MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Executive Plaza.

In an acknowledgement that the delivery of medicine has changed as the country has navigated the COVID pandemic, the Lycoming County Commissioners amended the health and benefit plans of county employees to reflect that telemed visits will now be covered.

“It was brought to my attention recently from one of our employees that the telemedicine component of our plan was not covered, unless it was through Teladoc,” Human Resources Director Jessica Segraves told the commissioners.

“Pre-COVID, I think that was very common. Post-COVID, telemedicine appointments with your PCP (primary care physician) are normal,” Segraves stated.

Changes to the following plans were made following a consultation with the county’s provider: the Pre-65 Retirees Group Health Plan; the Employee Benefit Plan-AETNA PPO Group Plan; Prison Union Employee Benefit Plan; Pre-Release Union Employee Benefit Plan; and the Senior Plan Retiree Benefit Plan.

The county is in the process of building a health and wellness center for county employees and their families. Visits would be at no cost to the employees and appointments would not be necessary. The commissioners in the past have said that the hope is that employees will utilize the center rather than going to the emergency room or other healthcare providers in order to bring down the costs to the county.

The county’s insurance carrier, according to Commissioner Tony Mussare, has said that they could see where the county could save money with the innovative approach to healthcare.

“Not only save money, but make our workforce a lot healthier,” Mussare quoted the carrier as saying.

In other actions at their recent meeting, the commissioners voted to award a request for proposal for consulting services for the Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Program to Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions, Inc. The program is 100 percent grant funded through the Environmental Protection Agency, the commissioners noted.

Brownfields are defined as former industrial or commercial sites where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination.

“That means that if you have those properties or you want to acquire them to do development, you should contact the county and we can help get it cleaned up,” Commissioner Rick Mirabito said.

In other actions, the commissioners approved the following budgeted items:

• A letter of engagement with Baker Tilly US, LLP.

• An amendment to an agreement with Windstream for service at the transfer station. The amendment will result in a faster bandwidth at a cost of $205 per month for five years.

• The purchase of software upgrade to the Carlson Landfill GPS compaction software with Carlson Software Inc. in the amount of $21,645.

• An amendment to agreement with Professional Petroleum Service Company which includes grease, lubes and anything that is used with the equipment vehicles in the Resource Management Department. According to Jason Yorks, director, the amendment includes on the average about a 12.5% increase for services.

Other agreements approved by the commissioners included an internship agreement with Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; a municipal waste disposal agreement with Northumberland County; and a transportation infrastructure investment funding reimbursement agreement with the Department of Transportation pertaining to the acceleration and deceleration lanes on Route 15. They also approved the resolution relating to the funding reimbursement agreement.

The commissioners announced that they will begin an informational series at their next meeting concerning what nonprofits do for the county.

The next meeting of the commissioners will be at 10 a.m. April 7 at the Commissioners’ Board Room, 1st floor, Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.