[0:01] well it's 12 noon which is the advertised time for our public hearing

[0:06] regarding the Warren Central polling location I

[0:11] don't believe the decision is actually intended to be made today is that

[0:14] correct this is just hearing yeah um I believe the decision was set to be

[0:18] made in the election board yeah the election board meeting was a media

[0:21] follows so all right so the public hearing um is called the order I would

[0:27] ask if Crystal to introduce the concept of

[0:31] moving the location and why sure um so we do propose that the Warren

[0:37] Central location gets moved outside of the courthouse due to safety concerns

[0:42] the single point point of entry has been in place since 2016 and

[0:50] it's just not

[0:54] really feasible at this point in time that both doors are open when it's a

[0:59] single point of entry any other day that you come into the courthouse

[1:03] it's heightened security needed from the sheriffs they're already extended as far

[1:09] as they can go and then we need them here on Election Day to provide extra

[1:14] security we did talk to Salvation Army Major Shane Bud he's more than on board

[1:20] with this his only question and concern was how many more tables we need and if

[1:25] he could provide extension Awards so they were more than apt to take on this

[1:29] polling location

[1:32] um

[1:34] the Holy Redeemer houses 3836 voters

[1:39] combining these together would only add to

[1:44] 2156. so we already do it we're more than capable of getting it done and I

[1:48] think with the judges of election that we have

[1:51] elected they'll do a fine job

[1:57] to clarify you're saying that Holy Redeemer which has

[2:01] West east Southeast and North the is about 3

[2:07] 000 voters correct it'll only be about 2 000 for the rest of the

[2:13] okay any questions from the Board of

[2:16] Elections very good at this time I'll open it up

[2:20] to public comments if you have something you'd like to say about this potential

[2:24] change please state your name and uh which Ward you live in

[2:30] anyone

[2:36] going once

[2:40] mustachi Jane got you with a question would this begin this fall

[2:45] yes

[2:53] okay all right hearing none no other comments we'll go

[2:58] ahead and adjourn the public hearing on the election board

[3:03] item and then move directly into the official election board meeting the

[3:08] meeting is being reported in an extent of the meeting becomes part of public

[3:10] record there's no hold items of discussion discuss however we do have

[3:14] the minutes from March 23rd which is the last time that we met as an election

[3:17] board we had a chance to review them

[3:23] in comments Corrections make a motion to approve the minutes is presented it

[3:28] and our second since presumably Camp took the notes yes yeah okay the motion

[3:34] is made in seconded to approve the minutes from March 20th third all those

[3:38] in favor please stay aye aye the eyes have it moving on to the

[3:43] relocation of Warren Central polling place

[3:46] I hear a motion to move the central voting location from the courthouse to

[3:52] the Salvation Army make a motion to move the Warren Central

[3:56] polling location to the Salvation Army second question Maiden second any

[4:03] discussion so for my part there's a couple things

[4:08] one is I vote and the central polling place so I will be moving myself to go

[4:13] vote in Salvation Army um so like I'm personally affected by

[4:20] this secondly um

[4:24] to me this is although there's security concerns

[4:28] my view more so is one of efficiency you know it's better to be able to

[4:33] Monitor and set up one location for the people that need to vote than to have

[4:39] multiples there's a lot that goes on at the

[4:42] courthouse the day of the election so this also runs interference for all the

[4:47] stuff that day so and then as Crystal stated we

[4:53] have other polling precincts that are far larger than this one will be when

[4:57] it's Consolidated so

[5:01] to me I don't know that there's a really good argument against

[5:08] share that

[5:12] technically the public hearing was just concluded

[5:17] however since you didn't have a chance to say anything about it but state your

[5:21] name and what word you're from first yes

[5:28] uh Karen Black Georgia elections Warren Central

[5:32] we would like to speak in favor of staying where we are

[5:37] in the front lobby because a we love it which I realize is kind of irrelevant

[5:42] but still we've been there for a long time

[5:45] but the other there are other questions here that it's not as if that's a space

[5:50] that is used for anything else that we're displacing anybody except for

[5:56] the occasional people that come in for Boulder

[6:01] uh the older days and they wander through a little bit but that's in no

[6:05] way a hindrance and since we seldom have any security

[6:10] anyhow um the the argument for requiring more

[6:15] security doesn't seem to us to make so much difference the size is ideal for

[6:21] the number of Voters we get we almost never have a jam up

[6:26] unfortunately we would be happy to have jam-ups but yet except on very heavy

[6:31] presidential election days it doesn't happen

[6:34] and uh it just works very well and we would rather not have it changed

[6:42] I'm Sally Eaton and I am inspector of Elections for foreign

[6:51] and I'm also opposed to the idea of moving

[6:56] um I've spoken with a number of people in the precinct

[7:00] who have physical disabilities who are used to uh basically just crossing the

[7:06] street and voting people on both sides of the aisle by the way

[7:12] um who are not in favor of this and I mean

[7:15] I could could hopefully get a petition together

[7:19] or something like that because there is there is some opposition to it also I'm

[7:24] not so sure about what the issue is or might not be in terms of the sheriff's

[7:31] department and security for polling places I know that there are a lot of

[7:35] polling places in Warren County that don't have uh any Security in particular

[7:41] or maybe someone travels around from place to place here in the courthouse we

[7:46] feel very safe uh in terms of security for us might be

[7:52] uh that you already are paying people

[7:57] to provide security for things like counting the absentee ballot so they're

[8:02] right up the hall from us you don't have to provide any extra security for an

[8:06] extra precinct which might could be a budget issue I'm not really sure how

[8:11] you're working this out but anyway I just want to say I'm on record and I'm

[8:15] sure there are a number of other people who aren't really happy with the move

[8:20] thank you thank you well I suppose since we're actually past

[8:26] the public hearing and into the deliberation section of the election

[8:31] board meeting I would respond uh briefly to those so first of all just to clarify

[8:35] what's going on with the security um normally everyone has to go through

[8:41] single fundamentary at the back of the building due to the election days we

[8:45] open the front door so that they can come in the front

[8:48] and as a consequence that gives access to the rest of the building

[8:52] if we didn't post a sheriff's deputy there if the door just lock anyone from

[8:56] going into the rest of the building there's

[8:58] also the concern about our law enforcement presence because the

[9:03] law actually has rather strict stipulations pertaining to law

[9:09] enforcement Presence at location pulling locations and then

[9:15] actually one of the more very practical reasons that um

[9:18] frankly the thing that really pushed me over is the terrible parking situation

[9:25] we've had on multiple elections now in a row where people have been complaining

[9:30] to us that they have not had been able to park in the parking lot and gain

[9:33] appropriate access to the blind location so you know actually for me

[9:38] um the security issue a couple days a year I'm not that concerned about it

[9:45] um you know it's an added cost but it's not so significant especially given the

[9:50] historic nature of the building I do love that it's

[9:52] you know so the foyer is just such a nice place to vote and

[9:56] that's neat but at the same time really for me the parking situation just when

[10:02] people were complaining for the last two elections to us about how hard it was to

[10:06] get in and vote that for me started to make me wonder

[10:10] is there a better way so that we don't have to

[10:15] be asking people to walk potentially several blocks to vote because at that

[10:19] point I think you're restricting people's access to both so

[10:22] from my perspective that's why I'm not in favor of it

[10:25] anyone else from the Board of Elections wanted to say anything

[10:30] okay I guess

[10:33] again we closed the public hearing a while ago but uh Jensen is the chair of

[10:39] the Republican party did you want to say anything to the options board

[10:42] at the moment I'm here just to listen okay very good

[10:47] there's no other discussion then I'll call the question all those in favor of

[10:50] moving Central bullying location from the courthouse to the Salvation Army

[10:54] that I I motion carries

[10:59] again

[11:03] the decision is obviously been made but you know the board is always willing to

[11:07] hear the public comments so for instance you did have a petition

[11:11] you would certainly welcome um seeing that not that it would

[11:15] necessarily change anything but I would certainly be interested in

[11:19] seeing what kind of opposition there might be

[11:24] at this time there's nothing else on the agenda for the election board so I'll

[11:28] stand that as adjourned and turn over the regular commissioner meeting with Mr

[11:32] Durbin okay thank you we'll begin the Warren County Commissioners meeting with

[11:37] the call to order first the Pledge of Allegiance then a moment of silence

[11:52] for all

[12:03] see thank you so it's part of the announcements just

[12:08] the first is this meeting will be recorded

[12:11] and then we have had one executive session which was on Monday since the

[12:17] last commissioner's meeting we do have one item of Correspondence it

[12:23] was a letter from Mr Wilson um into the UPA that was referencing

[12:30] some positions and opinions regarding the proposed kayak and canoe launch

[12:36] with that said those are all the announcements I have out

[12:41] is there anyone from public here like we had a second executive session on the

[12:47] 19th oh I'm sorry okay yeah so we had two executive sessions thank you

[12:52] stay corrected okay I'll take any public comments at

[12:57] this point in time according to commissioner's meeting very

[13:01] good unheard all right we'll move on to the

[13:05] consent agenda the first item in the consent agenda is the minutes from the

[13:09] June 14th meeting both the public hearing and the public meeting

[13:14] in your packet if there are any changes or things that need to be addressed so

[13:19] hear from them at this point if not okay we'll move on I do not see a

[13:26] finance report and our Lisa Hagberg our finance person is on vacation

[13:33] um and then the next item on the consent agenda is the pre-trial probation and

[13:38] parole supervision week commissioner Katherine would you be

[13:42] willing to share that sure where is pre-trial probation and

[13:47] parole officers and agents are dedicated employees who are charged with the duty

[13:50] of helping to preserve the safety of citizens of Pennsylvania by maintaining

[13:53] contact with Parolees supervising the behavior ensuring their strong adherence

[13:57] to mandated conditions including an appearance support and assuring

[14:01] appropriate interventions for non-compliance foundational parole

[14:04] conditions

[14:08] and whereas probation pre-trial and parole supervision week is a time to

[14:14] recognize and celebrate the dedicated and caring individuals in the community

[14:17] who work tirelessly to make neighborhoods safer and more vibrant

[14:21] places to live and raise families and work to give Parolees a second chance

[14:26] and to be productive members of society the Commissioners hereby declare July

[14:30] 16th through the 22nd as pre-trial probation and parole supervision week

[14:34] and we encourage all citizens to honor those probation parole officers and

[14:37] agents and Community Corrections professionals to recognize their crucial

[14:42] roles in the criminal justice system and their achievements towards the safer

[14:46] Community thank you very much for your service

[14:50] before I became commissioner and realized what what an important role you

[14:54] had I recognized that it was there but I really appreciate all that you do and

[14:59] thank you for coming and attending in recognition

[15:05] any other comments

[15:09] to read your picture yeah I'll make a motion to approve the consent and

[15:13] including that

[15:17] do you guys want to I don't know if anybody was prepared for

[15:21] that definitely not prepared for a picture

[15:28] right

[15:59] balance it out here we go

[16:05] it's all right it's all good

[16:10] all right all right thank you thank you very much thank you for everything you

[16:14] do there you go thank you thank you

[16:25] all right the next item of business at the consent

[16:30] agenda is all business uh which there are two items

[16:36] keep three items uh the first is to approve additional County match funds to

[16:40] the transit authority so we have received a letter from the

[16:45] trees Authority saying that conowonga Township did not approve their requests

[16:49] to include talk in their budget and so they're requesting additional 750

[16:54] dollars to meet their local match requirements set by state

[17:00] move to a group can I have a motion to approve all right I will suck at that

[17:03] all those in favor signify by saying aye aye okay

[17:07] the next item is appointment to the transit authority board this came to us

[17:13] in May and we had a resignation on that Transit Authority board they have asked

[17:19] us to consider David Diamond who has expressed interest and that would be

[17:25] effective immediately meaning June 30th through effect immediately

[17:33] through June 30th of 2026. motion to approve that particular

[17:38] appointment all right I'll second that all those in

[17:41] favor signify by saying aye aye okay and then the next item on the agenda under

[17:46] all business is a Natural Gas Energy contract yeah I think I mentioned on

[17:51] Monday that I thought it was advantageous for us to

[17:55] just keep it on the agenda to authorize whenever

[17:58] pricing looks at most advantageous we got some pricing this morning but

[18:03] my recommendation would be to I motion to postpone

[18:09] decision on Natural Gas and energy contracts second

[18:13] the favorite signifies okay and then just we were talking

[18:18] um commissioner capital and I this morning

[18:21] about how one would be able to enter an agreement that would maybe have a an

[18:26] agreement that's not to exceed so that we can take advantage of commodity

[18:30] pricing at the point in which we you know would be able to flip the

[18:41] or it actually so something to think about maybe

[18:47] consider okay well we can discuss yeah yeah so

[18:51] very good all right we'll move on to new business

[18:56] um the first is to approve the agreement with wolf Port Inc

[19:00] um and doing business as data Cloud Solutions this is some software that is

[19:06] required um for the assessment

[19:11] department and the agreement is in your packet do I have a motion to approve

[19:16] this okay all right any discussion all those in favor signify by saying aye

[19:24] and then the next item on the agenda is actually adding a school resource

[19:30] officer addendum to the agreement that we have right now actually adding

[19:35] resources if uh necessary and the school district chooses it

[19:42] um can I get a prove a motion to ratify that agreement

[19:48] I will I will move okay I can explain from the work session

[19:53] this is uh this essentially ratification of the agreement that covered the 2019

[19:59] to 2022 time period that the agreement signed that time didn't include some of

[20:05] the language about the hourly rate and some other reimbursements so this is

[20:10] this is a corrected version of the agreement that everyone

[20:14] adequately performed and we're basically just voting on it today for purpose of

[20:20] making sure our books are correct in case the grant ever gets on it okay okay

[20:23] very good in favor signifies AI opposed

[20:30] all right and then we now have before us a memorandum of understanding between

[20:35] war and force Economic Opportunity Council Warren County Commissioners and

[20:39] Dean if you just want to do a quick overview of this yeah

[20:44] so this is relation to our whole whole repairs Grant

[20:49] we the mou is just a roles and responsibilities outline which states

[20:54] what the EOC will do in their capacity well I will do in my capacity as a grant

[20:58] administrator and it established a fee for my time put into my part of the

[21:04] process and this just kind of locks in for a year as we spend the money that

[21:09] you're given to fix moves

[21:15] all right second last second any discussion all those in favor signify by

[21:20] saying aye all right and then the next item on the agenda is resolution three

[21:26] two four nine um this is an allocation of 1.1 million

[21:31] dollars of Warren County art of funds to um applying for Broadband infrastructure

[21:39] Grant so we talked about this in the Monday

[21:44] meeting and the impact that this could possibly

[21:47] have in a positive manner we have received I think comments and interests

[21:54] for five internet service providers currently in Warren County there is a

[22:01] match that is required for this particular Grant application which is

[22:05] due on August 10th and so we are proposing that we set aside 1.1 million

[22:12] dollars of that to apply towards that match

[22:18] I have a motion to approve resolution 3249 I make that motion

[22:32] a second okay all those in favor go ahead my only caveat is the top

[22:38] you know prior to

[22:41] like this is a commitment from the county of sum of money to be used as a

[22:46] match for a grant application um

[22:50] the county should be able to approve the application before it

[22:54] 100 commits to the project because of someone

[22:58] you don't understand what I'm saying that it's not just a kind of a blank

[23:02] check yes um I just want to make that clear that

[23:05] the county is going to oversee any

[23:10] yes and we're working with our consultant that we hired CTC to vet any

[23:15] of those applications that come to us and then

[23:19] just another comment and that would be that this money would only be spent if

[23:25] the grantee was awarded the particular a great particular Grant so

[23:33] um so if you know we agreed to a match with uh internet service provider and

[23:38] they did not get awarded funding from the Broadband infrastructure Grant then

[23:43] this money would not be spent all those in favor of this signify by

[23:48] saying aye opposed all right the next is an agreement of

[23:55] sale uh to the war enforce EOC for two properties the 11 and 13 Madison Avenue

[24:01] attorney Schmidt do you have any comments yeah the the board here

[24:05] approved uh the conveys and the properties to the OC eocs our Council

[24:10] they asked us to do an agreement of sale just for the formalities around a real

[24:14] estate closing I reviewed it I made one or two edits uh just to help with an

[24:20] efficient process for the EOC so the the board to

[24:25] approve this agreement with edits and and closely with their uh with buyer's

[24:33] Council and I can add on a related note I just spoke to

[24:38] representatives for the RDA and um indeed that I prepared for 414 Laurel is

[24:45] acceptable so that convenience is going to happen here this week as well okay

[24:49] great very good do I have a motion to approve

[24:53] this agreement of sale second pose

[25:00] [Music]

[25:08] you can stay after the meeting we'll have the Deeds for you okay good evening

[25:14] and then I see here also resolution 32 8 I believe

[25:21] um which is the convenience of the property

[25:24] trade with the lapc so this one this one I don't think needs a resolution I spoke

[25:29] with director McPherson this was discussed at work session as well

[25:34] there's no air packs that are being that the lepc is the owner of or to be

[25:41] transferred to to the fire department yeah

[25:44] yeah um the lapc is the owner and either what

[25:48] he and I have agreed is that I'll draft some language

[25:51] uh sort of in this an assignment of sale

[25:57] for just this personal property and have some language in that disclaims the

[26:03] little signal warranties that that may still be in existence for these but

[26:08] otherwise disclaims and waves liability against the LNG County because they're

[26:14] not technically brand new you know off the shelf from the manufacturer I don't

[26:18] think the the Board needs a needs to take a vote on

[26:22] this this is just something that I've been prepared to be like you see the

[26:26] other side of that exchange was um

[26:30] that uh the fire department would gift essentially to the county uh a car

[26:36] trailer engine for car trip I think 18-foot car made trailer yeah

[26:41] um you know the county code authorizes the Board of

[26:46] Commissioners to accept as gifts you know property

[26:50] um I don't believe a resolution is necessary but I think you could take a

[26:54] motion here to accept that that gift as a trailer if you wanted that trailer as

[26:59] a gift great

[27:08] um that is the last item under new business

[27:12] so in closing are there any commissioner comments today

[27:18] very good second all in favor thank you thank you everyone stay coming

[27:24] to the meeting

Public Hearing Election Board & Commissioner Meeting, Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Transcript