Clinton County Commissioners Approve Designation of April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, Approve Multi-Purpose Community Facility Program Grant, and Approve Emergency Gap Funding for Bucktail Medical Center
By Emily Wright
LOCK HAVEN – The Clinton County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their bi-weekly voting session and salary board meeting. The commissioners voted to apply for a grant that will be used to create a shared public space for community members in need of internet access at the Donald G. Mellott Memorial Building in Flemington. During the meeting, the commissioners officially declared April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month and presented Roads to Peace officials with a certificate for their efforts. A loan for Bucktail Medical Center was approved during the meeting, and Commissioner Harding addressed the bipartisan effort to keep Bucktail Medical Center open despite its financial situation. Last, the salary board meeting included approval of changes in salaries and grades for corrections officers.
Kari Kepler, Clinton County Grants Administrator, presented information about the COVID-19 ARPA Capital Projects Fund Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Program grant that was approved by commissioners during the meeting.
In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the American Rescue Plan appropriated $10 billion to the U.S. Treasury to assist states in carrying out programs that directly enable job, education, and health monitoring, including remote options. According to Kepler, many Pennsylvanians who do not have affordable internet access rely on community anchor institutions to participate in an increasingly digitalized society. This project will create a shared office space that will be open to the public at the Donald G. Mellott Memorial Building at the Department of Emergency Services on Frederick Street in Flemington, which will enable work, education, and health monitoring. A public hearing on the project’s details will be held on Thursday, April 11, at 10:00 a.m. in the Piper Building’s second-floor conference room.
During the meeting, the Commissioners, in partnership with Roads to Peace (Clinton County Women’s Center, Inc.), officially designated April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month through the approval of Proclamation No. 3 of 2024. Commissioner Angela Harding read the Proclamation, which provided some alarming statistics.
In the U.S., every 68 seconds someone is sexually assaulted. Adding to that, 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced some form of sexual assault in their lifetime. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18. The Proclamation further stated that 66% of sexual assault survivors are between the ages of 12 and 17, and individuals between ages 12 and 34 are at the highest risk for rape and sexual assault.
Roads to Peace provided sexual assault services to 115 survivors which included both adults and children within the past year. Juliana Jaglowski and Cheyenne Karichner from Roads To Peace were present at the meeting to receive the proclamation and spread awareness of the services provided by Roads To Peace. They also invited the public to upcoming events hosted by Roads to Peace in April.
“Two of the most important services we offer at Roads To Peace are a 24-hour hotline for anyone who is experiencing domestic or sexual violence, so if anyone is experiencing domestic or sexual violence, you can always call our hotline number to be connected with an advocate to talk about services and counseling,” Karichner said. “We also provide emergency shelter for those who are fleeing from domestic or sexual violence. We provide shelter for men, women, and children, no matter how you identify. If you are fleeing from domestic violence, we’re here to help you,” she added. To ask questions about services, call the hotline number at 570-748-9509 or visit https://www.roadstopeace.org.
On Saturday, April 13, at noon, Roads To Peace will host “Pinwheels in the Park” at Triangle Park in Lock Haven to recognize Child Abuse Awareness Month. On Wednesday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m. there will be a CU-Lock Haven University “Take Back The Night” event at the outdoor amphitheater, and Wednesday, April 24 is “Denim Day”, a nationally recognized day to show support to survivors of sexual violence by wearing denim.
Next on the agenda, commissioners voted and approved a three-year Inmate Housing Agreement at the Clinton County Correctional Facility (CCCF) with Snyder County, effective April 4, 2024, at a rate of $80 per inmate per day. Also relating to the Correctional Facility, commissioners approved a project modification request (PMR) to the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency for the existing COVID-19 mitigation in local and county confinement facilities grant. This grant funding supports the detection and mitigation of COVID-19 through testing for staff and inmates at the correctional facility.
Current staff members at CCCF will see a salary increase, and the starting salary will also be increased, as the commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between the county and Council 86 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union, amending the collective bargaining agreement for corrections officers and maintenance workers. The date of the current collective bargaining agreement was also extended for those workers through December 31, 2026.
During the Salary Board meeting, the commissioners approved the following changes to grades and salaries of full-time corrections officers and maintenance workers at CCCF, effective the first day of the next pay period:
The grade for a new hire in the full-time corrections officer position will be changed from Grade G to Grade I with a starting salary of $39,333.84.
The grade for a full-time corrections officer who has completed one year of service will move to Grade J with a starting salary of $40,622.40.
$1,500.00 increase in salary to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement for corrections officers and maintenance workers.
Last on the agenda, the commissioners voted and approved an unsecured loan for Bucktail Medical Center (BMC) in the amount of $200,000.00, with a maturity date of May 8, 2024. After that date, interest will accrue at 18% each year.
Commissioner Harding provided additional context about ongoing bipartisan efforts to support BMC and keep it operational in the Renovo community. She shared that the loan was approved to provide emergency gap funding until the hospital receives expected Critical Care Hospital Funding in the next few weeks. “I think its really important for the community to understand how we got to this point and also try to settle any uneasiness about Bucktail Medical Center,” Commissioner Harding said. “For the past five, possibly six months, the commissioners, as well as all of our legislators including Borowicz, Dush, Caser, Shapiro, Fetterman’s office, and GT Thompson have been having legislative updates with Bucktail Medical Center every three weeks,” she said. The group meets via Zoom to discuss ways to find a sustainable path for BMC in an effort to keep the doors open to the only full-service hospital in Clinton County.
“We understand as commissioners that we need to have that hospital intact so that we can continue to improve the community of Renovo,” Commissioner Harding emphasized. Harding mentioned the efforts that have been made to keep the doors open at BMC, underscoring the recent closure of the nursing home. “This is truly a bipartisan effort, and to that point, our legislators have been able to help Bucktail with some accounts receivables, PA Rural Health is helping the medical center find sustainable ways, and as we all know, most recently one of the decisions that had to be made, while gut-wrenching, was necessary if we’re going to keep Bucktail Hospital in Western Clinton County, and that was the closing of the nursing home,” she said.
“Just to be clear about the current loan that we just approved, Bucktail Medical Center receives funding, called ‘Critical Care Hospital Funding’, and those funds are due to come in in the next couple of weeks,” Harding added before expressing that the commissioners, their fellow legislators, the CEO of BMC, and Rural Health are confident that by providing funding to bridge the gap until the Critical Care Hospital Funding comes in, they are doing their due diligence and making every effort to keep BMC open, maintain employment there, and help to improve its financial situation moving forward.
Harding also highlighted that the third-party company that uses the infrastructure to send Medicaid and Medicare payments to BMC, as well as many other hospitals across the state, was recently hacked, which has delayed payment that Bucktail was to receive for the months of March and April, adding to the existing financial dilemma.
“It wasn’t until early Tuesday morning that we understood that we were going to have the ability to help Bucktail and I’m very proud that we’re able to do that, and I think that we’re doing the right thing. I have all the faith in the world that Bucktail is going to survive and that we’re going to be able to keep it here in our community,” Harding said to conclude her statements.
Commissioner Snyder, adding to Harding’s statements, said, “I agree. This is emergency gap funding that’s necessary to keep them afloat until the funding comes,” he said. “It’s just emergency gap funding and we’re able and happy to do it,” Snyder added.
The meeting was adjourned with no reports from elected officials and staff, legislators’ offices, or the commissioners.
The next Clinton County Commissioners meeting will be held on Monday, April 15, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., in person and via livestream on the Clinton County Government Facebook page. To attend in-person, meetings are held in the 2nd-floor conference room at the Piper Building. To schedule a presentation for a work session, contact Desiree Myers by sending an email to commissioners@clintoncountypa.gov.
