Trending
It was another short agenda for the Lycoming County Commissioners this week as they took the extra time that offered to tout the new air service that was announced this week at the Williamsport Regional Airport.
At a mid-week unveiling it was revealed that Contour Airlines will be offering passenger jet flights at the local airport beginning mid-October.
Commissioner Marc Sortman stressed that the community needs to get behind the new service and use it.
"All I would ask of everybody is, if you can utilize it, please try to utilize it," Sortman said.
"If we don't utilize it as a community, that will go away. When that goes away, I think commercial air flight out of Williamsport goes away," he added.
Commissioner Mark Mussina, compared usage of the airport to the push to shop locally.
"It' almost the equivalent of when during Christmas season when people say to shop local," Mussina said.
"No one is asking you to spend hundreds of dollars more or thousands of dollars more to use our local airport, as opposed to something else. But as they said yesterday, to always look at it as an option, but as Mark said, you start looking at free parking as a value...when it's close and the intrinsic value to our community and...your time and your convenience, there's a value to that," Mussina said.
At yesterday's event at the airport, Commissioner Scott Metzger had stressed the importance of using the new air service and he reiterated that at the meeting.
"I think we'll be fine here, I really do. I believe the public around here is going to utilize it," Metzger said.
Under regular business, the commissioners approved: an amendment to the agreement with Oasis Management which provides commissary services to the Prison and Pre-Release Center to extend their contract which is paid out of inmate funds; the resignation of Dan Clark from the County Authority and the appointment of Jennifer Mariacher to that authority; and the agreement with Tony Visco Architects in the amount of $7,900 and the approval of that contract amount for Central Processing expenses to be paid out of Act 81 funds.
Under personnel, the board approved the following internal changes: David Goodwin, full-time administrator of probation & pretrial services, $93,42479 per year; John Stahl, full-time chief adult probation officer, $92,196 per year; Matthew Minnier, chief juvenile probation officer, $88,354 per year; Joshua Johnson, full-time resident supervisor II at the Pre-Release Center, $22 per hour.
The commissioners along with Controller Nicki Gottschall acting as the Salary Board approved the following: in the courts- reclassify chief of adult probation from a PG12 to a PG11 and the chief of juvenile probation from a PG12 to a PG11; add a law clerk position to the TDA ( • Table of Distributions and Authorizations); reclassify President Judge's executive secretary position from a PG5 to a PG7; in the District Attorney's office- eliminate 11 part-time special detective positions in the DUI Center from the TDA.
The next commissioners' meeting will be at 10 a.m., Sept. 10 in the Commissioners' Board Room, 3rd floor, Third Street Plaza, 33 West Third St.