County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

it is six o'clock we'll call our meeting to order we appreciate everybody coming out tonight we've got a good crowd and if anybody has not signed a register that wants to speak please do so so we're here for public hearing about the proposed budget 26-27 turn here and i just want to remind everybody the rules up here we got three minutes to speak and if you're with a group you've got five minutes please state your name and your for your record please direct all comments to the entire board please be civil with all comments and remain quiet in in the audience we appreciate everybody and we want to have a good meeting so at this time we'll get started with the allegheny county rescue squad signed up first good evening commissioners i'm jay sloan chief of the allegheny county rescue squad

i'm here to address some comments that was made last week's meeting first there has never been a slush fund that allegheny county registered for unlike some departments that are reportedly carrying several hundred thousand dollars in reserve funds we did not receive funding for fire tax and aren't associated with those revenues in any way at this time some county employees have received raises as high as 175 percent since 200 since 2015. the question that these funds were being used, what these funds were being used for. Apparently, you did not take the time to review two years' worth of ledgers, budget requests, and invoices that were included in the budget packet that was submitted. That raises a serious question. What are you voting on if you do not review the supporting documentation? Are your decisions based on facts or a personal agenda against the rescue squad? For the past several years, ACRS has requested only the funding necessary to meet our operating budget. Yet we have been underfunded year after year. Over the last six years, ACRS has either had to raise additional funds or draw from savings to cover nearly $430,000 in shortfalls. We have reached a point where we are no longer sustainable. We will not continue to be taken advantage of by our local government. We also question our part-time paid staff. There are five individuals that work daytime shifts, allowing our volunteers to focus on their jobs and families while ensuring coverage during crucial daytime hours. You request their names and compensation. If transparency is the goal, let's discuss the names and salaries of all county employees, including elected officials. Volunteerism has changed. The days when emergency services could rely solely on volunteers are largely over. More importantly, why is the concern directed to Allegheny Rescue Squad when other departments also employ part-time staff? Having personnel on site means crews are responding to calls within seconds. In most cases, Allegheny Rescue first on scene providing life-saving care before other agencies arrive. Last week gave a perfect example. When an individual became unresponsive at the wellness center, ACRS personnel arrived with approximately one minute and 20 seconds initiating CPR and continued life-saving efforts until EMS arrived. Then they assisted throughout the patient's care and transport. Today that individual is home with their family. How do you put a price on a life saved? Keep in mind, when we transport and all of our supplies comes out of our budget, free to the patient. Last year alone, ACRS recorded nine successful CPR saves and were recognized by the American Heart Association for those efforts. None of the county recognized those. If our budget is reduced, we can only operate within the resources available. Something will have to give. If that means losing our ambulance service, then the county will need to find significant more funding to support a third ambulance and hire additional personnel to positions that are already difficult to fill. In closing, emergency services have too often been placed on the back burner in this county. They will continue until leadership is willing to prioritize public safety, demonstrate a genuine commitment to the citizens they serve, some of you may already have that commitment but it's clear others do not ultimately the citizens will decide who represents them and what priorities they expect from their local government glad to see one of you leaving in december thank you jason we appreciate your comments we'll take that into consideration okay next up is allegheny county library

Okay, hello board. I'm Jen Marlow and I'm the new branch manager of the Allegheny County Public Library. I just wanted to introduce myself. I've not met any of you. I'm going to read a little bit from my keynotes because I do not want to miss anything. Thank you all for your continued support of our library system and the services that we provide to the citizens of Allegheny County. i think that's really important to give thanks we truly appreciate your support this board has made in our staff our library and our community programs tonight we respectfully request consideration for several important needs as we continue serving our county efficiently and responsibly And I know everybody has received the numerics and the justification letter, so I'm not going to go into detail on that. What I will say is, first, we are requesting a 2.5% cost of living adjustment for our employees. That is due to inflation. Our staff, they work very diligently every day to provide educational resources, technology assistance. which is growing children's programming we do outreach we're present in a lot of environments and provide community support in varied ways this adjustment would help us to retain dedicated employees and to keep pace with the rising living expenses second we asked for an increase in funding towards employee health insurance which I know is an ongoing problem for so many. Healthcare costs, they continue to rise. And supporting our staff with affordable coverage is essential to maintaining a stable and healthy workforce, especially if we expect all of us to be together, you know, to carry the torch for a while. We also request an increase in funding for periodicals and informational materials. Community demands for current magazine newspapers and educational publications, they do still remain strong. I know a lot of those get things sent to their mailbox. Not everybody has that luxury. So we have daily patrons that are coming in and reading various myriad of resources. They're valuable to multi-generations. All ages utilize the periodicals. Finally, the library would like to ask for additional support towards maintenance of equipment for our highly utilized hoopla program. This is a streaming service that patrons are able to rent online books, audio books, movies, ebooks, etc. With the fast changing pace of the world, these services continue to increase with supply and demand, such as a busy mother who doesn't have time to read. or a man that has two or three jobs and he doesn't have his hands free, but he can travel and listen to it, audio, it matters. We remain committed to being careful stewards of county funding while continuing to offer meaningful services that benefit Allegheny County residents every day. Thank you for your time and your consideration and your continued support of our library system and our employees and the patrons in this community as a whole. I'm not gonna use up my entire five minutes. I would also like, this row right here is entirely library and I would like to introduce Ms. Pat Pauley. We have a few that would like to speak about the cause.

Thank you. you jen thank you uh it's a pleasure to be here this evening and to see all of you here and i would like to provide support for our allegheny public library and remind you that all the citizens of allegheny county can make use of the library anytime that they want when they are open and i want to remind you also that the library is part of a regional library system and therefore some of the the funds that we request relating to salaries and those types of things come to you through the regional library. Therefore, that's where some of the budgeting information comes from, which I think we lose sight of sometimes that it is a part of the regional library system. And I'd like to encourage you to certainly take care of those salary increases that are proposed. And also to remind you that I believe you are providing your employees with a 4% increase this year. We'd ask for something similar from our regional library for our local library system. Thank you for taking the time and for spending the afternoon and evening with us here. And thank you very much.

Thank you. Is that everybody?

as you all know i'm debbie brewer a former librarian at the library um having worked at the library for 43 years i can attest to the fact that we search uh from the elderly of over 100 years old down to the babies we start those babies off and i have watched through the years intended at one time to go in and do a do some research on how many of our children who start in our preschool program who end up top of their class at the graduating class. I could not get the information I need without a lot of time involvement, but I couldn't do it. But I have watched it through the years, and we have done that. I have said for years the library is the only county agency that serves all income levels, all ages, and we're there for everyone. who determines not everyone can afford these services not everyone has access to that without coming to the library and they serve a lot of people who cannot do that so just wanted to speak thank you all for your continued support for the library for all that you all did for us at the library while i was still employed thank you we appreciate it okay next up mr brent jarrett

My name is Brett Jarrett and I'm here today to speak on behalf of my in-laws, Bill and Peggy Blevins. We just wanted to clarify a few items from last week. Since 1978, the Blevins family in Allegheny County have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship. Having social services as a tenant has been a pleasure as we couldn't ask for a better tenant. In the same regard, Social Services has enjoyed a quality building and a landlord that made needed improvements all while holding flat the rent, receiving only a $400 increase over the last 18 years. With all that being said, although the proposed relocation of DSS to the BDC would be a great detriment to us and we would lose a quality tenant, We, as taxpayers, believe that this is a logical move for social services. Why wouldn't you relocate them into a county-owned facility and save the county money that would be paid in rent? Some may say, well, what about the current BDC tenants? Where will they go? In that regard, we have reached out to the current BDC tenants, indicating that we are willing to relocate them to the current social services building at the same rental rate they currently pay. Should the space be the next? Should the space be the same meetings with approximately nine of the tenants have been met with positive feedback. So I believe that if the relocation of social services comes to fruition, these businesses will have a place to go that meets their needs, all while keeping the same current overhead. In closing, we thank Stacy, personal, the county, and social services for the relationship we've enjoyed since 1979 and wish them well should you decide to relocate either way with social services or the current BDC tenants the Blevins family will make it work for the county thank you thank you I appreciate that okay next up is miss Pam Andrews

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to address the board. I am speaking on behalf of multiple BDC tenants. They include Gina Booth, Kimberly Brinegar, Boye Mae Dixon, myself. I see other tenants here tonight. I just want to talk about the BDC synergy. Synergy. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Business Development Center, BDC, provides far more than rental space for small business tenants. It serves as a vital community hub that meets a wide range of needs throughout Allegheny County. Simply put, it is everyone's building. The BDC offers valuable public services, including access to conference rooms and meeting spaces that are used daily by public agencies, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and private businesses. The conference room and atrium provide essential venues for meetings, workshops, trainings and community events that benefit residents across the entire county. I would like to respectfully share some ethical concerns or moral, maybe it's moral concerns, regarding the proposed removal of the BDC budget and the relocation of DSS into the county building that currently houses Wilkes Community College 22 business tenants, and the public library. First, loss of a critical community and meeting space. The BDC serves as a vital shared community hub. Its conference room and atrium are used by more than 25 organizations. These include businesses and citizens for meetings, trainings, and engagement, Allegheny County Schools, Allegheny Hospital, Allegheny Health Department, the Ministerium Association, the Historical Society, Teen Court, are just a sample of the 25 organizations that use the space on a regular basis. Eliminating the space removes essential community infrastructure. Number two. Role in emergency and disaster response. The BDC has served as a location for FEMA and government assistance during disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. If this space is removed, where will these emergency operations be housed in the future? Can those operations be housed for an extended amount of time and accommodations? Next, impact on economic development. The Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Center, and Wilkes Community College work with the current tenants to support small businesses, workforce training, and economic growth. Disruption weakens this ecosystem. The location provides easy access to community members and small businesses with all amenities provided. The county strategic plan of 2015 to 2020 included the BDC and goals and implementation for economic growth. Current tenants have continued the implementation and growth without the guidance of the county. with the goal of mentoring new tenants and businesses. The longer standing tenants value the collaboration and support that the space provides. This model has evolved over time and has provided stability and longevity of small business owners such as imaging specialists, Kate Irwin, who also provides internships for high school students, Brianna Mosley, there's a list of tenants. The BDC has evolved into an effective co-working environment that supports entrepreneurs not only in starting businesses, but also in sustaining and growing them. Its value extends well beyond the traditional incubator model. The broader economic development question. This proposal raises a larger question about Allegheny County's commitment to economic development. As a small rural community, we must be intentional about creating an environment where entrepreneurs, small business owners, and local investors can thrive. Every major county decision should be evaluated not only on its operational merits, but also on its long-term impact on economic growth, business development and community vitality. A key question we should ask, does this proposal strengthen our local economy? How much money is truly being saved? It is my understanding that Allegheny County currently receives subsidy funding to offset the housing related expenditures for Allegheny DSS because that agency currently occupies leased space. If DSS relocates to the BDC, does that subsidy funding continue? If not, what is the county's loss If it relocates DSS to BDC, what is the net financial impact of that decision? Has the county confirmed that the current property owners, the Blevins, were raising the rent for the current DSS location for 26-27? When Allegheny County increased rental rates at the BDC in recent years, the stated plan was to gradually raise rents to a level that would cover the facility's operating expenses. To my knowledge, that plan has not been implemented. To end, do these numbers justify ending a highly successful economic development initiative that has served all Allegheny County citizens for 24 years? I struggle to understand how this proposal will provide greater overall benefit to Allegheny County other than its current use. i have high respect and regard for all of you i thank you for your time your consideration and your continued service to allegheny county i appreciate the dedication and support each of you provide to our community thank you thank you we appreciate your comments next up mr brandon deanard

I'm Brandon Kino, the county ranger for the North Carolina Forest Service here in Allegheny. And I'm coming tonight to request additional funding, as most are. With the proposed budget for Mr. Shepley, we received a $13,292 cut for my request. And just to make sure everybody understands, that is only a small portion of my budget. The county funds 40% of our budget here in the county and the state funds 60%. And unfortunately with the state, they do not alter that ratio, that percentage. So with the $13,000 cut that the proposed budget produces, that equates to over $33,000 cut to my budget. When you look at my budget, there's a lot of things that are not adjustable. things such as benefits, salaries, contracted services, utilities, things of that nature. When you look at what I, as a manager of this county office, what I have in effect over, there's really only about $45,000 that goes into our true operating budget, what we have effectively. With the proposed budget cut, that effectively wipes out two-thirds of my operating budget. And unfortunately, that's just not survival. We wouldn't be able to provide the services that we do to the county, such as offering assistance for timber production, timber recommendations on how to better grow their timber, harvest recommendations, insect and disease issues that we may face here in the county, as well as wildfire response. We're currently trying to finish outfitting a truck that we purchased on last year's budget. So some of the funds that were in this budget request were to finish that as well as a proposed 3% increase for salaries and that's also going to 24-hour on-call. In the past, we've only been receiving payment for on-call for 5 o'clock in the evening until 11 o'clock after those hours so one thing I wanted to make a point to point out is the last three years we've we've had additional requests this year is actually lower than than usual because we realized that you know we're we've been asking for more money to outfit better equipment and prepare ourselves for wildfire response and and two out of the last three years we've actually asked for more money than we are this year um the only year that was less was 24 25 which we requested 92 400 from the county um we're working with a bare bones budget i don't have that much leeway in order to provide the citizens of allegheny county with the services that we have been providing realistically if there is anything that has to be cut we can cut some I don't want to I don't want you to think that I'm just absolutely hardlining no but realistically anything less than a total cut of about five thousand dollars greatly reduces my ability to provide the county with the services that we do so essentially

providing the services that we have been providing and if there's any questions I'd be glad to answer thank you Brandon we appreciate your comments that concludes everybody that has signed up to speak and once again if there's anybody here that wants to speak that hasn't signed up come right on up I want everybody to speak that wants to speak seeing none that concludes everything that's for a motion to adjourn second all in favor 5-0 appreciate everybody coming out tonight it's been a good meeting and we appreciate that

Yeah, that's good. That's good.

Well, everything stayed pretty straight. Yep.

Yep. Thank you, man. Thank you. She's getting a little full of things. Yeah. I'm surprised she didn't spill finish. Yeah, we're done. I'm surprised she didn't spill.