By BRETT KRIEBEL
Clarion News writer
Clarion County Commissioners recently approved a contract on behalf of the county’s Geological Information System department with Pictometry International Corp. for fly over images of the county.
Pictometry International is an aerial measurement company based in Henrietta, New York that develops software using three-dimensional aerial photographs to view high-resolution images of buildings in their entirety.
According to Commissioner Ed Heasley, the flyover images will be used to benefit the GIS department, the county’s 9-1-1 center and assessment office.
“There will be a complete flyover of all the properties in Clarion County,” said Heasley. “We had one that was done in 2014. The current flyover will be an overlay and compare the current 2020 (images) to 2014. They’ll show any changes and additional buildings.”
There are two costs associated with the contract. The first payment is said to total $114,710 and will cover a flyover set to occur this spring. Three years after the first flyover, a second flyover will take place and will require a $103,389 payment due at the time.
Heasley noted the money is budgeted in the county’s long-term capital improvement plan during the commissioners’ Jan. 7 work session.
“We are definitely due for an update,” said county GIS director Lauren Elder, adding the newer images would exhibit better quality and allow changes in buildings and land across the county to be more easily recognized.
According to the county’s website, the GIS office performs mapping and spatial database maintenance work for various county departments. It also provides mapping products and services to customers of different backgrounds and affiliations.
In other business, the commissioners:
– Provided a media release indicating a copy of the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan end of year report for 2019 is available for public review at the commissioner’s office located in the Administration Building at 330 Main Street, Clarion, all municipal office buildings, and on the Clarion County website. The report is required under section 7, Plan Maintenance, of the current plan.
– Approved changing the voting location for Clarion Borough third voting precinct from the Rhea Lumber building back to the Marwick Boyd building for 2020 and all future elections.
– Accepted bids for properties on the repository list of properties in Paint Township ($50), Toby Township ($60), Sligo Borough (two properties at $275 and one at $230), and Redbank Township ($430).
– Approved a contract with Chris Gabriel for county legal counsel for labor issues at a flat fee of $100,000. Gabriel’s hourly fees are $190 per hour, with paralegal services costing $135 per hour.
– Approved the district attorney’s office’s hiring of Erich Spessard as assistant district attorney effective Jan. 15, 2020 at a base salary of $64,800 plus $5,200 in on-call pay.
– Approved the district attorney’s office’s hiring of Hayley Armstrong as office manager effective Jan. 27 at a salary of $36,000.
– Approved a contract on behalf of domestic relations with Daniel Ferringer for IV-D attorney contract, replacing Magisterial District Judge Jarah Heeter’s contract. The contract’s term runs from Nov. 7, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020 with costs at $125 per hour.
– Accepted the resignations of Alyssa Henry (sheriff’s department) effective Jan. 3, 2020, Mark Graf (sheriff’s department) effective Dec. 31, 2019, Katlin Hockenberry (911) effective Jan. 10, 2020, Marci Schrengost (corrections) effective Dec. 30, 2019, and Erich Spessard (public defender) effective Jan. 15, 2020.
– Rescinded the acceptance of Todd Kline’s resignation from the Dec. 10, 2019 commissioners meeting.
– Approved a voluntary demotion of Kline to fill the vacant position of county casework supervisor for independent living effective Jan. 13 at a salary of $41,841.
– Approved Joshua Dippold to move from CYS Caseworker One to Caseworker Two due to his time in the position and completion of Foundations training effective Jan. 13, 2020 at a salary of $30,440.68.
– Approved Logan George to be rehired into the position of information technology technician at a salary of $10.61 per hour. The rehire is based on the position being funded again in the Clarion County 2020 budget. The rehire is effective Dec. 30, 2019 and expires May 31, 2020.
– Approved separate contract renewals on behalf of CYS with Merakey Pennsylvania ($29.29 to $157.04 per day) and The Bair Foundation of Pennsylvania ($63.20 to $90.95 per day) for foster care services with a county match of 20 percent. Both contracts’ stated terms began July 1, 2019 and end June 30, 2020.
– Approved general budget fund transfers from Dec. 20, 2019 to Jan. 10, 2020 totaling $11,783.
During the salary board meeting preceding the commissioners’ meeting, the board approved the following items:
– The creation of a casework supervisor independent living position within the CYS department effective Jan. 13, 2020. The position is full time, with an annual salary ranging between $38,854 and $43,960.
– Reclassification of the human services department’s program specialist position from full-time (35 hours per week) to part-time effective Feb. 10, 2020 (24 hours per week) with a salary ranging from $15 to $19 an hour.