County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order Dauphin County Board of Commissioners meeting for July 22, 2026. We'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Hearing none, solicitor's report. Guy Benaventana, thanks for stepping in.

Any questions for Mr. Benaventana? Hearing none, we'll move to public participation related to agenda items. You'll need to state the agenda item you're referring to in your public comment. You'll need to state your name prior to speaking, and you'll have three minutes, and we are being livestreamed. Is there anyone who would like to make public comment on agenda items? At the end, there will be a time for general public comment. Seeing none, we'll move to review and approval of the minutes. We have minutes from June 24 and July 1. Do I have a motion for both? So moved. Move by Commissioner Ha

Moved by Controller Bateman. Do I have a second? Seconded by Commissioner Priest. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We have no packet today, so we'll move the budget and finance. Mr. Davis.

Yeah, just give us an update on where we're at as we are closing in on August, how the budget is looking countywide, and if there's any departments that we need to be alerted to that could be going over budget.

big changes I'm just gonna ask it's one Commissioner that you alert all three of us in the event that we need to be looking forward to making adjustments within those departments so that as we get closer to the budget cycle for next year there are any surprises yep certainly thank you just keep on that agenda since you raised the topic yeah I personally like to see a public discussion about work release consolidation of prison the

efforts at solid waste. I mean, there's a host of things that we outlined in the last budget as we are getting closer to, you know, past mid-year. It would be great to know where we are with progress on closing the gap on a number of those areas where I believe we're spending money and the needs don't exist. And we need to press back on directors to be able to put together a plan to ensure that taxpayers aren't going to be footing the bill.

Okay. Any other questions? Comments? We need a motion for the purchase order packet. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Preece. Seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Davis. We have 16 matters requiring board action before us today. Does anything need pulled for a separate vote?

I'll make a motion we approve items 1 through 16 on today's packet.

Motion made by Commissioner Priest. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Move to former business, we have a tabled item.

Yes. Mr. chairman if I could, um, I tabled this last week. Uh, I was, I had the opportunity, uh, over this past week to represent Pennsylvania, the National Association of counties on the board of directors. And in doing so, I met with some of the representatives from nationwide. Um, there's a number of questions that I had related to the review process and to the selection that occurred here that, um, I've not been able to finalize and what I've. developed has been sort of an exchange and information that is clarifying some of what i've heard versus what proposals were so i said instead of yo

Is that a motion on the table? It is. Yeah, I'll second. Any discussion?

Yeah, I want to just touch on something that George brought up, that he was at NACO, and I know you were as well. And, George, I want to thank you. For those who don't know, we have two commissioners across all 67 counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that represent Pennsylvania at the national level, and Commissioner Harwick is one of them. uh and he's done so for well over a dozen years i believe now and i want to thank you for your service there and brought back many good ideas over the year over the years i know the land bank came from your meetings at naco i believe a couple other

We have a motion and a second for tabling former business. Any further comments? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Should we create a motion under new business for a public meeting, public presentation, or will we just do that? I'm just more asking point of order.

I believe there's agreement for a public presentation from uh nationwide yes so we'll get on that in the meantime so just remain table all right commissioner's remarks commissioner hartwood

Just bear with me. I've got a little bit of lengthy remarks today, just from a federal updates perspective. And then there's a lot of happening events tonight. So I just want to give them their consideration. First of all, start off last Thursday. I had the opportunity to participate in Rural Transportation Day at the Northern Dolphin Human Services Center alongside Bonnie Kent, Rich Farr of Rapid Transit and Representative Fleming together yesterday. We experienced firsthand the critical role shared share ride transportation plays in connecting rural residents with essential medical care and

We are. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you. Commissioner Priest.

I just want to start off by completely agreeing with commissioner Hartwick positive stories do exist out there and there is way too much. Emphasis on the negativity that occurs here in central Pennsylvania and around the world. It's pretty amazing. I did not know that George. That's something I would have loved to see on TV or read in the newspaper, but. As of this point, I have not. So thank you for bringing that up. Dr. Ski, there's an individual who has changed thousands of lives for the better in his role as the president of HACC, a real solid individual who, as well with you, has reached

Thank you, Commissioner Preece. For my report, I just want to say I was at NACO as well with Commissioner Hartwick. And while I was gone, I just want to state like French Fest happened, Brew Fest happened, Riverfront Concert Series kicked off. Lots of amazing things happening here that it was unfortunate that I had to miss. But I was checking in with people who were going to these events and just thankful for all the work. I heard French Fest specifically went really well. Obviously, the concert went well. I know there was some weather and challenges in that regard. Obviously, with the smoke,

Yep. Also want to add one more thing. We did hear from our parks and rec director and the stems this week. Our parks had some damage from the storms over the weekend. And I want to thank her and her staff that came in over the weekend and cleared the trails so that our residents could continue to utilize that. So thank you very much.

Great. If there's no more comments, we'll move to correspondence. Correspondence will be received and disseminated by the chief clerk's office as appropriate. With that, we'll move to general public participation. I have a sign-up sheet here. Just a reminder, you'll have three minutes. You'll need to state your name, and we are being live-streamed. I'll go through this list, and then I will open it to the floor. Nicholas Yinkst, East Hanover Township. Morning, Mr. Yinkst. Morning.

Normally, I'll respond, but I think a larger 10 in your input is welcome. And we certainly would love to be able to set up maybe a follow-up meeting to better understand budgetary constraints, concerns, and hear your recommendations.

We've already received it, and I look forward to discussing that in a follow-up meeting with staff.

Thank you, Mr. Buss. Appreciate it. Anyone else for public comment? We have no one else on our list. Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Priest, seconded by Commissioner Hartwick. All in favor? Aye. We're adjourned.