An annual union contract, including a pay raise, for county deputy sheriffs was approved by Lycoming County commissioners Tuesday.

In addition, a need for more space has spurred the county to purchase new walls for the Office of Domestic Relations.

The collective bargaining agreement is with the county Deputy Sheriffs Association, which is newly formed and independently represented, said Matt McDermott, chief clerk and director of administration for the county.

The agreement includes a 2.5 percent annual raise, compensation for deputy sheriffs who are on-call and a uniform and equipment allowance, effective for five years. The contract is on a par with other union contracts the county holds, except that the uniform and equipment allowance is higher due to the pricing and number of uniform pieces and equipment required, McDermott said.

“Those are the highlights,” he said. “It didn’t take very long to negotiate, and it went very smoothly.”

There are 16 members of the association, all of whom opted to stick with the county’s health care, McDermott added. This is beneficial to the county because, the more employees using county health care, the more able the county is to negotiate renewal terms with the provider, he said.

In another matter, the county commissioners approved a $269,065 contract to purchase new walls from M/W International Inc., of Ohio. Domestic relations is one of several departments in the courthouse in need of more space — using walls that may be rearranged makes meeting that need easier to reach, the commissioners said. Eventually the office will move to the fourth floor of the courthouse.

“The entire relocation of our office will be financed through our Title IV-D account,” said Director Stephanie Tribble, referring to revenue generated from department services.

The department’s move allows other departments on the third floor of the courthouse to expand, reallocate and put needed updates in place, McDermott said.

Both the Adult and Juvenile Probation offices will expand, as will the sheriff’s department. The domestics and family court also will move to the fourth floor, where they can be co-located.

“It makes sense from a flow perspective,” McDermott said. “It also allows us to address privacy and confidentiality concerns we’ve had in the past, and security as well.”

County administrators are meeting with these different offices to work out move and remodel sequences as well as the timeline associated, “to impact daily function as little as possible, he said.

The commissioners also approved a variety of other actions after a week without meetings and ahead of what is expected to be a lengthy meeting today.

Several were professional service agreements for the Juvenile Probation Office, including a two-month contract with Jeffrey Yates for prosecution, a contract renewal with Crossroads Counseling and a contract with George Jr. Republic for youth placement.

The commissioners also approved a five-year contract with Bachle Welding and Machine Inc. for machining and bailing for Resource Management Services, and approved a $10,150 purchase of four replacement tarps from AAA Tarps to cover work areas overnight at the landfill.

They renewed a three-year professional service agreement with McCormick Law Firm for solicitor services for the Assessment Office at a rate of $110 per hour.

Today, the commissioners meeting will include a public hearing for the Franklin Township/Lairdsville Community Development Block Grant competitive application to allow community members to comment on the sanitary sewer project ahead of applying for grant funding.

Pending comment, the commissioners are expected to approve the application following the hearing.

The county planning department will come forward with several requests, including the adoption of the long-awaited county comprehensive plan, for which the public comment period is over.

The commissioners also will consider adopting a resolution for a Growing Greener Plus grant request of $149,746 that, if approved, will combine with other funding to restore and stabilize banks along Muncy Creek in the Hughesville area. Another planning department request is to purchase GPS software and hardware from Topcon Solutions in the amount of $13,488 to replace aging equipment, which is a budgeted purchase.

Commissioners Jack McKernan, Tony Mussare and Rick Mirabito were present. Today’s meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in Executive Plaza.