County Council - Regular Meeting

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and all. Thank you. Roll call. Miss Lawrence. Mr. Hos here. Miss Krishnowski here. Mr. Lascgavage here. Miss McDermott here. Mr. Perry. Mr. Sabatino here. Miss Smith here. Miss Stevenson here. Mr. Thornton here. Mr. Wovich here. Mr. Lombardo here. All present. Thank you. We'll now have public comment on the proposed ordinance amending article 6 administrative code uh in accordance with the home rule charter of Luzern County, Pennsylvania. Anybody for public comment on the administrative code changes? We don't have any slips. Nobody in the room. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion. All in favor? Opposed? Meeting's adjourned. We'll restart in one minute for the second public hearing. All right, it's 5:55 p.m. I'd like to call the second public hearing to order. We already had the pledge of allegiance and moment of silence. Roll call. Miss Lawrence. Mr. Hos here. Miss Krishnowski here. Mr. Luscavage here. Miss McDermott here. Mr. Perry. Mr. Sabatino present. Miss Smith here. Miss Stevenson here.

Mr. Thornton here. Mr. Wovich here. Mr. Lombardo here. All present. Thank you. We'll now have public comment on the proposed ordinance amending the 2025 fiscal year budget for Luzernne County for the uh PCCD grant. Anybody for public comment? Anybody on the Zoom? Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion. All in favor? I opposed. Meetings adjourned. We'll restart at 601. Thank you. I think it's 16 three motion. Yeah. No, there's no information. That's not right. I can't I wouldn't resolution in the agenda. And these aren't time isn't obvious with these either. So,

All right, council members. It's 6:01 p.m. I'd like to call the voting session to order. We already had the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Roll call, please. Miss Lawrence. Mr. Hos, here. Miss Krishnowski, here. Mr. Luscavage, here. Miss McDermott, here. Mr. Perry, here. Mr. Sabatino, here. Miss Smith here. Miss Stevenson here. Mr. Thornton here. Mr. Wovich here. Mr. Lombardo here. All present. Thank you. We have one ceremonial proclamation for National Correction Officers and Employees Week. Whereas corrections officers and employees of the Luzar County Division of Corrections have the difficult and often dangerous assignment of ensuring the custody, safety, and well-being of the inmates at the Luzar County Correctional Facilities. And whereas their increasingly complex and demanding position is essential to day-to-day operations of the Luzar County Division of Corrections. And without them, it would be impossible to achieve the f for foremost institutional goals of care, custody, and control. And whereas correctional officers and employees put themselves in harm's way to advance the mission of protecting the public, staff, and inmates. These commensurate corrections professionals consistently place themselves in danger to protect individuals whom society has generally cast aside. And whereas the commitment, courage, and tenacity exhibited by corrections officers and employees of the Luzar County count, the Luzernne County Division of Corrections through the performance of these demanding and often conflicting roles deserve our deepest appreciation and utmost respect. Now therefore, we the Luzernne County Council do hereby proclaim the week of May 4th to the 10th, 2025 to be National Correctional Officers and Employees Week in Lzern County to honor the men and women of those dedication, diligence, and professionalism keep our county and citizens safe. [Applause]

Thank you very much. Yep. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. W. Warbert, did you want to say a couple words or anything? Okay. Yeah. Thank you. So, you know, it's it's one week out of the year that we get an opportunity to thank our officers and our employees for for a job that again, I don't know how many people really understand. We talk about it a little bit in council, but just for just for sake of trying to understand the fact that to keep our correctional facility staffed, which would be the main facility and the minimal offender unit, takes about 400,000 correctional officer hours a year to keep it the minimum staffing. And so there's a lot of a lot that is called upon from them. And um so I just think it's great and I appreciate the council taking the time to recognize uh a a good portion of the the county employees that uh have, you know, dedicated their lives to keeping our communities safe. So thank you. [Applause] All right. Before we get started with our agenda, attorney scheme, would you mind announcing the executive session, please? Prior to this meeting, we had an executive session wherein we discussed uh possible litigation and uh real estate matters. All right. Thank you very much. Are there any deletions from the voting session agenda? Yes. Um, I'd like to

propose uh several deletions for agenda item 16, 17, and 18. Uh, the proper information for each of these agenda items were not properly presented to the public. Okay. There's a motion and a second. All in favor? I opposed. All right. 16, 17, and 18 are removed from the agenda. Thank you very much. Any other deletions? Is there a motion to adopt? I'll make a motion. Second. All in favor? I opposed. The agenda is adopted. With those three deleted, we'll now have public comment on a voting session agenda items. I know we have uh a guest that's out in the a special guest out in the lobby that's being very loud and wants to uh She did not put in a slip. Oh, that's okay. It's the opposable thumb thing. Let me get her. trying to make a dramatic entrance. Uh so, as many of you know, in the end of 2024, the sheriff's department was able to uh make the purchase of the K9 and actually begin our training with our handler. Uh, as of Friday of last week, uh, our K9 handler, Corporal Michael Flynn and Highly completed their 12-week training down at Penvet Working Do Center, uh, at University of Pennsylvania. Uh, so, yes, we now have Ivy League uh, dogs and handlers on our staff. Um, it was a long training for them. Uh, they came back. Uh, is actually the youngest graduate of the class. uh and she was one of the best they've ever had put through the program. Um she excelled at everything in the training. Um she officially

started yesterday. Um her first day included going through all of our county buildings as well as attending and doing a demonstration at uh Pittsen Area's field day for their first graders. Uh she's yet she had never been exposed to a lot of kids. So 225 at once was a good trial. Uh she did great. Uh she loved it. Obviously, the kids loved it. Uh, she got petted more yesterday, I think, than probably in the past 12 weeks combined. Um, but with that said, we wanted to uh bring her here. We're very proud to have her and Mike along. And I would just ask that everybody welcome both of them with a round of applause. Want to walk her up in front. Sheriff, uh, would you uh tell uh people how she got her name? I will. So I'm actually if so highly and all of the dogs at the pen at the Penvet working dog center get their names from either canine handlers, canines or dogs that were involved in the program uh post 911. Um that's where a lot of the training came from. Uh the Penvet uh working dog center actually specialized in the beginning uh in search and rescue and a lot of dogs came uh their names come from the handlers and kines who have been through the program. So that's where uh got her name. Her brother's name is actually Flojo. Uh Flojo is also one of the K9's post 911 that was in the program. Uh so yeah, we're excited to have both of them. And again, Penvet Working Dong Center is one of the most accredited in the country. So, we were very lucky to be able to get our training through them. And she's an American lab. She is she she is. And until yesterday, I didn't know there was a difference. Uh she's an American American Labrador retriever. Um

she is currently 13 months old, so she is very much still a puppy. Um, so on top of being really good at working, she's also really good at accepting treats and other things. Um, but yeah, she's really excited. She often times she when Mike stops with her, she just starts barking because she's bored. She wants to do nothing but work. Um, so it's been a lot of fun for us for the last few days. And, uh, apparently as sweet as she is right now, when she's working, uh, she's no nonsense. And um given that uh she likes to bark and talk uh she may be the new chief county solicitor. [Laughter] We put on a demonstration for the kids and the sheriff saw firstand how she works and how quick she hits everything. She's always and she did so well that they they said that she would be uh she made would make a cut to be go back in October for evidence uh gathering tracking for lifeline tracking autistic kids you know people dementia patients that walk away like so unfortunately she almost got called out today uh because of the bomb scare It was an exciting morning. Okay. Most important thing Mike told me that if she stops barking and stops moving, that's when we need to get out. Uh, you'll know that by the Well, she's a good girl and uh she will be deployed to the county manager's

office uh every day. Thank you. Thank you very much for having us. Okay. Yeah. All right, we have a couple slip. Uh, wait, no, we don't. Uh, any is there any public comment on voting session agenda items only? Any public comment? Voting session the audience? Anybody on the Zoom? All right, hearing none. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the April 22nd, 2025 voting session? So move. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Minutes are approved. Moving on to the agenda. Number one, motion to adopt the resolution committing a local match for the state operating assistance for Hazelson public transit. So move. Go ahead. Um I asked the last meeting if they could also include to include the respective state legislators for those areas. Um I would like to add a line where it says shall send correspondence to carbon and scoop counties. I would also like to add and copy in respective state legislators. Okay. All right. Is that the exact language that you want? Uh however Mr. Sch would see fit. It's in the final be it a further resolve. So you're making a motion to amend. Yes. To include the the respective state legislator. I'll second that. I think I think Mr. Sabatino seconded it. Do you do we

want attorney scheme? Do you want a specific set of language in there? Okay. So you you want to send the the letter to the um like the the pertinent state legislators as well, the ones in that that in the coverage area. Okay. So basically the state senators and the state representatives. Okay. Can we amend it to say should we amend it to say correspondence to carbon school counties along with the relevant state legislators in the area? If that's what Mr. Scheme seems Yes. Yes. I just said state legislators, so we don't have to say senators and representatives. I would probably use legislators for also include senator or representatives and senators. Yeah. Right. Okay. All right. There's a motion and a second for that. Roll call for the amendment. Mr. Hos, yes. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Lcavage? Yes. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wovic? Yes. Mr. Lombardo? Yes. Unanimous. All right. The amendment passes. Is everybody that motion is second? still okay with that? Yes. With the amendment. All right. There's a motion in a second on the amended resolution. Roll call. Miss Kishnowski? Yes. Mr. Luscavage? Yes. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr.

Wovage? Yes. Mr. Lombardo? Yes. Mr. Hos? Yes. Unanimous. Thank you. Number two. Motion to adopt the resolution committing a local match for state operating assistance for the Lzern County Transportation Authority. Motion. Second. Um motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Luscavage. Yes. M. McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wabitz? Yes. Mr. Haw? Yes. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Lombardo? Yes. unanimous. Number three, motion to adopt the resolution acknowledging the name change of opioid fund recipient always believe recovery to true north recovery of NPA. So move second. Motion. Roll call. Miss McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry. Yes. Mr. Sabatino. Yes. Miss Smith. Yes. Miss Stevenson. Yes. Mr. Thornton. Yes. Mr. Wovich. Yes. Mr. Haw. Yes. Miss Krishnowski. Yes. Mr. Loscavage. Yes. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. unanimous. Number four, motion to adopt the resolution adopting changes to the existing cooperation agreement pertaining to the redevelopment assistance capital program grant on behalf of Change Academy Lake of the Ozarks. So moved. Second. There's a motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Willovich? Yes. Mr. Hos? Yes. Miss Krishnowski, yes. Mr. Lavage, yes. Miss Mcder, yes. Mr. Lombardo, yes. Unanimous. Number five, motion to adopt the resolution to renew lease with the city of Pittsen for Magisterial District Court 11:0104. Second. There's a motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss

Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wovich? Yes. Mr. Hos? Yes. Miss Kushnowski? Yes. Mr. Lcavage? Yes, Miss McDermott. Yes, Mr. Perry. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. I abstain due to my employment with the city. Motion passes 10 to zero with one abstension. Okay. Number six, motion to adopt the ordinance amending article 6 administrative code in accordance with the home rule charter of Luzernne County, Pennsylvania. So moved. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Miss Smith. Yes. Miss. Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Mr. Wovich. Yes. Mr. Haw. Yes. Miss Krishnowski. Yes. Mr. Lascavage. Yes. M. McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry. Yes. Mr. Sabatino. Yes. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number seven. Motion to adopt ordinance amending the 2025 fiscal year budget for Lzern County. So move. Mr. Chair. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Miss. Stevenson. Yes. Mr. Thornton. Yes. Mr. Wovich. Yes. Mr. Hos. owski. Yes. Mr. Lascavage. Yes. Miss McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry. Yes. Miss Mr. Sabatino. Yes. Miss Smith. Yes. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number eight. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the Dallas area fall fair. So move. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wovic? Yes. Mr. Haw? Yes, Miss Krishnowski. Yes, Mr. Lascgavage. Yes, Miss McDermott. Yes, Mr. Perry. Yes, Mr. Sabatino. Yes, Miss Smith. Yes, Miss Stevenson. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number nine, motion to adopt a resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the general

municipal authority of Harvey's Lake. So moved. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Willovich? Yes. Mr. Hos? Yes. Miss Kushnowski? Yes. Mr. Lavage? Yes, Miss McDermott. Yes, Mr. Perry. Yes, Mr. Sabatino. Yes, Miss Smith. Yes, Miss Stevenson. Yes, Mr. Thornton. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number 10. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the Greater Wilsberry Chamber of Business and Industry. So move second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Haw. Yes. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Lcavage? Yes. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Mr. Sabatino, yes. Miss Smith, yes. Miss Stevenson, yes. Mr. Thornton, yes. Mr. Wovitz, yes. Mr. Lombardo, yes. Unanimous. Number 11. Motion to adopt a resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for Lang Beverage Company. Show move. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Miss Gishnowski? Yes. Mr. Lascavage? Yes. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes, Miss Smith. Yes, Miss Stevenson. Yes, Mr. Thornton. Yes, Mr. Willovven. Yes, Mr. Haw. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number 12. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for Sugar Notch Burrow. So moved. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Luscavage. Yes. Miss McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry. Yes. Mr. Sabatino. Yes. Yes. Miss Smithson, yes. Mr. Thornton, yes. Mr. Woga, yes. Mr. Hos, yes. Miss Krishnowski, yes. Mr. Lombardo, yes. Unanimous. Number 13. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the city of Hazelton. Some moved. Second.

Motion and a second. Roll call. Miss McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Will? Yes. Mr. Hos, yes. Mr. Krishnowski, yes. Mr. Lcavage, yes. Mr. Lavardo, yes. Unanimous. Number 14. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the Greater Hazelton Senior Citizens Services Incorporated. Second. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wovich? Yes. Mr. Hos? Yes. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Scavage. Yes. M. McDermott. Yes. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Number 15. Motion to adopt the resolution approving a modification to an American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded project for the Wolsberry Area Community Gardens. So moved. Second. Motion. I move. Okay. Miss Stevenson, your first and second then. Second. Okay. Motion and a second. Roll call. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes, Mr. Wovich. Yes, Mr. Hos. Yes, Mr. Kishnowski. Yes, Mr. Lascavage. Yes, Miss McDermott. Yes, Mr. Perry. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Thank you. That last one was for the return of like $3, I think. So, county, please don't spend it all in one place. Okay. All right. Is we have a few slips for public comment. Is there any public comment? We'll start with uh Annie Venitaryi outside. Yeah.

it on now. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. Uh my name is Annie Venetier. I'm with the Alliance to Stop the Line. We're based out of the Sugarloaf Nesco area and I'm here this evening um to bring to the council's attention and ask for a few things uh this evening. And um I'll just read uh what I have here and then I'd be happy. Are you able to receive handouts if I give them? Yeah, they have to be posted online publicly. That's fine. Yeah, whatever the format for that is, I'm happy to follow that. Um okay, so we are the alliance to stop the line, a grassroots effort opposing PPNL's proposed 500 kilovolt power line with 200 foot high poles. That's the average by the way. It could go up to 240 ft. uh citing concerns over defacing the Shirlo Nesapec landscape, lowering property values, posing possible health risks, environmental degradation, and increased electric cost and rates to local residents. By the way, folks, that'll be regional, too. Um, just to mention a few items. We also understand that this line is primarily to provide power for large developer and large tech industry needs with little to no local benefit to residents of Luzern County, though we will be directly and permanently affected. understand the need for increased grid capacity amidst burgeoning energy needs. We believe that these objectives can be and should be met in a fair and ethical manner, including and considering all stakeholders, the people, not just the large companies. To date, several local municipalities in our region have pledged to oppose this transmission line through the passage of local resolutions, and that's ongoing. They some of them still are in the process of doing that. To that end, we're calling for council to take the following actions on these items. Um, one, we're requesting a meeting with all council members or however that would go about regarding this urgent matter. It is of great importance to over 12 uh 1,200 residents and counting in a growing

petition who vigorously oppose this proposed de development. We welcome you to visit one of the places that PPL intends to install this 500 KV line. Um, and we would be happy to give you a tour to understand the full scale of the project and I urge you to do that. I think it's very important for you to physically see where they'd like to put this 12mi line and understand that this is just the beginning of development all throughout our area. Um, we are requesting language be passed in the form of a future resolution that protects the rights of the private citizens of our county from the proliferation of transmission lines and unchecked data center development. We are requesting council members to review and revise by zoning measures along with Luzern County planning and zoning. So, we'd be happy to talk with them as well about that and try and come up with a solution here to ensure up-to-date regulations, ensure ethical and responsible development practices. Um, thank you for your consideration in this matter. Um, really appreciate your time. Thank you. And you can feel free to just hand those to us if you want and we'll just we we will have them posted online though for the public to see. Mr. Chair, quick comment if I may. Sure. Go to do that. Yeah, ma'am. I don't know if you could follow up on um the relationship between this this county this council majority just passed a tax abatement for a data center construction. I'm willing to imagine that's probably directly related to that which is one of my big concerns about that and now we're paying for this rampid development. That's right. And it'll be if you could go to the podium. That's correct sir. And um what we understand is that um purchased quite a bit of land directly around the nuclear power facility there in Berwick. That's Talon Energy. Um and so their plan is we believe although this I don't have on official word but that there is some uh colllocation going on. Um I would urge you all the council members if you have

an opportunity there's a white paper written by vice chair of Lowden County in Virginia. Uh Mike Turner is his name. Easy name to remember. jot that down. Look up his white paper on this. It's a fantastic bipartisan look. He he looks at all the stakeholders so that we understand development has to happen. We understand the need for data centers, but the people also need to be considered in it too. So yes sir, it'll be a direct transmission line uh from Berwick across two beautiful agricultural valleys and two watersheds that connect up with the Chesapeake um and then on up to Humble. Thank you. Yes. Okay. All right. Next up, we have Anthony Hall. He doesn't have his um city, so I'll just I'll make sure. Sir, could you just state your municipality when you uh when you begin speaking? Hi, my name is Anthony Hall. I live here in Wilsboro. Um, how many of you guys been in service served in Army? Can I get a hand? Okay. I'm here because wherever I lived when I in the service and got hurt, got out, I was tax exempt. I got rods in my leg, rods in my back. I come here from Columbus, Georgia after retiring from the government. They forced me into retirement, you know. I come here, I have kids that live here. My son got killed in 2007 from the military before you guys. I'm just asking. Just think about it. They telling me I'm not tax exempt from my house. You know, I don't know

what I have to do. If you need to see the scars, I can show you the scars. You know, it's not my fault that I got hurt in the in the military. You know, I shouldn't be accountable or or go through what I'm going through because I got hurt in the service and I never went to war. But my son got killed. If that ain't enough, I told my son, "Go in the service, you know, get education." I tell my nephews, "Go in the service." But if they got to come home to this because they never went to war, you know, it's not fair. I didn't ask for this to happen. My friend died in my arms when we got hurt. You know, they was going to amputate this leg, but by the grace of God, I still got it. You know, I'm just asking you guys, when you vote on this, if you're not in have never been to war, I've been to war. I've been there. If you never went into the military, if you never had a friend of yours die in front of you, you know, if you never got hurt or you can't work or you can't play with your grandkids, that's enough. That's enough war for me, you know. Please, you know, I'm about to sell my house cuz I I moved here from Columbus, Georgia 7 months ago. I was supposed to been tax exempt like I was there, like I was in New Jersey, and like I was in Allentown. But I come here, they tell me I'm not tax exempt because I never went to war. I'm asking you guys, please pass this. Like I said, if you need to see these scars, I'll show them to you. I have no problem with that. You know, please. Thank Thank you, sir. Thank you for your service. Thank you. God bless you. All right. Next up, we have uh Mr. Griffith. Good evening, council. Um, I I just

wanted to address a situation that I kind of found myself into uh recently with uh child advocacy services uh advocacy center. I went to a fundraiser for them at the West Morland Club a couple weeks ago and was pretty much set back by some of the services they provide for the children of this county. I didn't realize how important that service was until I sat there and listened to some of the stories that those case workers talk about. And and as the county manager said many times, probably one of the toughest jobs we have to deal with is dealing with families in the county as well as the corrections department. But one of the things that was really confusing to me is why we don't contribute to that agency and help them with their funding streams and they have to have these fundraisers. So I reached out to Megan Stone who's the division head for human services and I inquired and asked the question only to find out that there is money allocated for that and through the cooperation of the manager and the operations division head as well as Katrina Gallowy they're going to have a meeting with uh Shannon uh from the child advocacy center to try and help them with some more funding which is really incredible because it's a really good agency that does a lot of good things for the children of this county that sitting through hardships that they are put through by their parents. And and I just think that that's such a worthwhile cause that we've stepped up to help with. And as I've said many times standing at this podium, cooperation and and collaboration goes a long way in this county. just by me asking the question because I didn't know and did some research to find out that we haven't been given them any money over the past couple years only to find out because of the transition of different people changing jobs and whatever happens in the county it kind of fell through the cracks through no fault of anybody's other than it just happens. So, I'm very thankful that I

was able to talk to Megan and get that corrected to some point and hopefully she'll sit down with them and get some funding for that agency because, you know, that's a tough that's a tough spot for people to have. So, I just appreciate the the hard work from the operations division or from the uh human services division and the manager and and Katrina Gowing for children and youth because if we can get them the muchneeded funding, they can do a whole lot more for the kids of this county. And isn't that what it's all about? So, thank you for that. Thank you, Mr. Griffith. Thank you. And uh I am fully supportive of that and we'll be working with them. Agreed. Appreciate that very much. All right. Next up, we have Blakesley Masters. I'm sorry. I thought I had signed up to talk after the work session. I apologize. Yes, you did. Okay. Okay. Okay. Next up, we have um Jennifer Mercer. You get an A. Sorry. Hi, I'm with Penn State Extension. Uh normally we would be put on the agenda. We do just have a few brief updates if that's okay. Uh Ramilda was kind enough to meet with me and to so that I could find out how we could better partner with your county connections and community connections such as this gentleman talked about. So, um, I'm I'd like to go over a few of the things Ramilda had mentioned and then I'd be pleased to inform all of you of some of the things I found out through my, uh, research with what we're working on. Okay. So, when I met with Rilda, she had mentioned, um, talking about, uh, finding out more about properties with community gardens, rain gardens, vibrancy around the grounds at the courthouse, and involving students in county government, um, such as our 4 programs. I'll start with the rain gardens. Um, some of the things I

uncovered was we are working it with Exitter Burrow on a three-year project at a community center. Um, the master gardeners will be working there on rain gardens. That was one thing. And then, uh, Vinnie Katrone, who's our urban forestry educator, was kind enough to get back to me with the following updates. Uh he said he and our master gardener coordinator Jill Bear have been working with the following Lzern County officials. Beth Dennardi and Nick Vogue to help with soils, rain garden, and pollinator garden design, storm water at the county building by the 40 airport. Uh suggestions have been made by Vinnie and Jill on improving the construction damaged soils and future gardens for the site. and they have an upcoming meeting on May 15th to continue their talks with that project. Vinnie has also provided the county with advice about grounds, trees, and maintenance issues. So, thanks for bringing that up, Romelta. He's worked closely with the last county engineer on developing storm water workshops for for municipalities in the county and assisting with MS4 requirements. Vinnie has asked that Luzer County staff reach out to him for any help he may be he may need in this area and he'll be happy to assist. Um, as for me, I'd like to thank you, Ramilda, the entire council and staff for always taking the time to learn more about Penn State Extension. We're always grateful for your support. I did bring two nutrition educators with me as well. They will be very brief. I feel it's important in my position to educate you all on the programs we have and theirs is amazing. So if they may take a minute or two and then I would love to speak with you after to see if there's anything. Sure. Who wants to go first? Janine. Carol. Yes. I'm Janine Biz. This is Carol Zubris. We both are nutrition education advisors in Lzern County. We provide nutrition education for limited income families with children under the

age of 20 and also senior citizens. Uh we provide nutrition classes. There are series of classes. Uh we uh go over meal planning, um learning more about fruits and vegetables, my plate, money-saving tips in the grocery store, uh learning how to read about the nutrition facts label, healthy drink choices. So many pertinent great topics for people to learn how to cook a healthy. Uh we do uh provide these in rehabs in Luzar County, shelters, head start families, career link, public housing units, um many facilities, the active adult centers, and we've had great response and we just want to let you know this is what we are providing. Carol, do you want to go over some of the incentive items we provide? Hey, first of all, everyone, you have an elderly adult in your family, please or sister, cousin, brother, family member, try to get them to the active adult centers in Lzern County. They are thriving. I am so thrilled to be working every year with our senior citizens or active adults. You've been around Kingston active adult Hazelton. They just love when we come to our classes and when they come, they get a little incentive. And I also work with teen moms, too. So, I'm just going to put these articles out and think about it for a second. A measuring cup like this cookbook all senior citizen at home and you got to section housing. You have nothing.

Every Carol, can you just go up to the mic because the people the people online won't be able to hear you. That's okay. Forgot about that. John, it's been a while. That's all right. I wear many hats. So, like those simple items. It may not be a lot to you guys, but like a displaced family, having a cutting board, a measuring cup, just learning the basic food safety skills. And after four weeks or whenever we finish the program, whenever we finish the program, guys, they get a certificate from Penn State Extension that they can attach to their resume, not only in English, but in Spanish. And I work with high school students, uh, teen moms. They get one of these, they attach it to their resume, and the guidance department is thrilled, and so are the parents. And all it takes is just a little bit of time. And it's a great curriculum. And I've been doing this since 2017. I'll be 10 years at Penn State Extension. We're both from Luzern County. And I'm very, very passionate. And I'm gonna invite you guys. John, you have to come to one of my classes. I'll make you do I'll make you do the PAC with me. That's perfect. That's perfect. Go ahead, Mr. Thornton. Hey, I I just want to thank both the all three of you for what you do. You do great work. That's u fantastic what you do for seniors. I just got to be honest. I I get very scared when two nutrition experts come into the room with me. Uh are pizza and wings at the top of that list anywhere? Thank you, gentlemen. All right. Thank you very much. I I I just want to echo uh that Penn State Extension. uh it's just a extraordinary resource here uh in uh Luzernne County and uh I look forward to a very long relationship with uh them and uh expanding uh uh the services and what we can do for uh Penn State uh and what Penn State can do for us. uh uh and I I want to thank them for acknowledging

uh our uh active adult centers uh especially uh they do extraordinary extraordinary work uh and I also want to say I am the air hockey champion of the Hazelton Active Adult Center still reigning defending. All right, anybody else for public comment? Anybody on the Zoom? Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. All in favor? Opposed? It's 6:40. We'll restart at 6:45. Thank you. Where's

All right, council members, take your seats. We're going to get started here in a minute. It was probably pretty good. All right, everybody, please take your seats. We're going to get started here. All right, council members. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be there. All right, I'd like to call the work session to order. We already had the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Roll call. Miss Lawrence. Mr. Haw here. Miss Kushnowski here. Mr. Lascgavage here. Miss McDermott here.

Mr. Perry here. Mr. Mr. Sabatino here. Miss Smith here. Miss Stevenson here. Mr. Thornton here. Mr. Wavovich present. Mr. Lombardo here. All present. Thank you. Any additions or deletions from the work session? Is there a motion to adopt the agenda? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Agenda is adopted. Uh first we have division reports for April. Uh, as always, if uh council members have any questions, uh they can uh call me, text me, uh or if you have any tonight, I'll be more than happy uh to answer them. Uh I just uh want to note uh just what's happening uh now. uh the children, youth, and families uh is having a spring cleaning uh for the month of May, which uh we're asking for items uh that are needed, spray cleaner, floor cleaner, uh and uh soap uh dish soap uh sponges. Uh as you all know, we have uh a food pantry uh and we would like to have also uh cleaning products uh available. We actually have pet products now. Uh so we're expanding uh the the food pantry and there are boxes in all county buildings uh pen place and here uh obviously uh in human services building if you have anything uh you can drop that off. Thank you. Any questions for manager Crocomo? All right, moving on. Number two, discussion regarding a resolution entering into a lease with Hazwald Farms LLC for a portion of Luzar County owned agricultural farmland in Butler Township. Miss Bar, is this on? Okay. Yes. So, there was um

an RFP put out for farmland in Butler Township that had been used in the past, but there was just a handshake agreement. So the RFP was put out um March 30th and April 2nd. The two leases that we're proposing items two and three were the two respondents that we there were three respondents altogether. Um one area was area three that was only one um I'm sorry area one and two there was only one respondent. Um and then the three submitted pricing for area three and we are proposing that long hollow cattle uh have a lease for area three which totals 69 acres. Okay. Any qu I guess we'll just include number three in this as well. Uh I just want to say I'm glad I'm very glad that we got all of that um worked out legitimately so that it's not just a handshake deal anymore. Thank you. Thank you. and and the two individuals that we do want to have leases with um are both here. I don't know if you have any questions for them. Any questions? Would you guys like to speak? I think a couple words. Yeah. No, you could have a couple more minutes then if you need them. Matt Bali and Blakesley Masters of Haswell Farms and Long Hollow Cattle Company. Uh we have some joint concerns and questions about the proposals and the timing. Um it's we're behind the eightball here. We were under the impression when we put these offers in for these RFPs that it was going to be acted on immediately. Um, now we're under the understanding that you won't be acting on it until your May 27th meeting. Um, we should be done planting by then and that will be before on the property. Uh, we're we're going to be beyond the dates for a good many crops as far as crop insurance goes. Um, the property that Haswalds um are bidding on uh they've been farming for a number of years. That ground's been maintained. Um the property that we bid on has been

laying idle for basically decades and needs a significant amount of work. Um so we're really concerned about it being drug out even to today, let alone being drug out to the 27th um of being able to feasibly do anything with these properties this year. Now, um this really should have been handled back over the winter months, but we were under the impression that it was going to be acted on immediately after the um the proposals were open back last month. So, in addition to that, on our case, um I'm a little bit concerned. We went out, we viewed the property, and after the bids were open or the RFPs were open, excuse me, um there's now property marker stakes um around the music camp on Middle Road. Um, so I need to know is that going to still be included in the portion of the property that we put an offer in on or is that now excluded from the property? And if it has excluded from the property that we're going to be maintaining, who's going to be responsible to maintain it and keep the weeds and you know, so so there's there's some questions that need to be answered. There's also some other questions um going forward with this. Um well to back up the timing is the biggest problem that we have. Um that we're going to look at serious yield reductions this year. Um because we're really if you guys don't act on it till the 27th, we're not going to get on this property till the 1st of June. We should be corn should be planted by the 15th of May. Um this all should have been done previously. So we we just want to know what the council's intentions are for us moving forward as far as getting onto this property and doing what needs to be done. Our portion of the property needs to be soil sampled. It's going to need lime spread and it's going to need that 20 some year old sod killed. Um Frederick stand a chance of getting on there only because they've been maintaining the property in the past. It's a little bit different scenario. Um the other thing that I'd really like to address with the county is the ability

for us to use the game commission for some deer deprivation down there. I'm an adjacent property owner now. Uh my family's owned and farmed the property next door adjacent to the county for 145 years and I can tell you we are just absolutely getting overrun with deer coming off of the the county owned property. So something that I would really like to see you address in these leases is allowing us to use the game commission's programs to do something with the deer deprivation down there. It it is when I tell you it's horrible. It's nothing to go down there and see 15 20 acre fields with a hundred deer at a time standing in them. So there's no sense us, you know, doing this moving forward and not being able to control the deer. For a lot of years, that property was posted and was used as sort of a a quasi private hunting reserve for for people. And you know, there is people hunting on it now, but it it's nowhere near enough. I mean, it's when I tell you it's overpop populated, it is drastically overpop populated. So, um, just some of the biggest concerns that we have moving forward. But like I said, my biggest question on the portion around the music camp is those property markers weren't there or those property lines weren't there. So, is that included or not included? Miss Sparitch might have a couple of the answers to the questions that you uh asked. I did reach out to Butler Township when we heard about those property markers and they couldn't tell me what was going on. So, I can follow up with them again tomorrow, but I did call last week or the week before and their zoning officer wasn't aware of of anything that was going on there. And they're not our they're not not our markers. It's it's private. It it's professional survey stakes put in by a land surveyor and they completely encircle the music camp. Well, we didn't Butler Town. Just trying to give you the information. I don't know who did them. All I know is they were not there when we put the proposal in and they are there now. They go right up through the middle of the field on the east side of the music camp around the back of the music camp towards the drums elementary school and come right down

through the fields on the opposite side. makes a bit of a rectangle around the music camp. Yeah, the music camp's a tenant. Yeah. So, I I We had a Is it with Cano? We We made a deal. I don't know. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it was either Caner or the chamber. We'll look into it, but they're not We did not put those stakes in. Okay. Well, I just I guess my question is is are we going to be farming inside them and outside of them or or not? When we looked at the property and put the RFP in, you know, we were under the impression it was all of it. So, and you're talking probably a 10 or 15% difference in the total amount of acreage. Did didn't the RFP specify the exact land area? It specified the number of acres. So, I would go by that. Okay. But just so you understand, your map also included the the music camp in its entirety. Let me put that on. Obviously the music camp, you can't plant in there and they're in the middle of the field. But I just don't know how the acreage was calculated, you know what I mean? And that's not a problem. We're willing to work with that. I It's just the the areas around the fields because it's just more deer habitat is what it turns into. Well, we'll reach out definitely to them and find out because we did not do that. Don't know anything about it. Thank you. Yeah. Has anybody been there? We can talk about this one. Yeah. All right. Council members, if this is okay with you, what we'll do is at the conclusion of the work session, we'll reopen the voting meeting. We'll put these two leases on um you know, on so that we can vote on them tonight since time is of the essence. We'll do that and and then um attorney and the office of law can work on the specifics from there. We'll, you know, give you authorization to do so. Is that okay with everybody? Yeah, I'm good with that. Yes, that would be great. Thank you. Appreciate. Absolutely. No

problem. Okay. All right. So, nobody leave when we jured from the work session. I know you're going to want to. Um Okay. So, one, two, and three is done. All right. Next. Number four. Discussion regarding a resolution authorizing the county manager to execute an agreement of sale between Luzern County and Market Square Properties Development LLC for real property identified by PIN number. I'm not going to read the number. located within the city of Wilsbury. This is uh the train station. Uh the agenda submitt uh indicates that the sale price is $615,000. Uh right now uh our uh tourism uh department is located there. Uh we um we believe that uh it is the ideal location for our tourism uh department. Uh and uh by the time we pay this uh fee of $65,000, it would be equivalent to what we would pay during the course of the lease uh right now. uh and uh uh I think for public policy uh reason uh this is beneficial to Luzern County. It is a symbol uh of Lern and its historical value uh is uh is extremely important uh to the identity of Lord County. uh and I believe that we are stewards uh to make sure that our historical structures are wellmaintained uh and the building itself is in uh really great uh

condition uh and uh as I said that it it it is a perfect location for a tourism board. Manager Cromo, can you go into a little bit more specifics about the condition of the building? That was one of the concerns I had when we first started um kind of kicking the tires on this issue. Sure. And also um can you also for the public's uh sake, can you talk about the possibility out some of the office space in there so we can recoup some of the funds that we'll be, you know, utilizing? I'll ask uh attorney. He did the negotiations uh to speak to the condition uh of the station and the potential uh uh u option of of leasing uh renting part of the space uh of the uh train station. During our negotiation of that, we had some concern about the roofing. So, we had our roofer go out and do an assessment of it. Our roofer came back and and indicated to us everything that needed to be repaired on the roof. We provided that information to the owner and the owner repaired everything that we had asked them to repair and um our roofer reviewed the repairs. uh we were provided with inspection reports and a phase one study that was done a long time ago when he first u bought bought the place. So all of that is uh in good order going forward. We then have an option of either putting in county employees or some kind of county office on the second floor or we could uh rent it. It had previously been rented out. So there may be a market interest in it. Uh the

second floor does not have elevator service, but we could uh advertise that and see if we would be better. It would be a better use to use for county offices or a better use for leasing it out. Any questions about the lease or about the purchase of the train station? And just for the public's clarification, it's not general fund money reason to purchase the building. Correct. Correct. All right. Thank you. Any other questions, Mr. Hos? Yeah, if I could. I have three issues actually and one on Councilman Wallovich's question. So, this is hotel and tourism tax money, correct? Correct. Manager Croman. So, it's 100% funded by non taxpayer funds, nonpropy taxes. I think what Greg was talking about, I think that's very clear because I think some people out there will say, "Oh, the council own this property, then they got rid of it, and then they they're buying it back." It's not that kind of old county deal. No. like this is this makes a lot of sense economically, but if you can speak to that. Uh Mary, do you want to uh come to the podium and speak to the numbers? But you're absolutely right. Uh the uh train station tourism is funded by uh uh hotel tax. Uh and uh we're not buying back the whole parcel that was sold, just uh uh the train station and uh the parking ride around the train station. I'm shutting this off. Sorry. Um, yeah. So, the $615,000 is actually coming from um miscellaneous income through community development. So, it's not general fund money at all. And then going forward as well, I I calculate just at $2,700 a year to pay off or a month rather of the rent we're paying now, that would take 18.9 years to recoup that investment. And then again, if we are able to rent that

second floor, um I think that's a beautiful thing. Probably shape that in half. But I was wondering if management could take, you know, being in the issue with the elevator, could you negotiate this price down to help factor that in? because I I think it would probably behoove us to have an elevator installed there if that's possible. I don't know if that was part of negot I don't want to do that in public, but I don't know if that's something that could be addressed. Harry, Mr. Attorney, do you want to comment on that? Yes, we negotiated with them and that was the lowest price that we could get on the building. There there is also the possibility uh well first of all it's a historic building so we have to be very careful uh right uh we can't just uh put an elevator in uh because it's a historical uh historic building. number one. Uh uh number two, uh we could put a uh county office that doesn't have dealings with the public uh on the second floor. Uh and uh andor, you know, we can uh lease it to a private entity that doesn't have the requirements of having uh an elevator. Uh there is a possibility though with the elevator if we get approval uh to put the elevator in to get grants. Um I don't know if Michelle uh speak to that, but we were in a a conversation uh that perhaps we can get uh monies uh grant money to put the elevator in. So, I mean, just to clarify, too, going back to the community development funds, what what exactly fund is that, Miss Rosselle? It's not like ARCAP or what what or where we draw that down from exactly? Um, well, there are several funds that community development has, several different bank accounts. Um, you know, some of it is interest money, some of it is it's just money that they've collected over the years that, um, they have not utilized. So, we're now in a position where we feel like we should be utilizing that money, and I'm all for

it. My concern is just if there's another project that comes up that maybe we could use that instead of the the yearly the annual hotel tax. I I don't I'm just thinking of the pots and that's what you all do in management, but to make sure that we can unlock as much funds and have as much freedom and leverage with our funds and and uh use them in in that kind of place. So, I'm I'm sure you've thought all that through, but I don't know if if I'm maybe making sense of my question. Little little gobbledygook. Um, so I'm not really sure what your question is, but the hotel tax right now, I mean, you know, is obviously what's being utilized to to cover the expenses of the visitors u bureau, but obviously not to the tune of $615,000. So, um, are we use a portion of that for the mortgage, Miss Rosa, a portion of that hotel tax? We are not. We are going to use all the community development money. Okay. Well, we would be a but then we would be able to shift the money that we use for the rent Right. Going forward. Yes. But initially we'll take Yeah, that's the tradeoff. That's what my I just want to make sure we have as much leverage as possible if that makes sense with these different pots of money that I think the journal public doesn't understand there's pots of money that we can't touch for certain projects. So, um anyway, thanks for Right. So the 2,700 to Remlda's point, um the $2,700 that they're paying per month now in rent can be utilized to cover other expenses and and shift it. Mr. Sappino, you had a question. Yeah. Um uh Councilman Hos said the mortgage. We're not getting a mortgage. We are not getting a mortgage. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for council members? and and that we want to minimize f the financing that we uh enter into uh because we we've financed way too much historically. So uh in the long run it's better to use this interest money from

the community develop development the tourism money that comes in it could be shifted for other uses and just buy the building outright. That answers my question too. He's talking about financing for lower interest payments. We'll just play that pay that fat that flat amount. Mr. Thornton. Yeah. I two things I want to add. Um when I read through the materials. Number one, very importantly, this uh property was constructed in 1868. So three years after the Civil War ended, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places 50 years ago. Uh it's something like uh so which manager Crock correctly stated has great historical significance. Thank you. And uh secondly, I cannot overemphasize the economic value of having uh functional rail lines right there which connect to everything in this country. So from that train station, you know, whether it be passenger service or even freight, um there's there's a certain amount of economic value which I cannot evaluate here, but I think for the future it bodess well for the county. Thank you. Any other comments? All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Roselle. Thank you, Miss Sparitch. Number five, discussion regarding resolution approving student sponsorship agreements for classes and programs at Lazernne County Community College, uh, LCCCC employee programs. Okay. I'm just uh I I want to say that uh this is really a great uh opportunity and uh I went out for a tour of the community college and uh I think I've said this before. Uh I I I I like to pride myself that I'm aware of uh what's

going on in Lousern County and I was floored how impressive uh the community college is and uh and the uh and the the academics and the trades and uh we're going to form a partnership that will not only help uh the college but will help our staff members here. uh and uh uh you'll be able to speak to to more of specifics, but uh we'll use this not only as a way to attract employees, but to retain uh employees. And I'm not sure there's other counties that are are doing something like this, but uh I I have no problem being the the first county uh to uh join with our community college uh and provide sponsor student sponsorships. Okay. Is this on? Okay. Hi, my name is Aaron Herman. I'm the vice president of finance at Ler & County Community College. So what this is is offering a discount to the loser and county employees a 25% discount on classes and the county would also have to contribute 25% towards that. So the employee would only have to pay 50 lo and county employee would only have to pay 50% of the tuition 100% of the fee. So how that would break down for an average three credit class um there would be $112.50 50 discount. The loser and county would be responsible for $112.50 and then the student would be responsible for 200 or the student or the employee loser and county employee would be responsible for $225 per per class plus fee. So, um that just is our general service fee and our tech fee and any course materials, books they would need. So it's, you know, we we have a partnership with with Loser

and County and we really value that and this is a way that we want to give back as well to the loser and county employees. So there's no limit. There's we offer also microcredentiing classes, you know, if they want to take an Excel course or a QuickBooks course or um even nonredit classes we have. So we have a wide array of classes and programs. Does anybody have any questions for me? Miss McDermott. Well, I got one here. Um, more just for the administration. Obviously, that's not a lot of money, but just asking the question where that money would come out of and approximately how much. Again, it's minimal, but just wondering where that comes from. We have uh various sources uh of monies. I know Mary, if you uh want to speak to that as well. Uh uh we don't know how many employees will uh uh take advantage of it. Uh I hope uh as many as possibly can. I know that we will have uh uh the community college if we need to have special courses just for county employees uh and I talked to my division heads today and the department heads. There may be uh management trainings uh that can be crafted uh that will just be for loser county uh department heads and division heads. So, uh, there's a lot of, uh, different opportunities. I also want to add, I talked to our academic affairs department and they can create a program just for loser county employees. You know, we could tailor it to the needs of what you would like for your employees. One more thing too I want to add is um, our budget will be passed for 6:30. So, right now, this is what our tuition is and it may not it may change, it may not change, but that the figures I'm giving you could go up slightly. Just want to let you know as far as how um how we're going to be paying for that. Um most departments have money that's budgeted right now for

education and training. So we would be using that line item to pay for those expenditures. Um we do have some employees all classes have to be approved if they're just taking classes. So they get approved by their manager which means they can make sure that you know that expense is already in their budget within their department. I mean we're hoping that more people take advantage of this. um you know, we have people that go to all different, you know, colleges and universities, um specifically in the area and online and we pay a lot more for those classes. So, I think that this would be a great opportunity for us to save some money on maybe some of those higher cost classes as well as maybe um you know, entice some additional employees to take advantage of the program. Mr. Hos, big time. Yeah, loser County is best deal. It's such a great deal. Sorry. And you know, Mr. Herman, thanks for what you do and give our regards to the chancellor too. Chancellor DJ, you know, Britney, I know you and I and and um Joanna, we talked about this on our strategic initiatives committee all about using synergy, partnerships, building up our staff, you know, encouraging. This is right on the mark. So, Mila, hats off to you, too. I'm just so proud of this whole initiative. So, thank you. Thank you everybody. Thanks. This is amazing. I mean, this is exactly what I was looking forward to bring to fruition. Like, this is tangible. Like, this is real. Um few questions just to recap what we've just gone over. Right. So Lazern County Community College is putting up 25% Lazern County will match. Correct. So approximately 50% of the cost of that tuition for the community college will be paid for and that doesn't even include scholarships or financial aid. Correct. Um are all the Lazar County courses that entire course catalog accessible to Lazar County employees? Yes. And I also want to add to campuses too. So we have a campus right down the street on the square. So, and online as well. Okay, fabulous. Um, what was my next question? Um, what what courses wouldn't be accessible to Lazar County employees? There is no they just have to have manager approval. Yeah. And there list we would have to work with

our business office so we know that it's approved and we have the list of students ahead of time. So, for billing purposes as well. So, yes. First, Miss Krishnowski. Okay. Attorney Skrishnowski. So, this even counts for people getting degrees. So, we could have people leave high school, come here and work for us and and earn a degree while they're working. Absolutely. Amazing. Um, last question. Sure. Um, this might be for you, um, manager Kroker. How long do they have to work for the county before they can enter into this program? We didn't, uh, discuss that, uh, how long, uh, individuals have to work for the county. I know the agencies uh have uh I know for example we have relationships uh I believe it's still with Marywood for uh master's degrees uh and we pay them and then they have to work uh you know two years and and if not they have to pay us back but it I don't believe that there's a time limit of how long you have to work for the county to uh take advant manage. So, hypothetically, I could apply to work for the county, get hired, and be able to attend school within that semester time period. Yes. Fabulous. Yes. And we're we're going to use it as a recruitment uh tool. And and you've also stated that LCCCC is willing to draft an entire curriculum tailored to the county to meet each of our divisions and their potential purposes. Extraordinary. Uh M. We're focusing on uh to do that like we're focusing on uh CYF for case workers. Uh so uh this is just the beginning but uh there's more to come. Go ahead. I was going to say what you asked about how long do you have to be here but I was also curious are you going to the high schools to get them to

recruit to do this because I know we need a lot of people to be hired for the county. So, this would be an absolutely perfect way to get people to be hired to work for the county. You know, if you went to high schools and said, "Listen, we're offering this program. Is that is there any way to get high school people involved in this?" Because I think that's wonderful. Yeah. I mean, I think that our um our human resource department can work towards doing that. I mean, right now we do go to um you know, job fairs and things like that, but that's a great that's a great point. We should target people that are in high school so that we can make them aware of the program and and get them involved in the beginning. If if I could add if if and when this is officially drafted in a you know a presentable format for the public I would love to bring that to the educational opportunity center were directed in the in the surrounding nine counties and that would be an amazing way to have the outreach blasted through high school elementary schools and even the surrounding postsecondary institutions. Any other comments? Mr. Hos, I have a I have a comment actually. Could we if if you look at page 54 of the agenda of the draft resolution um a couple of the council women their comments about how or the policies how long they have to work for the county how many courses can you take in a in a period of in a semester. Could we just add for the voting session? If you look at the last be resolved resolved, loser county council consents to the student scholarship programs and approves the student sponsorships agreements and directs I'd like to add and directs management to establish a payment policy or maybe maybe just a policy for reimbursement or however you want to word that. So again to add and directs management to establish financial financial policy, a financial policy, period. Um, you know, as as um, manager Cooko did state, we do have a policy on the back end. So, if we pay

for education and someone leaves employment, you know, before the two-year mark, then obviously they owe that money back. Um, you know, and we do enter into payment arrangements with them. Now, that policy already exists. So, it's not like um you know, sometimes they can't just pay us a check if someone's leaving, you know, within um the 2-year period, but they do have payment plans that we put in place. Yes. No, no. With that, we've recouped money in those situations. And I'm I'm just saying just to make sure that that we're set with the what this particular policy is because you're not going to take 20 credits in a semester. You know, is it is it just three credits? Is it six? Can you just can you just word smith that for us? I'd feel more comfortable we'd say on that. I don't think it's a big ask, but I don't if any members have any disagreements. I'm I'm all ears. Any other anything else? Just as a comment to um Councilman Haz's proposed addition. I actually would advocate to not put that in. We've obviously established an educational policy. We've been doing it with other educational facilities. Been something the county has done. I think that the less require of the county to do. It will allow the county to tailor its policies and programs more effectively and efficiently to what it specifically needs. So, I think less words here might be more helpful for the management to do exactly what it intends to and wants to do with this. And just so uh people are aware, those other programs that we pay for, we pay 100% and this is 25%. If if I could also add um Hos there is language in here that I feel like protects us and Lizern County as well. Um I I would definitely check out and read that in detail because um the county is not at fault. The student is responsible if they do decide to withdraw um and and there is a fullterm and part time you know um credit requirement depending on what the

circumstance or situation is. So I do believe the county is protected as far as the language presented. Yeah. My concern I wasn't even necessarily looking for protection just to to get real definitive policy on this and that's something you're already going to do anyway. I mean you're you all in management can do that Mary but um just make me feel more comfortable. I don't think it handicaps management. I don't think it gives any undue um requirements. Anything else? Any other comments? All right. Absolutely. Thank you very much. All right. Number six, discussion regarding resolution approving a memorandum of understanding between Loern County Children, Youth, and Families, and Nanakoke UAW Housing Company. I'm not sure uh if Megan Stone is on, too. Yeah, she's on. She is. Okay. Megan. Megan, can you hear us? I can hear you. Okay. Um, so this this memorandum is to put children, youth, and families. we would fill every fifth vacancy they would give to a children youth and family client um every fifth vacancy on their list which just just would give us a little bit of an advantage for preference placement. Okay, any questions, comments? I have a question. Megan, um it's Bridget Stevenson. So question, can you like elaborate on this for me a little bit? How like what does this look like? You know, streamlined. So every Sorry, I'll let you go. My apologies. So So children, youth, and families would give two to three applicants that meet the properties eligibility criteria and then within five to seven business days, one of those people would be chosen for in the vac, you know, for to fill that fifth

vacancy. So currently they have there's lists for all public housing. Um essentially what this will do is break down a little bit of the barriers because they'll um because they're children, youth and family client, they'll allow people like if there's an eviction on their record. They are not eligible typically for low-income housing, but they're willing to wave that if they're children, youth, and family client. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Yeah, Megan, just real one quick question. Have we used this company before? Have we used this company in the past? Um, no. They're Well, they're affordable housing, East Side Apartments. So, we're not it's this is this is a new thing that they're doing with this thisou with children, youth, and families just because of the housing shortage. So, this was like an out-ofthe- box idea to try to get priority on the list. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you, Miss Stone. Yep. Number seven, discussion regarding the ordinance amending the Lerner County zoning map to reszone one parcel of property totaling 0.49 49 acres in Newport Township from ND non-developable district zone to R2 two family residence district zone. Yes, my name is Christopher Madden. I represent the property owners. I'm just here to answer any questions. Uh but basically what happened is they purchased this property some time ago. Never did anything with it. Um we believe it meets all the requirements to be reszoned. It has all utilities uh abuing the property as well as being in a residential district. All right, Mr. Lgavage, when did they purchase that? I don't have the exact date, but they have owned it for several

several decades. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Mr. Sabatino. Uh Mr. Reese, do you have anything to add to this? Yeah. At last Thursday's planning commission meeting, the planning commission uh approved it to be reszoned. So, but like you were saying that it's a small parcel. They they couldn't do anything with it. Uh because it was technically it's m it's zone mining, but in order for them to do anything with it, they had to sell it and make sure that it was on public sewer and public water. So, that's why they're reszoning it to R2 to be able to make it marketable for them. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? All right. Oh, just just I think it's a basic one, but just at the plenty commission, were there any concerns with any neighbors or the township or anything like that for this change? Yeah, there was no no comment from anyone. There was no opposition either. Very good. Very good. Thank you everybody. Anybody else? All right. Thank you very much. Number eight, discussion regarding the resolution enacting a veteran real estate tax exemption for non-wartime veterans and surviving spouses. Uh, Miss McDermott wanted to make a comment or two before we hear from Mr. Clocker. So, actually this was brought to my attention by Mr. Hall. Um I had gotten a call saying that he was u interested in why Lutheran County does not have the tax exemption for nonwart time but 100% dis disabled during their active duty service. So I did reach out to Mr. Clocker and ask some questions about u you know certainly numbers that are going to deal with our budget and

everything. So uh if you'd like to answer some questions I know Mr. Thornton had a bunch. Go ahead. Uh, at this point in time, I have a list in front of me right now that has 20 25 100% non-combat service connected uh veterans in the county that are still paying paying the taxes. Now, if you look at the from the Commonwealth, it's title 51 chapter 89. It does allow for the real estate tax exemption, but there are stipulations in there that it does state that you have to be serving in a time of war. All right. Um, we do have adjoining counties, Lacawana County, Monroe County, I believe it's Tyogga, Bradford, and another one that they they do have the exception to policy for nonwartime veterans at 100% to receive real estate tax exemption. So, if you look at the numbers, let's say, let's say I have 30 people on my list right now, and let's say they pay all pay $7,000 in real estate tax and school tax alto together. That's $210,000. I mean, for what they've sacrificed, it's a drop in the bucket. I know that I am able to take advantage of this this program and it does it saves me thousands of dollars a year and I know that there's veterans here in this county that would really appreciate the opportunity for the service that they put forth because if you remember you're not getting drafted anymore. You actually raise your right hand and you volunteer. Mr. Clocker, I just have a question. Um

so you mentioned like their total tax bill. If we pass this legislation, does that absolve them only of county taxes? Correct. It is your property tax and school tax. Uh if we I am absolved from property tax and school tax. Okay. I I wonder I would just wonder if we have the authority to do that. We we certainly have the ability to do county taxes. That's not what the the question is. It's just whether we have the the ability to authorize that school tax. It's the real estate tax exemption that you want. All right. That's the one. That's the one that you could say yes to, not the school tax, right? Okay. Yeah. Okay. Understood. All right. All right. Any other questions? Okay. Okay. So you did say about 7,000 if you estimated 7,000 per home but that's a total taxes. So again the county burden of that if we guesstimate what did you say 30 30 veterans? Yes thousand maybe county taxes approximately. So about 30,000. So that would be the the hit to our budget. Just just so you all know that because that's obviously a very big concern. Now the number is 30. Now, I don't have a magic crystal ball that states that people coming home from from active duty service back to Luzern County now will not come back with 100% disabled status. Um, we service 21,000 vets here out of our our office on Water Street and uh that's a lot of people. It's a lot of people and the numbers change every day because everybody comes in because they want to look for an increase because the laws change from the federal side all

the way down to the county end it changes every day. So as soon as they know that they're coming for an increase so numbers will change. Mr. Lcavage and then Mr. store. I think it's a very worthy cause, but going back it's we have the county, the municipality, and then the school. Just so everybody understands, they're all separate entities. No different than when we pass Alerta. We pass it on the county behalf for that schedule. We don't do it for the school and we certainly don't do it for the town. They negotiate within that, too. Okay. So, I just want that understood. Yeah. Yeah. That frightened me when you said $7,000 per person because it's probably closer to $1,000. So, we could relieve if we vote this into action, which I'm very in favor of personally, it it would be probably roughly $1,000, maybe $700 per veteran. All those other taxes, the bulk of your property, real estate taxes are the school taxes. That's a big one. and that you would have to deal with the local school district to do that. So, uh, personally, I'm in favor of doing something like this. I had some questions though this morning. I wrote to council and to our office of law just about the finances and specifics because the devil's always in the details. So, you know, one of my questions was um what the total figure would be and we just determined currently it's 30,000 probably it could be 60,000 some point in the future if there's 60 people uh whatnot. Uh so that's number one. U number two is answered currently you said about 30 people. Uh the problem I had with and this is not for you guys Kevin uh this is more for attorney scheme when I read the resolution the clause at the bottom that says now

therefore be it resolved this clause makes no mention of a disability requirement partial full disability or otherwise. Um, so are we considering granting property tax exemption to all living veterans plus active duty vets who have no disability because it's not specified at all in the resolution. I thought it was, but I'll check it again. I may have looked at the draft at first. Yeah. Well, up above it does talk about disabled veterans, how we have disabled veterans in the county and blah blah blah. But down at the bottom, the the clause that we have to live by, the legal clause. Now, therefore, be it resolved, Luther County Council agrees to extend the veteran real estate tax exemption to nonwart active duty retired service members and their surviving spouses. Period. It it makes no mention of any kind of disability, but it it quote it states the state act. Pardon? That state act that's cited in there is is specifically for 100%. Okay. I I would like to uh see that revised a little bit. Add that language just in that in that second to last whereas So yeah, there's other counties that have done it and I think it would be behoove us to add it. So it would say unmarried unmarried surviving spouses of such veterans. So to specify that they cannot be remarried. Okay. So it's only the married the spouse of the uh veteran unmarried that's unmarried. Okay. So and can we just y maybe add at the end of that or somewhere in there pursuant to probably in those both of those last ones, right? um active duty service members and their um the fir like the last whereas unmarried surviving spouses and then therefore be it resolved loser county agrees to extend the veteran real

estate tax exemption to nonwartime active duty retired service members and their unmarried add it there again surviving spouses can we just add at the very end pursuant to Pennsylvania title 51 chapter 89 that'd be great just just to clear up any possible confusion, although the spirit of what it says is obvious. That'd be great. Okay. I I think that's good too, Mr. Chair. I I think that's fantastic, too, Mr. Thornton. I think also agrees to extend the veteran real estate tax exemption for Luzern County taxes. I don't I think that was brought up by Kevin, right? Okay. All right. Make sure that's very clear. We can't we can't forgive school taxes, right? We'd love to. I was going to say I think we would like just for the record. Just for the Yeah. Yes. Go ahead, Mr. And one other concern I had uh under that spouse rule. I guess it's specified in the state act though. I didn't read the state act. Um there's a lot of girlfriends and boyfriends out there of of veterans and uh common law. I don't know what that law is whether they're considered. We don't we don't have common law. Pardon? There's no more common law. So it would not include any kind of uh people other than truly married people. Correct. The last thing uh which is a big concern of mine u with all programs like this uh inevitably invar there's fraud involved years down the road. So my question is what entity in the county would be be responsible for verification of all of this i.e. Confirmation of disability, marriage certificates, death certificates, property transfers after death, notification to our tax office for removal of taxes exempt status. What department or division here would be responsible for following up on it? That actually goes through my office at better veteran affairs. You okay? You would confir I figured that but you would confirm all the marriage

certificate, death certificates. Yes. This isn't something that is granted Mr. Thornton and then it's just forgotten about. This is reviewed every 5 years. Okay. So if you let's say you have cancer and you are at 100%. But then you go into remission and the VA says we're not going to give you 100% anymore. We're going to drop you to 60%. Now we have to take action. Okay. And and the other thing I was wondering u when when eventually the veteran passes away and the spouse passes away and there's children and nephews and nieces living there continuously uh indefinitely how how is that monitored for tax exemption? I mean we work well with the assessor's office and uh of course we do all of the veteran death benefits and everything else. So everything links up in our system called VetPro, which it sends a red flag up and says, "Okay, you also have this tagged to this veteran." And if it's if he's not married, doesn't have a spouse or she doesn't have a spouse, it sends that red flag up and it says, "Okay, this is nullified." That's fantastic. Thank you. I think it's a great suggestion, great program. Any other comments, Mr. Perry? John. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just real quickly, uh, as a veteran myself, uh, great great idea, great program, and, uh, I'm glad we can go go forward with this. I'm sure you'll get enough votes to pass. It's just Thank you. It's great. And go ahead. Yeah, attorney. And under the act, uh, there's income thresholds also. Yes, there are. So, it's not everybody. So, if you're 100% disabled and you make too much money, you are not eligible for it. Right. We have we have it's a very strict guidelines, a very strict checklist that we go through that has to and it it goes from our office to the state to federal and then back again. So there's plenty of sets of eyes that that review this. It's not just the county

office that does it. Miss Stevenson, um what is the income threshold? I believe it's 75,000. You're right. Any other questions, council members? All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Clocker. Thank you. And by the way, their new uh their new office is is very beautiful on Water Street. I don't know if you want to speak about that briefly. Uh yes. Uh we had a very positive but rainy uh opening day uh last Friday. Uh we had a great turnout. Uh was glad to see a lot of council members there. Miss Carakamo, food was delicious. It was a little late, but uh by the time Mr. Thornton got done with it, it was pretty much gone anyway. So, but uh great great macaroni and cheese. It was a great day. I thank you all for the support, Miss Crock. I thank you for the great move and the opportunity and uh it's business as usual for the 21,000 here in the county. All right. Thank you very much. Okay. Anything else? Public comment. Mr. Griffith, do you have anything? Public comment. Okay. All right. Just quickly, um, that LCC class program is is a a really a good positive step for the employees of the county. The online courses, members of my staff actually took some of those courses in Excel, and it was a big benefit for the people of my office in Excel. I I mean, we have to understand some of the people that work in this county need that type of training and they need it sooner rather than later and it makes our production go up when we train them and educate them and it makes their lives better. So, it's a good thing to offer that type of education. Education is always good. Back when uh Robert Lton was here as the manager, I set up some

of that one of those programs in the county. LCCCC was kind enough to actually take the meeting room in pen place that we currently use uh for our conferences. They brought in all kinds of laptops. The IT department set it all up and we had incount training for people for Word, Excel, Microsoft products and it was very well attended by most of the employees of this county. It was totally free to everybody. We had some push back from some uh union members and some other people that they were doing that on their own time and they should have been compensated yada yada. So Bob Lton canceled the program. That was back in I think 2013 if I remember correctly when we did that and it was a good program. So I applaud the manager and the council for looking into that. I think it's a a benefit for everybody in this county. Uh it's it's really something that we're all going to gain uh production from and it's an incentive for people to work here. Let's face it, we don't pay the employees a whole bunch of money as incentive to come to work here, but if we could give them more benefits and teach them give them an education and make their lives better, that's incentive to get people to come here and work. And that's that's what it really should be about. And uh if we're going to try and get people to work for the wages that we could pay, unless we want to raise taxes like 10% to give everybody a a living wage, which we probably should do that anyway, but I'm just saying I think the best thing to do is to go ahead and give them an education and help their uh help their productivity here. So, thank you for the council for doing that. And uh I I certainly do appreciate your effort. Thank Thank you, Mr. Griffith. And just for anybody else who is in the audience and heard the word 10% tax increase, we are not raising taxes 10%. Just for the public's edification, not raising taxes 10%. Not happening.

Okay. Just wanted to reiterate that. Emphasize it. Any other public comments? Oh, uh, Mr. car. Hi, John. How are you? Good. We can hear you, Mr. Carr. Oh, great. I'm calling from Sailorsburg, Pennsylvania. Uh, I've been reading online that the uh, operations position that hasn't been filled yet, the division head operations position uh, hasn't been filled yet. And I'm trying to clarify has uh, I I guess I was reading online that Kevin Lcavage has put his name in the running for that position. He's one of the candidates. And secondly, Ramilda is considering the relative of one of the people who served on the manager search committee who recommended her as the county manager. And I was wondering if uh we could get clarification on both those situations. Uh, as well, I understand that there's going to be approximately a 6% tax increase for property owners this year relying on the people that lose in the primary that currently serve on council voting for it. So, is it possible anyone can clarify these these questions? Uh, yeah, maybe I don't know. Maybe don't read what you see online, Mr. Carr. Uh there's no 6% tax increase has

been proposed by anybody. Not on council, not through the administration. Manager Crocomo, I don't know if you want to answer the personnel related questions. Um although they are personnel related, so probably can't go into too much detail on them, but thank you. There we are then. Mr. Carr has spoken. Uh there have been uh there will be at least uh three rounds uh of interviews. Uh the first round of interviews were completed. Uh I had three staff members interview all uh of the applicants. Uh I can tell you um Council Member Luscavage was not one of them. There will be a second round of interviews and I'm calling upon experts in the fields uh that uh operations overseas which will include engineering, emergency services uh and uh planning and zoning. Um I will be on that panel uh that will interview the second uh round and then there will be a third round uh where uh the top two candidates uh will have to answer a scenario and uh uh a specific scenario uh and uh make a presentation and that's how the uh operations the division head will be chosen. So, uh the majority of the committee will be outside members uh u people uh experts in their fields. Uh it's a very important uh position uh and um it will be a very thorough interview process. All right. Thank you, manager Crocomo.

Is there any other further public comment? All right. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Motion to adjurnn. No, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on a second. Hold on, everybody. Motion to adjurnn. We will adjourn the meeting. I will make a motion to reopen the voting session. When we reopen the voting session, I will ask that someone makes a motion to add the items two and three for an agenda. Then we will have an opportunity for public comment and then we will vote on them. Okay. All right. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Second. All in favor? I opposed. The meeting is adjourned. I would now like to make a motion to reopen the voting session for the purposes of approving these leases. So move second. Motion and a second. Uh I guess we'll do roll call for that if that's okay. Or does it have to uh I guess I was the first. Okay. All right. All right. Uh roll call on re Mr. Hos. Yes. Miss Krishnowski here. Mr. Geles Gavin. Yes. Miss McDermott. Yes. Mr. Perry. Yes. Mr. Sabatino. Yes. Miss Smith. Here. Miss Stevenson. Yes. Yes. Not here. Okay. Miss Stevenson. Mr. Thornton. I am definitely here. I think we're we're looking for yes or no here, ladies and gentlemen. Yes. Oh my gosh. Mr. Wovich, yes. Mr. Lombardo, yes. Unanimous. Okay. The meeting is reopened. Uh would anybody

like to make a motion to add these two items to the Mr. Lardo? Instead, we could we be very careful specifically to include all of those items that they requested, including the deer, the game commission. You have to add it first. What's that? We have to add it to the first. Okay. All right. Move to add it to the agenda. All right. Items two and three from the work session to the agenda for this voting session. I'll second that motion and a second. Yes. Roll call. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Lavage? Yes. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes, Mr. Wovich. Yes, Mr. Hos. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. All right. Is there any Is there any public comment on items? I have one. Okay. Mr. Griffith, I just want I just want to make sure that Mr. Scheme given legal okay to do with the sunshine law to do another voting session in the middle without advertising or anything if that's legitimate or not. We're going to go ahead with it. Okay. We'll figure That's your opinion. That's my opinion. We can go ahead with it. It's the right thing to do. Okay. Well, I agree. We want to address it, but I don't know if we could do it legally. I think we have the ability to reopen the voting meeting if needed for purposes of Yeah. Okay. And any other Hold on, hold on, hold on. Is there any other public comment? Okay. Hearing none, let's move on into the agenda. Do we have to take a roll call? I just want to make comment on Walter. A roll call on who's attending the meeting. We reopened it. So, it's the same

people. Yes. Yeah, we reopened it. The same people. It's It's I think we're okay. Okay. All right. Okay. Is there a motion for number two? Go ahead. I would like to move to authorize the uh administration to negotiate uh um a lease with uh Hazwald um Agriculture Hazwald Farms LLC. Okay. Motion and a second on the question. Anybody? Roll call. Mr. Luscavage. Yes. Miss McDermott. Yes, Mr. Perry. Mr. Sabatino. Yes, Miss Smith. Yes, Miss Stevenson. Yes, Mr. Thornton. Yes, Mr. Wovich. Yes, Mr. Hos. Yes, Miss Krishnowski. Yes, Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Thank you. All right. Discussion. Well, motion to uh motion to authorize to authorize the uh uh negotiation of the lease with Long Hollow Cattle. So moved. Second motion in a second on the question. Anybody? Mr. Thornton, do you have a question? No. Oh, okay. All right. Roll call. I'm sorry. Miss McDermott? Yes. Mr. Perry? Yes. Mr. Sabatino? Yes. Miss Smith? Yes. Miss Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Thornton? Yes. Mr. Wovich? Yes. Mr. Haw? Yes. Miss Krishnowski? Yes. Mr. Luscavage? Yes. Mr. Lombardo. Yes. Unanimous. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Meetings adjourned. Thank you very much. Appreciate your uh flexibility.

I don't even have to press the button anymore.