Clinton County Commissioners Discuss Range of Topics at Bi-Weekly Work Session on Monday, April 15

By Emily Wright

LOCK HAVEN – The Clinton County Commissioners met for their bi-weekly work session Monday morning and discussed a variety of county-related matters. From educational videos created by Ranger Kasey and Ranger Abbey to updates on some of the damage caused by Sunday evening’s storms, the meeting covered a range of topics relevant to the county’s residents.

Clinton County Grants Project Coordinator Beth Whitty attended the meeting and presented an educational video that was created in partnership with Director of Community Life Kasey Campbell and City Planner Abbey Roberts — also known as Ranger Kasey and Ranger Abbey. Campbell and Roberts created their video series, “The Ranger Roundup” during the pandemic, and they used the platform to create a video that spreads awareness about fair housing to acknowledge Fair Housing Month, which is nationally recognized for the month of April. To learn more about fair housing rights, the video is available on the Clinton County Government website at www.clintoncountypa.gov, and also on the Clinton County Government Facebook page.

Clinton County Grants Administrator, Kari Kepler, presented information about the COVID-19 ARPA Capital Projects Fund Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Program grant that was approved by the commissioners during their April 1 meeting.

In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the American Rescue Plan allocated $10 billion to the U.S. Treasury to help states implement programs that directly enable job, education, and health monitoring, including remote options. According to Kepler, many Pennsylvanians who lack affordable internet connection rely on community anchor institutions to participate in an increasingly digitalized society.

This project will create a shared office space open to the public at the Donald G. Mellott Memorial Building at the Department of Emergency Services on Frederick Street in Flemington. A public hearing on the project’s details was held on Thursday, April 8 to discuss the details and requirements of the project.

Kepler shared that since the Melotte Building was formerly a school building, it has three existing classrooms on the second floor that can be used for the project if they can be updated and improved into what she calls, “modern training and meeting rooms” with full internet access for all residents to use. She said that the project will require elevator construction, installation of fiber optic cable, upgrades to the electrical and phone systems, security door installation, and the former principal’s office will need to be refurbished to create a server room. Additionally, the facility will need to be fully ADA-compliant.

Jonathon Plessinger, Director of Clinton County Emergency Services, attended the meeting to present an interoperability and site-sharing agreement between the county EMS Department and the Pennsylvania State Police. The agreement pertains to state tower sites for a new radio project that will improve the system for first responders. According to Plessinger, everyone in the state has an agreement with the state police regarding the state-leased towers.

During Plessinger’s presentation, he highlighted that on Thursday, April 18, 2024, the commissioners will sign a proclamation that recognizes this week as “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week” to honor Clinton County’s 911 dispatchers. “We have a lot of things planned for our staff that week to appreciate what they do on a daily basis, so thank you for your support,” Plessinger said.

Commissioner Harding asked Plessinger for an update following the heavy storms that struck the area on Sunday evening. Plessinger reported that he has been in contact with the National Weather Service and said that the storm delivered damaging winds and hail around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday in the Kettle Creek, Avis, and Woolrich areas. The storm caused significant property damage, downed trees, and wires that struck residences. He stated that after the meeting, emergency services personnel planned to go out and inspect the storm’s impact, which may necessitate the use of a survey crew to assess any possible tornado damage. Plessinger reminded the public that anyone with has storm-related damage to their property that they would like to report should contact the emergency services department so that it can be documented.

Tristan Rock, Clinton County Assistant Children and Youth Director presented several items to the commissioners during the meeting. Rock explained that the county’s Children and Youth Services (CYS) office needs to transition to a new child welfare data system called the Child Accounting and Profile System (CAPS). CAPS is how CYS enters and accesses information about new reports, case notes, documents, and other information. In order to utilize CAPS, the commissioners will need to vote to sign an agreement, which is set to take place during this Thursday’s voting session. Rock shared that there will be no interruption to providing services to families despite potential hiccups in data conversion to the new system.

The commissioners will meet for their voting session on Thursday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting can be attended in person in the second-floor conference room of the Piper Building located at 2 Piper Way, Lock Haven. The meeting is also live-streamed through the county’s Facebook page; search Facebook for “Clinton County Government”.