Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

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Good morning, everyone. Morning. Good morning. I like that energy. All right. I'd like to call to order the February 3rd. I can say that date correctly today. Uh February 3rd board of commissioners meeting. Note the presence of the last meeting. Don't [laughter] note the presence of all three commissioners. Um Tiffany, I'd love for your daughter to lead us in the in the pledge. So I don't What is your name? My name is

Okay. Yes. Okay. All right. Not to put you on the spot. Take us off to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Great job. Um, thanks everyone for joining us uh on a rare uh Tuesday meeting. Occasionally uh we have to change uh the meeting date to accommodate schedules. Um I have a few comments. Uh we know that uh this is our first meeting in February, a month where we celebrate uh Black History Month. And during this month, I often think of my grandmother who grew up in the segregated South. uh in her lifetime she went from being treated as a secondass citizen uh to seeing her granddaughter elected to public office. I would not be here today without her um as well as my mother and father who instilled the value of public service. My story is not unique. It's one of many that are are only possible due to the pers perseverance of so many black community leaders and everyday people. In fact, this is the hundth year that Black History Month is being celebrated. Uh the county will be hosting a series of events uh this month that will honor the vision that Dr. Carter Woodson and the founders of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History had when they laid the foundation for what has become Black History Month. This year's theme reflects on the power of black history celebrations in shaping identity, fostering pride, and transforming how black communities see themselves and how the broader public understands their contributions. These webinars will [clears throat] be every Wednesday starting tomorrow at noon and are open to the public. Registration is available on our website. Um, I'm looking forward to attending the first webinar and I will be joined by members of the Pottstown uh NAACP. I want to commend uh Donna Richmond, our chief uh DEI officer, as well as the

entire Black History Month committee for their hard work putting this program together. Uh, next, I'd like to highlight that next Wednesday, February 11th, will be our second annual state of the county event at Montgomery County Community College. This is something my colleague Commissioner uh Mcka came up with and it's a really great opportunity uh to share uh what we did in 2025 and talk about our priorities for 2026. Um any chance we have to get many of our community partners, local leaders, and county staff in one room uh is always special. So if you want to join us, we welcome our friends and neighbors to join us. Please visit montgomery countypa.govstateofthecounty govstateofthecount to register. We have nearly 500 people registered to attend already. Um you have you may have seen uh yesterday that the county has unveiled the new branding. Uh and you can see uh up on the screen here today as well. We voted to approve our refined seal at our our last board meeting. And this brand has been a long time in the making. It's the first true rebrand in county history and the first update to our county seal in 25 years. The update visually uh visual identity is not just a logo. It's a new brand system that aims to unify county departments uh and offices. This work is important because it's a clear and recognizable brand helps residents, business and businesses and visitors easily identify Montgomery County. It brings our innumerable programs and services under one visual umbrella. It makes clear to our 3,000 county employees that we're all working together for the betterment of our community. And it strengthens the county's voice in regional and national conversation. The refined seal will

remain the symbol of our official county government business while the new logo will appear across marketing and communication materials. This effort began in 2024 and included extensive research through stakeholder sessions, interviews with residents, and an assessment of other county brands nationwide. I want to give a shout out to our amazing comm's team, especially Megan, Amanda, Meg, and Colin who really brought this project uh over the finish line. I know it wasn't easy, especially getting three commissioners uh to agree on what color uh to pick, but we are grateful to have the branding that really feels like it represents our great county uh heading into 2026. Lastly, we want to highlight uh that we've recently approved a contract to work with a cost savings consultant, Rios Partners. This consultant will be coordinating uh we we will be coordinating with and supplementing the work of our office of strategy well office of innovation strategy and performance I always get that wrong. The group has already met with many members of our senior management team and department leaders including IT procurement and all the aspects of assets and infrastructure including our county fleet, public property and the county buildings as well as telecommunications. and they've also partnered uh with our controller's office. Together we will be looking at things that look like red duplicating spending, reducing the number of vendors. We are using more efficient contract negotiation, analyzing historical financial data to identify benchmarks, and monitoring overall uh overall spending trends. Ultimately, this will bring many small improvements to our operations that will add up to large savings in the end. A key aspect is that this consultant only makes money when they find savings for

us. So, I want to honor uh the commitment we made during last year's budget cycle and let you know that we're still working on it uh in 2026 and we plan on making real progress. So, we will continue to keep the public um updated thanks to the team uh that has worked uh to bring this cost savings consultant on board. And with that, I'll transition to my colleague, Commissioner Makisha.

So much. Uh good morning everyone. Good morning. Um couple of updates that I'll share. Uh first is that uh we had an issue in East Greenville Burough uh not just this week but the past few weeks, six weeks uh where residents at uh an apartment building which was partially funded by Montgomery County to create affordable housing called the Willows uh went six weeks without heat. And it was, I mean, just heartbreaking to hear that there were families who had uh newborn children who they brought home to a freezing cold apartment. And this had been going on for weeks and weeks uh as mentioned until some residents spoke up and brought up the issue uh publicly. And I want to thank them because there's a lot of work still to be done to make sure that this issue is resolved. You might have seen there was a story that said it was resolved on on Saturday. It's not true. We've spoken to a number of residents that continue to say that the heat is not working at this uh building and apparently there was a transfer in ownership which took place uh over the weekend. So, uh, I'm working with, uh, you know, I would say our team is working with, uh, East Greenville Burrow to see if we have different legal remedies to serve these residents, including revoking the occupancy permit. But that comes with all sorts of complications because people need a place to stay. Sometimes they would rather temporarily be in an apartment with space heaters. Their electricity costs have skyrocketed as a result. uh and we've asked directly of the uh of the company that has owned the building to not only pay for electricity cost but also the rent during this

period of time. So uh that's an issue that I want to thank Alison Palmer in East Greenville for uh working on. She's a burough council president there. Uh, and you know, this board takes seriously the safety of our residents, especially if we've invested in this building for affordable housing, and we'll use all the legal means we can to make sure that there are safe uh conditions uh in their in their building and and everywhere throughout the county. So, that's one issue uh that has come up. And uh I'll say uh this year, you know, there was a there we've had a number of conversations about our elections and we had a couple of uh uh votes in the last meeting and as well as this meeting to make sure that we're administering our elections as best we can. Uh there are a lot of concerning things that have happened recently nationally. uh the FBI raided an election board office in Georgia. Uh which uh I think if you uh just see that in the context of everything that the Department of Justice has done and been used for uh this year is deeply concerning. The president last night said he wants to nationalize elections. Uh elections are run by local counties. Uh they're run by people of uh all political parties in our county. Uh our office is run by a Republican. We've got people of all parties who are participating as poll workers. They run the process with great integrity. Uh they treat every ballot as sacred and it's very important that we uh continue to make that clear uh because uh this year is going to be quite contentious. that starts out with uh the president raiding uh a local election office. So uh I think it's very important for us to encourage people to continue to

participate, to continue to sign up as poll workers, uh to know that our primary election is May 19th. Uh those of uh you who are interested in running for office can collect petitions starting February 17th to March 10th. And there's information on how uh to do that on our voter services website. So please uh you know don't take some of these events uh as reasons to be intimidated from participating in the process. We need you to be engaged as pull workers, as candidates uh and as leaders in your community. Also want to note uh that tax season is coming up. So, the other thing that's happening this spring other than our primary, uh, April 15th is tax day. The reason I'm talking about it now is we have deadlines in February. Uh, if you are an EMS or firefighter, uh, who wants to apply for the the rebate that uh, we all passed in our first one of our first votes in office was to give 100% property tax rebates for our first responders. And we've had a thousand volunteer first responders already uh, complete that, get the rebate. It's it's an average of $600 for the county. Uh but combined with the municipalities and other uh jurisdictions, we should actually come up with a list. I think that would be helpful. Um and post that so people know whether their school board or township has done the same. Uh combined with those things can really add up and make a difference uh as well. So there are 3,000 volunteers who are eligible in the county. 1,000 have applied in the last year. Uh, so want to encourage everyone to do that by Sunday, February 15th is the the deadline. Uh, if you have any questions, just email tax rebate programming.gov. Uh, and we'll get back to you soon after. Uh finally, next week on the

uh on the agenda is going to be uh a really exciting uh project that we are exploring for solar energy with the sustainable energy partnership. Uh it's a regional collaboration run through the DVRPC, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. It's something that we work together with Bucks, Chester, and Delo on uh to ensure that we're getting the best rates on electricity and we're also uh buying clean energy. So, we're going to issue a joint RFP with all four counties, collar counties. Uh, Monco is the one issuing the RFP, and we'll get a vendor to provide uh solar installation uh that could provide energy for across the region. So, I want to thank our chief sustainability officer, Davey, uh, for leading on this project. It's a really uh big deal in terms of uh what we're going to be able to produce and how many people will benefit especially at a time when electricity costs are also high. Uh we're thinking every day about how we can support u uh energy uh clean energy uh within our region. So thanks.

All right. Could you uh Megan, could you guys bring that logo back up real quick? I just want to and and Commissioner Winer said it, but I want to reiterate because there seems to be a lot of confusion um especially out on Facebook and all over uh between the two items that are up there. There's a lot of confusion. people are believing or thinking that the the logo uh if you're looking at it on the right with all the green color is replacing the seal and that's not what's happening. The seal is staying as you see it there. The main difference in the seal was kind of made it round. If you look at our seal today versus the seal there, it's very similar in nature. So, and Commissioner Winer did say it. So, I just want to make sure that we're saying it again because we're I want to be clear that the seal is not going away. The logo is more or less for for branding. Um, and we as a board, you know, voted on the seal, but we didn't have we don't have to vote on the actual branding itself. Um, so I just wanted to bring that up just for further clarity. And again, I as I said, Commissioner Winer did say it,

but I just wanted to, you know, double it say it again. Yeah. So, thank you. Um, also, February is heart health month, not just because it's Valentine's Day, but more importantly, uh, we want to make sure everyone knows that February is a very important month when it comes to our hearts and our health of our hearts. Uh heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the United States and it's important to continually check with your doctor especially as a lot of us like myself are getting older uh including Lee's getting older also. I just want to throw that out there. [laughter]

Uh but it it you know it could help. uh things that could help is, you know, definitely diet and lifestyle uh is very important and and but obviously uh it's good to talk with your doctor because it's something that uh we hope someday would would be able to get a reduction, but it's it's unfortunate that we still see it as the number one cause of death. So, um, you know, be cautious, be, you know, be careful out there and but make sure that you have, uh, uh, interactions with your doctor, especially as we've been hit with this major snowstorm and we've been all out there shoveling, um, it seems like forever. But, uh, anyway, so that's a very important month. And also, as I mentioned, Valentine's Day is February 14th. So, make sure you find a loved one, whoever it may be, and give them a big hug as well. Um so but moving on we have uh our Plymouth White Marsh cheerleaders uh our varsity cheerleaders from White Marsh High School. Um they won a a major uh Suburban One League championship for the second year in a row. We're hopefully going to try to get them here at one of our upcoming meetings. Um that championship occurred a few weeks ago. Um but it, like I said, it is their second one in a row. Uh, so the team now is headed to Orlando to compete for the national title. So, and right as we're talking about all the snow, Orlando sounds pretty good right now. I wonder if they need more chaperoons.

Maybe,

maybe, just throwing it out there, you know, got three commissioners that are, you know, looking to go south during this cold weather. Uh but we want to congratulate them for and the coaching uh staff for an amazing uh second championship and we wish them well as they represent Monco uh on the national stage. And then we also have next week um we have the Olympics is actually starting uh in Milan, Italy. Um there are seven Pennsylvania born athletes who will be competing this year. Um, and you could see it's a good representation uh in McGomery County as well, I believe. Right. Don't we have somebody from Monco? No, no, I thought we did.

Yeah, a lot of lot of Philly. Well, that's great that we have that many from Pennsylvania representing us. Um, so it'll be an exciting uh I think two weeks I guess it goes for. Um, so uh make sure that you all tune in and support all our American athletes. What was that? Ben, did you fall over? No. [laughter] You okay? I think the uh deas as a whole just wanted to talk to us. Oh. Uh oh. Maybe put a new day in the budget for next year. That was crazy.

So, uh but anyway, getting back. We got our Make sure you tune in for the Olympics. Um and also unfortunately this weekend is um the Super Bowl. Um, for those that have not been paying attention, know the Eagles aren't in it. Uh, but the Patriots are and I have to, my wife is from Massachusetts, so now I have to hear about the Patriots again and how wonderful and amazing they are. [clears throat] So, but I'm sure it'll be an exciting game. And also we have uh back on by popular demand, we have our uh our first uh commissioner meeting on the road coming up in February, February 19th, and we're going to not our first one this year. Uh we're actually going to be going to Abington Township on February 19th. So the meeting will be held 6 pm. Um and it is going to be Do we have listed here? I forget. It's going to be Where's it at? the Arlington School District Administration building. Uh so this is this is a great opportunity to we've had a few in the past uh and it's great for residents that come from uh that aren't able to make our uh our morning meetings able to get there uh at night. Um and it's we want to hear, you know, what's what's important to you in your area. And uh like I said, we've had uh several meetings, a few meetings last year and the year before where residents came out and it was really informative hearing about their specific issues, concerns, desires, and that um within their their area. So, we're going to be in Abington. Uh Joe, I hope we'll see you there. Um so, we're looking forward. I'm sure it's a nice big meeting room, so we'll be able to accommodate um a lot of people. And then finally, uh yes, the FBI did raid the office in

Georgia. Um I don't believe we should be commenting on why or why not the DOJ did what they did, but the main reason was because they found 300,000 by testimony of UN ballots that shouldn't have been counted. So there's specific reasons for law to be enforced where corruption occurs. And I don't believe that we should be making statements that the DOJ is being weaponized. Uh because I can make those same statements for the last previous four years. One could argue that things occurred and the DOJ is weaponized which I don't believe happened four years ago and I don't believe it's happening now. They are doing their job and they will continue to fight the rule of law. All right. Uh we are going to move to the first public comment section and that's for today's pending votes. Uh as a reminder uh must be germanine to county business and it's relevant to what's on today's agendas. Do we have anyone? Yes,

David Morgan. Mr. Rooney, did you sign up for the first one? Okay, good. All right. Good morning, commissioners. Morning.

I'm going to comment on specific items in the agenda, which is led by um in B5, uh there's a contract award $250,000. I like the fact that it's gathering input from residents. That's a really good point. uh but then again again again I wonder about the overall cost benefit of the office of innovation strategy and performance itself because uh that probably has involved salaries benefits and uh pensions and if they're saving money does is it outweighing the cost of having them there having innovation is great in a county so I just uh would encourage uh good use of our tax funds there um and then um the next one is B9 um voter services. Uh the grand total is 648,000 if you look at the end of that item. So um maybe there's ways we can have a look at zerobased budgeting in general for all our expenses in the county and see how much is really worth doing there. Um, then I'm going to go on. The pages aren't numbered, but if you go on to the Office of Assets and Infrastructure, a few more pages down, there's $191,000 uh capital for subscription support advantage upgrade. And so subscriptions that cost that much, almost $200,000. I'm wondering about the value of that if that's really being carefully evaluated for zerobased budgeting. Uh then we have farther along um do this farther along there's a in last one was that was in information and technology I'm sorry information and technology there's also a cost under assets of infrastructure for $349,000 related to um trails improvements there and I wonder how much asphalt's needed on some of our trails because you look at Fairmont Park you're walking through a

lot of natural trails and to pave over a lot of areas it cost it's under at asset to infrastructure in the bottom of the page 349,000. Um so just to review that and see that it's being good to nature and good to our budget. Then um overall last uh meeting we learned about the justice center project and we have in voting for these to consider the fact that we have umund $480 million. we had to find 65 million more than what was in the newspaper saying 415 million in the reporter on uh Thursday May 11th 2023. Uh so we've gone past that with expenses and so we have to find out how to do that without having a huge tax increase perhaps reconsidering Skidmore the uh designer which is not based in this area Skidmore Owings Merrill. Um also uh who is the CFO now because we've lost Mr. dome. Uh, how are we going to have this handled well so the taxpayers are informed well? And, um, I also, as I mentioned before, it'll be a newsworthy change.

Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Your time's up. Not Mr. Rooney. I'm looking at Mr. Rooney. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. You're welcome. We are actively recruiting uh for CFO. We have a whole finance team uh coupled with our senior leadership team that is working uh in the interim uh with with uh in Mr. Done's absence. Thank you for your comments. Next up, Mr. Rooney.

Good evening or good evening. Good afternoon or good morning still. Sorry. Morning. I started up early this morning. Um, a quick question on the on the agenda. The infrastructure, are those just county roads and county bridges? Okay. Yes. Okay. Um, and I don't know, but we could use some help in Abington on Jenintown Road between North Hills Avenue and Easton Road. Uh, we've been working on this for two years, and I'm not sure if that's a state road or if it's a county road, but I'll find out about that, but [clears throat]

it's not I could I'll walk talk with somebody and maybe we can work with the state or something because it's a it's as you know, a lot of roads now, it's a serious pothole problem with with the way the winter's been going. The second one, uh, and I don't understand this, uh, item number two, there were four items listed for Justice, Justice Works Youth Care at $101 per hour per child. And three of them said they were, I think it was amendments. I don't have that right in front of me. I was wondering if maybe you could explain what that is for 101 bucks an hour per child and whether the amendment is you're increasing the the funding rate or or what it has to do with. And then uh just a real quick one from last week again and just watching Mr. Morgan right now. The solicitor should not interrupt residents when they have taken their time to come and address their elected representatives. People have driven here from all over the county. I don't have any idea if the solicitor lives in the county or not, but he's welcome to sign up even when the three minutes ran out. Well, Mr. Morgan, he chimed in before the president even had an opportunity.

Mr. Mr. Rooney, public comment, Mr. Mr. Rooney, I would just say Mr. Rooney. Mr. Mr. Rooney, if you could allow us to talk for a minute, Mr. Rooney, thank you very much. And give me give me a second. Mr. Mr. Rooney, I have asked

um the solicitor to to step in when things are not necessarily gerine to county county business. So, we're not trying to be rude or interrupt. So, I'm sorry that you felt felt that way. We want to give people the time to share what they need to share. And so we're working on a just a new structure so that everyone regardless [clears throat] of what you're coming in to talk about has an opportunity to do their three minutes. So certainly appreciate your feedback, but I've asked the solicitor to step in when things are not germanine to county business. He seems overly aggressive. Okay, we'll we'll work on that. Thank you for the feedback.

Okay. Um, next up, the approval of the minutes. I'd like to make a motion to approve the January 5th and January 22nd, 2026 meet uh minutes of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting. Is there a second? Second by Commissioner Devel. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Next up, authorization of a TURA approval for the White Marsh continuing care retirement community. Steve.

Good morning, commissioners. Steve Forester, director of commerce. Before you today is a request by White Marsh continuing Care Community doing business as the Hill at White Marsh seeking a resolution approving the issuance of one or a series of taxexempt revenue bonds totaling up to $180 million. The Hill at White Marsh is a nonprofit non-denominational continuing care retirement community established in the early 2000s in Lafayette Hill. It is located in White Marsh Township, McGomery County, and features the full continuum of care from independent and assisted living to skilled nursing and memory care, and was recently included in a Newsweek's America's Best Nursing Homes 2025. The bonds to be issued are a refinancing that will repay several earlier series of bonds, an associated rate swap agreement, and will fund an interest reserve. The bonds are to be issued by the McGomery County Industrial Development Authority and have been approved by the IDA pursuant to a TERA hearing and resolution adopted January 28th, 2025, 2026. The hearing was properly advertised on the IDA website at least 7 days in advance of the approval. Because the refinancing is for a McGomery County based entity, the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 or TERA requires approval by the highest elected official in the county where the funds are to be utilized. Approval of the bond issue will benefit the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of McGomery County by improving the community's balance sheet, extending the term of their debt, and preserving and retaining existing jobs. Neither the general credit nor taxing authority of McGomery County are pledged as security for these bonds. Thus, the county takes no financial risk nor obligation in this transaction, and it does not impact the county's balance sheet in any way. I therefore request

your approval of the resolution as presented by the solicitor approving the issuance of the bonds. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Steve. Um, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number one as described by Steve Forester. Uh, is there a second? Second. Uh, second by Commissioner McKesha. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh, next up, approval of an authorized county signatory on submissions to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Moren,

thank you. Good morning. Uh the resolution before you res is required by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and it allows uh the commissioners to designate a signatory on behalf of the county for all documents including agreements being submitted to PENDOT. If approved, this resolution would designate chief operating officer Lee Saltziac as the county signatory on documents uh to be submitted to PENDOT. Lucky you. Good. Um motion to I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number two as described by Moren Caldler Alder second by Commissioner Dello. Any board comment hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up review of personnel list.

Good morning commissioners. Um you should have in front of you the final copy of the commission department's personnel list. is a three-phase document dated February 2nd, 2026 with a time step of 10:05 a.m. All positions, excuse me, um have been reviewed and accounted for uh for your consideration. Great. I'd like to make a motion to approve the February 3rd, 2026 personnel presentation as given by Mr. uh uh Tony Brew. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner uh Zabelloo. Any board comment hearing? None. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Thank you.

Um, next up, I'd like to make a motion to approve the advertisement of bids and RFPs for Montgomery County on attached exhibit A. Is there a second? Second by Commissioner McKesha. Any board comment?

I just quick comment uh referring to Mr. Morgan. You raised up some really great questions again. Um, but I will tell you uh as Commissioner Winer also said earlier too that we are looking very closely at everything. Um, and although some of these numbers seem high, remember we are a big county. So when we're reviewing a contract for $190,000 for Microsoft licensing, for example, it's covering a lot of, you know, different things throughout McGomery County. We are $650 million budget, operating budget, and you know, almost 1.3 billion dollar annual budget. So, um, I I I applaud your efforts and I I I appreciate when you come to the meeting and raise these questions up, but I wanted to reassure that we are looking at everything very closely. Um, and like the last meeting there was we we approved something with $2 million for uh related to Microsoft, for example, and that included $600,000 reduction from the previous budget. So it's it is ongoing and I'm not telling you not to comment in future meetings. I I'm I'm I just wanted to respond to your questions but I didn't want to go necessarily one by one but we are we are looking at it very closely uh day in and day out. Um so I just want to reassure you.

So thank you. All right moving to a vote. All in favor? I motion carries. Um next up awards contract Montgomery County uh exhibit B. I'd like to make a motion to approve the contract awards, amendments, and renewals for Montgomery County on attached exhibit B. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Deello. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Uh, next up, awards of contract, Southeast PA Regional Task Force, Exhibit C. I'd like to make a motion to approve the contracts, awards, amendments, and renewals for Southeast PA Regional Task Force and attached exhibit C. Is there a second? Second.

Second by Commissioner Dello. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Uh advertisement of bids and RFPs for the Southeastern uh Pennsylvania task force exhibit D. I'd like to make a motion to approve the contracts, awards, amendments, and renewals for Southeast PA regional task force on attached exhibit Z. D. Is there a not Z? Be here all day. Is there a second? Second by Commissioner McKa. Any board comment hearing? None. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Uh, general public comment. Noya Todd. Hello. Hi.

Um, my name is Noya Todd. I live in Norris Town. Um, I want to talk today about having a teen rally for kids. Um, a like born in 2007 and 2012 specifically because they are able to vote and they're going to be our future. Um, I want to allow them to write speeches, especially in their native languages, to get a wider range of people, um, about the effects right now and how it's impacting them and the future people fought for over many years. Um, I want to make voices heard specifically because I know how everything right now is affecting people and us with like ICE and all the political stuff happening in the world. Um, I want to do it on the court steps if possible, and I want to have vendors like food or craft people who support the cause. Um, I'm not sure where to begin or who to contact. Um, I'm just looking for like support, help, and directions. And I would also love if one of the commissioners could speak. Um, my my vision is to have Josh Shapiro because I know he could have a bigger impact and get the word more out instead of having it just here in Montgomery County. I'd like it to be people as far as PA can come if possible.

Thank you.

You have you have um big dreams for your teen rally. So, it's interesting. Uh, got your email. We'll we'll have a conversation and I can just at least direct you on how to get get things started. um you are are representing uh our future um and uh we've had some you know I've at least had some talks internally about doing uh having the commissioners do some type of teen teen summit right to talk about um the issues that teens care about in in Montgomery County. And so uh there's things that we we can do to make sure that we uh create a a safe space for for people to share. So we'll get some time on the calendar um and we can just at least tell you the process um uh depending on you know what you want to cover.

Yeah, it is dependent on whether we can get involved on the official side but there is a process to uh get the courthouse [clears throat] steps and and all that stuff. So thank you for for stepping up and and and having the idea and uh we we know a couple people up here know the governor. So maybe we can we can make a call to him for you too. Okay. All right. Thank you. Rooney, [clears throat]

I'll just Can I just add one thing for her? Um, thank you for coming up here. You're you're way ahead of uh I I don't want to say maybe it's maybe this is your generation. You're stepping up in a big way. I was going to say you're ahead of your peers, but there's a lot of people and you know I I would love to see you host an event across the street at the courthouse steps and bring your peers and you're way ahead of the game because our state reps don't know the permit process. So [laughter] my voice thank you for coming

and if you're anything like your mother like I I know you have that gene. So, uh, thanks for for using your voice and I say that with all sincerity. Your mom has is on the front lines of a lot of great issues. So, thank you. All right, Mr. Rooney. Go ahead.

Hi, Joe Rooney from Abington. Um, first one is uh, thank you for coming to Abington [clears throat] and uh, that'll be good. We'll try and get some folks out there. And uh I bring up the solicitor because I hope that my own neighbors won't be treated as rudely. And I'm not sure when this p when this thing changed, but I noticed it last meeting and this meeting. [clears throat] And it's not necessary. People have three minutes. And I've always said when I've gone to public meetings, people are allowed to stand up. They're allowed to address their elected representatives and they're even allowed to be wrong. Okay? And they should be listened to and respected. And then if there's something that has to be changed or adjusted, that's perfect. But as 3 minutes goes off, I don't need somebody from the peanut gallery uh jumping in right there because this is just neighbors here. We just live in the same county whether we're Pottstown or Artsley. And um there's an opportunity for people to speak, not be intimidated, and to sit down and then listen to a reply. Um a couple other little things uh from Abington and I'm sure it's all over, but I can only tell you where I lived. Public works did a great job with snow removal. So, I'm just going to give a little shout out to Mike Jones in Abington and his crew of guys who were picking up trash and taking care of what ended up being 2 in of armored ice on top of six or eight inches of snow. And those guys did a great job and I'll bring it up again next meeting, too. And I'm sure across the whole township, it's easy to complain about our trash guys and our public works guys, but these guys and gals busted their tails and and I salute their efforts last week because that was that was quite a difficult storm to clean up after. Um the second one is uh just from what was brought up just before I came in, I guess we need picture IDs to protect our elections. The only way to respect everybody that's here and is a registered American and legal voter is is [clears throat] for IDs because illegal voters steal everybody else's votes. And the third one, I just found out at the last meeting. I talked to Neil afterwards. Uh

State Danland 234, there was a land swap with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I wasn't at the meeting, but I looked it up and it was approved. This is a win for Montgomery County. We got uh a plus five acres of land in the land swap. So, we end up with giving up 55 and getting 60 acres. And if you haven't been to State Gameland 234, go to it. We got a beautiful riverfront property. And we've got another I don't know what it is, but probably at least half a mile of riverfront access in State Gameland 234 right now for an area that had been industrial and uh and is going to be used for industrial processes. There's no changes, just they're changing it. Um, that was all I had. Thank you very much.

There's actually that property was swapped and there was also additional three or 400 acres in Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In Southeast PA, there's another 400 acres of open space that have turned into state game. So, yeah. I mean, that was really a good deal. Thank you, Mr.

David Morgan. David Morgan of Amber. And I appreciate Commissioner Deello's comments about cost control. Commissioner Bell, you're the one who definitely says these things in the meetings and that's why I did propose that you could maybe have a opportunity to be chair of the committee committees of commissioners commissioners. Um I think it would be refreshing to say that we are really bipartisan truly bipartisan at some time. I'm not sure when it could happen. uh but uh it's just something to consider so that uh you have voted against budgets or items uh whereas I don't see much else going on to control our to taxes and meetings. So um just put that out there maybe some time of the year could work. Um then um I also like to um mention Monk Mama's program. There's a consultant that was uh mentioned at the Ardmore meeting and uh how is that going with Monk Mama? Are they uh helping women who are ha having challenges interfacing with the health system? So they have improved child birth um health when and considering the federal government just had out um recent diet guidelines to help us have more natural food instead of processed food. Um it's just one dimension of that. I'm thankful that Mr. Bell you mentioned the parent and infant resource guides which are really helpful uh to help out pregnancy resource centers which help women expecting. Um I also have mentioned um C plus C chastity and commitment are really important in relationships. So if you're really considering long-term relationships that's really important for especially men to consider and being helpful in their future families and um also as I mentioned before the block the blood pressure cuffs. I hope that's going

along well with our heart health department as that was a conversation item from pen medicine and our movie night that the commissioner sponsored. So I hope that really is encouraged in all our local hospitals. Um mentioned that there are some deficiencies in hospitals in another state. So hopefully we are doing well with that so that everyone's healthy. Thank you

Mr. Rooney. With all all due respect, I appreciate that you always come in. Why do I keep I keep looking at you and I keep Mr. Morgan. That's Mr. Rooney. That's Mr. Morgan. With all due respect, uh, Commissioner Dello is not the only commissioner that spends time tackling cost savings. I just want to make that clear that that this is a this is a effort that we collectively as a board work on together with our senior team, many of which are in this room. So, um I just want to since you're publicly saying it, I want to publicly share that the entire team uh takes um budget management and our fiduciary responsibilities really serious. I've led uh teams for 20 years in the private sector. I know how to manage a P&L. We've got a lot of work to do. You're absolutely right. But this entire board uh is is working together on that effort.

Thanks, Mr. Ry. Mr. Stole my call says see it's like the date last week I couldn't get the names. We'll get it. I'll get it next. You stole my Thank you. Appreciate your comment. You stole my comment that the entire board's I was I was going to say I mean I just stole all the credit.

No, that's fine. I was I I was actually going to say that that I I've I've have in the past and in the future said we have been working very hard uh as a team to get where we are with the budget. Um and um yes, at one point I didn't support a budget, but I did support the last one because of the hard work that went into it to get to um to to that percentage. None of us were happy, but we are dealing with, as I mentioned, a large budget items and large things. Uh, and we're doing everything we possibly can to get the county uh from a financially strong position as we continue to move forward. And we're going to continue to look at everything um as we we're, believe it or not, we're going into the 2027 budget. Uh so we'll be working very hard to uh continue to make and find more uh effective way to become as extremely efficient with the spending as possible.

Next up, Reverend Peter Martin. Good morning, Reverend Peter Martin, First Presbyterian Church of Norristown. Yes. Uh not far away. Um, I wasn't planning on uh being back with you uh so soon after December, but I did want to speak for Minnesota. That is my uh home state. It's nothing to do with Montgomery County. Uh, I'll explain how it has something to do with Montgomery County in a second. Thank you.

Um, uh, I was going to say I have gone to a few Eagles games wearing uh, Vikings callers and been on the losing end of that in more ways than one. Um, I know a thing or two about uh I know a thing or two about winter, but ultimately what I'm here to talk about is uh what yes, what happened over there with the presence of what ICE agents are bringing in to this community. I have family in Minneapolis. I'm a I'm scared for them and it has nothing to do with their immigration status like me. They were born and raised in Minnesota. As we talk about the welcome policy, and I know that's come up a number of times before this group, but I think broader than the welcome policy is ultimately I think this uh board may have to uh come to grips with the fact that refusal to work with ICE will make the uh residents of Nortown of this whole county feel safer. I work with Nortown PD. I had lunch along with a number of other local pastors with Chief Michael Trail last week. I walk out my door and I see your sheriffs. I chat with them. As a matter of fact, there was an accident right in front [clears throat] of this building as I came in and I saw some of your security and your sheriffs go out there to uh make sure that people are okay. Uh the welcome policy, among other things, is ultimately saying that our local and county law enforcement is enough. I've had to call the cops multiple times on people going through major life problems who have been endangering our facility, our tenants, and our worshippers. Why do I call the cops? Because I know that the Nortown PD makes us safe. I believe the same about the sheriff. Do any of us believe that about immigration agents with their most recent uh track record? Well, I'm sorry that you all do, but their track record is not good. I don't trust them. If we talk about neighbors,

I trust our neighbors. I trust our neighbors with the Nortown PD. I trust my neighbors with the sheriffs. If there is a violent criminal on these streets, our police can deal with them. Whatever their immigration status is, I hope that this uh board can trust their sheriffs and trust our county police department. Maybe our immigration agents will go through the kind of changes that multiple law enforcement agencies have in the past, but the executive administration has shown no signs of any of those kind of improvements. The welcome policy and whatever else this board decides with working with ICE will will uh be a vote to trust in our own local police, not outsiders. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. That's it. Okay,

I'm going to comment because again, as McGomery County, we do not, as we stated time after time, have authority over local municipalities and what they do or do not do with enforcement of law. We in McGomery County have a policy in place of how we will interact with all authorities including federal authorities as well as a policy that we have in place for our county p uh prison system. So we as far as I'm concerned have gone as far as we could legally go. We don't have authority and we cannot sit there and make a decision on what occurs or doesn't occur on Main Street in Nortown or anywhere else in McGomery County when it comes to enforcement of federal law, state law, and local law.

Any comments? Uh, you know, I'll just add that I'm, you know, I've spoken with a number of the police chiefs and, uh, you know, including, uh, Chief Trail, who you mentioned, and others in Montgomery County, and I think, uh, they collectively very much understand that here we're focused on safety of every resident and everyone in the community. And that requires trust. and especially at a time that is absolutely unprecedented. I and to bring up I think the concern for Minneapolis is the fact that there's 3,000 federal agents in Minneapolis for this purpose which is outrageous and

and you don't you don't you know um but it's inevitable uh to see what happened when there's a lack of accountability and uh it's it's horrible and and two individuals that everyone has witnessed uh in videos who were killed should be alive today. And what we can do locally is ensure that our law enforcement respects constitutional rights, respects their guidelines on the use of force, and uh I feel confident that in Montgomery County they're doing that. I I do as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, and the only uh thing that that I would say, you know, there, you know, because I've talked to a number of people about what's happening nationally and what's happening, you know, on the streets of Narstown, Upper Marian, Amler. Um, yes, there are we're we're work trying to work within the confines of our office, but we can care about what's happening in our communities. And I think that's what is missing in this moment, right? The the the care and empathy for like our fellow friends and neighbors. Like it's so we're so deeply divided in our politics um that we're losing sight of like real people that are uh being affected. You see the young lady comes up here talking about the teen summit. Can you imagine the mental health challenges that our kids in our schools are experiencing, especially the kids that are sitting in my son's classroom in Narstown? And so, like, I would just we can we can we we we all have our politics, right? But when we turn a blind eye to what's happening to people that is downright wrong at the hands of people that are supposed to protect and serve. That's where I take issue. Um so uh agree with Commissioner Dello in terms of our the limits of our office, but there's what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. And that's what is missing in this moment. So I implore people to not just think about your politics but think about people. Um so uh moving on uh our next board of commissioners meeting uh commissioner uh Dell mentioned our meeting on February

19th Mr. Rooney. I hope to see you there. That's on on your home turf. We will be doing kidding. Oh my god. We just [laughter] don't Why did you do that to me? [laughter] I didn't do anything. See, I was light. I finally got it right the last couple minutes of the meeting. Um, but we are my my point is we are going to do meetings on the road quarterly and we're planning the next one for Q Q2. Uh, uh, I know that uh is important for us to get out. Um, and so I'll make a motion to adjourn the February 3rd, 2026 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. Is there a second? Second.

Seconded by Commissioner Dello. Any board comment? All in favor? I motion carries. Meeting adjourned. Next up, salary report. Quickly welcome our controller. And as he's walking up, is there any public comment? David Morgan. Mr. Rooney. No, Mr. [laughter] Mr. Morgan. I'm not from Abington. And you're from Amler.

And uh last salary board meeting I mentioned about the new positions concern I have with how much can we afford of new positions with our budget restraints. And so, uh, I was informed that, uh, some of these positions are covered by grants, but I also wonder how about the benefits going with those positions and the pensions going with those positions if they're regular full-time positions because that part might um be a big question mark for can we afford these positions? And the consultant for saving funds would be a consultant and mama, I understand that's a consultant role. So that helps the county if it's not a full-time employee. So that's something to consider with all new position questions in the future. I hope to soon receive the uh new positions papers so that I'm all up to date with what they are. Thank you.

M Mr. Morgan, I have to double check myself. Mr. Morgan, when we uh pay for a position uh through grant money, it's all in it's all-encompassing. It's the total total cost of that that FTE. Thank you again. All right. Uh, invite Tony Brewer to review the salary board list.

Good morning, members of the salary board. You should have in front of you the final copy of the salary board list. There's a four-page document dated February 2nd, 2026 with a time stamp of 10:05 a.m. All positions have been reviewed and accounted for for your consideration. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to approve the February 3rd, 2026 salary board presentation as given by Mr. Tony Brew, chief human resource officer. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner McKea. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Next up, I'd like to make a motion to adjourn the February 3rd, 2026 meeting of the Montgomery County Salary Board. Is there a second? Second.

Second by Commissioner Dello. Any board comment? Hearing none. All in favor? I I motion carries. Meeting adjourned with one minute to spare. It's quick.

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