County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners meeting for July 15, 2026. We'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chief Clerk's report, Mr. Haggerty.

Good morning, Commissioners.

An executive session was held on Friday, July 10th to obtain the advice of legal counsel regarding economic development funding. An executive session was also held on Tuesday, July 14th to obtain the advice of legal counsel regarding economic development funding and collective bargaining. In addition to the June 10th, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting minutes, the June 17, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting minutes, the June 3, 2026 salary board meeting minutes, the salary board packet, personnel packet, and the purchase order packet. There are 171 items for board consideration today. We have three bid awards, one courts agreement, four facilities maintenance agreements, one controller's office agreement, one risk management agreement, one adult probation and parole agreement, one public safety agreement, one prison agreement, one human resources agreement, two registration and elections agreements, three parks and recreation agreements, one voluntary employee benefits agreement, one amendment to an existing district attorney's office grant agreement, 116 tourism grant awards, 20 human services agreements, two legal services agreements, three parks and recreation presenter agreements, four satisfaction pieces, four tax forgiveness requests, and the training packet. I suspect many of the people in the room today are not here to talk about our sprinkler inspection services contract on the agenda, so I do want to take a minute and provide some background on the 116 tourism grant awards on the agenda today. These grants are funded by a portion of the 5% tax levied on stays at hotels in Dauphin County. For this cycle, $3,508,148.94 is available to award. One million of that total is automatically awarded to Visit Hershey in Harrisburg by virtue of an existing MOU in place with BHH. That leaves $2,508,148.94 available to award to other organizations. We received $9,421,725 in requests for tourism funding from nearly 200 applicants. So there's clearly far greater demand for funding from this program than there are dollars available to award. I want to thank Sharon Myers from VHH for her partnership throughout this process and for joining us for public hearings, which were offered to each applicant, and for serving as a resource to the board. The board is obviously faced with many hard decisions about where to prioritize funding, and I just wanted to share that, again, I suspect there are some strong emotions in the room, but given the extreme demand for funding, I think we should all just keep in mind reasonable people can disagree. and certainly will disagree about the merits of any individual application, again, especially given how much larger the demand for funding was than the amount that's actually available for the Board to award. So, the 116 grants on the agenda today total $2,507,723, just barely coming under the amount available to award. Lastly, speaking of tourism, I want to remind everyone that our amazing Department of Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with the Dauphin County Community Fund, will be hosting Brewfest this Saturday, July 18th, from 3 to 7 p.m. at 400. There will be 50 craft brewers, live music, and dozens of food vendors, so folks, check it out. That concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions? Thank you. If there are none, we'll move to the social report. Hearing none, we'll move to solicitor's report, Mr. Owens.

Good morning, commissioners. All matters requiring board action today that require review by my office have been reviewed and approved for action today.

Any questions for Mr. Owens? Hearing none, we'll move to public comment for agenda items only. You'll need to state the agenda item you're referencing, and you'll have a three-minute time limit, and we are being live-streamed. You'll begin by stating your name, and then the clock will start. Anyone for public comment related to agenda items only? There will be a time for public comment at the end of the meeting. All right, seeing none, we'll move to review and approval of the minutes. We have two minute items before us, June 10th and June 17th. Do I have a motion for both? Second. A motion. Second. Motion by Commissioner Priest, second by Commissioner Hartwick. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We have no directors and guests before us today. We'll move to salary board, which consists of the commissioners and the controller. We have salary board meeting minutes from June 3rd. 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. We have a salary board packet before us today. Do I have a motion for the salary board packet? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. Do I have a second? I'll second that motion. Seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We'll move to Human Resources. Fay Fisher. Good morning, Fay. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. The personnel packet has been distributed. Are there any questions?

No questions for me. I will make a motion to accept the personnel packet as presented.

Motion made by Commissioner Hartwood. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you, Fay. Budget and Finance Director Christopher Davis.

Good morning, Mr. Davis. Good morning. I have no changes to the investment report that was sent out earlier in the week. I also have no changes to the purchase order packet. That's ready for your vote approval. I can answer any questions.

Do we have a motion for the purchase order packet? So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Priest, seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. Any discussion?

Everything is within the budgeted 2026 numbers. Yes. Thank you.

Any other questions?

All in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Davis.

will move to matters requiring board action we have 171 items before us today is there any we would like to pull out for a separate vote uh yes mr chairman i'd like to uh first off pull out item 20 uh and then i want to also pull out separately at 124.

124. and i will pull out item 99. Any other items needing to be pulled out for a separate vote? None for you?

On item 20, I'd like to make a motion to table that item.

Motion to table item number 20? Second. Okay.

Motion made by Commissioner Hartwick, seconded by Commissioner Preece. Any discussion? There are several concerns and questions that I've tried to raise that I've not been able to collect and get answers to. I hope to have those by next week.

Sounds good. So on the matter of tabling item 20, I'll call the vote. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Item 20 is tabled. Any other items that need to be pulled out or voted on separately? If not, I'll entertain a motion for items 1 through 19, 21 through 98, 100 through 123, and 125 through 171. do i have a motion for those items that will leave item 99 and 124 for action move by commissioner hartwick is there a second i'll second uh so this just a reminder this is items one through 19 21 through 98 100 through 123 125 through 171. i'm just looking over here to double check that i got that right thank you so much all right any questions or any comments All right. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. On the matter of number 99, do we have a motion? So moved. Second. moved by Commissioner priests seconded by Commissioner Hartwick I simply want to state that I support the Great American Outdoor Show it's one of our largest tourism drivers in the county I simply have ethical concerns with the NRA and I would prefer that be funded directly to the farm show as a subsidy Okay, all in favor?

I'd like to make a comment if I could. I think that the NRA has done an outstanding job being part of the show over the years. When the county lost the show that one year, we lost $80 million in revenue in the region. The NRA stepped up, became the main sponsor, and since then we're averaging $75 to $80-plus million in annual revenue, 8,000 jobs created. plus 2.6 million dollars in taxes it's the largest outdoor show not only in pennsylvania not only in the united states is the largest outdoor show in the world it takes place right here at the farm show and the nra stepped up when nobody else did to take over the main sponsorship thank you all right any other comments all in favor aye aye opposed nay uh we'll move to item was it 124 yes

so moved i'll second uh we have a motion made by uh commissioner priest uh seconded by myself any discussion yes um obviously there's no direct financial benefit or even personal benefit but out of an abundance of caution because my administrative assistant jennifer smallwood is associated with the grant and works directly for me i am going to recuse myself from the vote great any other comments

All in favor? Aye. And please note the recusal from Commissioner . I believe that covers all the items. I just want to get a head nod from the clerk. There's no former business before us today. Any new business? Hearing no new business, we'll move to Commissioner's remarks. Commissioner Hartwick.

I just want to first start out by giving a public thanks to Sharon Myers, who has been an incredible partner, has sat in tireless sessions to be able to help this board attempt to discern and get the limited amount of resources to the areas where we believe that there might be the most economic impact. Thank her for her expertise, her leadership with VHH and the renewed partnership that Dauphin County and VHH have. And thank you for your time, your effort, your input, and your passion around these issues. I think it really has demonstrated a publicly good relationship with an authority that was somewhat under scrutiny and questioning. I think your leadership and ability to participate openly and behind the scenes in these processes and provide that level of advice has been extraordinarily helpful, at least guiding me personally and the board, I believe, through through a difficult process. So I just want to say thank you. Second of all, I want to talk about two quick things. That we happen to do over the weekend with the Americas 250 on Friday, we had a chance to be at Millersburg commissioner freeze and I, and I gave a. Proclamation on behalf of the board to the Millersburg ferry, and I know commissioner Douglas last week talked about an individual business. I happen to think the Millersburg Ferry is one of those unique historical stories related to Dauphin County. And I just want to share with you very briefly, sort of made it Millersburg Ferry Day, but both the public-private partnership that exists, the level of history is significant. And I'm proud to say that we did, through the Tourism Grant Fund, the Millersburg Ferry request today as well in full. The Millersburg Ferry is much more than a way to cross the Susquehanna River. It's a living connection to our past. Since 1817, generations of Pennsylvanians have relied on this ferry to transport families, farmers, merchants, and travelers across the river long before bridges made the journey possible. Today, it stands as the last operating ferry on the Susquehanna River and the last all-wooden double-stern wheel paddle ferry in America. Every trip across the river is a journey through history, preserving a tradition that has served our communities for more than two centuries. Here in Dauphin County, we are proud to be the home of this extraordinary landmark. The Millersburg Ferry reminds us that preserving history is not simply about protecting the past. It is about inspiring future generations to appreciate the ingenuity, perseverance, and community spirit that's built right here in Pennsylvania and right here in Millersburg, Pennsylvania. Millersburg Ferry is truly one of the Commonwealth's hidden gems and a symbol of enduring connection between our people, our river, and our history. The second thing I'd like to bring to the attention of what we've have in town with us, and I think there's an elite finals tonight. I saw Commissioner Douglas broadcast from there yesterday, but the national or the world ninja competition at the Farm Show. The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex welcomed thousands of athletes, families, and spectators from across the United States and across the world for one of the largest ninja and obstacle sports competition ever held. And it doesn't hurt that my son Camden is a ninja warrior. He got a chance to meet the ninja kids. And, uh, as swinging off of things that only, uh, I hope that I don't end up in more emergency rooms than I do with trophies. Um, but, um, he, he went up last week and talked about doing 21 pull-ups and is looking forward to, uh, to being there tonight to see the event. More than 2,000 competitors from 21 countries and 41 states came to Dauphin County to test their skill, a real important investment for tourism. And I know it was a competitive effort to try to get them here. This incredible event not only showcased world-class athleticism, but also generated a meaningful economic impact for our hotels, restaurants, and local businesses. On behalf of the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, I want to thank you to the organizers, volunteers, sponsors. And the Pennsylvania farm show complex for making this international event, such a tremendous success and thank you to the folks who made the decision to come here to Hershey, Pennsylvania and last, but not least. I also participated last Friday in the Northern dolphin fill the bus event that is in conjunction with the Northern dolphin human service center and Bonnie can't those who know Bonnie can't know she is love. And she was out working tirelessly to help with school supplies, backpacks, food, essential items. I noticed they provide haircuts and clothes for people who cannot afford it. And we know in northern Dauphin County, there's a significant amount of poverty. And we need to ensure that we do all we can to be able to equip folks as they go into school and learn. And I want to thank Bonnie Kent and all the organizers and volunteers who are part of that important event. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Hartwood. Commissioner Priest. i want to start off by thanking george for attending that millersburg 250th event with me i do want to remind commissioner hartwick that i believe he owes me an umbrella there was a lady in a wheelchair with two little chihuahuas that was going around it started raining pretty hard and i had the umbrella up and commissioner hartwick recommended i give it to her which i did which i did and uh i don't think i've gotten that back but that's okay that's okay It was very kind to you, George. I want to thank our economic development department for the great work that they did putting all those tourism grants together. Hundreds of hours went into staff time putting that together, and I know there were a lot of tough decisions that had to be made. Commissioner Harwick and I yesterday were over at the Hilton for the statewide conference of registers of wills and clerks of the orphan courts and we gave opening remarks filling in for an individual who at the last minute I had to cancel out and Sunday I had the privilege of being at Fort Hunter with Anthea Stebbins from Parks and Rec and Jeff Enders from our public safety department as we put the four new aeds into service one at fort hunter park one at wildwood one at lichens glen and one wiccanisco creek park here in dolphin count so i want to thank uh everybody there and bryson bundles was there also it's a great event and that same day hummelstown put an aed in their park system too so we're happy to have these aeds

doesn't matter which aeds they are they're there they're at our parks and they're going to save lives thank you thank you commissioner priest uh for my comments uh commissioner priest and i had the chance to meet with students from world affairs council in the last week and some of some really bright passionate students who span from older age high school to college who are doing some really great things and excited about the future ahead for for all of them as they represent our region in whatever they choose to come back here and do or are currently doing here or do elsewhere. It's really cool to see all the things that World Affairs Council is exposing them to this summer through that program and to be able to allow them to kind of see what we do here at the commissioner's office and get them connected, especially those who are passionate about you know, a career in public service and so excited to be with them. As Commissioner Hardwick stated, I was at the Ninja World Championship yesterday. Amazing experience. You're going to have a great time. we watched the gold medal runs for the 10 and 11 year olds. It's really interesting. You have like pro athletes that are, you have all age groups kind of represented there. So one of the things that's interesting is I got to talk with team Australia, who's here obviously from Australia and, and asking them like, how's, how's your time in Harrisburg? I got to have some real time with them talking about how they're enjoying Harrisburg. I think they're in an Airbnb here and, and they just talked about how awesome Harrisburg was. And I was like, this is great. And just for the public's knowledge of how this kind of works, I think they were a couple years ago, they were in Anaheim, last year they were in Texas, and this year they're here. And, you know, the way this works for, like, tourism grant funding and, like, the reason this money can be leveraged really in a way to drive business to the region is that if you can get something like this here, you're ensured that all these people who come and gather for this one event for multiple days, this has been going, I think, since Friday. And it goes through tomorrow. Yeah, through tomorrow. So it's a long event. And those are a lot of hotel stays. Those are a lot of businesses supported. So we try to get those events to come here. We try to give them reasons to come here. And then when they come here, we want to hear how they're enjoying it. We want to hear what they're liking, what the challenges are. And so it was great to hear them say this would be a place we'd love to come back to. Like, you know, so that's a really good sign that people from all over, including even Australia, are enjoying their time here. One of the things I thought was really a cool attention to detail that the event did, and I just want to thank them for doing it, is so if you know anything about kind of Ninja Warrior, they have grips that they hold on to. And sometimes those grips, they can make into funny shapes and stuff. One of the obstacle courses had grips that are Hershey Kisses. So you have to grip the Hershey Kiss and swing to the next one. And so... i thought that was a really cool kind of you know play on the region and an ability to um to just uh give an homage to this region uh in that way and so that was awesome to see um i do want to offer condolences to the family and friends of dana lumpkin i was told who passed yesterday she was the social action chair of delta sigma theta and just found that out prior to our meeting and just wanted to honor her and her family and her legacy of service with that i will move to correspondence I don't believe there's any correspondence and we'll move to general public participation. Just a reminder, there is a three minute time limit on public participation. You'll need to state your name prior to speaking and we are being live streamed. With that, I have a list that I'll go through and then I'll open it to the floor if there's anyone for a public comment. So beginning with the list, Pamela Parson. Good morning Pam.

Good morning. Pamela Parsons, City of Harrisburg. I'd like to talk to you this morning about second chances because all of you have said you believe in second chances. Right now there are 1,100 people all men, I believe, sitting in state jail, 30 of which are from Dauphin County, and who were there under mandatory sentencing for second-degree felony murder. That mandatory sentencing was declared unconstitutional in the Lee decision by Commonwealth Court. and the clock is ticking. The legislature was given until July 24th to make some changes concerning these 1,100 people. This mandatory sentencing has most mostly has to do with retribution and very little with restoration let me explain if you don't understand what second degree felony murder is these are people who did not commit murder these are people who would in who were in some way considered a accessory they walked away They got to the point and they're like, oh, this is not what I thought it was about. And they walked away. They may not have known when somebody jumped in the car. and said, drive away. These are people who did not commit murder. And most of them have been sitting there for 10 to 20 years. Why am I talking to the three of you about this? Two reasons. First is, like me, you are also a voter. You can also pick up the phone or send an email to leadership and to your own representatives to ask them to make a move on this. I personally have met with Tom Mahaffey, Nate Davidson, Dave Madsen, Justin Fleming, and I have made my calls to leadership over the last six months. You can do the same thing. And as I said, the clock is ticking. On July 24th, it's up. So it is likely that these cases will be kicked back to each county, which means some 30-some people are going to end up back here. And so I hope Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo and the folks in his office will also believe in second chances for these folks, just as they believed in that for Brad Winnick. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Antonio Foster, and then I'll open it to the floor.

How y'all doing? Antonio Foster. I ain't here today to shake up the circus. Nobody has to worry about that. I'm just here to clear my conscience on a few things. Grace Lampley, you know, the woman that was found by the creek in High Spire. There was a while back when I came down here and I spoke on the fentanyl bodies that are I would say, you know, the system tried to set me up on, but, you know, I'm past that situation. But, you know, as a man, that was one of the witnesses that I presented to the head of CID. Jeffrey Enders, he's not here today. I'm sure he probably knew I was coming. That may be the reason for his disappearance. for a few other things that he's done but i ain't even here to get into that um as i said i'm just here to clear my conscience um you know in the news you know it's just it's very vague um about how uh she was spoken about by just being by the creek um it doesn't say nothing about you know her building um where she lived being two blocks away also her whole building being cambered um even up to our apartment so the leaving and going um or anything that has happened are taking place um it shouldn't be hard to find um i will not you know as a man who has a pillar under these uh circumstances um so i'm just here to clear my conscience on it um also at the time of me uh Presenting her as a witness, you know what I mean, as I've spoken about, when Jeffrey Enders was here, he would have to agree because he happened to be one of the people that came with the head of CID, Corey Dickerson. You know, he had, I guess, advised her in certain ways and even has given her a new phone, I guess, to try to change things up. This is what the head of CID did. And at the end of the day, you know, it's to the point where I kind of don't care. How am I saying I don't care how it goes? But, you know, if it was my mother or grandmother, you know what I mean? I would want somebody to speak up for her. And at the end of the day, I was responsible for presenting her as a witness to the fentanyl bodies. The one that I would be concerning in that situation would be. His name was Alan. I tried to Google it. It seems that that information about his OD has just disappeared off the Internet. But that's neither here nor there. As I said, I'm just here to clear my conscience on the situation. So, you know. I just wanted to speak my piece and my part on that. And, you know, it's the deception and the vagueness of the news that kind of tells the truth of what's really going on, if anybody has any common sense. There's a million other things that I can speak about, but I just don't want to be a part of the circus anymore. I just want to declare my conscience so I sleep well at night. And with that being said, have a nice day.

Thank you, Mr. Foster. We'll open it to the floor. Anyone for public comment? Going once, going twice. I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Priest, seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. All in favor? Aye. We're adjourned.