7:00] » moves to approve >> second

[7:02] » second questions comments and all in favor please say I

[7:07] » for the same sign and that approval >> moving on to other transactions area

[7:12] agency on aging would like to hire Jason Nommen as an agent

[7:16] Manager Supervisor 2 at the rate of $216.75

[7:20] by weekly effective September 14th. President Judge Towalk would like to

[7:24] hire Gerard Fish as a part-time jury attendant at the rate of $13.25

[7:29] per hour effective September 11th. The Department of Emergency Services would

[7:34] like to hire the following free full-time telecommunicators, all at the

[7:37] rate of $2023 per hour, all effective September 14th. and that is Naen

[7:43] Rodriguez, Isabelle Aut, and Victoria Williams. The voluntary clerk of courts

[7:48] would like to rehire Jane Sanders at the general clerk C at the rate of $1,155.38

[7:54] bi-weekly effective September 21st. The public defender would like to hire re uh

[8:00] Rosa Sierra second as secretary D interpreter at the rate of $1,220.35

[8:06] cents bi-weekly with $1,500 annual interpreter stipen at effective

[8:11] September 3th and voter registration would like to hire Chelsea TR as deputy

[8:15] voter of registration deputy of voter registration at the rate of $27.33

[8:21] per hour effective September 14th. I'll make a motion to approve other

[8:25] transactions including new hires and rehires.

[8:28] » I'll second the motion. >> Motion and second. Questions or

[8:32] comments? All in favor, please say I.

[8:35] » I. Same time. That approved. >> Moving on to salary board. Motion to

[8:40] approve all transactions previously read plus the following. David Santana salary

[8:46] increase full-time correctional officer at the jail to two years of service at

[8:50] the rate of $24.95. effective retroactive to February 1st.

[8:55] The following three full-time correctional officers at the jail, two

[8:58] years years of service salary increase, all at the rate $24.95 [clears throat]

[9:03] per hour, all effective April 12th, and that is Bethany Yagley, Jennifer Hall,

[9:08] and Cordell Robinson. The following four full-time correctional officers at the

[9:12] jail, all moving to year two years of service salary increase, all at the rate

[9:17] of $24.95 per hour, all effective August 30th. And

[9:21] that is Gary Fett, Jarrett Spidel, Sherah Rivas Gonzalez, and Cassidy

[9:27] Hamilton. Daniel Lenerius Carer, a longevity

[9:32] increase, assistant district attorney/interpreter in the district

[9:35] attorney's office, 5-year longevity salary increase to the rate of $2,963.33

[9:41] per hour effective September 27th. and Michael to effect chiefs. Uh, longevity

[9:47] increase assistant public defender one in the public defender's office.

[9:50] Three-year longevity salary increase to the rate of $2,963.33

[9:55] per hour effective August 30th. >> Did you say Cassidy Hamilton?

[10:01] » Yes. >> Okay.

[10:06] Second. >> Motion second. Questions or comments?

[10:10] None. All in favor of the motion, please say I.

[10:13] the same sign that approve.

[10:19] Thanks, Mudrey.

[10:29] » Good morning, Sean. >> Hello. Let me see. Introduce yourselves

[10:34] for the record and name. I also have a couple things.

[10:40] Couple things with me. Good morning. John Shot with probation

[10:45] services and criminal justice advisory board.

[10:48] » Audrey Fortnite, director of probation services.

[10:51] » Morning. >> Morning.

[10:53] » Well, good morning, commissioners. We're here to uh request your authorization to

[10:57] apply to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for funding to

[11:01] continue the county's very proactive effective intermediate punishment

[11:05] program for the current fiscal year, which did start July 1st. The

[11:08] announcement came after the final passage of the state budget. So, we're a

[11:12] little behind, but uh not not like last year when it was November until budget

[11:16] was passed. So, we're a little back on track. Uh the county's current

[11:20] intermediate punishment plan gives eligible offenders an effective

[11:23] alternative to incarceration while keeping the population at the

[11:27] correctional facility at a manageable level, preferably the average daily

[11:31] population below 300. And we have been achieving that pretty consistently over

[11:35] the past several years. Uh the plan includes the county's three specialty

[11:39] treatment courts, DUI, veterans, and drug court. And of course, as you know,

[11:43] the court does plan to have uh a fourth treatment court up and running, a

[11:47] wellness court by the end of the calendar year. Uh so we did prepare an

[11:52] advanced draft of the budget, which we submitted a few days ago. It currently

[11:55] is at $200,586. It's not a final document, uh but it

[12:00] does cover in supervision, treatment, and case management. And uh we'll

[12:04] continue to update all the budget figures, do a little fine-tuning and

[12:07] work on all the other narratives uh that are required for the application before

[12:13] we submit a final version of this application to the commissioners by the

[12:17] September 17th deadline. So we just respectfully ask for your authorization

[12:21] to proceed with this application. And the good news with this IP plan is that

[12:26] it does not require local funding match. So that's always good news. It's a

[12:30] non-competitive grant. So, we'll be working with the commission to cross all

[12:33] the tees and dot the eyes and make sure that we do have a good application for

[12:36] them uh by the middle of the month. >> And the total of the grant is $200,586.

[12:43] » Well, that's what uh we're working that's where we're at at this point. Or

[12:46] maybe I don't think the budget will change drastically, commissioner. It's

[12:51] but uh uh that's where we're at at the moment. As I said, we'll do a little

[12:55] finetuning, but that pretty iron figures for this time. We may increase by a few

[13:00] dollars if we have other things to add working with probation staff, but right

[13:05] now that's that's where we're at. Yes. >> I'll make a motion to approve the

[13:09] request with a tenative budget of $200,586.

[13:14] » I'll second motion and second. Are there questions or comments?

[13:20] And John, you sort of touched on like who the who the uh people are that would

[13:25] be in this program, but more specifically,

[13:29] how is this different from like ARD or work release or any of those programs?

[13:36] » So, the IP grant is was set up to um redirect people from

[13:43] incarceration. So, um, ARD is the accelerated

[13:49] rehabilitative disposition program, and that is more in line for first-time

[13:54] offenders. Um, and the district attorney's office u makes a

[13:58] determination as to who is eligible for participation in that program. Um the IP

[14:04] grant covers our treatment programs and those

[14:08] those give individuals an opportunity to a avoid incarceration but also

[14:14] participate in the treatment courts which is a higher level of interaction

[14:19] with the courts and the treatment team and overall has proven to be a more

[14:25] effective have more effective impacts on um offenders and reducing recidivism.

[14:31] If I may add, I think the some of the things you mentioned are are prior to

[14:36] prosecution and conviction. These are afterward.

[14:39] » We are posting. >> Yes, we are in post sentencing.

[14:46] » Just wanted to uh follow up on John's comment about trying to keep the census

[14:50] below 300. Just for context, um when you refer a couple years back, we were

[14:56] bumping up against 500. >> Absolutely. Yeah. And so that your

[15:00] efforts plus specialy courts and so on that have um come come about have all

[15:05] contributed to the to these numbers. Thank you.

[15:09] » Right. And also electronic monitoring is another one that uh I ask for funding

[15:13] for but that's also a very important component of the the IP plan.

[15:16] » Yes. >> And the special courts take about 18 to

[15:18] 24 months to complete from start to finish. You can complete things

[15:21] successfully. So it's not a easy thing to do. has a lot of stringent

[15:26] requirements, but uh for those who are willing to comply with those, it's it's

[15:29] a good program, but it's not uh it's not an easy program. It's not meant to be,

[15:34] but still an alternative to incarceration. So,

[15:40] no questions or comments? Not all in favor of the motion, please say I. Same

[15:46] sign. We have that approval. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

[15:49] » Thank you.

[16:03] to recon hunger action month and Katie.

[16:08] » Yes. >> Katie, please

[16:10] seat. >> You have others you want to introduce.

[16:16] » Dave, we are from Kar and we have Joy. And then we have Lieutenant Richard from

[16:21] Salvation Army and Brian from LCC. >> Morning, gentlemen. How are you?

[16:28] » Welcome. >> Thank you for having us this morning.

[16:33] » Steve. >> Okay. Um well, I just want to again

[16:35] thank you for your time and uh recognizing hunger action month. This is

[16:38] an incredibly important time for the chair of Food Network um because it

[16:42] really allows us the time to reflect on the work that we've done over the past

[16:45] year um and just kind of celebrate the wins that we've had uh but it also gives

[16:50] us time to recognize that hunger is still a pressing issue throughout our

[16:53] communities here in Lebanon County and throughout the entire Commonwealth. Um,

[16:57] in Lebanon County in particular, um, there are 20,000 people, um, who are

[17:02] experiencing food insecurity, uh, based on Feeding America's map gap data, which

[17:07] goes off of 2024 data. Um, it's going to be the most recent data that we have,

[17:13] um, for the time being. Um, we also know that that 20,000 people includes about

[17:19] 6,000 children. Um, so, you know, very significant percentage of the population

[17:23] is experiencing hunger on a regular basis. Um, and we've also seen a pretty

[17:29] significant drop in SNAP benefits uh, here in Lebanon County. About 10.8% of

[17:34] the people who were on benefits have now transitioned off um, for a variety of

[17:38] reasons. Um, so that then in turn kind of puts more strain on the charitable

[17:41] food network. Um, so we really are here just today to again um, recognize that

[17:47] hunger is still an issue that is impacting our communities. Um, but I'd

[17:51] love to give time for Lieutenant Richard and Brian and Dave to share about their

[17:55] experiences as uh three pantries that are serving uh our neighbors who are

[18:00] experiencing hunger ground.

[18:05] » Um, good morning everyone and thank you commissioners for this opportunity.

[18:09] Since a lot has already been shared about the the need in our community, I

[18:13] just want to share that we have this wonderful opportunity to just be

[18:16] alongside other nonprofits who have been just working so hard in just meeting the

[18:20] food insecurity in our community that we are able to share our wonderful

[18:25] resources that we have and just able to come alongside to just support our

[18:29] community. And we do see um plans coming in almost every day. Right now we have a

[18:35] a choice pantry going on right now until 11:00 and it is it is a quite a busy day

[18:41] today. Um so we do see the need and we do see the need um going up every day.

[18:50] » Oh jeez. Thanks. He's not usually that nice to me.

[18:55] [laughter]

[18:57] about thank thanks for having us and and thanks for allowing Katie to to come

[19:01] down and and present on behalf of the whole charitable food system. We we have

[19:05] amazing resources in our community. I say it over and over again that the the

[19:09] way this community steps up um your support um donor support. We couldn't do

[19:14] it without the donors. Dave's in the midst of a massive building campaign um

[19:19] that will will provide an incredible resource for those on the western part

[19:22] of the county. Um he's working on some mobile pantry work. Uh we've got uh new

[19:28] opportunity that we're going to launch in January called our quiet market

[19:31] hours, which is an opportunity for us to serve a specific population of families

[19:36] with kiddos that are um neurode divergent um autistic diagnosis um and

[19:41] then expand that eventually into all individuals with social anxiety or

[19:45] neurode divergent. um the space that we both uh or all three of us um provide

[19:49] services to can be a very chaotic um loud space where those in need are are

[19:54] feeling anxious and we want to create a space and a time that we can reserve for

[19:57] people to just um be very comfortable. So, uh we're getting ready to engage in

[20:02] a campaign for our our redoing our commercial kitchen. We served 42,000

[20:06] free meals last year. So, um, massive impact going on in our community and and

[20:11] couldn't couldn't ask for two better guys to to walk alongside of. Um, Lori

[20:15] Crawford and Katie lead our our, um, food access committee here, which is an

[20:20] incredible group of individuals dedicated to addressing hunger. And then

[20:24] Maria is with us. Maria Fischer is our director of food programs at LCCCM. So,

[20:28] thanks for having us. >> Thank you for coming.

[20:32] » Last but not least, I don't say it's too formal.

[20:37] Um Dave Fitzky, executive director of the Caring Covered. Um I'm going to

[20:42] mirror everything that everybody has already said. I want to thank the

[20:44] commissioners for recognizing September as hunger action month. Awareness is a

[20:48] big part of what we do and getting word out there. Um as Brian already alluded

[20:53] to, the Karen cupboard's in the middle of a 27 27,000 foot facility. um that's

[20:58] not only going to address kind of our future growth for food distribution and

[21:02] charitable food, but 12 affordable housing units and some community space

[21:06] to try and get resources to those that need it. So, um yeah, on behalf of the

[21:11] community that I serve and I mean, I'm just thankful for everybody here. I

[21:14] mean, we work together amazingly and so it's it's awesome. But thank you very

[21:18] much for recognizing them this month. >> Yes, Mr. Pitsky. Um, I noticed you and

[21:26] the young lady who spoke before both have orange on, but you care to

[21:30] enlighten everyone what the orange stands for.

[21:32] » Well, I have recently learned that orange is the color of hunger action

[21:36] month. So, in honor of that, I am wearing an orange tie. I'm assuming

[21:42] that is the saint. >> Is that why you're at pools this

[21:45] morning? >> What's that?

[21:46] » Is that why you're at pools this morning? [laughter]

[21:52] Well, we we thank you folks for coming in today and and thank you for the

[21:55] important work you do. I know we have need out there, but we're addressing the

[21:59] need and I think in Lebanon County, we're doing it very well. Part of it is

[22:04] because you all know each other and besides Brian and Dave, there's a little

[22:09] friction there. You get along well. >> I'm blaming Brian. [laughter]

[22:16] » No, it's good. We will we're all working together to to to address this issue. So

[22:21] » we have a proclamation uh to uh to recognize this. Jamie, would you like to

[22:26] read that proclamation for the record? >> Whereas hunger and food insecurity are

[22:31] issues of vital concern in Pennsylvania where according to Feeding America over

[22:36] 1.7 million individuals, 13.5% of Pennians experience food insecurity and

[22:42] and one in every five children do not know where their next meal will come

[22:45] from. Whereas in Lebanon County, one in seven residents are food insecure and

[22:49] one in five children are food insecure. And whereas inadequate nutritious food

[22:54] has become more expensive and out of reach for many neighborhoods with food

[22:57] costs rising more than 33% between 2019 and 2026, leading to record demand for

[23:03] charitable food. Whereas food insecurity, the condition of limited or

[23:07] uncertain access to adequate food, is associated with numerous adverse social

[23:11] and health outcomes and is a critical public health issue. And whereas Lebanon

[23:16] County is committed to taking steps to combat hunger in every corner of our

[23:19] commonwealth and to provide providing additional resources to those in need.

[23:24] And whereas Lebanon County is committed to working with the Central Pennsylvania

[23:27] Food Bank to educate people about this role and importance of food bank food

[23:31] banks in addressing hunger and raising awareness of the need to devote more

[23:35] resources to and attention to hunger issues. And whereas the Central

[23:39] Pennsylvania Food Bank distributed over 61.3 million pounds of food in fiscal

[23:45] year 2026 to Pennians experienced food experiencing food insecurity. Lebanon

[23:50] County alone over 3.5 million pounds were distributed. Over 498,000 pounds of

[23:56] this bean produce. And whereas public and private entities, including policy

[24:00] makers, business leaders, and community activists, farmers, concerned citizens,

[24:05] and hunger hunger relief organizations must collectively work to address food

[24:09] insecurity within the Commonwealth. And whereas the month of September has been

[24:13] designated hunger action month in order to bring attention to the issue of food

[24:17] insecurity in our communities and to mobilize the public in the movement to

[24:21] end hunger. Now therefore, we the Lebanon County Commissioners do hereby

[24:25] recognize September 2026 as hunger action month in Lebanon County. And I

[24:29] call this and call this observance to the attention of our citizens.

[24:35] » To accept this proclamation, >> second a motion.

[24:38] » Motion a second. Questions or comments? All in favor, please say I.

[24:44] » At the same sign that approval,

[24:49] » I'm sorry. Hi, Nancy Gates from Visit Lebanon Valley. I'm also part of the

[24:54] America 250 committee. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are doing a

[24:58] food drive collection um for with LCM uh on Saturday as part of the new fireworks

[25:04] display that's going to be uh taking place over at the expo center. So, gain

[25:08] a little bit at 4:30. Festivities will start around 5. And so, we would

[25:12] encourage anyone um here to spread the word to help get some of those

[25:16] donations, especially our media friends here to help us spread the word. So

[25:21] appreciate everything that you guys are doing. Thank you.

[25:24] » Good point, Nancy about, you know, food drives, but but also there's

[25:29] organizations need support in the form of donations and volunteer hours and

[25:34] there's always a way to help. Uh so God bless you and and love your

[25:40] » I'm sorry I did I did have my hand my finger down but

[25:44] » uh just for any of uh the folks at the table here Brian or um Dave or Makita um

[25:53] the uh the proclamation sort of addressed a little bit of my question

[25:57] which was with the rise in food prices um how does that impact you know if if

[26:05] the the folks are having trouble paying for their own groceries. That's

[26:09] obviously going to have uh an impact on the donations that they send your way.

[26:14] So, I'm just curious, how have you managed

[26:18] that potential lessening of the uh donations?

[26:24] » Yeah, it's plenty of thoughts, but [laughter]

[26:27] you're going to talk for an hour. Um as best we can. I mean, I think that's the

[26:31] simple answer. you know, rising food costs means more people need our

[26:34] services, which to your point means fewer people are donating. So, um, as

[26:39] Brian alluded to earlier, I mean, this community is amazing. I mean, especially

[26:43] in all my, that's an area I can speak to. They, every time we put out an ask,

[26:47] they rise to the occasion. How they do it, that's a question I can't answer,

[26:51] but they they always come through for us. So, um, as best we can, I guess is

[26:56] » So, have you had to like lessen the amount that you offer to the the folks

[27:01] that come to your markets? >> Not today. I mean, it's becoming harder

[27:04] to get product again because of the rising cost for the food banks, for the

[27:08] charitable food system, for us to purchase product that isn't donated. I

[27:11] mean, that has certainly put a strain, you know, on our reserves. But, uh, to

[27:14] date, we haven't made any changes to our distribution model. La last year was a

[27:19] really unique year because we went through uh no state budget until

[27:24] November. We went through federal government shutdown. We went through a

[27:29] live heat delay. Um and what ended up happening was uh a lot of health systems

[27:35] and private folks stepped up and and contributed dollars to like central PA

[27:39] for them to be able to provide food money for us on account which led us to

[27:43] kind of be able to get through that really ugly time. Um but then as we as

[27:47] we continue this this cycle we're experiencing when we go to purchase

[27:51] right to meet that demand that we can't it's the gap right between donations

[27:55] free stuff and purchasing but we're feeling the same same pain. So I think

[27:59] that it's really important for us that we continue to make the awareness turn

[28:04] into financial donations so that we can acquire buy the appropriate foods and

[28:09] for all of us we're all serving um different cultures and when we are

[28:14] focusing on like culturally sensitive food like we're not growing bananas on a

[28:18] farm in Lebanon, right? But we know that that's an important thing for us to be

[28:22] able to provide in our in our pantry. So it just becomes full circle on how we're

[28:25] trying to meet that need directly. I can just think of one thing that when

[28:30] the for example when the food stamps were on hold and there was the greatest

[28:33] need last November a number of our board members came alongside and I feel that

[28:38] was the time when I saw how generous our community was. Folks were coming they

[28:43] were donating they were just getting scans of food and that really helped us

[28:47] to offset a number of cost. >> Thank you.

[28:53] If you'd like, we can um post for a photo, do formal presentation.

[28:59] Do you want them up here? >> Yeah, maybe step up.

[29:24] Your phone

[29:38] Brian was wearing >> I don't know anything flyers

[29:47] Thank you for all your hard work, guys. >> Thank you.

[29:54] » Thank you.

[30:08] » Budget's selling us.

[30:14] Hey, I'm sorry.

[30:25] » Morning, Jack. >> Good morning.

[30:28] » Who's this guy? He looks familiar. I

[30:32] » think he used to be under our tables. I found him.

[30:38] » Welcome. Please introduce yourselves for the record and then you may proceed.

[30:42] » I'm Jackie Parker. I'm with the I guess I'm with the VA's office. I'm helping

[30:47] them with the grant writing. >> Brian Deer, come with first assistant

[30:51] district attorney. >> So I'm here today to um ask your

[30:55] approval for the submission for the um grants that are going due for um for the

[31:02] county. And these are the they're non uh they're formulaic there. They're not

[31:06] competitive. But u it's important that we you know discuss what's happened in

[31:10] those applications. So there it's the rights and services act or Raza and the

[31:14] victims of juvenile offenders which is VOJO lots of acronyms. Um the Raza is um

[31:20] supports victims to crime of crime whose cases progress through the criminal

[31:25] justice system and the VOJO is for victims of juvenile offenders. Um the

[31:30] funds are used to provide procedural services such as court accompanyment,

[31:34] assistance with victim impact statements, notification of court dates,

[31:38] assistance with filing compensation claims. Um they also help for

[31:43] participation in the criminal justice process and provide collaboration with

[31:47] our other community uh partners such as the DVI, SARKC and other community

[31:52] organizations which assist crime victims. Um this year it's uh the

[31:57] funding you know we have an allocation the county gets an allocation for both

[32:01] and it's down again um just as many federal programs are being cut this was

[32:06] cut so last year it was at um 103530 I mean sorry 111 927 this year it's 103532

[32:15] um in 2022 it was 117 818 so you can see that there's a gradual decline um

[32:24] we are you know again supporting staff. There's there it's very very tight.

[32:28] There's really nothing new or um I I would say additional to the to the

[32:34] grants that we've submitted in the past. They're here to support our um community

[32:39] and the victims of crime. So, you have any questions?

[32:44] » Make a motion to approve. Um did you want to speak, Brian? I'm sorry. Maybe I

[32:48] was going ahead. >> No, thank you. I'm just here to speak

[32:51] Miss Parker and and the application for the I'm sorry. Okay. I'll make a motion

[32:56] to approve the uh Rosa Vojo grant application in the amount of 103,532.

[33:03] » I'll second motion second. Are there questions or comments?

[33:09] Hearing none. All in favor of the motion, please say I.

[33:11] » I. >> I.

[33:14] And have that approval. Anything else? Thank you. Good luck. Good to see you

[33:19] all again. Thank you. You too. [clears throat]

[33:25] Thank you. >> Morning, Steph.

[33:28] » Good morning. >> Please have a seat. Introduce yourself

[33:30] for the record and you may proceed. >> I am Stephanie Xarles. I am the district

[33:34] court administrator for Lebanon County. I am here to seek approval of the

[33:41] contract for the jury upgrade. The actual proposal was presented in June,

[33:48] approved by the commissioners. We now have the contract. I just need a signed

[33:53] contract to submit to the vendor. Um the contract has been reviewed by myself by

[33:58] IT services and was forwarded to solicitor booty for approval as well.

[34:06] » Do you want to give a couple minutes just highlights cost and so on?

[34:11] » Um sure. So, the cost for the upgrade is $30,95.

[34:21] Um, we're breaking that down into two calendar years for the payment. The

[34:26] first payment will be $15,95. Um, in this calendar year, once the

[34:31] contract is signed, that's what we would be paying to the vendor and then the

[34:35] additional cost would be presented during budget process to the

[34:39] commissioners. at that time for the final approval of it. Um, the software

[34:46] that we currently have is housed on a server here at the county at a certain

[34:52] expense. The upgrade will be webbased and therefore will alleviate some of the

[34:59] workload for county it with regard to it. They'll still have a role in our

[35:04] jury process, but not as great a role. Um, there will be ongoing expenses just

[35:11] as there have been in the past as far as how many summons we submit each year,

[35:16] but really nothing else is changing except the hosting of the the program

[35:22] itself. >> And I added up all those amounts and

[35:25] came up with 147,78 for the like five years or whatever it

[35:31] was. >> Okay. I

[35:33] » I didn't see the total. That's why I did that. Well, and I did not add up what

[35:38] the five years would be. Again, we have an an annual expense that we pay every

[35:43] year already that is part of our budget process. Um, and I I'm sorry, I'm not

[35:49] questioning your math. [laughter] I'm just telling you I have no idea what the

[35:52] math actually is. >> That's okay.

[35:54] » We're not voting on that. >> Correct.

[36:03] » M. >> Yeah. I just I just wanted to note that

[36:05] I had a chance to meet as well and everything looks good.

[36:09] » Thank you. >> Are you planning to utilize the the

[36:14] texting the text message? >> We have to utilize that which is new.

[36:19] » Okay. Is that included in this? >> It is.

[36:21] » Okay. >> 6,000 texts a year are included in that.

[36:26] » Oh, okay. >> In in the cost that they have

[36:29] » in the built-in cost. There's a

[36:33] » if we would go over that. >> Oh, that that's the additional one. We

[36:35] have all right. Thank you. >> Yes.

[36:39] There any other questions? Anything? >> Hopefully.

[36:45] » A motion to approve. >> Second.

[36:49] » Motion second. Questions or comments? None. All in favor of the motion, please

[36:54] say I. >> I. [clears throat] Same time. You have

[36:57] that approval step. >> Thank you. I have the original contract

[37:00] where the little yellow sticky is is where the signature would

[37:04] be required. >> Thank you.

[37:07] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[37:08] » Thank you. >> Have a great day.

[37:10] » Thank you. You too.

[37:14] [clears throat]

[37:19] » Good morning. >> Good morning.

[37:22] you I don't know who's going to lead off, but please the others introduce

[37:27] yourself for the record when you're ready and you may proceed.

[37:31] » Uh my name is Pat Kerwin. I'm with the Lebanon Valley Expo Center.

[37:34] » Nancy Gates, visit Lebanon Valley. >> Rick Stamble, board chair of visit Lebna

[37:38] Valley. >> Welcome.

[37:40] » I guess I've been nominated to lead off. We're here today. Uh it was this is

[37:45] really initiated by the board of directors of Lebanon Valley Expo Center

[37:48] as we're building this new uh building out there as everyone's aware of. Uh we

[37:53] first of all I would like to say thank you for the support of the commissioners

[37:57] uh for the current allocation of the hotel tax. We appreciate that greatly

[38:02] and for some of the special funding you provided through the expo center over

[38:05] the years and continue to provide. Thank you. Um, as we build this new building,

[38:10] of course, uh, we were interested in trying to secure some additional

[38:14] funding. We currently receive a percentage of the hotel tax and the

[38:18] visit Leon Valley receives the balance minus the administrative cost that

[38:24] occurs here at the county. Uh our initial thinking was that uh we were

[38:30] requesting uh an additional 10% of the tax would come

[38:36] to the expo center in support of this new building. uh and

[38:42] uh we've had numerous discussions I would say between the visitors bureau

[38:47] and and all very positive I think and support of each other and the visitors

[38:53] have been wonderful to the exploit center too and continues to be. Uh

[38:57] anyhow, after long story short, I think after numerous discussions,

[39:03] we kind of concluded that maybe the best way to approach this would be the uh 10%

[39:10] that the county commissioners allocate for

[39:14] organizations that come here seeking support that maybe they the county

[39:19] commissioners may want to consider getting out of that contributions

[39:23] piece of the business and use that 10% % allocate that 10% with 70% of that 10%

[39:32] going to the expo center and the remaining 30% going to visitors bureau

[39:37] and then the visitors bureau in turn would address those organizations that

[39:42] are coming to you currently looking for some financial support for their events

[39:47] here in Lebanon County that's kind of the

[39:53] short story of it I think am I explaining that correctly

[39:57] And I just would like to say that the expo center is a tremendous asset to

[40:02] Lebanon County. I think the initial statewide legislation uh for this hotel

[40:07] tax is to uh encourage it to be used to bring additional tourists to bring more

[40:13] people into hotels. Uh and clearly the expo center is doing that in very large

[40:19] measure. Uh and we also are an asset to community in many other ways. Uh

[40:26] yesterday I met with the emergency management people have been planning a

[40:30] week-long event at the expo center next year doing their safety. Uh this morning

[40:36] just in the just in 24-hour period there's like 10 electric trucks in our

[40:42] parking lot because we're staging area for when there's emergency situations.

[40:46] So, it's a fabulous facility. I think people out there are doing what they're

[40:52] supposed to be doing. And again, we appreciate your consideration and this

[40:56] was sort of the plan that we came up with and we're asking for the

[41:00] consideration of that. >> We're here really in support of the plan

[41:05] as well um from Visit Lebanon Valley on behalf of the board uh of directors

[41:10] there as well as the myself and the visitors bureau staff. Um we really feel

[41:16] like the expo center is uh very much a um center that can lead to additional

[41:22] economic growth in the area and that additional expansion gives an

[41:26] opportunity for that to happen. So we want to do all that we can from a

[41:31] supportive standpoint um to make sure that his crew have what they need to be

[41:36] successful and that we can all benefit from that success uh throughout the

[41:40] county. I just wanted to commend both Pat and

[41:44] Nancy for the collaborative efforts that have gone into trying to help come up

[41:50] with some additional funding ideas for the expo. And as Nancy said, it's a

[41:54] critical component of the economic uh drivers here in the the county. And we

[41:59] just uh uh we're looking for support in uh this proposal.

[42:06] I think the proposal includes well I know it does includes that

[42:12] recommendation that the committee that the visitor the visitor valley is going

[42:18] to form to handle these requests would include someone designated by the

[42:24] commissioners to serve on that committee. So you would still be

[42:29] involved to the degree that you would like to be able. Yeah, we're uh

[42:33] anticipating a fivep person committee to review that. We would put together a

[42:37] rubric um to use um and evaluating um the different um requests that come in

[42:45] uh looking at the economic impact, looking at overnight hotel stays,

[42:48] looking at the collaborative ways that partners may be working together with

[42:53] others in the community um as well. So, if there's a hotel partner, a restaurant

[42:58] partner, you know, um perhaps another partner of some sort, um we look to

[43:04] evaluate those with that fivep person committee and then have an appointed

[43:08] person on behalf of the commissioners and

[43:13] part of that fivep person committee. >> I know there will be questions for

[43:18] before the questions. Could you you guys did a nice job of laying out the the

[43:23] numbers >> as they are so so that everyone knows in

[43:27] context how much we're talking about here u right to walk through those

[43:32] either whoever would walk through those numbers on page three

[43:36] the amount of the tax the amount that is the 10% and how the split work

[43:43] » so um did you want me to start at 2024 Jamie was that

[43:48] » um probably just the bottom >> just the bottom lumber. Okay. So, this

[43:51] year the annual hotel tax, we're budgeting 1308

[43:55] million coming in um as part of those dollars. 10% of that funding um is what

[44:02] is currently allocated to um this grant funding program that's being

[44:07] administered by the commissioners, which comes out to $130,800.

[44:13] Um the proposed alloc reallocation would be 70% of those funds going to the expo

[44:19] center at $91,560

[44:23] and then the remaining would go into the grant fund which would u be estimated to

[44:27] be $39,240.

[44:31] um should also be uh probably noted as well that um the expo center that would

[44:37] look to accommodate some of the prior groups um that have received funding on

[44:43] behalf of Expo Center groups um not by way of a grants fund but by way of um

[44:49] additional consideration for rental fees etc. um that would be under uh Pat's

[44:56] review um exclusively and then BLV and four to five uh that would be

[45:02] established for this would then review the additional applications or other

[45:06] community partners.

[45:12] » Question I have a comment if I may. Before me sit some re people who I

[45:18] really respect and I want you to know that upfront.

[45:22] But personally I have [clears throat] objections to what is proposed. Uh first

[45:30] of all um this board would no longer be privy uh

[45:37] in a timely manner of the grants that are being presented.

[45:42] And I find that troublesome because that keeps our finger on the pulse of what's

[45:47] going on with tourism in our county. Uh next,

[45:53] as it has been for the last, I don't know, eight years or better.

[45:58] Um I have not had the pleasure of serving

[46:03] on either visit Lebanon Valley board or for the expo board. So it would revert

[46:09] to majority commissioners only and I would further feel isolated and secluded

[46:15] from what is going on. Um, and finally, my point is that there

[46:22] are a lot of businesses in this community that I think would feel a

[46:28] similar isolation because we have places like In the Net

[46:33] in Palmyra Campbell Town area, the Lebanon Valley Mall, the Hein Fire Hall,

[46:39] Kimmelings Graange, and I could go on, but you get the

[46:43] picture. Right now, we know that everybody's getting a piece of the pie.

[46:49] And again, I'm not talking down to anybody. I'm just from my perch as a

[46:55] minority commissioner, I feel the arrangement is not fair. Um, and I don't

[47:01] think it would be in the best interest of the entire community to switch

[47:07] things. And I I think the way it is is really helping us to um keep our pulse

[47:14] on the community. I hope you understand. Nothing against anybody. I just have a

[47:20] difference of opinion. >> Appreciate you.

[47:23] » Thank you. >> Well, I I too am not happy with the uh

[47:27] the numbers, but excuse me. I'm I'm prepared to accept when you folks worked

[47:32] it out. That was the charge that I was given was to, you know, that you folks

[47:36] would look at this thing out as a liaison. Um, I I wanted a deeper cut

[47:41] into the VLV's uh percentage to bring ours up higher.

[47:46] Um, but I also was an advocate for getting rid of our place in these grant

[47:52] right or grant approval process things because it some of it was duplicative.

[47:57] You folks are doing some grant work already. is the same pot of money and I

[48:02] felt that you're the experts in that area. Go at it. We're we're taking them

[48:07] and trying to interpret uh we do that in a couple minutes here. I think it's a

[48:12] better thing to have a consistent standards and uh that so that that I

[48:17] approve of but I I would have or appreciate it if we could have done

[48:22] better on the percentages for the expo. And the only other comment I'll make is

[48:26] that it falls short a little bit because when I came into this thinking uh that

[48:31] we wanted to have a an investment you know more so for the expo. Uh I also had

[48:38] an interest in doing something for the in the net because I felt that they too

[48:43] are big players in bringing the revenues in that we enjoy through these hotel tax

[48:49] uh monies and uh they are interested in even growing bigger you know in terms of

[48:55] heads and beds and so on which drive these numbers. So I would have liked to

[48:59] have a couple percent for them for a couple years just as an experiment

[49:03] outside our normal but you know in compromised you don't get everything you

[49:07] want but you get the best you can get and and here we are.

[49:11] I'd like to add too just first a moment you know I I [clears throat] think back

[49:17] I is it 50 years the expo has has been around that credit people that had the

[49:24] vision to see that we would b our community would benefit from a

[49:28] fairgrounds and create this expo >> and it continues to grow and I also want

[49:34] to say personally I don't know when it was 15 years ago or so when we said when

[49:38] we started the the tourist bureau and and the and the hotel tax, give or take,

[49:43] whatever it was. I remember seeing the story in in newspapers and and thinking

[49:49] really tourism in Lebanon County, how are we going to compete with Hershey and

[49:53] Philadelphia and but then when I became commissioner in 2022 was pleasantly

[49:58] surprised because I'm leazison to the tourism board and to see how much we're

[50:04] generating and uh a fantastic job and the expo center is a a great source of

[50:10] that uh for all the events that are are being hosted. here and we have an

[50:15] opportunity to expand the expo center. [clears throat] Uh but there's a cost to

[50:20] that and it's a huge investment and you've done a good job thus far. But

[50:24] also when we looked at the picture too then the expo board was saying is there

[50:28] a way again the tourism board or at that point seemed to be pretty solid

[50:33] financially and and in a position to be able to help and and agreed that that

[50:38] would be a good idea and a good investment. So I was saying from day one

[50:42] this would be a lot easier. The commissioners have the right to do

[50:45] whatever they choose regarding this formula, but it would be nice if both

[50:50] organizations could come together and I know this is one of many uh proposals

[50:55] that was discussed and explored. Again, thank you Rick to all your detailed work

[51:01] on on that. Uh and and so they came up with this and I have as Bob just

[51:06] mentioned you and your board are the experts in in

[51:11] this stuff that will work on this every day and I think that I have great amount

[51:15] of faith and trust that they'll put a a very good board together and we can

[51:19] discuss who our representative is on that board and I think we'll get very

[51:23] regular updates and and information and an opportunity to provide input but

[51:28] again it became a difficult task for us over the last few years that we do want

[51:34] to give everybody a piece of the pie. However, as the funds are limited and we

[51:40] continue to get more and more applications over the years, we were

[51:44] giving uh grants and awarding grants to some applicants that are great community

[51:52] assets but not necessarily bringing heads and beds. And so then now we have

[51:56] to start to prioritize to where are we going to get the biggest return on our

[52:01] investment. So, I think again the idea of setting up a rubric and doing that,

[52:05] I'd love to hear that. It's going to be uh I think a better way to to do this

[52:10] and and uh so I' I'm fully supporting it on the only thing I'd like to add that

[52:16] you you touched on the uh benefit of expo to the to the county. Um but and

[52:22] and it is, you know, driving a lot of the revenue that we get through the

[52:26] hotel stays. But uh I just want to make sure we mention that the funding the

[52:32] support for 4 and FFA and all the you know the agriculture related um uh

[52:38] volunteer programs and beyond uh are part of what you know the benefit of

[52:44] having a successful and solvent uh expo.

[52:50] » Yeah, there's a lot of youth education that occurs at the expo seller.

[52:54] All 4 programs are included. All FA programs are free. We work a lot with

[52:59] Cedar Crest. A lot a lot of things have to

[53:04] Okay. >> Well, again, um

[53:09] I know that people are looking to get out of the city for a real life

[53:13] experience and they come to Lebanon County for that. So, we do attract

[53:18] visitors to this area. We're not Hershey Park and, you know, we're not the big

[53:23] city, but we have quality of life that people love to come and see and

[53:28] experience and they might want to work on a farm. Um, but if we're if if we

[53:35] were going to change this, and again, I'm just going on my recollection of the

[53:39] law when it was set up, we should we are to designate a visitors bureau.

[53:46] And again with respect to for you, it should all be funneled through the

[53:50] visitors bureau and then you should get your uh share from them. It's a

[53:55] technicality. >> No, that's weird.

[53:57] » But it truly is the way it should be. It should be the visitors bureau receiving

[54:02] the funds. I mean, that is the way I remember the law when it was passed.

[54:07] Unfortunately, I've been here long and I remember that. Yeah, we do do the

[54:12] dispersement of the funds with the exception of the 4% that um the

[54:17] treasur's office receives for the administration. So, they take their 4%

[54:22] and then send us the remaining and then we do the dispersements from there.

[54:26] » You're doing the dispersement to the to the expo. Yes,

[54:30] » correct. I do the dispersement to the expo and also to the commissioners to

[54:34] this fund that we're discussing. >> Okay. I thought they were coming from

[54:36] the treasurer. >> The treasurer's office sends me the

[54:40] check. um of the total less their 4%. So they receive 4% administration fee which

[54:47] they keep um and then they send me the check for everything with the exception

[54:52] of that 4%. I then have our um bookkeeping service, Ammerman, um do the

[54:59] checks with um the 10% going back to this grant fund um for the commissioners

[55:05] and that gets sent back to the treasur's office and then the percent that goes

[55:09] » and does that meet the letter of the law? Should it be coming to you and then

[55:13] you distribute the 4% to the treasur? >> I believe this this matches the law that

[55:18] is in place. Yeah, that's why it's established that I I just thought if if

[55:21] anything does get changed, even if I vote no, I wanted to make sure we were

[55:25] following the letter of we are. Thank you.

[55:28] » I I think it's it's also important to point out a a a point in your proposal

[55:33] is that this is would be proposed for five years. But again, it it doesn't

[55:37] mean we're locked into a five-year term. If we determine in six months or a year

[55:41] or three years that this is not working as we intended that we we could we

[55:47] certainly have the authority to modify it at any time.

[55:50] » That's correct. The commissioners have the authority to make any of those

[55:53] changes. I think the reason why we were looking at the five-year um timeline is

[55:58] just so both organizations had a better idea of a financial um you know what the

[56:04] financial planning might be. Um and you know the the expo center is just

[56:08] starting the construction process and so there will be some time until that's

[56:13] completed until you know that can get up to full capacity as well. So that was um

[56:19] why that was put in there as a request. Yeah, again, I don't think any of us

[56:23] mentioned again the the whole purpose of this the expo to expand and be able to

[56:27] attract even more events >> which hopefully will spill over into the

[56:31] community to restaurants and to, you know, shopping and to all of the

[56:35] additional services that we offer here as a community. And as um Commissioner

[56:40] List mentioned, we we do have excellent outdoor recreation and um that is

[56:45] definitely an area where we excel in terms of the rail trail and and all of

[56:50] the outdoor fishing and and golf and all of the outdoor activities that people

[56:55] can find here. Um and a great opportunity for them to unplug and um

[57:01] enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet um you know in their lives. So it's very

[57:06] important. >> Yeah, man. Maybe you have I have a

[57:08] question or comment. >> Well, Pam for Lebanon City. I'm involved

[57:13] with several nonprofits. Um some have benefited from direct funds. Uh and I

[57:21] just my opinion is I'm glad to see the grant dis uh dispersion

[57:28] taken away from the county commissioners. I I that just doesn't

[57:32] seem like something that the commissioner should be involved. Number

[57:36] one. Number two, I know we always hear it's important we support heads and

[57:40] beds. I get it. I know that's where the money comes from, but I want to make

[57:46] sure you understand that what Visit Lebanon Valley does, and this is

[57:51] certainly not to take anything away from the expo because we know all that they

[57:55] do for the county and all that they bring in, but there are ways that

[57:59] organizations like mine benefit that I don't know that you're aware of. The

[58:04] advertising that visit Lebanon Valley does have brought I have three buses

[58:10] coming into Union Canal Tunnel Park that re that turns to be three tours on the

[58:17] canal. That's a lot of money for us. I have one scheduled for next year

[58:22] already. Those leads come to us and those people know about us because of

[58:28] what visit Lebanon Valley is doing. Is it putting heads in beds sometimes? Not

[58:33] usually, but it's putting people stopping for gas because the visitors

[58:38] and the uh the buses, they need to do that. They are always asking me for

[58:44] recre uh recommendations on restaurants to stop at before they go home. We put

[58:50] bags together that have uh things in addition to the magazine that visit

[58:56] Lebanon Valley does that tells them all about everything in the Kent County. I

[59:01] also include brochures from other tourist sites, so they may come back.

[59:06] Two of the buses I have coming in are coming in from Lancaster. They are close

[59:11] enough that they may come back with family and friends and visit these other

[59:16] sites in Lebanon County. That stuff is important to the rest of us smaller

[59:21] nonprofits. So, we need to make sure that they also have the funds that they

[59:26] need so they could support us in this way. So, I just I don't have anything to

[59:32] do with the funding, whatever. I just wanted you to know what it's like from

[59:37] our perspective. And we also uh we say, well, no, we can't compete with Hershey

[59:42] and stuff, but I actually went to one of the charter bus shows um to work the

[59:48] booth with with Jane from Visit Lebanon Valley, and our spiel was, you don't

[59:53] want to stay in Hershey and Lancaster. The rooms cost too much there. Stay in

[59:57] Lebanon County. Stay overnight. You can do a day trip to Lancaster. You can do a

[1:00:03] day trip to Hershey, but stay here because we're in the middle of

[1:00:07] everything. So, you know, that's kind of something we're doing too when when we

[1:00:13] go out into the public. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[1:00:19] » Have a motion on the floor yet, but you >> if I if I may, uh, solicitor and I

[1:00:24] discussed this, the um the current allocation breakdown is built into the

[1:00:30] ordinance that was passed establishing the rate of tax. Um, so to if you're

[1:00:36] changing it and if you're changing it in the future, it's a bit cumbersome to

[1:00:40] have to redo the ordinance every single time. So, um I think the better thing to

[1:00:46] do would be to uh adopt a new ordinance that sets the allocation by resolution.

[1:00:55] So, this would be a two-part process. If I'm getting any of this wrong, Matt,

[1:00:59] speak up, please. But this would be a two-part process. First would be for the

[1:01:03] solicitor to advertise the ordinance that would remove the allocation, but

[1:01:06] refer to it as a resolution. And then and then once that's done, adopt that

[1:01:11] resolution and adopt I'm sorry, adopt that ordinance.

[1:01:14] » So two weeks we could consider a resolution.

[1:01:17] » We would have to we would have to uh advertise that make sure that it is

[1:01:21] advertised uh works with seven days before.

[1:01:26] » Yeah. >> So it should be tabled for now.

[1:01:29] » Uh no the action. >> No, we take action to proceed to to uh

[1:01:33] to advertise and and prepare an ordinance.

[1:01:36] » Correct. Yeah, that would be the first >> to modify our current policy following

[1:01:40] the guidelines as set forth in this memo.

[1:01:43] » Yeah, I'll move that. >> We have a second. I'll second that

[1:01:49] motion. Any additional questions or comments?

[1:01:55] » Um, yes, I have several. So, it's five people total on this this volunteer

[1:02:00] board that we volunteer. Correct. Correct. one of whom is the commissioner

[1:02:04] a commissioner appointee >> appointee appointee it could be in a

[1:02:07] commissioner or it could be someone else that they designate

[1:02:10] » and then if this all goes through how soon do you think this will be this will

[1:02:14] be implemented because you don't probably have that group together yet

[1:02:16] what's the timeline >> that's my first question I have others

[1:02:19] what's >> 2027 assuming that we can get everything

[1:02:24] through in a timely manner proposal >> right

[1:02:28] » would be for January 1 2027 >> based on the comment made back here and

[1:02:33] the idea of heads and beds which was what they had always had requested

[1:02:38] although there was the caveat that they could give money at their discretion.

[1:02:43] What is the root kind of look like at this point in terms of will that

[1:02:48] continue? Will it be other considerations? Because while this is

[1:02:52] nice, it doesn't show on here for example which your predecessor did a

[1:02:57] study paid for a program and showed that in the net was one of the biggest

[1:03:02] contributors to Lebanon County. Yet this very board at one point a few years ago

[1:03:07] turned down a request for a machine that they could use to groom the field which

[1:03:13] would bring even more people in because they're coming like every weekend. Every

[1:03:17] weekend there was a sporting event and these people are coming from all around

[1:03:19] the country. I think you'd be hardressed to not say that in the net is

[1:03:25] contributing greatly to Lebanon Countyy's economy. Now I don't know

[1:03:28] where those people are staying but your predecessor had facts and information

[1:03:33] that showed. So is there a plan to follow up with that and really see where

[1:03:39] because we know what the expo is doing. There's no doubt about that and and the

[1:03:43] things it's offering throughout the whole entire year. But what about as

[1:03:47] suggested these other organizations or other entities that are putting heads in

[1:03:53] beds and are bringing people to Lebanon County

[1:03:56] » and in the net 100% is um and I've had two meetings with them so far um to talk

[1:04:01] about that and what else we can do as an organization to help support them um in

[1:04:07] their efforts, you know, in terms of marketing um folks to to get to the

[1:04:11] region. I don't know um the hotel numbers. I I don't know how many of

[1:04:15] those are staying in Lebanon County versus Dolphin County because they're,

[1:04:19] you know, they're right sort of on the border there. Um and we um in the past

[1:04:25] have not had as robust of a hotel inventory. Um we do now have another um

[1:04:31] new hotel that just opened in June. Um, so we do have some additional occupancy

[1:04:36] that is available now. And so we're hoping um that that will help um for

[1:04:41] some of those folks to continue to say in Lebanon County.

[1:04:44] » I can interrupt. I'm sorry, but but I just want to add a point that that I

[1:04:48] know Pat and I have discussed and I believe it's it's outlined in here too.

[1:04:53] Uh that >> some of the grants that we have been

[1:04:56] awarding in in previous years have been for events that are hosted at the expo

[1:05:01] center. And that's said with this additional funding to create a new

[1:05:05] building, it gives the expo center the opportunity to maybe work with some of

[1:05:10] those events on their rental fees. So, it's not necessarily they like I'm going

[1:05:16] to mention one the Gourd Festival that happens every May or June that we've

[1:05:21] been giving them a significant amount of money and and it's a good return. uh

[1:05:25] they bring people from all over the country but again they may not

[1:05:29] necessarily need a grant if they get the appropriate reduction in their rental

[1:05:33] fee for that year in lie of a grant. So this is not necessarily just you know uh

[1:05:40] an exact switch of of dollars and other ways we can help these organizations

[1:05:46] » and we are trying to do that from a marketing standpoint as well in in terms

[1:05:50] of doing additional paid marketing um related to specific events. Um you may

[1:05:55] have seen on our social media on a weekly basis we highlight various events

[1:06:00] that are in the county. Um a lot of times we do boosting of those posts to

[1:06:04] out of market areas again to try to encourage um participation and also you

[1:06:11] know boosting and supporting those events at the same time. Um you know

[1:06:15] shows like Pam mentioned uh Pennsylvania Bus Association for this year will also

[1:06:20] be going to Greater um Northeastern Bus uh association in September. So again,

[1:06:27] just really trying to spread the awareness and really help all of the

[1:06:30] organizations within the county. Um we did invite in the net to be a board

[1:06:35] member um for Visit Lebanon Valley because we do agree that they are a um

[1:06:41] considerable driver of traffic to the county. Um at this time they um declined

[1:06:47] that opportunity. they um had a lot on their plate and felt as though they um

[1:06:53] were not able to um to commit to that. Um but I did leave the door open and

[1:06:58] just said, you know, when the time is right, um we would certainly love to

[1:07:02] have you be a part uh of that um of the visit Lebanon Valley board and and help

[1:07:08] us, you know, continue to try to um move forward and and make sure that we're

[1:07:14] doing a you know, we want to work with everyone. That's why we're here is to

[1:07:17] work with everyone um that we can and um support in any way that we can. So

[1:07:25] » I I would I do have one followup. Um an experience because I tried to go to a

[1:07:31] lot of the events at the expo. Um and I I don't know what word I'm looking for,

[1:07:38] but I thought it was unfair. Hopefully that's kind. Um, when I went there, I

[1:07:44] asked how much uh it was and um I was told a fee and I thought, "Wow, that's a

[1:07:49] lot." But I paid it. And then come to find out, everybody was complaining

[1:07:55] around me cuz they were forcing people to buy like a two-day or a weekend pass

[1:08:01] versus one day. And that doesn't seem right. I mean, if you go to look at I'm

[1:08:07] just You just said gourds, so I'll use that. If you go to look at gorge, it

[1:08:11] doesn't take two days to look at them. It just didn't feel right. And I I bring

[1:08:16] that to your attention that maybe, you know, if they want to offer a weekend

[1:08:20] pass, that's fine, but to force it on people, that didn't feel right. And so,

[1:08:24] I mention that as something you might want to look at.

[1:08:28] » If you know the specifics of that, because I don't know of any organization

[1:08:31] that requires a two-day pass, but you could give me that name, I would follow

[1:08:35] up. >> I will look it up. Actually, I spoke

[1:08:38] with a gorgeous people yesterday. He planned that they struggle financially

[1:08:44] and that's why they got the support and we talked a little bit about Anyhow, but

[1:08:48] their admission charge is $3, you know. I said to him, maybe you could look your

[1:08:53] admission charge that's so low, you know. She said, "Well, I don't know if

[1:08:56] you could go to $5." I said, "Well, [laughter]

[1:09:01] you try to work with them as best we can." But there's I guess an opposite

[1:09:06] example of gouging >> and I would say that that is probably

[1:09:11] you know certainly on par or below what most Tibets are charging

[1:09:16] and and I know you do a good job of trying to control costs and trying to

[1:09:20] keep things affordable for folks to be able to to come and use the expos which

[1:09:25] we appreciate as well because that helps again to benefit all of us if we can get

[1:09:28] those groups >> that's something the organizers That's

[1:09:31] the control. We don't do anything or anything like that. But

[1:09:36] » okay, >> the gourd is people since we're talking

[1:09:38] about the gourds, they're trying to >> move that a little bit more towards an

[1:09:42] art show as well, so it have a broader base. They do if you get a chance. I

[1:09:48] know it's out there. It's fabulous right there.

[1:09:53] » I read they do fabulous. Anyhow, >> Jim, do you have another question? I I

[1:09:59] asked several >> question

[1:10:05] keep the questions. >> So first of all Pat in the past your

[1:10:08] organization has given money as shown on the chart. Will that continue or is the

[1:10:13] are these funds how's that delineate? Will these new funds just be for

[1:10:18] administrative going toward buildings and upkeep and running the exp?

[1:10:22] » Yes, that's what they'd be going for and to help we'll end up with a mortgage

[1:10:26] after we're finished with this. So, we have a we did get a significantly large

[1:10:30] grant from the Commonwealth, like $4 million towards this new building, which

[1:10:34] is great, recognizing the economic impact the expo center has on Lebanon

[1:10:38] County, but that $4 million is not available until after the building is

[1:10:43] complete and up and satisfied, but the state is satisfied. So, we're borrowing

[1:10:48] money in the interim to get the building up and running, but it would be used for

[1:10:52] operations and marketing. But I have to tell you, the visitors bureau has done a

[1:10:58] great job marketing the expo center and I really appreciate what Nancy and Rick

[1:11:03] are doing over there. The whole board has been very supportive. But I don't

[1:11:06] know if I've answered your question. >> Yeah, you have. And then something that

[1:11:10] follow up with Commissioner Lick said earlier. What accountability will there

[1:11:13] be? Obviously, they come here, their portion, it's public meeting, left town

[1:11:17] reports out on it. How will we know moving forward

[1:11:21] where the money's going and to whom and will there be um auditing of of this for

[1:11:26] for the county? Like how will how will we know as media outlets where the money

[1:11:31] is going and how these funds are being distributed? I think there's a lot of

[1:11:35] things that we need to to um work out. Um and once we get the committee in

[1:11:40] place, those are all the sorts of things that they'll be discussing along with

[1:11:43] the rubric that you asked about earlier um to kind of put that together. We are

[1:11:48] a 501c6. So ultimately the end of the day, our 990 is public um and is filed

[1:11:55] on a yearly basis. So that information is publicly available on our

[1:11:59] organization at any time. Um we do also present a report um as well to the

[1:12:04] treasurer's office each year as I believe the expo center does as well.

[1:12:09] » It would be possible to be able to report to the commissioners too on

[1:12:12] whether grand >> would be a good idea.

[1:12:16] » And my final question is will some of these that you believe that some of

[1:12:19] these people have been here on the past will come off the list in the future

[1:12:23] just because of the way the funding is now being distributed. I I think that um

[1:12:28] first of all, I wasn't privy to whatever all of their applications. So, I really

[1:12:34] wouldn't want to speak to that. Um not having seen the applications and not

[1:12:37] knowing, you know, what the requests were being used for. Um

[1:12:42] » if I could help the answer is not necessarily. It's going to be, you know,

[1:12:46] we're going to try to help everybody we can,

[1:12:47] » right? >> Uh you mean we've we've traditionally

[1:12:50] supported the CLA for flowers downtown. That doesn't put one single head in a

[1:12:54] bed. Uh I would argue uh some might argue differently but it's an important

[1:13:00] investment in you know beautifification of art. So again, we're going to try if

[1:13:05] it's a we're the organization and we have the funds to do it, we're going to

[1:13:08] try to find a way to help them, >> right? And the other thing that you know

[1:13:12] that we're hopeful of as well is you know that the expo center and places

[1:13:16] like In the Neck can generate additional overnight accommodations now that we

[1:13:19] have an additional facility that is available. And so as that happens um

[1:13:25] then the additional pot of money becomes greater as well for all of us to

[1:13:30] utilize. again to to go back to your point to help more of those

[1:13:34] organizations. So, um so that's really our goal, but we will probably have to

[1:13:39] prioritize um or you know certain things and and

[1:13:44] you know we will have to create a rubric that that looks at that.

[1:13:51] » But we do recognize that that it's important to have a vibrant community

[1:13:55] » here that people want to come to. >> Correct.

[1:13:58] » So we we do recognize that. we have that discussion too,

[1:14:01] » just like you wouldn't invite somebody over to your house if you hadn't

[1:14:04] cleaned. Um, same same scenario. If you, you know, don't have a nice looking

[1:14:09] town, you know, you're not going to want to invite people here to come and and

[1:14:12] visit it. So, um, so that's all very very important.

[1:14:18] Do >> I have a motion and a second on favor?

[1:14:20] Additional questions or comments? >> Would those com just one I'm sorry.

[1:14:24] Would those committee meetings uh once the committee is established be public

[1:14:28] meetings? I don't know that we've really talked about that at this point, Laura,

[1:14:33] but you know, something we can certainly discuss.

[1:14:35] » You would think they would be advertised and because it's a government funding

[1:14:41] and uh open to the public. >> I'm not sure of the legalities on that.

[1:14:48] So, I don't want to speak to something that I'm not I can certainly ask the

[1:14:52] question.

[1:14:55] Okay. Great. >> Okay. Any additional questions or

[1:15:00] comments? All in favor of the motion, please say

[1:15:03] I. >> I opposed.

[1:15:05] » I two one. You have our approval and we'll

[1:15:09] move that process forward to uh look into the proper procedure to to

[1:15:18] move us forward. So again, thank you for the collaborative effort to come up with

[1:15:23] a proposal that I think is going to benefit us. But again, we'll just have

[1:15:27] to kind of put this committee together, put the put the rules and and procedures

[1:15:32] together and uh move forward. >> Thank you for your

[1:15:38] » Thank you all.

[1:15:43] » Well, Mr. Consistent, >> I'm sorry.

[1:15:45] » Mr. Consistent. I try to be

[1:15:50] a hotel cap.

[1:15:53] » I was going to say if you need anything from me in that process, please just

[1:15:56] reach out. I mean, if I'm not here tomorrow and Monday, we're closed, but

[1:16:03] let me know if there's anything else I can provide for you.

[1:16:06] » Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy.

[1:16:09] Thank you. >> All right, Jamie. I think we're up to

[1:16:12] you. >> All right. Uh, four items here. The

[1:16:14] first being uh commission for women appointments to vacancies. Um part of

[1:16:20] your packet they are Katherine Joseph and Paige Rivera Bansler. These would be

[1:16:26] terms that uh if filled would go to 1231 of 2029.

[1:16:32] » Make a motion to appoint um Katherine Joseph and Paige Bonsler to the

[1:16:39] commission for women. >> We'll second that motion. Motion a

[1:16:43] second. Other questions or comments? Not all in favor, please say I.

[1:16:48] » I sign and that approved. >> Next, I have u a resignation for your

[1:16:55] acceptance from LOL Broen, who has been a 16-year member of the Lebanon Transit

[1:17:00] Board of Directors. Um I personally can remember LOL first calling here to

[1:17:07] express his interest. He's originally from Schaerstown area. He moved to

[1:17:12] Lehigh Valley, served on a transit board there for a pretty long time, retired,

[1:17:17] moved back to the area, and expressed interest. He's been on the board for 16

[1:17:21] years. So, he's uh he's stepping down now and ask for your approval on that.

[1:17:27] » Absolutely. With regret, thanks. >> Second motion, a second. And I'll note

[1:17:32] that we prepared a certificate of appreciation to be presented to the I

[1:17:37] serve on as our ladies on on Lebanon transit board. So we'll be presenting

[1:17:41] that later this month and it mean it's in recognition and appreciation

[1:17:46] Bergen of your time and dedicated service contributing

[1:17:50] to the Lebanon transit board for over 16 years. Thanks to the people like you for

[1:17:55] making a difference in our communities. Questions or comments regarding that

[1:18:00] motion? >> Adopt that or just uh certificate. Yeah.

[1:18:08] So all in favor >> I

[1:18:10] » I the same side that >> we'll see if we can get that maybe here

[1:18:16] at least a couple things. Okay. Next I have a hotel tax grant fund application

[1:18:22] from legend on stage which is uh presenting a Logan Brinson Elvis

[1:18:28] Festival at the Eagles banquet hall. The cost for this total project is

[1:18:34] $12,000. are requesting $2,000 in a grant from the hotel tax fund and

[1:18:41] provided a a narrative of the the event. The uh proceeds of the event are used to

[1:18:48] benefit uh children in Lebanon County, the lowest Foundation uh for special

[1:18:53] needs, handicapped and disabled children. And uh they list all the

[1:18:57] expenses they have. He did not submit a number of quantity of of attendees that

[1:19:04] stay in local hotels, but u is asked and recommends.

[1:19:08] » He said the majority of the attendees are

[1:19:11] » uh he said yeah more out of town attendees than locals. He said yeah.

[1:19:16] » Make a motion to approve the application uh for $2,000 for the Logan Brenson

[1:19:22] Elvis Festival. >> Second motion and second questions or

[1:19:26] comments? curious. I thought we got rid of this responsibility.

[1:19:33] » All in favor of the motion, please say I.

[1:19:36] » I on the same side. >> Lastly, I have two uh requests to

[1:19:42] approve grant applications from the county to the Pennsylvania county

[1:19:46] richool, our uh property and liability insurance carrier. They, you know,

[1:19:52] provide annually a a grant fund for us to do improvements

[1:19:58] and repairs to things that would either prevent or reduce our potential loss uh

[1:20:05] losses or prevent losses. And and two here being recommended from the safety

[1:20:11] committee. They are the first one is for the area agency on aging to replace the

[1:20:17] uh the kitchen fire suppression system over

[1:20:23] at the Lebanon Area Agency on Aging. As you know, they have a kitchen there for

[1:20:27] certain events that they have and the uh the system that is currently there is

[1:20:33] obsolete. Um cylinders need to be replaced and and disposed of etc. And

[1:20:39] they have an estimate uh for that or cost for that of $4,98.25

[1:20:47] along with a there's a they first aid kit to be replaced there for about 30

[1:20:51] bucks as well. Uh the other is for the sheriff's department and this would be

[1:20:56] to replace a prisoner transport sideep assembly on one of their transport vans.

[1:21:03] Uh we looked over we considered this on Monday at the safety committee meeting

[1:21:07] and it's very deteriorated and rusty and it's not a not a good u not good

[1:21:12] condition much much anymore. So there's an estimate to replace that step system

[1:21:18] of the van at $2,893.60

[1:21:22] to approve that >> second motion second questions comments.

[1:21:27] All in favor, please say I. I. Same sign.

[1:21:31] » Have that approval. >> And you do have assessment appeals this

[1:21:34] afternoon at 1:30. >> Do we have any executive session?

[1:21:39] » Um, I think 11:15 trying to get an executive session for

[1:21:45] the likelihood we'll have an executive session discuss personnel matters

[1:21:48] following this meeting. Is there anything else for the good of the order?

[1:21:53] I would like to again remind everyone um um Nancy talked about the food drive and

[1:21:59] that's associated with fireworks uh that were SK are scheduled for Saturday night

[1:22:05] that we were supposed to have on the 4th of July. Uh but weather didn't

[1:22:09] cooperate, but it looks like the weather's going to cooperate for

[1:22:11] Saturday and those fireworks should go off around 8:30ish. Uh big program prior

[1:22:18] to and I'll remind everybody, please put your trash in the containers.

[1:22:23] Commissioner Phillips and I will be the trash student.

[1:22:28] So that I entertain a motion to adjourn.

[1:22:33] return. Thank you.

9/3/2026 Lebanon County Commissioner Meeting

Transcript