Commissioners - Regular Meeting

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Before many executive sessions, I want to recognize that Mr. Stein has his AP class here for tomorrow. I think they were here before when our other students were here. My hometown, so glad you're here with us. Get to see how Dermal works. I'm sure there's some interesting things, like always, here. So, welcome. Welcome. Thank you. Let's move on to public comment.

Before we do that, yesterday we had a bid opening at 9 a.m. for the drainage project in the borough of McAdoo. That will be awarded at a later date.

Thank you.

Morning, sir.

Good to go. Morning. Morning. My name is David. David Plasko. from St. Clair. Good morning. Thank you. Today's Earth Day. Anybody know that? We don't celebrate it much in Schuylkill County, I don't think, unfortunately, which probably is the reason that I'm here today. I stand here today to voice my strong opposition to the sale of land by the Redding Anthracite Company to the Bradds Landfill for their expansion towards St. Clair. 177 acres moving the dump towards St. Clair. After everything Sinclair has endured with Brad's, it's painfully obvious that the only people backing this project and sale are those that are willing to trade the Sinclair community health and future for financial gain and those whose campaigns they fund. I ask you to stand with us in opposition to the sale and expansion. I have three copies of the petition to object. to this transfer that I will provide for each of you. I ask that you review it, sign it and file it with the clerk of court's office and stand with us or ignore it and stand against us. This is a shameful maneuver conducted by an industry that has a history of shameful maneuvers. If permitted, the dump, that landfill will now be one half mile from populated areas of St. Clair. And we all know the violations that have gone on there since the opening of that place. It'll be one half mile from John Siney Park, one half mile from the St. Clair Little League field, one half mile from the St. Clair football field where Nativity plays games on a Friday night, one half mile from the St. Clair baseball field. And it wasn't that long ago I had to listen to Coach Deal tell me about having practice on the baseball field and having to remove his players because their eyes were burning, their throats were burning. from the hydrogen sulfide. It's a shameful, disgusting, and appalling maneuver that is being attempted here in Schuylkill County. We ask that you stand with the community and support us, or stand with the greedy and corrupt and betray us. This fight is real, and I'm ready for it free for all. St. Clair is under attack from the hateful, greedy, corrupt few, but also by the silence of good people who know better but say nothing. And I know you are all good people. Please don't be silent.

Well, Dave, I just want to reiterate. So it is a court issue. It needs to be filed with the court of commons, please. It's not a county commissioner issue. It is a private sale. But also, this county has been on record from the very beginning, opposed to blank landfill from the very beginning. When they went for a major expansion last time, the county wrote a letter in opposition of that expansion. Private land sales were not involved with. But if they go for an expansion, that stance is not going to change in any way.

Too often I hear lip service gets paid to it. And I know lip service was paid the first time by members of Schuylkill County Municipal Authority. They paid lip service to the initial.

Once again, that is not the county commissioners. You said Schuylkill County Municipal Authority? Not too long ago. From before Boots was here, I believe, Gary, I'm not predating you, but were you here when it first started? Because the county opposed it from the very beginning when it first started. And every time forward, when they've ever tried to do an expansion, but this, you know, this is a former district justice, DEP has a lot more power than we do. We send the letters in, we are meeting with the DEP secretary. I believe, I think they moved it now from the 26th to the 27th. I think that's what they did. They moved it to Wednesday to a Thursday. We are bringing this up with them about the issues that blight there to the secretary. It's the first time we're having an opportunity to talk to her about the issues at the west end of the county and this issue.

Very good. Well, they asked us to, they asked to file that petition to object. It's a written form now that you're going on record. I think any, listen, I think any citizen has standing when their environment is about to attack. It's standing that goes throughout the whole Commonwealth.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other public comment? Good morning. Good morning.

Good conversation with your husband. Monday. Yes, thank you. So good morning. I'm Dr. Erin Portland, and today I'm here in my capacity as a resident of Schuylkill County, specifically St. Clair. I'm here today because you will be meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the near future. And I respectfully ask that the Brad's landfill be directly addressed as part of that conversation. And thank you for acknowledging that. It's greatly appreciated. To support your conversation, I have prepared a packet of verified documents, including DEP enforcement actions, inspection reports, and recent developments. I will be providing this to you in a hard copy today and also via email. This matter is not speculation. This is about documented facts. In August of 2025, DEP issued a formal notice of violation to the Brad's landfill for exceeding hydrogen sulfide limits multiple times. These weren't minor exceedances levels. Levels reached as high as 11,500 parts per million by volume, far above the permitted limit of 3,670. DEP itself classified these violations as unlawful conduct and a public nuisance. Then just a few months later in November of 2025, DEP conducted another inspection. The report identified additional violations, including operating outside the permit conditions, failure to properly maintain landfill cover, and failure to establish required vegetation, conditions that contribute to erosion and instability. And apparently the same inspection also conducted, detected landfill gas odors along the Verma Road and confirmed the presence of hydrogen sulfide using monitoring equipment. So this is just not about cost violations, it's ongoing operational and environmental concerns. Now, at the same time, we are learning that approximately 3,000 tons of artificial turf, approximately the weight of 500 elephants, a synthetic material that contains PFAs known as forever chemicals, is being transported for the disposal at this very facility. The Department of Environmental Protection in December awarded a $300,000 grant contract for hauling away rolled turf. The material has been sitting at a Schuylkill County industrial park. This in fact made national news. This material comes from a site that had already raised regulatory concerns. It is not typical waste. Even contractors have acknowledged that it is difficult to dispose of because of its volume and handling characteristics. So the questions become simple. Why is a facility with documented violations and ongoing deficiencies being used to handle a large volume of complex waste? This is a reasonable question, but we deserve clear answers. We also know that this landfill is located within approximately 1,000 feet of Wolf Creek Reservoir. That's the source of my drinking water, our drinking water. That proximity alone should require the highest level of scrutiny. Not assumptions made by DEP, not general explanations, but site-specific data and transparency. This is not about shutting down without cause. This is about ensuring that decisions are made based on compliance, science, and public safety. As our commissioners meet with DEP, I respectfully urge you to ask questions. Have violations been corrected? On what basis can we accept artificial turf? What safeguards are in place to protect St. Clair's drinking water and assess the damage of the PFAs caused by this turf? And how is DEP ensuring that existing issues like odors, traffic, and gas control are not being made worse? These are not extreme concerns. These are reasonable expectations for oversight and accountability. Our community deserves clear answers, transparent information, and confidence that environmental protections are being enforced and not assumed. Thank you very much.

Brianna DelVal from Orangeburg. I'm going to talk briefly about accessibility and zoom. So I do, despite what other people may think, I do have a full-time job outside of this. And I actually am like my team's resident expert on web accessibility. I looked into, you know, what are the options for zoom accessibility? If you have a webinar license, that's the simplest thing. Things have advanced really far since COVID times to prevent weirdos from joining calls and things like that you can require authorization and kind of permission before joining the meeting, you can use a waiting room and you don't even have to let them in. Aside from that. For the zoom call you actually have to navigate the county website to get to the PDF to find the zoom call information. Information architecture is really difficult, like laying out a website is really difficult. I know that there's an accessibility overlay on the website that doesn't do anything. And that company is actually facing a class action lawsuit right now for kind of falsely telling counties, states, government offices that it's going to make their website accessible and protect them from litigation. It's really hard to find the Zoom information. Aside from that, onto my normal hobby worse. Last week, WDEC Chicago put out an article about an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. And I bring this up because it is one of the few examples we have right now of a federally owned property where there's ICE detention happening. And it just covers all of the unexpected costs that came with it. The local restaurant that's close to it has watched its business dwindle over the past year. They started the year with The town started with a $334,000 surplus at the beginning of last fiscal year, and now they're facing a $94,000 deficit because of unexpected costs. There's been protests at the facility. Broadview had to spend $361,000 in the past fiscal year that ends at the end of this month. They've had to pay $70,000 for police overtime, $12,000 for fire department overtime, $3,000 for additional PPE. because there's tear gas and things like that used at protests. I don't know what their actual term is. It's not tear gas. Ambulance transfers from the ICE facility cost nearly $250,000. Another $41,000 went towards legal expenses, mostly to sue the government after a fence was put up that blocked a street in the town. And then officials now have to plan for leaving some breathing room in their budget because they don't really know what costs there are going to be. But one that made me chuckle is that they also have to include more for overtime for the clerk's office to handle the influx of FOIA requests because they are overloaded. And I have questions about our ability to meet the existing right to know law requests. So lots of things there. Also in other news at Machanan Valley, the large processing facility that is in Pennsylvania already, there is currently a hunger strike there due to The conditions, there's about 100 men protesting conditions there. Of course, GEO Group has said nothing of the sort is happening. Everybody's being treated fine. But remember, they have private shareholders that they are interested in serving. It's the same GEO Group that, through ICE's own report and investigation, was found to have falsified records surrounding the death of a detainee there. So when we're thinking about being made whole, there are a lot of questions that we Don't have answers to and pilots payments and move taxes aren't necessarily going to make up all of the other things the cost to our county.

Thank you. That's why we're addressing those in the latter you have received Any other public comment? Morning.

Morning. Morning.

Flower was counting on Joe and I emailed you guys back on March 27th. I have not received a response yet. Does someone have a response? Thank you. Given the three minute time limit, I respectfully request that I be permitted to complete my remarks without interpreting interruption. On Wednesday, March 18th, Cheryl Mack presented each of you with a resolution stating opposition to the establishment of an ICE detention center in Tremont. This resolution carries absolutely no legal obligation Another week has passed and it remains unsigned. Mr. Padora and Mr. Hetherington have not stated that they oppose the ICE detention center. That is a simple fact. Fairleigh Township has passed a resolution opposing it. Tremont Borough has passed a resolution opposing it. And since there is a clear disconnect between the commissioners and the people you're elected to represent, the people who will be directly impacted by this decision, I'll use the remainder of my time to introduce you to some of the good people of Tremont and Schuylkill County, your constituents. I've been talking to them, not that you guys have. Lisa from Tremont, age 60. She's lived in Tremont for 36 years. The things that she loves about her town are her neighbors, the quiet town where she raised her children, and that it was affordable. Her concerns about the ICE detention facility in Tremont, the water, the sewage, No police force in case something happens. Roads, ambulance, fire response. Things that she wanted me to share with you regarding ICE. She says she thinks that you should visit our town to see how people feel about how it would affect their lives. Talk to them. They want you to talk to them. Nancy. She's age 62. She lives in Tremont, she's lived there 32 years. Things she loves about her town, small community, safe environment, nice town to raise her children and now her children live there and they're raising their children, her grandchildren. Concerns about the ICE detention facility, safety of now her grandchildren, depletion of resources like water and draining and electricity, the traffic volume going through town, No police protection in Tremont. Residents can't afford the taxes, the increases, and the increase in cost of police protection. What she wants me to share with you, stop this from coming into the area. The west end of Schuylkill County have gotten enough thrown at us, like NSP. Sherry. age 65, lives in Tremont over 30 years, things she loves about the town. Her family is here. Her concerns about the ICE detention facility in Tremont. The area for this facility is too close to the town. We keep hearing things are not good. We have a bunch of people moving into the area. No police, no water, sewage issues. And those of you that are here from school, pay attention because everybody who has talked here is fighting for your health and for our health. We need people to come into the government that care about us, that will fight for us because the people here are serving their own purposes.

But that statement is not true. The county is making sure that all the issues are addressed about safety and everything. And as of right now, everybody is talking about what is because The detention center is on hold. As far as I know, we haven't got any new information on it. So she can have her opinion, which I respect that she says that the commissioners don't care. The commissioners care greatly. We can only do so much. We are limited to the amount of power we have and the government gives us. The federal government has a lot more power than the county commissioners. Just like the state government has a lot more power than the county commissioners. NTEP has a lot more power than the county commissioners. They won't give us the power to fix the problems. However, it has to allow us to do it, which they do not or the federal government. So right now, the building's on hold that we are addressing all the concerns that were brought up previously. They brought up about natural soil product is a bio-solve processing facility. We are meeting with the Secretary of DEP. It's the first time we've managed to get the Secretary of DEP here in school town for a meeting, which We actually don't have the power to do that we pressured. And when we had an opportunity with the governor of Shapiro, we took the opportunity to bring these issues up so we can get somebody here that has some authority to deal with these issues. So that's what we're doing. We are very concerned about the residents of Schuylkill County.

Thank you.

Any other public comment?

Morning, Jack. Morning, John. Good morning. Jeff Donkel, Palo Alto. Just to start off, six elected officials weren't here at 9.35 this morning, all making roughly $100,000 a year salary and benefits package. So all the young ones out there, make sure you have a good work ethic, even though if you get a salary job, show up to do the job. Taxpayers are paying you to be here. Make sure you're here to represent them. Ms. Gaffney, I seen she was here, surprisingly, until I noticed a school tour was here. Well, she was here to answer the questions. But anyway, she made a claim on record here at this podium over a year ago that the reason why she worked less than 100 hours in six months making $100,000 salary and benefits package was because she was on FMLA, which is family medical leave absence, which most people are entitled to with their job. However, an elected official is not. So she made that claim on record in a public meeting. And I'm still questioning that as to why she thinks it's okay to show up for less than 100 hours in six months at $100,000 salary and benefits.

But she does show up to do the tours.

So I hope there's a lot more tours coming up because she took over for Mr. Halkovich. Two corrupt people taking people around the courthouse. On to Ms. Stevens. She was a director of the Children and Youth Office down the road here. She ran an illegal payroll scheme that she was reprimanded for. I've been trying to get information on that. I was told to refile the right to know request. And as Brian said, always on the fifth day after 4.20 PM, you get a response. So 4.24 PM on the fifth day, I got a response and was given a 30 day extension. Now I won't have any of this information until May 11th. So it's a way that they silence me, request an information, you get a 30 day extension, but they think I'll stop talking about it. Tony, job postings. I'm wondering what the protocol is for a listing or posting of a job. Is there a length of time that it must be posted for? Are your fingernails more important or can you answer the question?

It's up to me. So all jobs should be posted. I guess if it's a union job, it can be done internally if I'm correct on that.

This is one that was posted. What's the length of time that is protocol for it to be listed?

I guess until it's filled or until it's...

So having it posted for a week is not normal?

If it's filled within a week, yeah, I guess.

I'm saying the listing date to the closing date. I don't know what I'm talking about. If you can look into that for me.

Okay.

And there's a pay range of $14 an hour difference, ideal for a job post.

Which one is it?

I'll get it to you.

Okay, so I can look at it.

Also, I requested the policy to pay bills for children and youth clients. I've asked multiple times for this. Of course, Carl's usually not here when I request that. I have a file of right to know on that, 30-day extension, so now May 11th will be the next time I can get any information on that. I see the President of Judges here. I've been asking about this missing evidence that was reported at a meeting. Commissioners couldn't get any response for that. I'm just curious. It wasn't found. Is Mr. Buber's exorbitant pay being verified and validated? And in closing with the landfill, I think it's an absolute disgrace what they're doing. As Mr. Klatschko said, moving right into the town, a half a mile. I mean, if this is going on, then you guys, these guys would be up in arms over it. But also, like I said, follow the money. All you got to do is request a campaign donation slips. Follow the money. Who's selling the property? Who's getting it? Who's donating money? Unfortunately, this county's been just becoming a dumping ground. The West End, they've been battling for years. I mean, what, we finally get a DEP meeting we're supposed to celebrate and have cookies and cake? It's a disgrace. And it's just getting big. 177 acres in a residential area. I mean, just drive over there. Driving down to Burma is becoming driving like on 81 over by Tremont. It's a disgrace. So hopefully you three stand up for it and oppose it, because I think the people of St. Clair deserve it. Thank you.

Any other public comment? Oh, you're hiding behind the post. You were over there.

I'm flexible. Melinda Divert, North Mannheim Township. Awesome comments this evening, this morning from the public. Okay. Yeah, as has already been pointed out, Schuylkill County is rapidly maintaining its status quo, becoming a dumping ground for the United States of America. Data centers, warehouses, landfills, detention centers. What's next on the horizon? They are absolutely taking over this county, desecrating our land. dumping on us and leaving us to pick up the pieces. The money is not staying. The money that's being made is not staying here in the areas that are being affected. And I'm trying to figure out why are our state representatives and state senator remaining so quiet in all of this? So let's just read the names off. State reps, Dane Wattrow, Jamie Barton, Tim Twardzik, Joanne Stare, and our state senator, Dave Argyle. Residents have been contacting them asking about these proposed data centers most recently. Dave Argyle pretty well said, not my venue, not my problem. You need to contact your local municipalities, be it boroughs or township officials, and talk to them. See what they have to say. Because I guess little Davey can't do anything about it. Tordzik, Representative Tordzik, has been quite outspoken regarding a data center that's being proposed for Newcastle Township. Why is that? Because it's in his backyard. It's going to affect him and Fragville. But meanwhile, he's all in favor of North Point putting in a data center in Highbridge. Everybody ought to be for that one. It's going to be awesome. They want to be a good neighbor. Really? Tell that to the residents who live just below there in the borough of Gordon. Ask them what they think about it. And let's take a look at some of these data center ordinances. Any municipality that allows a developer to come in and drill a well for water That is the definition of insanity. You are absolutely going to cause residents to lose their wells over time because I guarantee you the data centers are going to get priority over the lowly residents. Okay, let's see. What else? Oh, yeah. Don't let me be remiss in forgetting to mention this. Another cheerleader of that North Point project is Frank Zukas. He's the head honcho at SEDCO, Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation. He goes out of his way to attend those Butler Township meetings. Why? Because he wants to make sure that this project goes through. And when you have somebody like that with a lot of sway, they're on the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Conservation District. of this county. As we have already heard by previous commenters, follow the money, follow who stands to benefit from these projects. Frank Zuccas came before the Board of Commissioners in 2019. What did he ask for? He asked for 750 acres located in Ryan and Mahanoy townships to receive a LERDA designation. And for those of you here who do not know what that stands for, I'll let you know. LERDA stands for Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance. What does that mean? It means they get decreased taxes over a period of 10 years. So that land, 710, I'll scurry it along, Larry, I promise. Just let me finish. 710 of those acres were owned by Unicot. Sound familiar? Yeah. Unicot is made up of Steve Kotler and Alan Unikowski. Mountain Valley Golf Course. Ringing a bell? So what did they get as of 2019? Because... the previous board of commissioners who was on in 2019, they unanimously agreed to that reduced tax basis for that land. So just as they were getting, you know, now they're what, five, six years into that reduced tax basis. What do they do? They turn around and sell the land for 15 million. Although I'm hearing rumors that really it was more than that. And how did that happen? A month before that land sold, we had the Ryan Township Board of Supervisors led by Clyde, I think he goes by Champ, Clyde Champ Holman, as the chairman, made sure that all of that land got rezoned from residential to industrial. Three weeks later, that land sells. People, you better start paying attention. What's going on in your local municipalities because the residents of Schuylkill County are getting sold down the pipe and we're sick of it. Thank you.

So what she's referring to with data centers and I'm on record that I'm not in favor of LERDAs for data centers. You're bringing in an industry that's bringing in 500,000 jobs and you're competing with say Brooks County or Dauphin County or whatever and say an industry is going to come like a Cabela's or someplace that's going to employ lots of people with high-paying jobs, I understand ALERTA has a place there to try to entice people to come here. For data centers, I'm not. If they're going to come here, they're coming because of land, electricity, and water. So they're already coming. So I'm not in favor of ALERTA for a data center. I don't know how the fellow commissioners feel that I'm not either.

I agree with the chairman, but first of all, I don't want to see data centers on it. next to anyone's house or farmland or next on farmland. There was one proposed over here in Oval that take a 90-acre family farm as pristine. Turned that one out, and I watched that one, that one fell apart. I've been on record, all three of us have been on record, we don't want to see data centers in the wrong place. And also, going back to the landfill issues, every time I go to the Mountain Valley for an event, I go by Brad's landfill. I grew up as a kid raising chickens and picking eggs. I know the smell of H2S, that's rotten egg smell. And then if I go up there and I smell it, I call up Roger Velez, who is the director of Solid Waste, and say, Roger, you're in trouble again. When the expansion request comes through, we vigorously oppose that expansion of Rooker Brass landfill. Same thing, if I'm going down to Harrisburg to the farm shower to visit my cousins, if I smell the smell of ammonia coming down to 81, I call Mr. Velez up on the phone. So every time I go through a smell, I make another complaint that registered in the operation. What they need, they need it. And I know you've heard this thousands of times, but they need complaints to be able to make big actions. So every time I go through there, I'm usually called Roger Wells, and I call Shirley Wagner and tell her I've already reported the NPS again. So we are aware of what's going on. We're not turning a blind eye. I don't understand what this campaign constitution is about. Yeah, well, so it would be, you know, that's a pie in the sky accusation.

Gary? We're going to keep doing what we said we were going to do when it comes to that home town.

Yes, first of the last point was the Lourdes. Again, I know as Commissioner, I voted for those. Definitely that was for like Walmarts, the Lowe's, the different people coming up at High Ridge. I mean, I know years ago, I wasn't a County Commissioner when Lowe's concept, I mean, the High Ridge concept was there. Again, up there, people said, no, it's not gonna happen. you have to entice some of these corporations, again, that brings jobs. And that whole high ridge up there have brought between four to 5,000 good paying jobs now that are up there. Again, I look at it as an investment into the future, but the data centers, they're coming no matter what. I don't believe that they need any extra enticement to do that. What they need to do is to make sure That anything, again, we're scared of the power. We hear that all over just statewide, that there's not enough power in the grid. So those are things that need to be a concern. And the water, definitely of the water, the pristine water. And we have issues now with this state, the detention center. You know, we already know they came in under the water, not letting nobody know or whatever. And I don't know how you buy a building that's almost double in price that was listed at almost a little less than $60 million. And then you go out and buy a building for $119 million. You know, you talked about the beginning of when this administration came in about fraud and misuse. My God, there it is there right there. OF OVERSPENDING AND STUFF. THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS. THE SAINT CLAIR LANDFILL, I KNOW I WASN'T A COMMISSIONER AT THE TIME. I THINK IT WAS MANTORA, ANGIE, AND FRANK STOTTEMEIER. THEY CAME OUT AS COMMISSIONERS AGAINST THAT WHEN THAT WAS FIGHTING, WHEN IT WAS GETTING BUILT. AND ALSO, AS COMMISSIONERS MOVED FORWARD, WE STUCK BY THAT. AND AGAIN, I KNOW WE PUT OUT LETTERS AND SO FORTH SAYING, you know, against this to DEP and so forth. I grew up in St. Clair. I grew up in St. Clair just south of an old landfill for many, many years. And I know the disturbance of what was done there. And again, it's 10 times as more today with the brads than whatever was up there. And that landfill never had liners. That's the old landfill type thing. So these things that are going in, And the smell is horrific. I mean, you can just drive by St. Clair just on 61 some mornings and you can smell the smell coming down and have that going there. Again, out in the western end, people can't live right. The quality of life, we always say we want to push the best quality of life. I believe that we're trying to do the best capable things of what we can do. I know personally, I've stated many times, I'm against that detention center. Grads need to come up. I'm not in favor of them expanding. And I know we were on record of their expansion there, of all of these things. It comes down to just the general living in this area. And again, that's what we try to build up. Any elected official wants to do that, whether that's from school district, to the municipality, to the county, is to make this county the best it can be. And doing that, we need to work together. Again, when state and federal come and push, especially the federal side, we always say the feds are going to do what they're going to do. And again, that's basically what we're trying to attack, that we can do the best thing to work this thing off. This detention center And everything else in all is not good for the quality of life, and especially what I'm worried about. And things that we ran just this past week was the Youth Summit, is these young people here. I'm in the senior light of my days. I know what this county has given me, and some great opportunities to do and to grow and to raise a family. And that's what we want to try to do the same thing. We don't want to flush that, so to speak, down anything. We want to make sure this county moves forward in a better life and to make sure the best quality of life. And we are trying to do the best thing that we can do to push that forward. I'm with you. I'm stating that again on all angles, so just so you know. Thank you. And thank you for your concern because again, We're all in this together. We're from Schuylkill County. We're strong. We have a hard work ethic, and that's what we need to do is to have that fight appeal to move forward and make sure things are good.

With the data centers, you know, my mom on record is saying in the right locations in Schuylkill County, we have an abundance of coal lands that can't be used for anything else. They would be a perfect location. Everybody says they're against data centers, but then Do you have, who has a cell phone? No, I'm asking, who has a cell phone? Everybody? We contribute to data centers. Every single day, when you use Facebook, Zillow, Venmo, Snapchat, TikTok, everything. All your banking information, all of your pictures that you have, these data centers are going to go somewhere. So if we can find the right locations, and three of them in this county would mean the difference, it would generate a ton of money in tax revenue.

Wow. Explain that to us.

If there's no, well, I'm not for a lot of work, but just on the basis of the building, if you tax it like you do, Glenn did the numbers. On three, what is it, Glenn?

On three days, Senator, we would generate approximately $17 to $18 million for the campus.

Based on what square footage?

Based on square footage and the contents, yes, ma'am.

Yes, sir. That's what I'm saying though. So in the right locations, if they produce their own power and in the right locations, I don't want them in people's backyard or on farmlands, but if somebody goes to put a warehouse in, people are against the warehouse. If somebody goes to put a housing development in, people are against the housing development. You cannot keep, I've seen our budget, you cannot keep taxing the same residents over and over and over again. And until the state allows us to do something different to find alternate sources of revenue, I'm trying to push for every county to have a 1.5% sales tax. One of the numbers, if Schuylkill County had a 1.5% sales tax, that would generate $15 million a year, roughly. That's one mil. But until they allow us to do it, we are stuck on funding county government through real estate tax. That is your only source of revenue that there is, is real estate tax. And if you don't grow that real estate tax base somehow, you constantly, continuously tax the same residents over and over and over again. So it's a combination of things. We need some type of growth. We need some type of responsible, reasonable growth.

Responsible.

Yeah, that's right. And if it's in the right locations, they can use their own power. Like, who goes to Penn State? Well, I know Boots loves Penn State. But who else loves Penn State? Okay, Penn State has a nuclear power plant on campus that has been there and running since 1950. Its own little packaged nuclear power plant. Since 1950, that power plant has been running and providing power and steam and heating their buildings since 1950, a nuclear power plant. Since the 1950s. These data centers can put in a packaged nuclear power plant. And then any excess, one of the data centers that is refiring the Homer City power plant, it took an abandoned coal area That was completely contaminated. They're building the data center on that area. They are refiring the Homer city power plant on natural gas and pumping 25% XF energy into the grid. So in the right locations, if they, and if they don't come here somewhere, they're going to be somewhere else. And then all of our personal information will be overseas in China or India or something. That's when they'll build these things.

Is Mountain Valley the right location?

No, I don't think Mountain Valley is. But once again, you're a homeowner. I come to you and I say, I'm going to give you a million dollars for your home. And your neighbor says, I don't like that person. I don't want you to sell it to me. You'll take the million dollars. What I'm saying is Mountain Valley had the opportunity to sell their property. They sold it. Now, we don't know what it's for. From what we're understanding, it's warehousing. That's what we were told. There is two data centers right now in progress in Sioux County. One is in Klein and one is in High Ridge that we know of right now. So that Newcastle one, there's nothing official any way, shape or form with the Newcastle one. All it's been is speculation and talk. There has been no documentation. The one in Klein has submitted paperwork and they already purchased the property. So that's the only one That's 100% so far official that I know of in Schuylkill County. The one at High Ridge also is in the early stages of it, but I haven't seen any official documentation on that one.

The property was purchased in Newcastle by the data center developer?

Well, it was bought by a speculator. A lot of people are doing the same thing they're doing with warehouses. They're speculating on it. I'm not saying that Newcastle 1 is the right location for it. We have lots of land that can't be used for anything else. And these newer data centers we're working with, we reached out to two people to have somebody come in and give a presentation on the newest generation of data centers, how they're powered, how they cool, how much water consumption they use. Because some people say they use a million gallons of water a day. There's others now, these newer ones, they're air cooled. Some of them don't use water. Some of them are going to only distill the water. You know they're changing drastically so we're trying to get somebody that has current information to come in and give a presentation on it, so we were better educated ourselves off so that's what we're working on. But i'm responsible to say no to everything instantly a knee jerk reaction because a data Center we created every day i'm sorry we are consumers, we are people that are creating data centers and. If they're done responsibly in the right area, it can be a good tax benefit revenue. Then we don't have to develop farmlands.

You don't have warehouses being on farmlands.

That amount of money that revenue that that data center can generate, do you realize how many homes you would have to build in Schuylkill County to generate that kind of tax revenue? Half your farmland would be gone. And it would take, oh my God, to get a housing development in, it would take 100 years to generate that revenue. You just can't say no to everything right away. There are certain issues that, yes, with the Blanks landfill, this county has been on record since the very beginning against that, about expansion and everything. But DEP and Harrisburg has the ultimate say. A lot of people come to the county commissioners because we have a weekly meeting and they have the bully pulpit here to be able to talk about stuff. But a lot of stuff people talk about is completely out of the commissioners' hands. We do the best we can to try to facilitate and try to get dep to listen about nsp and about blight and about detention centers we try to do the best we possibly can to have this conversation and do what we can we don't have the power to stop or limit them you know what i mean so that's what we're working on so i just wanted to reiterate that mrs diver probably a good point about where is i'm guessing they were first brought up the the uh document pays zero tax the first year

and 20, 30, 40, now we're taking 100%. And North Schuylkill and Wintersville haven't done quite well with libraries because the orders are run out. Now those properties are paying the high tax. So initially they don't pay anything that they should, but after the 10 years, like Mr. Hess said, when we're trying to entice competitive people here, that's why we're all, we're all not in favor of giving an order to a data center.

I am not, I'm not in favor of that.

But, Just so you know, that LERDA designation is good for the 10 years. So even though Unicot sold that land, they still have another four years of decreased tax basis if they end up putting warehouses, data center, whatever they end up doing with that. They're still going to get that reduced tax basis.

I don't think the LERDA was on the go as far as we know. I'm not 100% sure.

710 acres. There was eight parcels. Look it up.

Okay, we'll look into it, but I'm not in favor. Like I said, if it's somebody coming here and bringing 500 jobs, if they get alerted to come here, because you've got to entice them into your county. I understand a partial alerted to try to entice people because you've got it like Cabela's. If Cabela's wanted to come to Schuylkill County and they said, well, we want a 50% alert up because Berks County gave them an alert up, and they come to us and say, I want a 50% alert to Cabela's, look what Cabela's did to that area there. The jobs, the infrastructure, everything that got created in that area.

Jobs with data centers and warehouses, you're not, they're not.

A job in a data center is, Melinda, I like the debate. It's not a debate. Okay, that's a lot of flitter. No, that is not true.

That is not true, Melinda. Do you research?

I have sat in a presentation with a data center company that they put out long ago.

Well, yeah, just to find out information.

get an employee about 85 a day employ about 100 people starting at an 85 000 a year that a kid right out of high school can get that job right they're going to work with our vote tax and our schools to educate them to do it we won't believe it but with that no i want to know yeah sometimes it wasn't thank you let's move on with the meeting it's not a debate it's not a debate this is a clinkers meeting you have your public comment i allow people to go beyond their public comment i allow people to do stuff but i'm not going to sit here debating i want to move on with the meeting you're saying your facts which i don't know where you're getting your facts i'll sit down with you i'll sit down anytime you know that but you can't just say you have said no since i've been here as a commissioner Somebody wants to put a warehouse in. Nope, I'm against that. Somebody wants to put a housing building in. Nope, I'm against that. Data center. Nope, we're against that. We're against everything. Instead of doing research and saying, how can we work this out to try to bring good revenue and good jobs to Schuylkill County, it's easier just to say, nope, I'm against it all.

That's not what we're saying, Larry.

But that's what he said. Have you sat down with anybody and given me information? Any information? Have you actually sat down with any of these people, like the warehouse people? Now, that's all. Have you ever sat down with them? Let's move on with the meeting. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes from the April 8th meeting? So moved, Chairman. Second. Any questions? Commissioner Pedora?

Yes. Commissioner Hetherington?

Yes.

Commissioner Haft? Yes.

Can I have a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting of April 15th? So moved, Chairman. Second. Any questions? Commissioner Pedora? Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington?

Yes.

Commissioner Haft? Yes.

That motion approval was presented by adult probation at our work session. So moved, sir. Second. I'd like a question. Commissioner Padora. Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington. Yes. Commissioner Haft.

Yes. That motion approval was presented at my children and youth at our work session. So moved, Trevor.

Second.

I'd like a question. Commissioner Padora. Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington.

Yes.

Commissioner Haft.

Yes. That motion approval was presented by drug and alcohol. So moved, sir. Second. I'd like a question. Commissioner Hetherington. Yes.

Commissioner Haft.

Yes. And also approval was presented by the grant writers at one second. Yes, sir. Motion to accept.

Second.

Another question.

Commissioner Fedora.

Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington. Yes. Commissioner Hatt. Yes.

And also approval was presented by the Office of Senior Services. So moved. Second. Another question. Commissioner Fedora. Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington.

Yes.

Commissioner Hatt.

Yes. And also approval was presented by... Byron Gonzalez. So moved, Chairman. Second. Other question? Commissioner Padora? Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington?

Yes. Commissioner Haft?

Yes.

Can I also approve what was presented by Engineering and Real Estate? So moved, sir.

Second.

Another question? Commissioner Padora? Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington?

Yes. Commissioner Haft?

Yes.

Can I also approve what was presented by the Treasurer's Office? So moved, sir.

Second.

Another question?

Commissioner Padora?

Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington? Yes. Commissioner Haft? Yes. Finance Office.

Good morning, Commissioner Chess. Thank you very much. Just one item on the agenda for today, informational purposes only, an adjustment of $418 to the current year for town.

Thank you, County Administration. The month of approval was presented by County Administration. The first three bullet points, and then approval of one-year extensions in the April 30th, 2017 contract. with prime care medical aid for the base medical treatment contract and the medication assistance treatment program for the county prison. Base contract annual cost will be $1,576,668.44. On the map, contract annual cost will be $27,309.67. $276, sorry. Motion to approve the board administration, the transportation authority, and also the county prison request.

Second.

The question? Commissioner Padora?

Yes. Commissioner Hetherington? Yes. Commissioner Happ?

Yes. People in the Social Office? Good morning, commissioners and children and youth. We have the promotion of Haley Walton, county caseworker two from caseworker one. The rate for the contract, 23.7467, effective 5-4-26. In the prison, the appointment of Justin Lewis as a correction officer part-time, effective 4-27-26. The rate of 26.4555 is for the union contract. In drug and alcohol advice, start Jada Jessica Meraki as case management specialist trainee. The rate is 18.0444, effective 4-20-26. That rate was, or the date was changed from 4-13-26. Informational items in court administration, the appointment of George Mueller as a law clerk, effective 4-27-26. In adult probation, the appointment of Grant Colbert as an adult probation officer one, the date 5-11-26, raised per the contract. the juvenile probation appointment of six sites coordinators all effective six one twenty six for a period of ten weeks their names are elena bowers jacob bagansky kelly goodman noah hayes brayton mickle savage and william mondrain in the district attorney's office the appointment of kaylee chaiko as a guideline supervisor effective 427 26 The district attorney is also appointing Tatiana Hardy as a victim advocate assistant, and that's effective 4-27-26. In the controller's office, the appointment of Cale Lengel as an unpaid intern, effective 5-27-26, with an end date of 8-10-26. And in the sheriff's office, two appointments of unpaid interns, Caitlin Fleschhoff, effective 5-11-26, to end date 21-26. Haley Roberts, effective 5-18-26 to end 8-7-26. Call appointments pending drug test and physical where appropriate. Call actions involving salary, work, or positions being graded are pending salary board approval.

Now I'm looking for the children, youth, and prison and drug alcohol. So moved, sir. Second. I have a question.

Commissioner Pedora? Yes. Commissioner Hetherington?

Yes. Commissioner Hathaway? Yes. Any new business? Welcome to the new year. Welcome to the new year, sir. City Council Chambers and City Council Chambers. City Council Chambers.

City Council Chambers. City Council Chambers.

Sorry.

Wait, so the LERD is where? I'm sorry, Gary. I don't believe there's one. There's one at North Point.

The old airport that used to be up on top. There's two buildings up there.

North Point is the one in the industrial site, right? Right. That has a LERD. The one in Clinetown. The golf course, I do not believe there's a LERD up in that one. But I'm going to look into it.

According to this article, there is.

In the one at the golf course?

When Frank Zuccas came in March of 2019. Sorry, let me identify myself. Melinda Dyer. North Manhattan Township, for the record. Yes. Alerted designation for a chunk of land in Ryan and Montnoy Townships. During a workshop meeting that was held Wednesday, it's nine parcels totaling 750 acres. Frank Zuccas, president of Schuylkill Economic Development Corporation, asked the commissioners for their support during the public comment portion of the meeting. It's going to be a big old shot in the arm. Commissioner Gary Hess called the LERDA a shot in the arm for Mononoy Area School District. I'm not sure how with the decreased tax basis, but anyway, and said that LERDAs are an investment in the future. All nine of the parcels, involved parcels, are in the vicinity of the Route 54 and Interstate 81 interchange near the township lines for Monoy and Ryan townships. One of the parcels, a 40-acre parcel, was owned by Jack Butts, Dale Coal Company, Dallas, Pennsylvania. The other eight properties are owned by Utica Limited Partnership, based in St. Clair. Steve Kotler and Alan Utikofsky. According to the company website, Utikot Limited Partnership is a member of the Kotler Group, a group of companies including Mountain Valley Golf Course, Mainstay Suites, CNR VIP Incorporated, Locust Valley Coal Incorporated, and Stouts Ferry Preparation Company. So take a look, maybe like stroll across the hall over to Chrissy. have her pull the information for it. It was approved unanimously. And I understand Boots, you and Larry were not commissioners back in 2019. I believe Boots, you came on in 2020. Yeah. Okay. So, but Gary Hess was a commissioner then. He did vote for it. He was in favor of it. So, you know, do your homework. Let's look into this stuff a little bit. Quite honestly, I think the taxpayers and people of the county are tired of seeing that we have to pick up the pieces from all the stuff that comes in here. And again, with the data centers, those are highly specialized jobs. It's not going to be your graduate coming out of high school that's going to get an $85,000 a year job working in a data center. And there's not going to be...

You hand them a computer or a laptop or a phone, they are highly educated compared to what we were at school. We still have typewriters. Check with the companies. They can do just about anything.

Check with the companies. We're actually installing these centers to see how much they are recruiting within...

Listen, I'm just going to tell you that that's what we were told. Like I said, I am working on getting a specialist here to... come in and actually talk about this so we can be informed and not speculate. Well, let's try to get somebody who is a developer. That's right. I'm trying to find somebody that is not associated with any projects, with anything, to try to come in. Because honestly, big mining and data centers are all being mashed together into the same thing. And they are completely two different animals. And a lot of this, a lot of the bar stories are big mining projects. Because they just come in, they use a ton of power to use the thing. And I'm like, well, I'm educating myself on it too, because I'm honestly, bit mining, data centers, all of this stuff is all something new. So if they're going to come to our county, I want to be informed. I want to know the actual facts. Because some of the water consumptions, the stuff that I've been finding on, some are using like a car, a closed loop radiator system. They don't have to show water. Once the system's charged, Some of them are using a geothermal system. One company's using a completely air-cooled one. One company's looking at using mine pool water to cool it and then treating the mine pool water.

It doesn't have to be potable water that they use. But even if they say they're a hybrid system or an air or dry system, there still is water usage associated with it.

What I'm saying is we're going to get somebody here that can actually...

Okay, if I could recommend, because Penn State Extension has done quite an excellent job of producing and putting out for the public, if you registered for them. Actually, the third installment was yesterday. They have been putting out webinars on data centers because it is such a rapidly changing topic. A lot of information out there. I would suggest reaching out to Penn State Extension to see if they have a speaker or maybe a couple of speakers who might be willing to come and do a presentation. I'm trying to do it.

I'm trying to find experts that are speaking about this that aren't affiliated with any programs or any projects. I want somebody that can give us the information because, like I said, it's rapidly changing. I think a lot of it's being lumped into one thing, and I don't think it's in the right locations. It's Google County. You have lands that can't be used for anything else. And it's jobs. It's tax-based. There's not truck infrastructure. You're not going to have 150 trucks going in and out of the place. So let's look at it first before we say no. Let's get the actual information before you say no.

Yeah, let's get it.

We better get tracking. We agree on it. Okay. So let's move on quickly.

Okay. Does the county have their ordinance drafted yet for data centers?

We do not have an ordinance yet because nothing is. So far, everything that I know that is going on has been through municipalities and local municipalities that have their own silo, their own zoning and planning.

I know, but Schuylkill County does do the planning and zoning for about half of the 67 municipalities.

We're going to look into it. And some people are getting mad at municipalities because they're selecting areas for this kind of stuff. Because if you don't pick an area for it, they can put it anywhere. That, you know, that's happened. I'm not going to say what industry happened in because there's students here that years ago, there was a big thing about this and a certain industry that they didn't have designated areas for it legally could open up anywhere they want.

So everybody needs to get cracking on their ordinances.

Thank you.

Let me know if you need some help.

Linda's right, but bring me Marcella Schill in the street over on the device. Then state the third part of the job. Well, that's what we should be right. So they're doing the same thing with this.

Your knee turn reaction can't be noted right now. Get informed so we can look for things that move the county forward. OK, Saturday board board of an executive session public comment approval of minutes. Sorry meeting minutes of equally no motion approval. So hold German second. Commissioner Fedora yes.

Commissioner Hetherington yes. Commissioner Hess yes.

Yes. That motion approved the April 15th. So moved, Chairman. Second.

Other questions? Commissioner Bedora? Yes. Commissioner Hetherington? Yes. Commissioner Haas? Yes. Seconded by Deputy Feltz? Yes.

In adult probation, three, four positions of adult probation in turn effective 4-22-26. That's temporary 12-week position in court administration. Set salary for George Euler, law clerk, at $60,000, effective $427.26. The juvenile probation sentiment salary for six site coordinators, effective $6126 the last 10 weeks. The rate is $14.28. The names are Alaina Bowers, Jacob Bogansky, Kelly Goodman, Noah Hayes, Braden Miklasavage, and William Mondrain. In the District Attorney's Office, set salary for Kaylee Chico, Guideline Supervisor, the radius salary is $40,919, effective 4-27-26. And finally, the District Attorney's Office, set salary for Tatiana Hardy, Victim Advocate Assistant, $20.65 an hour, effective 4-27-26. That is all.

Okay, so can I have a motion for the Court of Administration, if I may, for the salary? So moved, sir. Second. Other questions?

Commissioner Fedora?

Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington? Yes. Commissioner Hess? Yes. Second. Deputy Felty?

Yes.

Judge Russell?

I can't vote on a vote vote. That's not mine. That would be Judge .

Oh, OK. So that would be Judge . Well, that's why I did it separate. Because I thought, when I saw you here, I thought it was, I did a separate vote. OK. We'll call Judge Goodman in, right? Yep. So we'll call Judge Goodman. Judge Goodman? Okay, so can I have a motion for... So can I have a motion for the juvenile probation and the second sentence? So moved, sir.

Second. Any questions? Commissioner Padora?

Yes.

Commissioner Heddington?

Yes.

Commissioner Haas? Yes. Second Deputy Felty? Yes. Judge Russell? Yes.

I have a motion for the two district attorneys. Second. So moved, Chairman.

Second.

Other question?

Commissioner Padura?

Yes.

Commissioner Hetherington? Yes. Commissioner Haas? Yes. Second. Deputy Felty? Yes. District Attorney O'Kate?

Yes. Any new business? I did all that. It's all done. Most new attorneys. What's your attorney?