At the Aug. 5 meeting of the Bradford County Board of County Commissioners, a motion to approve the consent agenda while removing item J — a funding item tied to parking and apron work at the new Sampson City fire station — failed on a 3-2 voice vote. The board then approved the consent agenda as written by a 4-1 vote.

The item spurred discussion among commissioners and fire officials about whether the county should use reserve funds now to complete paving and apron work at the recently completed station. Fire personnel said some money from apparatus sales and standby event revenue is available and that the department has not yet tapped its contingency funds.

Fire Chief Dodds said the department had generated roughly $22,000 from apparatus sales and standby events and that “it would actually really only be about 10,000 of unencumbered money that we're asking for there for out of reserves.” He also told the board, “We do. We've not touched our contingency funds. We we have 500,000 in that contingency fund.”

Commissioners voiced differing views on using reserves for a project that some said should have been completed when the station was built. One commissioner criticized starting projects and not finishing them and urged that the relatively small amount be paid to finish the work; another cautioned about drawing from contingency funds and asked for more detail on costs and contractor proposals.

During the budget discussion later in the meeting, the clerk noted the consent agenda contained $33,000 for paving the Sampson City station parking lot and listed other recent purchases that affect year-end fund balances, including a $20,000 John Deere excavator, a $58,000 emergency fire engine repair and purchases of cardiac monitors totaling $230,000 (of which $135,000 is covered by a grant). The clerk warned that such purchases can reduce the fund balance available to balance the tentative budget.

The board did not record a separate vote specifically authorizing an immediate transfer from reserves for the Sampson City paving during the Aug. 5 meeting; the parking-lot item remained on the approved consent agenda.