Lycoming County seeks $3M grant for coroner’s forensic facility
Trending
A grant application that could bring $3.4 million of state funds to the coroner's forensic facility project was approved by the Lycoming County commissioners at their weekly meeting.
The matching grant from the state Office of the Budget's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) would provide half of the $6.8 million in construction costs for the project.
Last year, the county purchased an 8,000-square-foot building on a 2-acre parcel at 3341 Wahoo Drive from the Pennsylvania College of Technology, which is being remodeled and expanded for the coroner's facility.
The commissioners also voted to reject the sole bid received for the Williamsport cross pipe rehabilitation project.
The project had been bid out in December, according to Shannon Rossman, the county's planning and community development director, but only one bid was received and it exceeded what the county had expected.
The expectation had been for a bid of $4-$5 million but the bid received was almost $11.8 million, Rossman said.
Because "there were a number of items in this bid, due to not having enough information about the actual pipe, we were making certain engineering assumptions," Rossman said.
A consultant will review the request for bids to update it based on newer information from the city, she said.
"We had the videos but we didn't have the engineering analysis," she told the commissioners. "Hopefully once we acquire that engineering analysis, we will be able to actually make the bid a little bit tighter."
In his closing statements, Commissioner Scott Metzger stressed the importance of the levee project for the "safety and economic health" of the county.
"The greater Williamsport levee is a source that protects some $4.5 billion in community assets, including residences, businesses, schools and medical facilities," Metzger said.
"The county has worked hard and long to take the necessary steps regionally and in Washington, D.C., to ensure the levee is the No. 1 priority for our community. This repair and upgrade will be the source of protection for our community resulting in economic vitality in the region for years to come," he said.
A work proposal from Clear Ballot in the amount of $12,000 was approved by the commissioners. Under the proposal, Clear Ballot will supply the county with Election Day support for the April primary and November election.
"This is to have a Clear Ballot field engineer on site. These are subject matter experts who know the voting system, top to bottom. They're there to provide immediate on-site expert advice on anything that might come up that's voting system related," said Forrest Lehman, the county's director of elections.
"It could be calls from poll workers during the day out at the precincts. It could be election results reporting at the end of the night when we have to get data out of the system and send it to the state. They're there as an immediate on-site resource and they've been invaluable to us in the past," Lehman said.
In other actions, the commissioners approved an attorney agreement with Patricia Shipman not to exceed $60,000 to act as solicitor for the Domestic Relations department; a Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund grant agreement with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in the amount of $200,000; and an amendment with Windstream to increase internet speeds at the Department of Public Safety and the Court House.
Under personnel, the commissioners approved Allison Wolfe as a temporary human resources business partner, a new part-time position in the Human Resources Office, at a rate of $40 per hour.
The next commissioners meeting will be at 10 a.m. Jan. 18, in the Commissioners' Board Room, first floor Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.