Crawford County commissioners approve routine payments, contracts, hires and program agreements; officials urge heat safety

The Crawford County Board of Commissioners on June 25 approved a series of routine payments, contracts, equipment purchases, program agreements and personnel actions covering multiple county departments, and used commissioner comments to remind residents to use public libraries as cooling stations during the hot spell and to expect a short county phone outage tied to an internal system upgrade.

The board voted on more than two dozen items during a single session that moved quickly through departmental requests. Major financial items included approval of payment runs totaling $3,484,125.42 for the period ending June 24, 2025, and a $37,687.55 invoice to InfoCon Corporation for printing and postage related to the 2024 notice of claim mailing (cost to be added to delinquent taxes). The board also approved numerous smaller invoices, purchases and service agreements across veteran services, adult probation, correctional services, IT, public safety, maintenance, county planning, human services and other departments.

Several program- and grant-related actions were approved: a $69,000 engineering payment to Eads Group for design and permitting on the Bridge No. 11 (Plank Road) rehabilitation (to be paid with Act 13 funds), reimbursement and contracting actions under the county’s Whole Home Repair program (including training wage/tool reimbursements and multiple work-and-retention agreements with local contractors), acceptance of a $13,900.30 match payment to the Northwest Commission for a safety action plan project, and a memorandum of understanding with CHAPS to administer HUD environmental review processes for county projects. The board approved Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) expenditures, including a $2,403.25 invoice to the Meadville Tribune and a $2,694 mini-grant reimbursement to Cochran Borough for ADA picnic tables.

Personnel and payroll actions were also ratified. The board approved emergency hires, transfers and salary changes across departments, including ratified emergency salary adjustments for several department directors (for example, Stephanie Franz as chief financial officer and Sue Watkins as human services director) and the ratification of numerous position hires and transfers in corrections, court services, elections, maintenance and other county offices. The retirement board met in a separate, brief session and approved vesting and withdrawal requests for several former employees and approved a $2,304 invoice for actuarial services to be paid from the retirement account.

A selection of equipment and service purchases approved: a copier maintenance and supply extension with Hagen Business Machines (veteran services and domestic relations), a replacement industrial washing machine for the correctional facility (purchase from Pittsburgh Laundry, $3,500, commissary fund), a ViewSonic projector for county use ($649.99), HVAC motor rebuild payment ($867 to Scobell’s), inspection payment for the Gresa Road tire project ($874.50), and county purchases of software and supervisory tools for human services (Social Data Analytics, up to $30,000; county share capped at $4,454.54) and daily data extracts from Avanco International.

Commissioner comments: Commissioners reminded residents to use public libraries as authorized cooling stations during the hot weather and to expect a planned brief outage of county telephone systems on June 30 while the county upgrades its internal phone system. Commissioner Shell additionally noted local weather-related medical risks and urged caution for residents with respiratory conditions.

Votes at a glance (each item approved unless noted): - Approval of minutes: Full session (June 11, 2025) — approved. - Approval of minutes: Work session (June 18, 2025) — approved. - Approval of payment bills: $3,484,125.42 (period ending 06/24/2025) — approved. - Veteran services: Extend copier maintenance/supply agreement with Hagen Business Machines — approved. - Adult probation: Pay invoice to City of Meadville for John Holt pistol range use, $2,000 (budgeted line item) — approved. - Domestic relations: Ratify Hagen Business Machines maintenance agreement for two copiers (current year) — approved. - Correctional facility item a: Ratify purchase of industrial washing machine (Pittsburgh Laundry), $3,500 (commissary fund; not budgeted) — approved. - Correctional facility item b: Ratify recruitment ad (area shopper) — approved (amount in transcript unclear/not specified). - Correctional facility item c: Ratify payment $145 to Siemens Industry Inc. (difference between quote and invoice; not budgeted) — approved. - IT: Purchase ViewSonic projector from Amazon, $649.99 (not budgeted) — approved. - Public safety: Payment of $867 to Scobell’s to rebuild HVAC motor (not budgeted) — approved. - Public safety: Payment of $874.50 to Prosecc’s inspection for Gresa Road tire project — approved. - Public safety: Purchase CommsCoach quality assurance system from GovernmentWorks (July 1–Dec 31) $14,875 and continuation Jan–Dec 2026 $27,007.50 — approved. - County maintenance: Ratify invoices for courthouse remodeling project ($350 — transcript likely shorthand; invoice payment approved) — approved. - County maintenance: Pay Trinity Door Systems service call for Judicial Center front doors, $657.50 — approved. - County maintenance/roads: Pay Eads Group $69,000 for Bridge No. 11 design & permitting (paid with Act 13 funds); design/permitting to continue through fall/winter; construction likely next spring/summer — approved. - County maintenance: Purchase soil conditioner attachment from Bob Cataviri, $10,657.14 (safety grant) — approved. - County planning: Reimburse Ferguson Construction Company training wages/tools, $737 (Whole Home Repair program) — approved. - County planning: Approve partial invoice to Meadville Tribune, $2,403.25 (CDBG funds) — approved. - County planning: Cochran Borough Crawford-Inspired mini-grant reimbursement, $2,694 for ADA picnic tables at Lions Park — approved. - County planning: Approve payment to Northwest Commission, $13,900.30 (match commitment for safety action plan) — approved. - County planning: Memorandum of understanding between Crawford County and CHAPS to administer HUD environmental reviews — approved. - County planning: Ratify work-and-retention program agreements (Whole Home Repair) with Ferguson Construction Company, MG Electrical Services LLC, and Vogue Heating & Cooling — approved. - Human services: Purchase requisition to Avanco International for daily automated CAPS data extracts (administrative/analytics use) — approved. - Human services: Purchase requisition to Horizon Information Systems for maintenance and backup (three software programs) — approved. - Human services: CIT International registration for CIT program certification, $1,500 (paid from crisis grant) — approved. - Human services: Bus transportation invoices to Crawford Central School District for April–June 2025 totals $3,247.49 (county cost $649.50) and $3,321.55 (county cost $664.31) — approved. - Human services: Service agreement with Social Data Analytics (FY24–25 and FY25–26) supervisory tool, total up to $30,000; county share up to $4,454.54 each year — approved. - Human services and CYS: Multiple contract amendments and provider contracts for foster care, residential services, mental health and related services (Family Links, Always On Her Own, New Life Adolescents, Bridal Pathways, Hope’s Haven, Lisa Payero, Regional Counseling Center, Counseling & Assessment Services) — approved. - County treasurer: Pay InfoCon Corporation invoice #ICOXT0007006, $37,687.55 (printing/postage for 2024 notice of claim mailing; added to delinquent tax costs) — approved. - Human resources: Pay PCHIP $110,522.28 (recouping Highmark runout claim credits 01/01/2025–03/31/2025) — approved. - Human resources: Ratify payment for July health insurance premium, $367,487.59 — approved. - Commissioner’s office: Ratify Sprague Operating Resources LLC natural gas contract/sales agreement for 24 months at multiple county locations — approved. - Personnel actions across departments: multiple emergency hires, transfers, and ratified salary adjustments (examples: emergency rehiring and hourly rates for temporary/per-diem roles in sheriff’s office, conservation, corrections; emergency salary increases for Stephanie Franz, Sue Watkins; ratified hires/transfers in finance, elections, courts, domestic relations, correctional facility; most approved; one coroner-related vote carried with one abstention noted) — approved (specific votes recorded during meeting).

Ending: The board set July 2 for the next work session and July 9 for the next full session and adjourned following the approvals. Commissioners used the closing portion of the meeting to remind residents about cooling stations at public libraries and a planned brief telephone outage on June 30 tied to the county’s phone-system upgrade.