Commissioners Organize for New Year

LOCK HAVEN — The Clinton County Commissioners took care of organizational matters at their first formal meeting of the new year today.

The board returned Republicans Pete Smeltz as chairman and Jeff Snyder as vice-chairman, the action unanimous with the vote of minority commissioner/Democrat Paul Conklin. All three had been sworn into office on Saturday after Smeltz and Snyder had won second terms and Conklin his first in November of last year.

All votes today were unanimous. They included the return of Jann Meyers as chief clerk and Larry Coploff as county solicitor. The commissioners approved Christine Hess as the office manager in the office of new district attorney Daved Strouse, Hess moving with Strouse from his legal firm. The board also gave its approval to Kathleen Long as a fulltime assistant district attorney. Hess’s pay was set at $31,354, Long’s at $62,670 annually.

They announced one variation to their meeting schedule. All three commissioners agreed to do away with periodic “road” meetings in Loganton and Renovo. Instead, they said, they will hold Garden Building evening meetings on the second Thursday of the second month of each quarter in 2016; this an effort to make the meetings more accessible to the public.
The first of those will be Thursday, Feb. 11. They will continue their past practice of weekly Monday work sessions at 9 a.m. and regular meetings each Thursday at 10 a.m.