Blair County commissioners approve prison design contract, grant awards and a string of county contracts; proclaim April Fair Housing Month

Blair County commissioners approved multiple contracts, grant actions and budget transfers and proclaimed April 2025 as Fair Housing Month during their Thursday, April 10, 2025, meeting.

The most consequential action was approval of an agreement with TransSystems Consultants of Pennsylvania to provide architectural design services for the new Blair County Prison. Commissioners approved the contract at a fee of 4% of the budgeted cost of the work, down from a higher percentage earlier proposed, and approved related procurement and grant closeout items connected to county incarceration planning.

The meeting also included acceptance of multiple grant awards and grant-related filings, contract renewals for county technology and energy services, approval of a farmland lease for Fort Roberdeau, and a park and recreation outreach allocation. Commissioners adopted the Fair Housing Month proclamation by voice vote.

TransSystems prison design agreement and related items

Commissioners voted to approve an agreement with TransSystems Consultants for architectural design services on the new Blair County Prison at a fee equal to 4% of the budgeted cost of the work. A commissioner noted the percentage had been higher in an earlier TransSystems proposal and said Commissioner Webster negotiated a 2% reduction to reach the 4% fee. The motion passed by voice vote.

Several related prison items were on the agenda: commissioners approved submission of a DCED grant closeout report for a previously funded prison feasibility study, and they accepted a selection of contractors and grants tied to the project procurement process. The meeting record shows these items were advanced by motion and approved by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.

Grant filings, awards and emergency-management items

The board approved the electronic submission of the 2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) application for the period Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, and approved the federal fiscal-year 2023–2025 Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grant year-3 midyear status report to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) covering Oct. 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025.

Commissioners accepted an award under the P Corp Loss Prevention Grant Program totaling $15,110 for three projects and approved submitting a separate P Corp application seeking $11,278.55 for two Taser bundles for the Blair County Prison (vendor listed as Axon Enterprise). All grant-related motions were approved by voice vote.

Contracts, renewals and county services

The board approved a renewal of a software support agreement between the County of Blair and Optical Storage Solutions Inc. covering licenses for the Register of Wills/Recorder of Deeds office and two licenses for the assessment office. The total amount recorded for the renewal was $25,225 for the period May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026.

Commissioners also approved an amendment to the county—s master energy sales agreement (motion referenced MP2 Energy and Shell Energy), changing payment terms from 15 to 30 days and adopting the statutory interest rate applicable to governmental entities for interest accrual. The amendment was approved by voice vote.

Park and recreation, farmland lease, parking and other routine business

The Blair County Park and Recreation Advisory Board requested and received approval for an allocation of $4,500 from the Park and Rec Community Outreach Fund to the CBRC to run a summer playground program for children ages 6–12 at Valley View Park from June 9 through July 3, 2025, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

The board awarded the Fort Roberdeau farmland lease for the period April 20, 2025, through April 19, 2028, to the highest bidder (recorded alternately in the transcript as Winder Farms and Wingert Farms Incorporated). A second bid from Culp Farm Family Dairy LLC was listed. Commissioners approved awarding the lease by motion and voice vote.

The board approved a lease of four parking spaces at 208 Union Street in Hollidaysburg to Mark T. Gurninger (name recorded in the motion) at $25 per space per month, effective April 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2025, and approved a legal services agreement between Blair County Children, Youth and Families and attorney Ashley Pasarello for the period July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, at $90 per hour.

Consent agenda and other routine approvals

Commissioners approved the consent agenda, which the clerk read as Resolution 160Fivetwenty25, including ratification of the listed warrant items and a payroll run dated April 4, 2025, recorded in the transcript as $901,703.21. The consent agenda also included several budget transfers to cover fees and project costs (including transfers tied to the White Oak Hall roof project and disbursement fees for a P Corp grant) and routine personnel status changes.

Votes at a glance

- Fair Housing Month proclamation (April 2025): approved by voice vote. - Resolution 160Fivetwenty25 (consent agenda; payroll and budget transfers as read): approved by voice vote. - Park & Rec allocation: $4,500 to CBRC for summer playground program (June 9–July 3, 2025): approved by voice vote. - Legal services agreement: Ashley Pasarello, $90/hr, 07/01/2025–06/30/2026: approved by voice vote. - Fort Roberdeau farmland lease: awarded to highest bidder (Winder/Wingert Farms as recorded), term 04/20/2025–04/19/2028: approved by voice vote. - Hazardous Materials grant midyear report to PEMA (10/01/2024–03/31/2025): approved by voice vote. - EMPG electronic application submission (10/01/2024–09/30/2025): approved by voice vote. - Optical Storage Solutions software-support renewal: $25,225 (05/01/2025–04/30/2026): approved by voice vote. - Master energy sales agreement amendment (MP2/Shell Energy): payment terms and interest rate change: approved by voice vote. - DCED grant closeout report for prison feasibility study: approved by voice vote. - Acceptance of P Corp Loss Prevention Grant awards totaling $15,110: approved by voice vote. - TransSystems architectural design agreement for new county prison at 4% of budgeted cost: approved by voice vote. - Lease of four parking spaces at 208 Union Street to Mark T. Gurninger, $25 per space/month, 04/01/2025–12/31/2025: approved by voice vote. - P Corp grant application for two Taser bundles for Blair County Prison, $11,278.55: approved by voice vote.

Meeting context and next steps

Public comment was reported as empty at the start of the meeting. Multiple departmental and staff presenters summarized requests; the meeting record shows most items passed on unanimous or voice votes with no roll-call tallies recorded in the transcript. Several items (grant awards, EMPG/HMEP filings, and the prison design contract) depend on external agencies or on subsequent procurement steps before implementation.

The board set its next meeting for Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 10 a.m. Commissioners invited attendees to pose for a photograph following adoption of the Fair Housing proclamation.