Clarion County commissioner Ted Tharan said Tuesday the county is withholding funds from the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors tourist promotion agency until the county receives financial information it has requested.
“We have sent a letter to the Department of Community and Economic Development telling them we were withholding payment until we received the information from them (Pennsylvania Great Outdoors) that they are required by law to provide to us,” said Tharan. “We have not had that data since 2019.”
Jefferson County, another Pennsylvania Great Outdoors (PAGO) member, held a de-certification hearing last week in Brookville. Jefferson County representatives said at the hearing they have had difficulty obtaining requested financial information.
The PAGO headquarters are in Brookville in Jefferson County.
Pennsylvania Great Outdoors is funded by the motel room tax collected by the counties. Clarion submits 50 percent of the collected tax to PAGO, and other counties submit as much as 75 percent of the tax.
Tharan would not confirm if Clarion County is considering de-certifying PAGO as the county’s tourist promotion agency.
The members of PAGO are Clarion, Jefferson, Forest, Elk and Cameron counties.
In another matter at Tuesday’s Clarion County commissioners meeting, the Drug and Alcohol Commission’s first responder team is asking for help from the commissioners.
Mike Krafick of the Armstrong, Indiana, Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission said he has been in contact with first responders for several years.
“We want to build on the partnership we have,” he said. “For years we have been providing Narcan to them and we would like to take that a step further. We want to get Narcan into the hands of the people who need it.”
“This doesn’t mean that all of these kits were used in overdoses,” he said. “Some have been distributed to police and first responders.”
Krafick said the commission has placed Narcan in free vending machines as well.
The commission has a number of prevention programs, including school programs.
Krafick said information provided to the commission would be kept confidential.
County commissioner Ed Heasley suggested that the Department of Public Safety might be able to help obtain the information.
The commission will hold a drug recovery simulation July 28 at the Ramada Inn in Clarion. Pre-registration is required.
Commissioners also awarded two contracts Tuesday to architect Amos Rudolph.
The first was for the roof replacement project at the county jail in the amount of $21,150, and the second was for the renovation of the courthouse basement. The value of that contract was $95,250.
Commissioner Ted Tharan said one of the goals of the renovation is to move the Domestic Relations department into the courthouse.