County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners meeting for April 8th, 2026. We'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

We'll begin with the Chief Clerk's report.

Mr. Pease, thank you for standing in for Mr. Haggerty. Of course. It's my pleasure. Good morning, Commissioners. There was no executive sessions held since the last Board of Commissioners meeting. This week, we are joined by the Dawkins County Reentry Coalition to celebrate Reentry Week. We are also joined by representatives from Eckerd Siemens, who will provide an overview of this year's recommended local share municipal grant recommendations on behalf of the Gaming Advisory Board. In addition to the salary board packet, personnel packet, and purchase order packet, there are 175 additional agenda items for board consideration today. Two adoption assistance agreements, one board appointment, one fiscal management authorization, one lease agreement to effectuate the recent approval by the elections board to relocate a polling place, one CJAB MOU with the YWCA, one IT agreement, one public safety grant agreement, two grant applications for federal funding, 159 restricted gaming grant awards presented identically as recommended by the Gaming Advisory Board, four human service agreements, one legal services agreement, and the training packet. Of the 159 restricted gaming grant awards recommended by the Gaming Advisory Board, 16 are host and contiguous county awards, 52 are municipal service awards, and 91 are awards to other applicants. There is $10,847,235 in restricted gaming funds available to award this grant cycle. However, the total amount of restricted gaming awards recommended by the Gaming Advisory Board was $11,113,643, which is $266,408 more than the amount of restricted gaming funds available. Therefore, it is important to note that if you would like to approve all the awards recommended by the Gaming Advisory Board, you will need to amend one or more of the recommended awards to instead be funded by unrestricted gaming dollars. Otherwise, you will need to reduce the amount awarded to one or more applicants and bring the total amount awarded to under the $10,847,235 figure. That concludes my report, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions for Mr. Peace? Hearing none, we'll move to the solicitor's report. Mr. Owens?

Thank you, Commissioner. All matters requiring review by my office for matters requiring board action have been completed and are approved for board action.

Thank you, Mr. Owens. Any questions for Mr. Owens? Hearing none, we'll move to public participation related to agenda items. Is there any public comment on the agenda items before us today? It is a three-minute time limit, and you'll need to state your name prior to speaking.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning commissioners. I'm jean marfiso king, 6527 when your road in lower paxton township. I'm here today as a former trustee of the panther and foundation, the foundation for central Dauphin schools, where I was a member until December of last year when I aged out from being on that board. The NutriPax program is the main program of the Panther Ram Foundation where we distribute nutritious food to over 700 families weekly through our backpack program. In the past, Dauphin County has been extremely generous in granting local shared grants to the NutriPax program. Our families have come to depend on this funding so that our students don't go to school hungry. We are grateful for your past support, so thank you very much for your past support. As we look at this year's grantees, we note that Central Dauphin's NutriPax program was not on your list of recipients. We note that there are two other food programs which are receiving awards amounting to over $55,000, but Central Dauphin is not on that list. We are the largest school district in Dauphin County. We're actually one of the largest school districts in the state. Yet there is no funding for a basic human need, which is right here in Dauphin County. We are asking that you please reconsider the grant request of $75,000 so that our NutriPax program can continue to serve those less fortunate in our district. We appreciate your ongoing support and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. I have Sandra Brooks here. She is our executive director of the NutriPax program to tell you a little bit more about what we are all about.

good morning i'm sandra brooks my address is 1860 clarks valley road in middle paxton township i am the executive director of the nature packs program for the central dauphin school district we thank you for your generosity and past support and i am here to ask you to please reconsider granting an award to the neutropax program neutropax operates for 31 weeks during the school year We are funded through grants, corporate sponsorships, local churches, and private individual donors. Last year, the local share grant that Dauphin County awarded to us represented 31% of our food purchasing budget. All funds went to the purchase of food from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and they are directly supporting feeding students in our community. The students that we are serving are our most vulnerable. Without adequate nutrition support, they are unable to focus well in the classroom. Food is a basic human need. It's something that most of us take for granted. 1,600 students, over 1,600 students in our district are currently enrolled in the NutriPatch program. I am on site for all NutriPacks activities, and I am there as we hand out the food to our students' families each week. I see firsthand how important this food is to our students in need. This year, our need increased significantly. We are now serving an average of over 100 more students every week. This equates to approximately 3,000 more food packs just this school year. Without your financial award, our program will struggle to continue to serve in our current capacity. Families in our school district will be impacted. Students will not be able to focus in the classroom, impacting every facet of their lives. We ask you to please reconsider our need for this grant request. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thank you both.

Thank you.

Anyone else for public comment? Just a reminder, this is public comment on agenda item 12.

I'll go this way. morning commissioners uh pamela parsons city of harrisburg as i looked over the gaming grants that are on here and as i listened to the presentation before me about food distribution i continue to be troubled as i am year after year about some of the things that the gaming grants go to And in particular, I'm looking at two things. The number of grants that are going for things like window blinds and roofs and replacement of gym floors and restoring the edifices of churches and hot water heaters. It's not that those things are not allowed under how we look at gaming grants, but I'm weighing those. those kinds of things which only serve a few people against the need for food and other services for real human beings that are hurting right now. And that's $75,000 that's going for things like HVAC systems and hot water heaters. I also continue to... to be troubled by the grants that go to organizations which are discriminatory for queer and trans people, particularly queer and trans children. And I also see that year after year, and that also disturbs me. Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else for public comment on agenda items only? Seeing none, we'll skip review and approval of minutes because we do not have any before us today, and we'll move to directors and guests. We have reentry week this week, and I believe I have a proclamation for us to read, but I believe we have someone in attendance for that as well. If you'd like to come up and maybe share a little bit about reentry week before I read the proclamation, and each of the commissioners can kind of comment on that. You can come right here, yeah. You can pull a couple chairs up.

Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning. As you know, we have the adult county reentry coalition and we appreciate you having us here to recognize the work that people do behind the scenes from the perspective of the adult probation office. We do more than just account hold people accountable. There's a lot more Involved there is a treatment there's housing, um, education. We try to focus on making the people's lives better and with this coalition and the behind the scenes work that they do every day. Um, also the folks at the dolphin county prison with their re, entry, um. Staff, we won't be able to do it without them. So, on behalf of the dolphin county adult probation. We appreciate everything that they do.

Good morning commissioners and thank you so much for having us Reentry is near and dear to my heart It isn't easy people are coming home from prison trying to find housing jobs and stability often starting from scratch and But what we also see is resilience, people who want a second chance and are willing to do the work. We are boots on the ground. We advocate daily, 24-7 on behalf of people. I love the group, my co-chairs that we're working with. We support each other's ideas without Marissa keeping us together. I don't know what we would do without her, but I gotta keep going. But as reentry coalition chair and co-chair, and as a CFO and COO of Breaking the Chains, we work directly with individuals returning home, many of whom are trying to overcome real barriers, barriers that you guys may not see or even began to understand like homelessness or children like they were talking about earlier without having the food to eat. These children are being awake all night long and then the parents aren't able to feed them, the kids are hungry. And there are so many different things that we as a reentry coalition are dealing with on a daily basis and are trying to address. And with each other's support, we are making those things happen. So when we show up as a community and provide support instead of stigma, it makes a real difference because reentry, those coming home from prison and those that are unable to find jobs because they have a criminal record, there's a stigma and we're trying to get rid of that. So this work is about the people and making sure that they have a fair opportunity to move forward. And thank you for allowing us to be here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning commissioners. My name is Jerry forest and, um, I am, uh. The Co chair of the dolphin county reentry coalition, and as a person with lived experience, reentry is near and dear to my heart. And, um, as a leader of a nonprofit organization, providing reentry services. and being a part of the reentry coalition all the way back to creasing and providing facilitating mentoring at the work release and in the community it is so important the mission that we're on here and that we focus on building pathways for individuals to successfully reintegrate into community The Reentry Coalition, though, is a space where the systems and the community organizations can come together and align that work. So no one agency can do it. It takes coordination, trust, shared commitment, and then reentry success truly takes all of us. So we appreciate the proclamation and for Second Chance Week.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for your support.

Yes, and just in some, Marisa Miller, I'm the secretary for our Ranch Tree Coalition. I'm really excited to be here with all of you and just appreciate your support and recognizing that second chances require action and partnership and commitment. So that's why we're all here before you today. I just appreciate the time.

I just want to thank each and every one of you. I know you all personally First of all from the probation or it's a C jab the ability to successfully engage community members who are directly interfacing with population ensuring that it's them that are helping to guide where we head, where the resources are spent, and how we're developing our plan around reentry. And for those who step up in our community that are partners, you do God's work. The ability for you to not only take your own experience, but in many cases, your own businesses are representing sort of the model of how we are providing both, you know, behavioral health services, helping to advance housing needs, dealing with basic needs, identifications. And we can't leave out Janine Rawls, obviously the entry coordinator from our prison, who is a passionate and dedicated community member and also helping to lead the charge in a number of these areas. I know this board recently put her on the affordable housing trust fund board to ensure that we've got a look at the need for affordable housing, reentry housing, a significant barrier in a time where affordability continues to be a crisis in our communities. The idea that somebody who's coming out, trying to create another life, From an institution, those barriers are even steeper. Fines and costs are steeper, and the ability for you to find basic housing is a critical component. Many times it's a barrier for people to get out of prison in many cases. So all of those things play into some of the things we're discussing today and critical in order to meet those needs for somebody to be able to find housing and success. Otherwise, The likelihood of folks moving into survival mode and doing whatever it takes to survive and right back in the situation that they were in. So, uh, your, your work makes a significant difference. We appreciate each and every 1 of you and our sea jab, particularly under the leadership. I know of district attorney at Mars ago, and obviously friend charto has been. a model of how we are able to coordinate with human services the courts and our community providers so thank you for all your efforts particularly on the community side and thank you for continuing to coordinate successful efforts a lot of work needs to be done there's not enough money in reentry we've got nine community correction facilities from the state here beyond dolphin county's prison that's a lot of folks to be able to manage back and integrate back into the community and we are aware of the significant challenges and we know the difficult work you have so thank you

Mr. Harwick, just to follow up, I want to thank you for your years of support of CJAB and working with our criminal justice agencies around the county. You're not just changing lives, you're saving lives. And it was mentioned about 24-7, when folks are having their worst possible time, you're there to support them, help them acclimate back in society. You're mentors, you're helping with the family, you're helping with housing, you're helping to find jobs, all critical items that you're there with those folks every step of the way, which is When you're getting out of prison, some of the toughest times in your life, many times you go right back to that environment that you came from. You're there to see them along the way and help them become better citizens here for our community. So can't thank you enough.

Yeah, I just want to express how grateful I am for the work that you do, uh. Knowing many individuals who have spent time in dolphin county prison and re, entered, we know the challenge if you get to know 1 of those stories, then you get to experience. The challenge of reentry and I do think, um. you know, for the public's sake, it's really important to see that an investment in reentry is an investment in public safety. And I think some people don't see it that way, but it really is, you know, Dauphin County Prison, most people, if they're there, they should be there for two years or less, you know, and they're reentering your communities and an investment in them as an investment in public safety and opportunity for them really creates opportunities for our communities to be safer. And so I'm thankful for your work in making our communities safer, but also uplifting those individuals who, are coming out of incarceration and trying to reenter and build those relationships necessary with the community and also with their families as they make those connections back. And the support that you provide through things like finding housing, finding access to a job, access to resources, all of those things play a really big role in their success in reentry. So thank you for the work you do. I have a proclamation to read on behalf of the Board of Commissioners. We, the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, are pleased to join with the many law enforcement professionals, nonprofit agencies, volunteers, and community members committed to helping offenders successfully reenter society and lead productive and healthy lives. Whereas, throughout the United States, more than 640,000 men and women return to the community from prison annually, and in Dauphin County, roughly 5,000 individuals are under probation and parole supervision every year. Whereas we are fortunate in our community to have the dedicated individuals and organizations who make up the Dauphin County Reentry Coalition, which is committed to helping those released from incarceration and battling recidivism. Whereas the mission of the Dauphin County Reentry Coalition is to improve outcomes for individuals involved in the criminal justice system by ensuring that those who break the law receive appropriate interventions ranging from incarceration for serious offenses to diversion programs for lesser crimes, while also identifying at-risk individuals early and connecting them with necessary services and support. Whereas April has been designated at the national level as Second Chance Month and April 20th through 24th as Reentry Week to underscore the importance of focusing on efforts to reintegrate reentrants into society and giving them the tools to succeed. Therefore, we join the 293,000 residents of Dauphin County in supporting the vital work of the Dauphin County Reentry Coalition and all those committed to helping individuals successfully transition back into society, recognizing that reducing recidivism is a community-wide effort. And we do hereby proclaim April 20th through April 24th, 2026 as Reentry Week in Dauphin County.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

You guys playing?

Next we have the presentation of Gaming Advisory Board Local Share Municipal Grant recommendations.

Good morning good morning.

good morning commissioners latoya winfield bellamy and brett flower from eckardt siemens on behalf of the gaming advisory board along with brookhead chiberia grants coordinator for the county's department of community and economic development thank you for having us here to present the gaming advisory board's recommendations for the 2025-26 grant cycle if you go to the next And so just as a little bit of background for the public's sake, the gaming grant program was developed as a result of the Gaming Act. When it was enacted, the Act includes language that refers to local share assessment, which is where the gaming grant funds come from. And so under the Act, it lays out that The Hollywood Casino, which is a casino located in Dauphin County, is assessed every time someone puts money in a slot machine and how that is to be distributed. And as part of the county's local assessment, not only does a direct share come to the county, there are also portions that go to East Hanover Township located in Dauphin County, as well as East Hanover Township located in Lebanon County. and modest portions to Lebanon County and Schuylkill Counties out of the county's unrestricted funds that they received. Go to the next slide. In addition to the local share assessment, which is the slot machine revenue and iGaming, or interactive gaming revenue, there's also the annual operation fee that Hollywood Casino pays to the Commonwealth. and a portion of that comes to the county as part of the local share assessment. In terms of administering the gaming grant program, the Gaming Act requires that the county's local share gaming grant program be administered through its economic development or redevelopment authority. The commissioners in this instance have appointed a gaming advisory board that makes recommendations for grant awards to be approved. In 2025, all new members were appointed to the Gaming Advisory Board and served through the 2025-26 grant cycle, reviewing applications, hearing presentations, and ultimately developing recommendations. By law, local share grant funds are not for property tax relief. However, they are intended to help dolphin county communities absorb the impacts of Hollywood casino. And specifically under the act, there are areas where grant funds are to be used or eligible uses of the funds. which include infrastructure, facilities improvements, transportation, emergency services, health and public safety, public interest initiatives, and human services. The grants do help avoid increases in local taxes based on some of the needs that municipalities have required and applied to the county for gaming grants. Per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Secretary of Budget, Last year, it was certified that $1 billion was available for statewide property tax relief in the 2025-26 fiscal year. And you can see on the slide before you, when we talk about slot machine revenue, 34% is taxed for property tax relief compared to the 2% for local share that comes to Dauphin County. In 2025, the slot machine gross terminal revenue, which is It's calculated by the wagers that are put into the machines, and then you deduct the amounts won or payouts and the internal promotional play. And so for 2025, the gross terminal revenue for gaming revenue was $133 million. It was a slight decrease from the prior year, which was $135 million. But you can see that it's somewhat steady over the past few years. If we could go to the next slide, please. When we talk about the interactive gaming or iGaming, the revenue trends for that, it's pretty clear from the chart in front of you, continues to rise year over year. And so in 2025, the iGaming total gross interactive gaming revenue was more than a billion dollars. It grew 29% over the 2024 iGaming revenue. In 2025, the local share funds received by Dauphin County totaled more than $21 million. That includes the restricted funds that the county receives as well as the unrestricted funds. Since the inception of iGaming, the local share funds continue to significantly increase, and that started maybe around 2021 or so. In the local share municipal grant process, the Gaming Advisory Board has put together program guidelines that are available to the public when the grant cycle begins. which explains the program, eligible uses of the funds, eligible applicants, as well as recommendations on request amounts. And so since 2021, the program guidelines have included a recommendation that those municipalities that are not contiguous to East Hanover Township, the host municipality, are recommended to not apply for more than $150,000 in a grant cycle. And for non-municipal applicants, no more than $75,000 in a grant cycle. If an applicant believes that their project justifies requesting more from the grant program, they need to include support for that request. And again, these are recommendations. When we look at the 2025 local shared municipal grant cycle, the number of applications that came in was pretty much consistent with past couple years. And so I would say remain steady. So for this year, there were about 245 applications. The prior year, the two prior years were between 255 and 256 applications. And some applications do include more than one project, but pretty much, you know, maintaining the same pace. The number of applications has greatly increased over the life of the program. There was a time where, you know, there might have been right around 100 in a grant cycle, but it's been steady for the past few years. I previously mentioned eligible applicants, and so under the Gaming Act, it specifically identifies the host municipalities, Hanover Township, the five contiguous municipalities that surround East Hanover Township, as well as Dauphin County being eligible to apply for grants. As we know, in the Dauphin County Game and Grant process, there is a sponsorship aspect that allows other municipalities and non-municipal applicants to be eligible to apply for grants. This year, the grant timeline started last summer in July, where the Gaming Advisory Board through Dauphin County Department of Economic Development held pre-application workshops, some of which were in this room where potential applicants were invited to come and hear about the program, ask questions prior to submitting an application. That was a change this year from individual meetings with all applicants to group meetings. Some of those meetings were larger, had larger attendance. But for the most part, we were able to get the information out to applicants to understand the program and answer their questions. The application deadline was October 1st. Following the submission of applications, there were public hearings that were scheduled with applicants. As you saw, there were more than 240 applicants. And so, you know, there isn't always time available to be able to meet with every individual applicant. And so in addition to the five days of public hearings the Board held, a one-day meeting with all of the remaining applicants that they could come and either speak for a couple minutes about their application, respond to questions, and get the information to the board necessary to complete the review of their application. Traditionally, the grant program has made it a priority to focus on infrastructure projects, those that are ready to go, intergovernmental projects. It also requires municipal applicants and sponsoring applications to prioritize their support for projects. Also, fire and emergency services. applicants are required to provide certain information with regard to their local planning, their coverage areas, mutual aid, and things of that nature. This year, the emergency services and public safety applicants were considered along with the municipal applicants. And you will see the recommendations. On this slide, we took a look at the past about 15 years of gaming grant awards and the trends for awards in emergency services and public safety. And so you'll see there the total amount awarded in that category over that time period, as well as the total amount awarded overall. And so there's always been support in the gaming grant program for emergency services and public safety. I previously mentioned the categories in which the Gaming Act identifies the eligible uses of funds. And so we'll get into the recommendations. The chief clerk's office already pointed out the number of recommendations that are being presented to you today. The total amount recommended is about a little over $11.1 million, $11,113,644. The Gaming Advisory Board gave deference to the municipal projects that were submitted, as well as strong consideration to the fire, emergency services, and public safety applicants. And I would point out that the recommendations before you today on slides or pages 18 through 51 is about 25% of the total amount being recommended. And that's up a little over 2024, which was about 20% of the total amount awarded for gaming grants. Following the recommendations, you can just go through all of them, there is a list of about 86 applicants that applied to the program that are not being recommended for grants today. And some of those applicants were previously funded as you look through that list. and they're listed there with a brief description of their project and the amount requested. We did want to spotlight a few recommendations today. I'll start with the Dauphin County Solid Waste Management and Recycling Department. And so the recommendation from the Gaming Advisory Board is to award $150,000 for the partnership with the CEO program or Center for Employment Opportunities. The partnership with CEO has been in existence since 2023. The funds being requested are for two cleanup crews, that's eight individuals per crew per day, to work to alleviate illegal dumping throughout the county, as well as to promote proper waste disposal within the county. This partnership provides meaningful employment opportunities to individuals that are reentering our community, as well as job readiness skills. And I would add that Solid Waste Management and Recycling, this is their first application for gaming grant over the course of the program. The second one we wanted to point out is the Middletown Borough application with regard to the redevelopment of a former pool property that's currently not being used. The proposed project is to develop a community park and recreation area. that will feature ADA accessible trails and benches and seating and provide outdoor space and educational opportunities for individuals along the Sweat Air Creek in the borough. And then finally, we wanted to highlight the application submitted by Farm of Hope which is known as Hope Springs Farm, and it's being recommended today to receive a grant in the amount of $113,000. The Hope Springs Farm is a state licensed adult educational day program. It's actually the only one that is on a therapeutic working day farm. If this grant recommendation is approved, the farm will be able to construct new pathways to provide additional accessibility to its volunteers and individuals that it serves, as well as install a new barn floor on its property. The improvements will increase safety and also provide efficiency in this adult day education program. And so with that, it's previously been stated that the total amount being recommended by the Gaming Advisory Board is $11,113,000, and our Excel rounded to $644. 73% of the amount being recommended, or $8.1 million, is for East Hanover Township, the host municipality, as well as the contiguous and other municipalities and municipal services projects being requested. 19% or 2.1 million of the grants being recommended today are specifically to the host and contiguous municipalities. Of the recommendations being presented, you can see the total amounts as well as the percentage of the total recommendations in the categories of eligible uses of funds. So the infrastructure and facility improvements, emergency services, health and public safety, human services, public interest, transportation, and some of the projects actually cross multiple categories. And so that's being pointed out for you. Of the total recommendations being made today, uh information submitted by applicants that you know indicated how many jobs their project would create or preserve as well as additional funds that they would contribute to their projects whether it be by financing other grants their own applicant capital or investment it is um i believe that about eight million will be will be available or contributed excuse me an additional investment as relates to the projects being recommended and over 961 permanent or construction jobs are projected to be created or preserved within the county if the recommendations are approved thank you very much thank you any questions

yeah um just uh to start off with two um the municipal requests uh did the municipalities receive 100 of the requests that they they had made from the game advisory board i believe that most of them did it most if not all did with the exception of east hannah correct that is correct And then from the public safety realm, almost 100% of those were fully funded, correct?

Yes. So, there may have been an exception of maybe 1 or so.

I think it was that Fisher. Yes. Fisherville fire company was the only 1 that was not fully funded. So, I'm going to start off, I've prepared a statement. I've read through the gaming grants and I just. I've got some concerns gaming dollars are meant to support. Public safety, economic development, infrastructure, human services and nonprofits. At their best, these funds are not simply distributed. They are leveraged to create a broader impact, long term investment and real opportunities for our communities. I think this has been a success of the program when we talk about what we've asked in past years of. The board was how much money have you leveraged in order to take the gaming money and gain some level of investment within the community? And I'll give you just since 2021, $43.8M was the leveraged amount, which created about 13,524 jobs. The leveraged amount of money that was created in 2022, $78.1 million that were invested as a result of the gaming monies, 2,365 jobs. 2023, $78.6 million was leveraged to come into our local economy with about 2,959 jobs. 2024, 37.8 million with about 4,349 jobs. This year, it appears that we were the highest amount total of giving out, yet we leveraged only slightly over $8 million and created less than 1,000 new jobs, 961 jobs. Again, gaming dollars are meant to support public safety, economic development, infrastructure, human services, and nonprofits. At their best, these funds are not simply distributed. They are leveraged to create a broader impact, long-term investment, and real opportunities for our community. The model for it really was to try to figure out how can we use these dollars to gain the maximum amount of leverage and investment into Dauphin County. And this year, I think with the maximum amount of investment, the amount of $8 million might be the all-time low that I've seen related to investment. maximize return, not just spend dollars, which brings me to my first concern. This year, we're putting in more money and getting even less out of it. This should concern every one of us. Now, let me be equally clear on something else, public safety. Public safety has been and should remain one of the top priorities of gaming investments. Since the inception of this program in 2009, it has consistently been the largest recipient of funds, and I believe and I'll publicly say it should be. I mean, our public safety partners and what it takes and the concerns related to our public safety community are real. We're discouraged with volunteers, equipment, and we have some of the finest men and women who serve us at the public safety level. We've made major investments in that space since 2009, most notably the complete replacement of our countywide radio communication system, which delivered uniformity, interoperability, and reliability. That system was paid off in 2023 in a fiscally responsible way using gaming dollars, not taxpayer money. That is what strategic investment looks like. But what I see in this raises real concerns. We have funding for equipment and training that appears to lack coordination, planning, and a system-wide review. There have been little or no consultation with Dauphin County Emergency Management to determine what is actually needed, where redundancies exist, and how we can purchase these things more efficiently in a bulk way. For example, there's approximately 734,000 allocated towards radio system upgrades. The question is simple. Why are we buying radios individually at different prices from different potential vendors rather than leveraging bulk purchasing standardization and interoperability, which again, you could have a myriad of radios that are being used in this system based upon what the municipalities or who the salesperson is for Motorola that makes the sale. Allowing fragmented purchasing is not just inefficient, it undermines the very system we invested millions in to build. We should be coordinating these requests through emergency management, ensuring that every dollar spent strengthens the entire system, not just individual departments. We should also be updating our current countywide fire. I know we did a fire study a while ago that took a look at equipment and try to manage sort of where the need is versus where the want is related to those municipalities. We should do the same for police and emergency management studies so that the decisions that we make in the future are based on actual need, not just individual requests. Because this isn't about not about who asks or who they know it's about what our residents need and what our responders require to do their job safely and effectively. Now, turning to municipal funding, following the words, I have to be candid. It's clear that there was not a consistent evaluation framework applied across these request requests as I could see. And I do not say this to single anyone out. I don't want to make enemies of anyone, but I just want to highlight an example. Gratsboro, a wonderful community in northern Dauphin County with approximately 743 residents and an annual operating budget of about $240,000 received over $430,000 in gaming grants. From my perspective, I think that's double their operating budget. Obviously, and it's double the allocations of significantly larger municipalities like Harrisburg, Susquehanna Township, Lower Paxson Township, and Swidera Township. I think it raises for me a fundamental question. What objective criteria are we using to determine impact, need, and return? and moving forward i think we need a clear scoring rubric as it relates to municipalities one that accounts for municipal size financial capacity economic and community impact so that these decisions are transparent consistent and defensible i also want to note that 100 of municipal requests were funded with the exception of east hanover township our host municipality i don't understand why our host municipality wasn't funded at 100 and everybody else was the biggest areas left behind in this round are nonprofits, black and brown-owned businesses, and nonprofits, essential community partners, private businesses, affordable housing initiatives. Over 11 million was requested in these categories, yet only about 3.3 million were funded. These are not secondary priorities, folks. These are organizations that are providing critical human services, opportunities for youth, workforce development pathways, and access to critical affordable housing. We heard about reentry and affordable housing today and affordability within our community. I don't know if there was an affordable housing project that was funded. I know there was a myriad of them I saw on the packet. These are the very investments that stabilize communities and create long-term opportunity. And I continue to hear this response. Use your unrestricted gamings to fund those needs. Let me be very clear about that. I wanna be very clear. dolphin county must maintain a 90-day fund balance to protect our financial standing and avoid a bond rating downgrade today unrestricted gaming funds make up a significant portion of our fund balance we have had difficult financial conditions which is no secret in dolphin county And for us, we need every dollar that's not tax revenue to be placed towards offsetting future tax increases. We've got to be creative. We've got to think about financing options. I want to find out what other revenue options are on the table because I've not seen a lot of them. These are not free dollars. They're not consequence free dollars. Every dollar we spend from that pool directly impacts our financial stability and our ability to avoid future tax increases. This board has made a commitment to use those funds responsibly to maintain stability, protect taxpayers and ensure long-term sustainability. So when we are told to rely on unrestricted funds to fill these gaps, we must recognize this is not a neutral decision. It has real financial consequences to taxpayers, which brings me to a core principle. We should not be approving spending what exceeds what is available. I mean, at the very basis of this, we've gotten 266,000 that we're going to have to make either cuts of or allocations concerns with things that could impact our general fund before we would even approve this list. When we allocate funds, it should be less than, not more than what Dauphin County has to legally and is legally required to give out. Anything else, in my opinion, is unsustainable. Finally, one last inconsistency I want to highlight is how we address food insecurity across the county. We have multiple organizations doing essential work, feeding students, supporting families, and stepping in where systems fall short. And right now, the need is only growing. With continued uncertainty around federal programs and cuts to SNAP, the demand on these community-based food providers is increasing, not decreasing, which is why I struggle to understand the inconsistency in the list. Some organizations were fully funded, while others during similar work received partial funding or no funding at all. I saw Middletown Interfaith Food Pantry receive full funding, while Hannah's Pantry, Harrisburg Area Food Pantry, and Midwest Food Bank received partial funding, and the Panther Ram Foundation and Cocoa Packs received no funding at all. I think when it comes to feeding our children and supporting families, there should be no winners and losers, only a coordinated, fair, and consistent commitment to properly funding the needs wherever they exist. And if I were to vote yes on these gaming grants, I would fall far short of that ideal. These organizations are all serving similar populations, students, families, and food insecure residents, yet the outcomes vary significantly. When organizations providing the same essential services are funded so differently, it creates gaps, inequity, and instability for the very people we are trying to help. So for all these reasons, I cannot support this list without significant adjustments. As it stands, this approach creates imbalance. It pits regions versus each other, and it prioritizes distribution over strategy. And that's not who we are. I believe Dauphin County is extremely diverse. We're urban, we're suburban, and we're rural. No county commissioner wants to be in this role because it represents such varied and diverse interests in a very complex, finger-pointing world. And to be able to balance those needs out in a way that honors all of those folks really takes a lot of careful thought and consideration. And with a finite budget, our responsibility is to ensure that we are not creating winners and losers, but building a system where every community feels seen, valued, and supported. I'm going to reiterate what I said earlier. When it comes to feeding our children and supporting families, there should be no winners and losers. And I want to thank the Panther Ramp Foundation for reaching out to me, and I know the Cocoa Packs has as well. Only a coordinated, fair, and consistent commitment to properly funding these needs wherever they exist. And again, I'm going to have a difficult time supporting these efforts without those major adjustments and the concerns I've raised. Gaming dollars, in my opinion, are just meant to be spent. They are meant to be leveraged, planned, and invested wisely. If we do this right, we just don't fund our projects. I think we see investments and strength in our entire community. So that's my comments.

Commissioner Preece? Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Hartwick. I'm going to go in a little bit of a different direction and start off by thanking the individuals here today for presenting. I want to thank Latoya. I want to thank Brooke. I want to thank Brett. I want to thank the Gaming Board. Patrick Leonard, the Chairman. Tim Chateau, Vice Chairman. Michael Iverson, Secretary. Ms. Ellen Brown and Mr. Smitty Brown for giving months of their time with the pre-application meetings, the application meetings, the meetings, having the question and answer discourse, and then having the discussions which then led to the tough decision on the recommendations that are presented today. I want to thank George Connor, the longtime director, as this will be his last Gaming Advisory Board that he has worked with and the recommendations that were presented in his time here. Dauphin County has seen over $1 billion in economic impact under George Connors' leadership. Commissioner Harwick, I have to disagree a little bit. At 9.40 a.m. this morning, I spoke to County Budget Director Chris Davis, which I advised you of, who told me that $260,000 to take out of unrestricted funds to make today's numbers work is not going to impact the current County budget at all. In fact there are millions unrestricted dollars that are available for this port commissioners to use toward a future budget or other budgets that were not funded today. And I think that in the coming weeks this port commissioners should take a hard look at funding some of the additional applicants are included. That we're not funded today. I think we should look at funding them in the future weeks out of the Unrestricted funds. So again, I want to thank everybody for the time they put into this. I think this is a Tough decision that was made by the board. I don't recall the Board of Commissioners questioning the gaming advisory board at all and certainly not to this level in the past but I do know this was the first year that I as one commissioner was not asked to meet with anyone and give my input in advance, but that's the job of the Gaming Advisory Board. That's what we selected them to do. That's what we appointed them to do. Obviously, there are going to be some folks that are happy with these recommendations. And as we've heard, there are some folks that are going to be unhappy. But knowing after speaking to our budget director that there are funds available, that we could look at potentially funding some of these individuals and these organizations that were not funded today, I'm satisfied with the recommendations that are presented.

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I just have a quick question from the process. For the pre-application meetings, are those public? Yes. They're public? Okay.

They're asked to register.

They're asked to register?

For attendance, but if you don't register, you're still able to come.

Okay. They're open to the public to attend?

And they're open and they're advertised on the website.

Okay, great. I just want to share Commissioner Hartwick's concerns specifically around food insecurity last year when we had the gaming awards come to us or gaming recommendations come to us. There were many that were not receiving full funding. and I fought for support for full funding and voted in that way because I believe right now with the snap cuts and any of the challenges and as I'm talking to food pantries and any of those people working with Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to get food into the homes of people who need it most right now there's a real increased need and I think

you know that that that's a priority of uh you know us i think as elected officials to ensure that we're meeting that need so um thank you for your words on that if there's nothing else i thank you for your chairman yes may i correct two uh items that i misspoke a sweater township also was not recommended at their full request okay and the fire company that was not recommended their full request was liberty hose of williamstown not fisherville so i just wanted to clarify appreciate that thank you very much thank you

We'll move to salary board. We have a salary board packet before us. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Moved by Controller Bateman, seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Human Resources, Faye Fisher.

Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning. The personnel packet has been distributed. It is my understanding that all transactions listed are within budget. Are there any questions?

No. Do I have a motion for the personnel packet? Moved by Commissioner Harwick. Do I have a second? I'll second that. Seconded by Commissioner Preece. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next up, we have Victoria Warren, Budget and Finance.

Good morning. Good morning. There were no changes to the investment report that was sent out earlier this week. There are also no changes to the purchase order packet, and we're not aware of any budgetary issues within that packet. However, we do ask that you continue to disregard the budget remaining column while we work to get that sorted out.

Any questions? Hearing none, do I have a motion for approval of the purchase order packet? So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick, seconded by Commissioner Preece. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much. We'll move to matters requiring board action. I'm going to ask that number five I abstain from. So could we get a motion for items one through four? So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Priest, seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Number five, an elections vote for us. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. I'll second that. Seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Note the abstention, please, as it is an election matter. items 6 through 10 before we get into gaming do I have a motion so moved second moved by Commissioner priest seconded by Commissioner Hartwick any discussion hearing none all those in favor aye opposed motion carries now we are into items 11 through 169 which represent gaming I'll make a motion to approve items 11 through 169 as presented is there a second Hearing none, the motion dies on the table. Any other motions for items 11 through 169? A question of parliamentary procedure for our solicitor. Are we able to move forward as if these items are tabled as there is no agreement between the commissioners? I think there'd have to be a movement to table.

You could move to table or otherwise.

I'll make a motion to table. Request number.

11 through 169. 11 through 169. Is there a second?

Hearing none, the motion dies. What do we do now? Do we need an executive session for legal counsel? No.

Okay.

Move forward to 170? Correct. Okay. Items 170 through 175, is there a motion? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Move to former business. Any new business? Hearing none. Commissioner's remarks. Commissioner Hartwick.

Good. Commissioner Preece. Yeah, I had the pleasure of attending the Pennsylvania Care Kit presentation yesterday put on by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. I was joined by our director of the Area Agency on Aging, Ben Knox, as well as Ruby Dow it was outstanding presentation giving an update on various areas of senior care and other care options that are available here in Dauphin County and throughout the state of Pennsylvania and I did bring a packet and I can share with my colleagues if they're interested in seeing it And again, I want to thank the Gaming Board and everyone else from Economic Development and the Solicitor's Office for the months of time and effort they've put into this. Even though the recommendations were not approved today, I will still be supporting those in the future as well as some of the additional ones that were not put forth for recommendation. And I would hope that we're not year in and year out this board uh using these gaming dollars to balance our budget we need to look at other ways to balance the budget than using these gaming dollars because we frankly could have funded just about everything today out of gaming but we did not i'm open to suggestions okay more than happy to talk to you about it especially for a new revenue

I'll begin just by saying that I'll be abstaining from all votes related to local shared gaming grants, and I'd like to share my reasoning. Let me begin by thanking the members of the Gaming Advisory Board for their work reviewing these applications. I also want to acknowledge that the decision to install a new advisory board was a step in the right direction, in my opinion. I appreciate those who have stepped forward to serve in that capacity and the time and effort they put in. I also want to thank all the applicants for putting in the time and effort. I understand how important and impactful these resources can be for the betterment of our communities throughout Dauphin County. However, I do not currently have confidence in the overall process that governs this program. Since becoming a commissioner, I have consistently raised concerns about how local shared gaming grants are administered. Those concerns go back well before my time in office and relate to both the structure of the program, the consultant involved in the past, and the oversight of how funds are used. Recently, I have received questions from PennLive related to reporting they are preparing for this program specifically. Through that process, it has become increasingly clear that the system has significant shortcomings, including instances where award funds have been misused. While responsibility for misuse ultimately lies with the grant recipient, the county's lack of meaningful audit and accountability process has created an environment where problems can occur without scrutiny, without awareness, and without the ability to correct course so they don't happen again. For years, we have paid substantial legal and consulting fees connected to this program. At the same time, we have not invested in the basic oversight infrastructure that would ensure all gaming revenues are used with integrity. After my first year as commissioner, I raised concerns internally and made it clear that I would only support grants going to municipalities and nonprofit organizations. I maintained that position last year and voted accordingly. My view remains that for-profit entities should not be eligible for these funds given the history of misuse and lack of oversight. The local share program represents a significant public investment that should be improving communities across Dauphin County. But to restore public confidence, we must commit to meaningful reform and transparency. Until substantive reforms are implemented, I cannot in good conscience continue to support this program in its current form. I want to be very clear about one important point. My abstention is about the process, not about the many great organizations applying to receive these grants. I have tremendous respect for the nonprofit organizations, leaders, and municipalities that work every day to serve our communities throughout Dauphin County. I spent nearly two decades working in the nonprofit sector and understand how difficult it can be to secure resources and funding. many of the organizations receiving these grants are doing important work necessary work in fact many would benefit from a system that is more transparent more accountable and better structured to ensure funds go to the strongest proposals and the most impactful projects in our county for that reason i've outlined that i just outlined i have a series of reforms that i believe would restore trust and integrity to local share gaming grant program moving forward i've created a memo that will be circulated today that lists eight different things that we can do to reform our gaming program to receive my support moving forward as a commissioner As well, I want to highlight that yesterday I attended a press conference held by Harrisburg Catholic Worker House that raised awareness about a Dauphin County community member, Omar Viduar Luis, who has been detained by ICE for over five months. Omar, his wife Laura, and their son came to the United States seeking asylum from a dangerous situation in Peru. While awaiting their asylum case to be heard, Omar and Laura acquired work visas and became productive and beloved members of their neighborhood over the last four years. By all accounts, this family has been in the process of coming here the right way. I've sat with Laura and those supporting her from the Catholic Worker House. I learned of the unfortunate situation that led to Omar being accused of doing something he did not do. They shared how he showed up to make it right, plead not guilty but i supplied a civil detainer and took him the day he showed up for his hearing while the non-violent misdemeanor charges were dropped omar remains in ice detention awaiting a possible outcome where he'd be deported to a country he's never been to meanwhile his wife and child struggled to make ends meet as omar was the main provider for their family The call to action yesterday morning was to free Omar and allow him to return to his family so they can continue to seek asylum as they have been and continue to be a part of their beloved community. I stand in support and solidarity with that message and will utilize what levers I have at the county level to eliminate cooperation with ICE. lastly there is a way to support this family financially through a gofundme if you choose to and are able to do so i have posted the link on my commissioner justin douglas facebook account so you can easily find it there if anyone has questions on how to donate please reach out to my office and my assistant will get you details my heart remains with the family and their community and all others in ice detention i deeply hope to see omar home with his loved ones soon I also want to say that I had the opportunity to speak. Commissioner Hartwick joined me as well on the leadership Harrisburg panel this last week spotlighting many of many leaders throughout our county who are going through this program to learn more about all different aspects of leadership. But ultimately, our portion was to give them a window into municipal leadership and county leadership specifically. And it was a great opportunity with that. I have no further comments.

Commissioner priest yes, Mr chairman, I have a question for you based upon something you stated here. So. You do support many of the organizations that are recommended within today's presentation.

Yes.

But you're not going to support them. You're going to leave that up to Commissioner Hartwick and I to make those decisions.

I'm arguing for reforms to the program.

We have an opportunity today to support them with the numbers that are recommended by the board, but you won't support them.

I laid out clearly reforms that I believe need to be done to this program for the integrity of it, including audits, which we do not do. Any further comments? We'll move to correspondence. I see no correspondence for us. We have general public participation. I believe I have a list coming before me of those who signed up prior to the meeting. There are three individuals signed up prior to the meeting, and then we will open it to the floor. We'll begin with Sandra Brooks. Oh, okay, so you, okay. No, it's okay. Gene Stilt.

Gene Still, Fishing Creek Valley, gentlemen. I haven't been here for a little while, so I've missed you guys. I know you've missed me.

We've missed you, Gene.

All right, presentation. Okay. The attached ProPublica article should cause U.S. commissioners great concern. The diminution of safety in the Carter's and Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the Trump administration is criminal. not that the Nuclear Regulation Commission was ever the world leader in nuclear safety. Reviewing the article should lead you to write your federal representatives and senators concerning nuclear safety, but will you? I don't have faith in such a letter will be written. Remember, neither the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency A small group of nuclear folks at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, nor your own Department of Public Safety have any control at the federal level. There's no evidence that any of these organizations have registered concern with any federal officials. As you know, and then also, as you know, I have filed the next case involving Constellation Energy and Three Mile Island, the Dauphin County Common Police Court. That case is in front of you. uh please feel free to enter the case as a party solicitor uh the more the merrier i say so looking for your participation of that is another case of constant constellation energy demanding local i'm sorry local school districts to carry the burden of evacuation planning funded by the school district taxpayers. Besides the chaos of removing tens of thousands of students across four counties, the physical assets of each school district are in peril. In the case of Central Dauphin School District, that is $650 million worth of assets. It is time to think deeper concerning your influence in these matters and taking action. Any questions?

No questions.

Any questions regard to the Current content. Okay. Thank you. I was correct, wasn't I? Okay, that's actually we'll be working on this summer removing the moving the poison ivy anybody who doesn't get poison items welcome to join us gentlemen and and anybody in the audience, and also repainting the statue and repainting the pink sash on there for breast cancer awareness, and also, and just people should realize the statue, which is Pennsylvania's, is a dangerous place to go because of the, waterways are dangerous, nobody should ever climb it, and also it's a, it's just very, be very careful out there, so volunteers, help at their own risk. But we're always welcome for volunteers and also getting it ready for the 250th anniversary. And hopefully we'll have a coin produced for the 40th anniversary of the statue coming up. Thank you very much.

And Gene, you probably know this, but I got to let you know, I was at a tailgate last year for a Penn State game. I was talking to some folks in Philadelphia and they consider that Statue of Liberty an actual landmark on the way up there. So they always look for it when they're driving past. So thank you again for putting that there.

People in Philadelphia, they're on the ball. Thank you very much. I'll be looking forward to seeing your letter to the NRC. Okay. I mean, to your federal representatives.

Thank you, Gene. We have no one else signed up on our list. We will move to public participation from those who did not sign up. Three minutes. You'll need to state your name prior to beginning.

oh i see off okay thank you uh pamela parson um city of harrisburg i just i did some quick math this morning in looking at the in looking at the grants and um $595,000 of the grants were for various house of worship for facility improvements. And I say this as a person of faith. And I did not include in that 595,000 any improvements that would be related to providing services to the community so if it's a church it does a soup kitchen and it's upgrading a kitchen I didn't include that uh and I if I add in the private organizations the other non-profits who've asked for facility upgrades that figure bumps up to 816 000. if we look at that and compare that to direct services and trainings or trainings that are being provided to the public across all of the gaming grants, that's 714,000. And I did include vehicles in that if vehicles were used to provide a service, to provide transportation for people participating in a program. I also included in that anything that provided training to people. But boil that down further, only $120,000 was for any kind of actual direct material aid, mostly food, some non-food items. I'd also like to point out that in this is $130,000 being provided to private schools, private schools that can choose Who who they allow in as students and and who they don't. So that's just another thing to think about when you look at this. Additionally, um, I know the article came out this week about, um. about solicitors and the amount of money that the county pays for solicitors and let me be very clear i think everyone should be fairly compensated for their work absolutely and if you're giving up other work to come and work full or part-time for the county you absolutely deserve to be properly compensated for that in addition if you don't have access to um benefits Where you come from and you're not covered under that, I have no problem with us providing benefits. The things I would like to see is I would like to see how many hours, a reporting of how many hours are actually put in. And if someone has access to benefits elsewhere, they don't necessarily need to have access to the county pay for benefits. And to me, is that my time? Okay, thank you.

Anyone else for public comment? Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. Do I have a second? I'll second. All in favor? Aye. We're adjourned.