Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

First thing on the agenda is to approve the minutes of the April 2026 retirement meeting. So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Any opposed? All right. Treasurer Siegel.

Report submitted.

I'll make a motion to accept his report.

Second. All right. Having Parley moved and seconded, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Rob, now your report.

Thank you, Controller Edwards.

We had a nice report on market conditions from Pat Wing last week. All right. Is there a motion to approve Rob's report?

Motion to accept Controller's report.

All those in favor? Aye. All right. I see no retirements, vesting, deaths, payouts. I see nothing under old business. Is there anything under new business besides cash? Not besides cash. Okay. What do you need?

250.

Okay, and that'll still be out of our ARC requirement, right? Yeah, I'll make that the formula of motion. 250,000 to cover retirement payment. I will second that. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any other business for retirement? Motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. All right. It's all yours, Tim.

Okay. We will now convene the commissioner's meeting, and we will dispense with the pledge of the flag as we have just completed that. And we'll go right back to Comptroller Edwards in a minute here after we approve the minutes.

I'll move that we approve the minutes of the previous meeting of May 12th.

I'll second. Properly moved and second. All in favor? Aye. And now for the approval of the bills. Motion to approve the bills as presented. So moved. Second. Properly moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Next we have a list of personnel issues to come before the commissioners. Just a minute to sign these. Under new hires we have an enforcement officer and DRO effective 5-18-2026. No transfers under separations and retirements we have a social service aide CYS effective 5-18-2026. Administrative assistant Veterans Affairs effective 5-22-2026. Caseworkers, CYS, effective 5-28-2026. And a mapper tax assessment, effective 5-29-2026. Under FMLA leave of absence request, we have one FMLA effective for 5-4-2026 for up to 12 weeks. A motion to approve these personnel changes as presented.

So moved. I'll second.

Properly move and second. All in favor? Aye. We will now move on to public comment. I believe we will have a statement from our solicitor. Thank you.

This morning we are going to hold public comment. We're asking for Clearfield County residents and taxpayers to speak first. The last several meetings we've allowed that to do. However, under the Sunshine Act, reasonable accommodations can be made to ensure that the meeting continues in a timely fashion. So I'm just asking for the residents and taxpayers. Make sure you identify yourselves to speak first on the matters.

public comment please identify yourselves before any comment hi good morning my name is cherylyn sheets and i am a clearfield resident and taxpayer i have a statement today from a man in Moshannon who is currently fighting for his life. There is a press conference happening in an urgent plea to try to get him life saving help. His name is Izzy Ali. Izzy is a man detained at Moshannon who was diagnosed with stage three B kidney failure earlier this year. Currently he's having pain, seeing blood in his urine and is having difficulty getting medical care and testing. he states no treatment was given to me whatsoever when clear blood was spotted while using the restroom a facility nurse confirmed blood in the urine the kidney disease is definitely advancing rapidly and despite still drinking their water all day following the recommendation their constant advice for me constant dehydration is simply a fact of life now i'm dehydrated as we speak the local doctor for this place contradicts the nephrologist off-site The latter, the nephrologist, said to me unequivocally in front of two geo officers that it could very likely turn terminal for my kidney within the year. It's also known as a silent killer disease, advanced kidney disease, and that kidneys cannot regenerate. However, the local doctor, the former, at this facility and his nurses inside all insist somehow that kidneys can heal, which personally I think deserves a Nobel Prize in medicine if they can manage to prove that for the world. Since their claim, the facility has refused to conduct the blood tests necessary for the nephrologist to conduct a follow-up, meaning that he cannot do a follow-up with me until they do so. And I recall that they said that they would do the blood tests in late June, which is a really long time from now. And these are his words.

I'm going to put it one more time just to make sure we hear this man's words. Please do something.

Don't let people die in silence.

Find your conscience, and if you can't do so in time, then at the very least, adventure a preventable death sentence. This is a man who's facing the possible ending of his life in detention with no one to advocate for him. And it is our honor to do so. And we ask you to do what is in your power to influence those in authority over there to provide lifesaving care for him. Tim, you said in one of our last meetings that you believe that they get better care in that facility than they would get outside of that facility. And I'd like you to be challenged on that statement.

Thank you for your comment.

Any other Clearfield County residents?

Hi, I'm Tony D'Orazio. I'm a resident of Grand Township, and I'm also the chair of the Clearfield County Libertarian Party. Also a friend of Izzy Ali. So I want to tell you a little bit more about the person that you just heard about. He's a Florida resident. He came to the US legally. He's kept his visas up to date. He's currently applying for a green card, and it's currently in appeal. He's somebody who has lived the American dream. He's a business owner. He holds a master's degree in electrical engineering. He's been a dedicated activist for liberty issues, for social issues, even for those who want to see him incarcerated and deported. Izzy was applying for a green card, as is the legal process. traveling back to his home country. When he returned to this country, he was detained in Philadelphia and transferred to the Michigan Valley Processing Center. Because he's been there for the better half of a year, he's lost his housing, he's lost his money, he's lost his car, he's lost his cat, and he's incurred strong personal financial hardship because because of what is occurring to him at the Moshan and Valley Processing Center. I wish I could tell you that Izzy's story was unique. It's not. There's 1,800 stories in that center that are just like that. People who are separated from their families, who have lost their income, who have lost their livelihoods when they could be home, living their best life with their family, their friends, and pets, contributing to their communities. I don't have to tell you about what the Moshina Valley Processing Center is. And I think you've heard from several people about some of the horrifying conditions, the solitary confinement that they're using as punishment more than any other ICE facility, people being denied access to clean drinking water. Not that it's possible, because the drinking water there is from above ground sources. People shackle out their heads. We've seen the images. We know the images. We've seen the billboards. We know it costs nearly $50,000 per detainee per year. Go ahead, do the math. $50,000 times 1,800. It's millions of dollars per year that the taxpayers are spending to keep people who are otherwise not criminals from living their freest and best lives. Due process is a right guaranteed in our Constitution to everyone, who sets foot on U.S. soil. Doesn't matter if they're a citizen or not, everybody who sets foot on U.S. soil is guaranteed the right to due process. One more time, everybody who sets foot on U.S. soil is guaranteed due process, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When we fight for the rights of people who aren't like us, like Izzy does in Florida, we are fighting for our own rights. I'm calling on this board of commissioners to hold GEO Group, who is profiting from the cruelty of the US government and of immigration and customs, to please hold them accountable, hold GEO Group accountable, terminate the county contract with ICE and GEO Group. Clearfield County should not and cannot be complicit in suffering No one should be detained in secretive, dangerous facilities where due process and dignity are denied. And we shouldn't be profiting from this as a government. Thank you very much.

bobby erickson um resident of jefferson county i think it's pertinent to know that any i need clearfield county oh i'm sorry no public comments for clearfield county residents and taxpayers only yes i thought you just met them first no they're going to go first and that's who that's for for the time limits today other people can speak we're limiting the time the comments today to the clearfield county residents for future meetings i understand that there are rules but i'd like this to be revisited

If there's an agenda item, we will certainly reevaluate it, but at this point, this is not an agenda item either, anything with the ICE contract. This is a regional issue.

Tim Winters himself has said as such.

We're going to go ahead and speak for public comment.

Hi. My name is Heather Ashton. I live over in Glen Ritchie. I pay plenty of taxes. And I know that a lot of people have sat here and told you facts about the GO group. We all know that they have been human rights violators since 1984 across our country, from Colorado, from Aurora, from Coke County, Texas, which is my birth state in Texas. I moved to this, I moved to Pennsylvania two years ago, okay, from the south. And I thought, man, this is a beautiful place. I've been here, I've visited, I've vacationed. This is the place I want to go when my child grew up. This is where I moved. We moved up here. And every day that I leave and I drive out of my house and I see how beautiful the county is. I know a lot of y'all are here all the time and you maybe take that for granted. But I don't because I'm from Little Rock. And it ain't nearly as pretty as this, okay? And so when I got here, I was thankful every day. We bought our house over in Winrich and it was two years ago and this summer will be two years but about six months ago I learned that that detention facility existed in the county that I bought a home that I planned to be my forever place with my husband. He works at Bloom and that's been in this county for nearly 50 years. Their 49th anniversary is this year of being open in this county. Every time I drive out now, I think I go towards Phelpsburg to get me some Taco Bell. I don't have one here. So I think I'm going to pass that. I'm going to pass that facility where there's people in there hurting, where there's people in there being forced to work for $1 a day to be able to buy toothpaste. Do you have toothpaste? Is anybody here missing toothpaste? No. No, you're not. And that's the thing, is now I have to consider I have spent my money. in a county who is allowing these human rights violations on a daily basis. That hurts my feelings, man. I don't know about anybody else, but I am seriously disturbed that I bought my forever home in this place and I have considered leaving it because of that. And in these past six months since I found out about that facility, I have driven outside of this county more times than I can count to shop, eat, you know, do recreational things because I do not want to spend my money here. And I have it to spend, unlike some people who are deciding, can I get a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk? I don't have that problem, luckily. And I have money to spend here, and I want to do it if you renew this contract. You know all the other BS about what they do. But I just want you to know that Clearfield County is not going to get any of my money in the future if you do this and we will continue to be in the way of this facility being here because all good people should and if you consider yourself good good people then you need to put yourself in the way in your position of this facility continuing and i will thank you for your comments if you do and if you don't i'll vote against you

Hi, I'm Sam Mosier, and I am a Clearfield County resident. And they had asked me to read the quotes from a woman whose husband is incarcerated in Moshenen. But something changed today, because you're trying to silence the voice of people in the region that's affected by Moshenen, as well as the people that live in Clearfield County. If you're gonna do that, then you might as well just admit that you don't have enough care about the region itself and walk away from it. You know, this gentleman here spoke about the lack of due process. You know, there's people in there by ISIS own own own records that that that that aren't there because of any criminal activity. So when I hear somebody like Tim Withers say that there's no abuse going on in Miss Shannon, then I say, what is abuse if it's not locking people up just for trying to survive, trying to feed their families, trying to get by day by day? That has got to be the absolute biggest example of abuse, Tim, that you'll ever find in your life. So please. Take a look at the people that are coming here and taking the times out of their days to support people who they don't know, but they still care about because they're fellow human beings. And just because they don't live in Clearfield County doesn't mean that their voices shouldn't be heard. This is a regional issue. This is a state issue. This is a national issue. And putting a muzzle on people's voices is not

Anyone else for public comment?

With your indulgence, I'd like to speak again. No. That's a Clearfield County resident. Excuse me, sir.

You had your three minutes.

Other residents of the Commonwealth, because of where their house happens to be.

If you can't have security from other people, then get out of the contract.

Sir, you had your three minutes. Thank you for your earlier comment.

I would like to hear it. Everyone, it is a public meeting. It is a public meeting, and public participation is very specific. The county has indulged for several meetings. They hear you. There is other county business that needs to be addressed. If it is going to be disruptive, we are asking that you please allow them to move on with county business if there is no one else to speak from the county. Allowing it before and then stopping it when you get dissent is part of the problem. Ma'am, it's not. We're trying to get on with it. And a lot of the issues that you need to address, you've talked about them being in other areas. There's other opportunities. The county has heard this. We're willing to hear. Go ahead, ma'am from the county resident.

I'm not a county resident. It's 1050, right? And the meeting goes to 1130. Is it possible?

There is not a set time. And I will be very honest. Most counties would not let anyone speak at any of the meetings. And public comment is listed. We did, because they're trying to take into account. However, there's other items that need to be addressed today. Are there any other residents or taxpayers that wish to speak during public comment?

We're all taxpayers. We're all taxpayers. In Clearfield County, I understand. I'm a taxpayer from Allegheny County and a war veteran. No.

There's no one else from Clearfield County? And I'm a resident of Center County, and I would like you to know that I feel that this is a moral injury to me and to the people who came here.

Can we find out how many counties are represented here? I'm from Forest County.

Again, we cannot be disruptive to a public meeting. If there are no other county residents or taxpayers, we're going to move on to the meeting. Why can't you hear their voices?

Well, will you agree to hold a special meeting then to hear people?

If there is an agenda item right now, there is not an agenda item to discuss any of that. I understand. We're going to move on if there is no one else who is looking to speak from the county.

I'm asking how do we make an agenda item?

I can address that with you after the meeting if we go ahead and allow them to continue with the rest of the meeting. we can wait until the meeting business is finished and then again we're going to move on with county business did you expect to get away with this if you want to continue to be disruptive i am going to ask you to leave the meeting entirely absolutely okay ridiculous okay moving on to old business

This is something that came up at last meeting. This considered leasing with Doing Better Business for copiers and printers in their domestic relations offices. I understand there was some question as to the number of machines.

That is correct. This was discussed with the Dubois for the leases with the domestic relations. I believe they reviewed the prior contract. This is a savings of just around $300 per month, and they've made some adjustments to the copier. I know there was a question as to the need and the amounts of everything.

Yeah, there were several copiers, several printers.

um they eliminated some also they they're not all in the same location no there's different purposes for them yes the thing that concerned me about this is it needed clarification well no it's beyond that i mean so they determined that they needed less printers and copiers and so they contacted dbb and then dbb said keep what you have and we'll lower all the rates so that it's better and i'm like well they've been overcharging us the whole time then

Right, they could have lowered them any time.

It really concerns me. I think we're going to rock in a hard place at this point, but I really feel like if they can charge that amount for 12, why can't they charge that on a per copier basis for the 8?

Do you know if we are at the end of a term on any of these?

It's a renewal for 24 months. It was a 36-month, I'm assuming. Which is coming up. Yeah. And actually, to chime in on this, they have, we've had several with DBB that they have lowered. Like, I don't know what the market is, but a lot of these copiers are coming in less. I don't know why.

I just wonder if... If they did a quote to keep aid, if they would be lower. I mean, I think at this point we have to go forward, but it just tells me we have to be careful going forward.

We may need to evaluate the total of this.

This one is a shorter term. It is 24 months, as opposed to a lot of them are 36 months when we do them.

Well, I'll make a motion to approve it, but I do think we need to keep an eye on it. I will second that. Okay. Properly moved and seconded.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay, that finishes the old business. Now moving on to new business. We're going to consider ordinance 2026-1 for the acquisition of the Kellytown Bridge. This will be a transfer, I believe, from the Kellytown Bridge from county ownership to state ownership.

This is in coordination with the project with PennDOT. And this is one of the steps that essentially allows PennDOT to come in and take care of the bridge to any authority that we have through right-of-ways and the project. They will do. It is set to be effective if it is approved today. And then any of the costs that have to do with any of the bridge project are going to be 100% through state funds. And the ordinance has been advertised.

Okay, do I have a motion for Ordinance 2026-1? This is regarding the Kellytown Bridge.

I move we enact Ordinance 2026-1. I'll second.

Properly moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Now, consider Resolution 2026-2 for Greenways Trails Recreation Program in the amount of $250,000... for the Rack Pocket Park at 24 North 2nd Street.

And Lisa is going to give us a little... Yeah, I'm going to give you a little bit of an idea of what we're doing and ask for your support in a pass-through grant. So a few years ago, as you know, the Redevelopment Authority of Clearfield County addressed the removal of blight at 24 North 4th Street. I'm sorry, 2nd Street. That area was once known to be Brody's, the famous woman's shopping center of Clearfield County. Many people will call it home furnishings, but those of us that are older know what it was. It was originally the Brody's store, and Brody's actually lived on top of it. Today, the redevelopment authority is seeking funds to revitalize the empty lot into the pocket park at Brody's. The park is designed by public input. What you're looking at there has been, will be changed a little bit. The green area was to be a turf area and with all of the seniors in town, what we have decided that could be a tripping hazard for them as when you step from concrete onto turf, there's that cushion area of tripping and caution area. So we are going with full concrete on the park. there will be courtyard benches there will be tables with umbrellas we will make it a beautiful area the design has went through public compact comment we took the input from that jenny ryan geiswhite who lives in state college now actually blew up here in clearfield did the design for us did the public input It will become a place of rest and relaxation for some, and others it will be games, activities, events, and recreational area for others. There will be a rock climbing area for children in the one corner. We have space for food trucks to pull in in the back. We will supply bullyards in the back part off of, I think that's Healy, I think that's Healy Avenue. I'm not sure. No, this is Healy. Van Palza. Van Palza. Okay, Van Palza. There will be full beards off that we'd be able to remove so that we don't have anybody just pulling in there to be by contact. So what we have done is our original budget on that part came at $415,000, which was just atrocious. By cutting some of those products out, as in the turf area and the water, we've been able to reduce it to $250,130. The Act 13 Greenways Trails and Recreation Grant is available through the Department of Community and Economic Development. That is what we want to apply for. I don't believe Clearfield County has applied for Act 13 funding through that program before. We will match that with $37,000. There is a match to it. The Redevelopment Authority is not asking the county for funding whatsoever. we will take care of that. So I have before you a resolution to pass and allow us to go in for the funding.

Lisa, if you do succeed in getting the grant, am I correct in my understanding that Clearfield County will also not be responsible

for any administration of the same no it would be a pass through just like we do all our other other pass throughs that the through our agreement John and I believe that's already a statement in our agreement so the redevelopment sorry you'll handle all of that my only question about this and I should have asked this before I apologize the tree I mean it's very beautiful design but the trees being that close to the buildings is that going to cause any problems with the root structure that's the other issue that we've changed Dave, is that every item on there will be potted so that it's not going into structures.

Fair enough. Okay, cool. That was the same concern. And drainage?

Drainage is already taken care of when we took it down and Earth Movers did all of that for us already.

Okay, that infrastructure was already placed. Yes. Especially with going to the added concrete coverage.

Yeah, it's draining out the back to the alley.

Okay. Any other questions, gentlemen? have lots of questions we don't want to hear them if you continue to disrupt the meeting you will be removed okay so do we have a motion to approve resolution 2026 number two this is for the redevelopment park downtown i'll second properly move in second all in favor aye aye

One last thing.

Go ahead, Lisa.

The park has nothing to do with Circle Borough and will not impede on any funding or anything from the borough. It's strictly the redevelopment authority of Circle County.

And you have previously taken over this as a blighted property.

Yes, we own the property. Thank you.

Thank you, Lisa.

Okay, item three. Hold on a minute. I understand the concerns, but guys, we have to keep the camera open. All right, thank you. That's very important for the public not here.

Item three, consider addendum with lease for office space with the fellow pack for domestic relations.

This is for the Dubois domestic relations office for quite some time. This is actually our ninth addendum to that office lease. So we've had space over there in order to have a DRO facility in Dubois. This is an extension from June 1st of 2026 through May 31st of 2029 at a rental amount of $1,660. All the other original lease terms remain the same.

Okay, and that makes with your approval. We have a motion to accept the addendum on the office space lease with develop back.

So moved.

Second. Moved and second. All in favor? Aye. Consider agreement with Johnson Controls for services at 318 East Locust Street.

This is coordinated in order with the move of the magistrate over for security to there. So Johnson Controls is who handles all of our

This is camera, alarm.

Everything they do, they do at all of our magistrates. This is updating it for, obviously, we'll no longer be at the old building for the new building. And I believe that was coordinated through court administration with AOPC. Commissioner Winters may have been part of that, too, to make sure everything was done how we needed it to be.

They will actually be moving existing cameras from one building to the other and then whatever they need to integrate that system. Do I have a motion to consider the agreement with Johnson Controls? So moved. Second. Properly moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. Item 5. Consider appointment of Lisa Doty and Eli Clark to the Children Youth Advisory Board. I don't have anything particular on this. Lisa, do you have any more on this?

Yes. They were submitted by Sierra Clark and Amanda as recommendations for the CYS Advisory Board. Okay.

Well, we will definitely take the advisement of our CYS Director. Do I have a motion to approve that appointment? That is Lisa Doty and Eli Clark.

Yeah, I'll make a motion. I know Ms. Doty. I think she is qualified. I don't know Mr. Clark.

He was a caseworker for a while. Oh, okay. Okay.

I'll make that motion.

Second. Properly move and second. All in favor? Aye. Next, item six, consider a collaborative agreement with Merakey, Pennsylvania. And you're going to tell us what this is.

So Merakey, this involves Clearfield, the CYS. They typically assist with more of the complex emotional and behavior issues with children with different services. They do services in the home, in the school, and in the community. This is one of our, kind of our coordination or linkage agreements. Sometimes we see them phrased. This essentially just states how we will share information with them to ensure that, you know, HIPAA and all those other rules and regulations are followed. There is a 30-day termination in there, but they do a revised one every few years.

Okay, standard continuation of that agreement. I have a motion to accept the collaborative agreement with Amerikay, Pennsylvania.

So moved.

I'll second. Properly move and second. All in favor? Aye. Item seven, consider linkage agreement with project point of light.

Similar to what I just said, Project Point of Light, likewise, we've used for several years. CYS and probation routinely uses Project Point of Light for a variety of services when needed. This is our linkage agreement. This would be effective from May 14th of 2026 through May 14th of 2029 for a three-year agreement. And then there is also a 30-day termination clause. To my knowledge, we've not had any issues with Project Point of Light through our time working with them.

Thank you, Counselor. Most new approve. Second. Properly move and second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. And item eight. Consider letter of agreement with Beacon Light Behavioral Health System and Beacon Light Adult Residential Services.

Again, typically used by our CYS department. This is a two-year agreement effective July 1st of 2026 through June 30th of 2028. Again, with a 30-day termination similar to the other agreements. I'm just setting forth the collaboration that we would have with them. Likewise, I'm not aware of any issues with Beacon Light that we've had.

Is this a combined agreement or should it be treated as two separate?

It's one, yes.

Okay, combined agreement. Motion to approve the letter of agreement with Beacon Light Behavioral Health and Beacon Light Adult Residential.

So moved.

Second. Properly moved and second. All in favor? Aye. Anything from the solicitor?

I don't. I just, I guess, commenting on the election that everything.

I would say that the election went very well. I mean, there are a few small glitches in the morning, not unusual. Very quiet, obviously, very low turnout. I think it went well, and considering the struggle we had to find poll workers in certain locations, I certainly want to thank everybody who stepped up. It was touch and go there with a couple precincts for a while, but we got it done.

We will still be looking to fill in some poll worker spots.

We know we're going to lose some poll workers from this to the fall, so yes, we're going to have an even bigger need in the fall.

That will be an ongoing concern.

We will definitely deal with that very soon. What was the turnout?

What was the percentage?

20-ish. 20.76? It was very low.

It was very low, but it was...

I mean, to be fair, on both ballots, there really wasn't very much to vote for. There was only one contested race on the Republican ballot and none on the Democratic ballot.

And the statewide turnout was not great.

I suspect we're going to see a much, much different story in the fall. But we'll be ready. We're in good shape.

No, and results were posted quickly, and everything on the back end went very smooth.

Yeah, again, they brought the results in to us so fast. We had them up, we were out of there before 10, which has to be some kind of a record, so good stuff all around in terms of the election. Gentlemen, anything else? I mean, the only thing I'll say here is, I mean, I didn't know about this change in policy, and I understand the concerns with trying to keep things moving. I just wonder if, and we can talk offline about this, if there isn't some better way we can maybe have spokespeople for certain out-of-county groups so that they still are heard without completely disrupting the meeting, because I think there's some middle ground maybe we can find is all I'm saying. thank you thank you the point is disrupting the meetings the point is that you're now listen we're having a discussion here you cannot speak right now that's a fact that's a fact no this is not a discussion this is our meeting but i do feel that maybe we can find a middle ground so that's that's my only i do come with people

Are we're not having a discussion we are still having our meeting I agree with what Dave said, but I also think a lot of these this has become a Become a convenient soapbox to address federal immigration issues and to address things That are not we have currently no contract proposal in front of us. We have no agenda item here I think we've well covered that we have no power to close this facility and So we can address this moving forward, but just the constant... Back to we're not having a discussion and we do not set immigration policy. Anything else, gentlemen? Motion to adjourn? I'll second. Properly moved and seconded.

All in favor?

Aye. Questions from the press?