County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

to call to order the dauphin county board of commissioners meeting for may 13 2026 we'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states Chief Clerk's report, Mr. Haggerty.

Good morning, Commissioners. An executive session was held on Tuesday, May 12th, to obtain the advice of legal counsel regarding public safety, engineering contracts, bond financing, vendor contractual terms, personnel matters, and active or pending litigation. This morning we are joined by Matthew Worley from the Dauphin County Conservation District for an agricultural land preservation easement check presentation. We do not have any minutes, salary board packet or personnel packet for the board on today's agenda. In addition to the purchase order packet, there are 49 additional items for board consideration today. We have nine adoption assistance and custodianship agreements, four registration and elections agreements, three facilities maintenance agreements, one prison agreement, one controller's office agreement, one grant application for state funds, 20 human services agreements, three legal services agreements, one amendment to a previously approved ordinance five parks and recreation presenter agreements and the training packet next week of course is the primary election and i wanted to take a moment to thank the countless employees and poll workers and volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes here to ensure our free and fair elections run smoothly here in dauphin county that concludes my report happy to answer any questions you may have

Any questions for Mr. Haggerty?

Yes. Mr. Haggerty, can you give us an update on the tourism grants? I believe that the application deadline has passed, and can you let us know what the timeline is and the plans are for those grants moving forward?

Yes. I have not yet received recommendations from our Department of Community and Economic Development, but I'm certainly happy to check in with them to figure out when those might be available.

Okay. And the economic development director position, how's that coming along with resumes and when are interviews planned?

Yes, we received 12 applications for the economic development director position. I believe 8 to 10 for the deputy director and about the same amount for the program coordinator as well. We have a meeting later today to take a first pass at all of those resumes. The position closed last week. The three positions closed last week. So we expect to provide a recommendation to the board soon for a group of candidates for the board to consider interviewing.

As one commissioner, I would like to have the opportunity to see all of the applicants and their resumes, not just the ones that are reviewed and passed on. We'll certainly share all of them.

Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Haggard? Hearing none, we'll move to the solicitor's report. Mr. Owens?

Thank you, Commissioner. All matters requiring board action that require review by my office have been reviewed and approved for action today.

Thank you, Mr. Owens. Any questions for Mr. Owens? Hearing none, we'll move to public participation related to agenda items only. So this is a time for public comment on matters of action before us today. Is there anyone for public comment? It is a three minute time limit. You'll need to state your name prior to speaking and we are being live streamed. Seeing none, we have no minutes for approval today. We'll go to our directors and guests for today. I'll hand it over to Commissioner Hartwell.

you commissioner douglas uh and good morning um it's my honor to call forward um director eric nagurski matthew worley who is the director or the oversight of the agricultural land preservation for an easement check and a discussion related to the agricultural easement program in dolphin county i know we have unfortunately with us today mr and mrs wenzel who have are the latest participants in the program. And we want to thank you for your willingness to continue to make sure preservation is a priority here in this county. And I said earlier that God is not making more green earth and to ensure a future that provides open space, the ability to provide a future of agriculture and continue to make sure that we have open spaces throughout this county that will not be developed and passing things on to future generations. being a participant in this program ensures that that occurs in a county as diverse as dolphin county as you know we've got rural suburban and urban and to continue to keep that open space is a critical um priority i know for us in this board and we want to thank you for being here today and i first like uh matthew who's the expert in the oversight in the area uh to bring us up to speed with this latest easement and uh hopefully to

be able to do what we all came to do is deliver a check and and get this process underway so yeah certainly certainly so for those of you that may not know um the agricultural easement purchase program this is a state-run program but it's administered in dolphin county by the dolphin county conservation district and dolphin county agricultural land preservation board It offers qualifying farm owners the chance to restrict land improvements or development to agriculture related activities in perpetuity and to also receive payment for this sale. The property that we've got today is a 35.14 acre crop operation in Jefferson Township, Dauphin County, all of which will be enrolled in the Eastman program. It's the third property that Mr. and Mrs. Wenzel has preserved through the easement purchase program and the 218th easement in Dauphin County, which totals over 21,000 acres. We're very proud of that. This is the 29th easement that the county has a joint or partial interest in. This easement is a joint interest. It was a 50-50 purchase between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Dauphin County. Landowners were offered and accepted the full value of the easement. There are two buckets that we use for funding to buy agricultural easements. Dauphin County funds, they're typically reserved to buy properties and easements on properties that don't meet the minimum size requirements of the state of 50 acres, which this property fell under that. On behalf of the Agricultural Land Preservation Board in Dauphin County, we're really happy to highlight Mr. and Mrs. Wenzel's contribution to maintaining agricultural productivity in the area. I'd also like to add that if anyone that's watching would like to learn more about the Conservation Easement Program or think you'd be a good fit for the property, I would implore you to contact the Conservation District and we can see what we can do to make that happen for you.

i'd be happy to elaborate on anything that i said or um answer any questions you guys got just one quick point i guess this is the 218th easement you said that in dolphin county and now i know the board just got over 20 000 this makes puts us over 21 000 preserved acres in dolphin county so that commitment um is real and it's one that we look forward to continuing to partner with the conservation district on and and ensuring uh those kinds of preservation efforts continue so

I'll go first. I'll just say, um, You know, I grew up on a farm, and agriculture is important. And I think this program is really important to preserve the agriculture and how challenging it is for farmers right now. And this program certainly aids in that, 21,000 acres. Can I just ask, and I'm putting you on the spot a little bit, how long has this program been in existence?

I believe this program started at the state level in 1987 or 1988, and it was adopted in Dauphin County, California. about a year later. So it's been going for a decent while. That's great.

Well, thank you for your work on this as well, and thank you to the family.

There's an old saying, once the land's gone, it's gone forever. And Mr. and Mrs. Wentzel, this is your third time now taking advantage of this easement program. I want to thank the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for joining with us. This is something that benefits the county, benefits the residents, and is something I'm very proud to be part of i know just a few short years ago we were in swatera township commissioner hartwick and i and former commissioner sailor celebrating the 20 000 acres preserved and that was a landmark moment and today makes them even more monumental moment that we're at 21 000. that's incredible uh thank you to you and your family and your continued support of this great program we appreciate you thank you i guess the the drum roll occurs yes the big check presentation all right do you want to come forward

Oh, my gosh, the size of that chip.

There's a county 50% chair of preservation efforts to Timothy and Timothy, Tammy Wenzel, the amount of 41,113 dollars. Thank you. I don't know if you take this to the bank, you'll be cashed. I think we have a real one for you as well, so.

It is a new, yeah.

No.

We have no salary board today. We have no human resources today. We'll move to budget and finance. Mr. Davis. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning.

I have no changes to the purchase order packet that was sent out. Again, I'd ask you to just disregard the budget remaining column because that's still inaccurate as we work through the fixes.

Any questions for Mr. Davis?

I'll make a motion to accept the purchase order packet as presented.

second second motion made by commissioner hartwick seconded by commissioner priest any discussion yes so where are we at in terms of our budget for calendar year are we staying within the budget or exceeding in any areas i mean so far we're on track to stay within it um i'll do full more in-depth estimates later on here which will be provided to the board in the past instead of later in the year can we get something at the halfway mark in june i think that's a good idea so that we can prepare ourselves and the public in the event that maybe uh budget's gonna be an issue for next year yeah certainly okay thank you

And I think we've been having regular meetings with department heads much earlier to be able to get that analysis. And Garrett, if you want.

Yeah, we starting this year published a revised. Sort of process for monitoring, controlling department budgets. So. The budget office, and I've been joining any of these discussions are having either monthly or quarterly meetings with departments to. Make sure that spending is within. the allocated limits and we are on track so things are looking good so far we do anticipate being able to share estimates with the board i believe either in late june or early july as well as the departmental budget requests were due april 30th we are actively reviewing those requests now and we'll be sharing those with the board soon as well so we are starting this process several months earlier than the county traditionally has in anticipation of budget hearings much earlier in September. So we will have much to share very soon.

Very good. I think it's very important that we let the public know where we're at within our budget earlier than usual.

Thank you. Great. We have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. We have 49 matters requiring board action before us. Does anything need to be pulled for a separate vote? None by me. Do I have a motion for all 49? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. There's no former business before us today. Is there any new business? Hearing no new business, we'll move to Commissioner's remarks. Commissioner Hartwick?

Yeah, I too would like to join Chief Clerk Haggerty in thanking the Elections Office, both volunteers and those who are actively engaged in the process of ensuring that our elections run smoothly and are in compliance with the law. and ensure that the votes cast are in fact recorded and tallied in such a way that we all have trust and integrity of the process. And I continue to be impressed and thankful to all those volunteers and the staff who have done an outstanding job related to that credibility and continue to work tirelessly in order to ensure this primary goes off without a hitch. My second thing that I just want to bring up, talk last week as the lights were going out, about trying to provide an update related to some of the federal issues that I'm responsible for. The first thing that I wanted to bring to the attention of the public is a iCivics education book. In today's world, we have so such a limited knowledge of what county government does the idea of trying to educate our youth in times where civics is no longer a curriculum requirement in our high schools about the importance of both leadership and. getting involved, the role that you can play as an elected official, the ability to take ownership. You can't do that unless you really understand some of the premises of county government. I want to thank NACO for their continuing efforts, along with iCivics, to really try to provide age-appropriate information at all levels. So it's not something that you have to pay for. It's a free level of curriculum that we can help arrange for either school districts or local summer camps or whoever wants to be engaged in being able to help educate folks about county government to be able to actually coordinate the age appropriate material along with the classes that are being provided. So today I just brought an example of one of those curriculum and material that involve a lot of fun activities and ways to really understand both who your elected officials are what the functions of county government are and areas that may inspire both thought and future leadership so I think it's a really important component before I get into the federal update which is also a part of my report for today I'll just get right into it right now I don't know if we you know but there's probably one of the largest housing-related packages that is being negotiated in Congress, in the history of Congress right now. It's the Housing HUD Affordable Act. It's called Housing for the 21st Century Act. Congress continues advancing bipartisan housing reform legislation through the Housing for 21st Century Act. We know housing affordability continues to plague both us here in this region and those folks throughout our nation. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act focuses on increasing housing production, expanding flexibility for home and CDBG funds, streamlining federal approvals, modernizing HUD programs, and significantly expanding low-income housing tax credits, the LIHTC. The reconciliation package also restores the 12.5% LIHTC allocation increase through 2029, projected to support hundreds of thousands of additional affordable housing units nationally. There remains concern, however, over the FY2026 HUD budget proposal, including potential reductions or restructuring of certain traditional housing programs, particularly home funding and some community development programs. Counties should continue monitoring implications for workforce housing, homelessness programs, and local redevelopment flexibility, which continue to be on the potential chopping block. The other update is about elections. The federal elections, the Save America Act, and HAVA. The Save America Act continues moving through Congress and would significantly increase federal election requirements related to proof of citizenship, voter verification, and election administration standards. Counties nationally, including NACO, have expressed concerns regarding unfunded mandates, implementation timelines, administrative burdens, and operational impacts on local election offices. Of particular concern is the growing discussion around tying Future Help America Vote Act funding to compliance with Save America provisions. This could place counties in a difficult operational and financial position, requiring substantial election system upgrade, additional staffing, document verification processes, and cybersecurity compliance measures without guaranteed sustainable federal reimbursements. Election administrators continue warning that rapid implementation before 2026 cycle could create operational disruption and increase litigation exposure. Transportation is also on the agenda on the reconciliation 2.0. Congressional leadership continues discussing a second reconciliation package expected to focus heavily on transportation, infrastructure resiliency, energy transmission, supply chain modernization, and permitting reform. While final language remains fluid, counties should anticipate continued emphasis on freight movement, bridge modernization, EV infrastructure, and accelerated project delivery tied to national competitiveness and data center energy expansion needs there's also an increasing federal focus on leveraging transportation funding with economic development logistics ai infrastructure and domestic manufacturing priorities overall county implications at the federal level congress is increasingly consolidating major policy priorities housing election administration transportation immigration enforcement and homeland security into large reconciliation omnibus style negotiations so they're including them all In one big package, I think there's a 2.0 and a 3.0. Counties remain concerned about increased federal mandates without sustainable funding, election administration compliance costs, housing affordability pressures, transportation infrastructure demands tied to energy data center growth, and public safety and immigration coordination impacts. NACO and county leaders continue advocating for direct local flexibilities, long-term funding certainty, and protection against unfunded mandates as these packages evolve. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry for the long report.

Okay.

Commissioner Priest.

Thank you for that very detailed update, Commissioner Hartwick, and thank you for serving Dauphin County at the NACO level. It's much appreciated, and it is nice to have you back. Just following up on your initial comments about voter registration elections in the upcoming election, I want to also thank, because this is a team effort, I want to thank Information Technology, Public Safety, and the courts and the Sheriff's Department. They're all working together behind the scenes. These are things that the residents don't normally see or even know about. but a lot of work goes into this months in advance in preparation i want to thank director spacman and his staff for spending time offering training to our 1200 volunteers and poll workers who will man the precincts 158 precincts and boards throughout the county And election evening, the polls open at 7 a.m., close at 8 p.m. At 8.30 p.m., we're planning the first tranche to come out on the county website, www.dolphincounty.gov. And that will primarily be the mail-ins that will come out. You'll see a huge number. And then starting at 9 p.m. every half hour or so, they're going to be putting out the in-person polls. Voting updates throughout the county and usually do get done by 11 30 p.m. Or or our team is one of the best in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for getting the numbers out there early and before midnight I know the residents appreciate it Candidates appreciated and the media appreciates it. So thank you for the great work that they do My comments today

I've prepared so. Friday night I experienced something that should alarm anyone who cares about public accountability and the state of local politics in Dauphin County. While I was at a local establishment, an individual was tipped off to my whereabouts and chose to travel to my location and threaten me. He approached my table uninvited, identified himself by his first and last name. He's someone recently under scrutiny for questionable use of gaming dollars by PennLive's reporting. The interaction included repeated intimidation and threatening language, clearly meant to communicate the ability to do harm to me. He said in part, and I quote, I can touch you everywhere. I can touch you every where. I'm a mother blanking gangster, end quote. Law enforcement was contacted, a report was filed, and the matter is now being reviewed by the appropriate legal channels. I intend to respect that process. I want to thank the Dauphin County telecommunicator who took my call for handling it with professionalism, the responding officer for taking the matter seriously, and the staff at the restaurant for their professionalism and assistance during the incident. I also think the public deserves honesty about what this moment represents. When you challenge special interests, when you expose corruption and refuse to play along with the good old boys club, there are people who take that personally. sometimes deeply personally. This is not the first time individuals have tried to intimidate me since being elected. During my time as commissioner, I've had to add security measures to my home and make multiple reports to law enforcement agencies. The goal of intimidation is simple, to make the cost of accountability so high that eventually people stop asking questions. That is also why so many good people never enter public service in the first place. They see what happens to people who speak up, see the pressure the attacks the threats and the personal toll it can take not only on elected officials but the people they love i'm not sharing this for sympathy and i want to be clear that i do not want retaliation or hostility directed toward anyone involved is in the hands of law enforcement now and will be handled through the proper channels violence and intimidation have no place in our communities or our politics but i also want to be equally clear about something else Friday night reinforces exactly why this work matters. Dauphin County belongs to the public, not to insiders or political networks that think intimidation should shield them from scrutiny. And I will continue fighting for transparency, accountability, and a government that answers to the people not to fear. I am not afraid, and I am not backing down. We have no correspondence today. We'll move to general public participation. Do we have a list? There'll be a time for public comment, Antonio. No, we're at the end of our meeting. General public participation. I'll call your name when you're on the list. And I believe you are the first on the list. So you have three minutes. You'll have to state your name prior to speaking. And we are being live streamed.

Antonio Foster, 594 Chambers Street. I definitely wanted to speak up on agenda items. I was held up speaking about the tape that I was trying to get from the Right to Know Officer. So, you know, that helped me up a little bit before I got in here. But, you know, there's some things that I really, really would like to talk about. And Commissioner Douglas, I appreciate what you just said. I understand what you just said, because I myself deal with the same tactics. But it still requires for you to be accountable in the seat that you sit in. And I see that you understand that. I'm just hoping that the actions display that. All the things that I have gone through can only happen If the elite are involved, when I say the elite, I'm talking about people of your position, politicians have dealt with so many different avenues, social security, disability, my insurance, UPMC, just time after time, even with my housing records being deleted of me paying rent, judges lines being redefined. just so I can go in front of a certain judge. And I think when I got in there, I think I crushed the situation. But when you're... When it's lined up that way, then, you know, the decision is already made before you get there. And that judge would be Lanker from Stilton. Rastad is in Swat area. And I think I was supposed to go to a different office, but the lines were redefined where I went in front of Lanker. And I was told that the lines were redefined after Judge Smith's death. But I was already at Lanker's way before that. So, if they were redefined after judgment, then how did I get to language before that? Um, commissioner Hartwick. I have a lot of issues with you. I have an issue with you just acting like nothing never happened. When I came down here and I asked for your help, I was broken down. I really was because the things that I've been through, they would break any man down. And you told me in that room, look, I'm going to help you out. And the information that I gave you, you told me, you know what, I'm going to make sure that happens for you. And you cleaned it up. because I never got a response back. And then when I come in these meetings, you act like we never had a talk at all. And there's a lot of things that I'm really wanting to get into. that I will be getting into next Wednesday. I'm just going to see how this week goes. But at the end of the day, man, it's going too far. I have proof, and I will be presenting it in further meetings if I just can't get my situation rectified. I don't want to come down here. It's not my job. I'm not a politician. It's not up for me to be speaking up for a lot of these things that I'm down here for. I am a citizen of Dauphin County, and I think I should just get that respect. I'm not asking for nothing higher, nothing higher, nothing more. I just want the respect of a man that's from Dauphin County and Commissioner Herwig, man, the things that I can present on you. It will be done, man. You guys have a nice day.

Thank you. Next on our list, I have Pamela Parson.

Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning. Pamela Parson, City of Harrisburg. When I was here last week, I heard a really disturbing story during public comment about a parent with a child on the autism spectrum who had, the child had a difficult interaction with law enforcement. What made that so disturbing to me without even knowing the details is that this story is familiar to me. This is not something that is new. It has been happening over and over in our county, across multiple communities, across multiple police departments. and it is it is something that needs to be dealt with i heard her talking about talking to mopec talking you know trying to reach out to the police chiefs association and various police chiefs i'd like to take us back to the 1990s to the mid-1990s when john washington and i'm saying this name because This is public knowledge. John Washington was assaulted by Pembroke and Harrisburg police. This is another man who was on the autism spectrum and his mother Doris has dedicated her life to try to educate police officers, not only here in Dauphin County, but throughout the state, throughout the region. And last year about this time, there was a young woman who came before you during a work meeting who made a presentation, a young woman with an intellectual disability talking about other young people with ID and on the autism spectrum and the issues they face. And one of the stories that she told was about a friend and colleague who had an interaction with the police in which he died. How many more people with intellectual disabilities on the autism spectrum or even people with uh physical disabilities like people who are deaf who only understand asl american sign language who've also had very serious interactions with the police how many more people have to have these inner interactions how many more people have to die. In John Washington's case, his shoulder was separated. So there are real injuries that result from this. So I urge you, please, to take this seriously and to make sure that law enforcement takes this seriously as well. I know we have co-responders, but if they show up after the police, it's too late. They need to be there first. Thank you.

Thank you, Pam. Anyone else for public comment? That's the extent of our list of those who signed up in advance. Anyone in the room for public comment? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. Moved by Commissioner Preece, seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. All in favor?

Aye.

We're adjourned.