Reacting to a video on social media of the Muncy Township Supervisors’ meeting which showed an altercation erupting following the meeting, Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger commented, “last night was not a good look for the eastern end of the county.”

Muncy Township’s meetings have struggled since new supervisors took over this year and Metzger noted that it’s gotten worse.

“It’s just not a good look for anyone,” he said.

One of the issues at the township stems from a board that is currently in litigation with developers, who are seeking to redevelop the former Lycoming Mall, now known as the District at Lycoming Valley.

Metzger pointed out that it’s “extremely” difficult to get developers to come to rural areas.

“The fighting that’s going on, the rumor mill, you know it’s wrong,” he said.

One of the rumors, perpetuated by comments from township resident Charlie Bush at the recent meeting, was that the developers, FAMvest, had applied for a casino license for the township property.

Metzger addressed that.

“There is not a casino coming to Lycoming County. The casino license is for State College. It’s for the Nittany Mall,” Metzger said.

Another question that has been circulating about the redevelopment of the mall project is that there is something going on with “blue whale.”

Again Metzger addressed that misunderstanding.

“Blue Whale is Bass Pro. That’s been revealed, that’s all it is, Bass Pro and for people to say, what’s Blue Whale and what’s their hidden agenda? There’s no hidden agenda. They want to make Lycoming County their home, and bring a lot of other developments. It’s going to bring jobs and taxes, which is going to help everybody. It’s going to make this area much more productive to live in,” Metzger said.

“So we’d ask everybody to just keep a cooler head and work together. It’s insane. What’s going on down there? Absolute insanity. And the personal agendas have to be put aside – right, you shouldn’t be serving in any kind of an office – and work together,” he added.

Commissioner Marc Sortman noted that during his tenure on the Loyalsock Township Board of Supervisors, there had been a one-time vote in the state to determine whether a community would allow mini-casinos in their municipality.

“We voted no. Because we voted no, that is a no for the rest of the lifetime of mini casinos in Loyalsock Township,” he explained.

Muncy Township is also recorded as voting no to mini-casinos when the question was put to municipalities for the state’s 2017 mini-casino expansion law.

“I’m not sure what Muncy Township voted at the time that would be on record…If you have concerns of the mini casino and think it’s a possibility, you should check and see, what did Muncy Township do,” he said.

During the business portion of the meeting, the board approved the following items: an agreement with ESI Employee Assistance Group in the amount of $12,978 which will be funded through operating expenses; an agreement with Frederick Patrick Santucci, to serve in the Public Defender’s Office when there is a conflict at the rate of $90 per hour to come from operating expenses; an amendment to the agreement with Moove NA Distribution to add items to the list of lubricants used at the landfill; a preventive maintenance agreement for the shredder at Records Retention with Suburban Inc. in the amount of $3,499 to be paid out of operating expenses; a master services agreement with Gov AI Software Solutions, LLC for case management software in Adult Probation in the amount of $19,840 to be paid out of operating expenses; an agreement with Pied Piper Pest Control in the amount of $2,800 for the Prison and $2,325 for the Pre-Release Center to be paid out of operating expenses; and an agreement with Bradley A. Schriver, Fire and Explosion Investigations, LLC, an expert service which can include consulting attorneys and professionals with public defender’s office to be paid out of operating expenses.

An agreement with Brian Girio for valuation consultation services related to property at the county-owned farm for $400 was tabled.

Elected officials’ personnel actions included: hiring Paula Simpler as a part-time temporary executive secretary for President Judge Eric Linhardt at a rate of $23.81 per hour; and hiring Michelle McCabe as a law clerk in the District Attorney’s office at $29.68 per hour.

The next commissioners’ meeting will be at 10 a.m., April 16 in the Commissioners’ Board Room, 3rd floor Third Street Plaza, 33 West Third St.