Monroe County commissioners approve proclamations, budget adjustments, contracts, grants and capital purchases

At a public meeting of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, the board approved a package of consent and routine items including proclamations, personnel actions, budget adjustments, contracts, grant applications, and capital-purchase authorizations.

Key approvals recorded in voice votes included a proclamation naming March 2025 as Pennsylvania 4‑H week in Monroe County and designating a casual day on March 27; acceptance of personnel actions including authorization for additional work hours in the sheriff's office and routine electronic transfers for payroll and benefits; and ratification of travel requests for conservation district staff.

The board approved a budget adjustment report dated March 19, 2025, totaling $457,565. Commissioners described the allocation breakdown in the meeting: about 59% (approximately $270,000) for children and youth purchase-of-service transfers between cost centers, roughly 11% (about $53,060) to carry over open 2024 information-services projects, and about 25% (approximately $113,471) for the second allocation of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) 2025 award.

Other ratified items included a professional services agreement with Engel, Ham Ambreit and Davies for $28,250 for insurance and risk-management services (01/01/2025–12/31/2025); a professional-services agreement with Eckard Siemens LLC for an FLSA wage-and-hour investigation; authorization to submit an opioid settlement proposal application; authorization to advertise availability of federal funds for the Emergency Food Shelter National Board program and to advertise a 2025 hazard-mitigation-plan update public meeting; and the addition of multiple vendors to the county vendor list, including Tender Industries LLC.

The district attorney's office had a ratified purchase: approval of a proposal with Two Way Critical Connection Partners to assist with installation and integration of the 9‑1‑1 iNet system at the Monroe County Control Center for use by the Monroe County Constable Task Force at a cost of $1,870.

Fiscal and grants actions approved by the board included ratifying submission of a Court Interpreter Services grant application for $133,709.63; authorizing the grants manager to submit a VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) application for $149,408 for FY 2025–26 to support personnel and benefits; authorizing the fiscal director to sign the Emergency Solutions Grant contract for $290,000 for FY 2025–26; approving CSBG 2025 subrecipient contracts that allocate $90,782 to Monroe County organizations and $22,689 to Pike County providers; and executing a marketing-services contract with Quantify Media for $19,750 for the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) award period.

Information services approved a Service Express LLC support agreement for $15,312 (04/01/2025–03/31/2026) for AS/400 and software support. The office of emergency management accepted a grounds-maintenance quote from Straussers Nature's Helpers for $11,095.97 and approved Spectrum Floors for flooring work in the fire tower at a cost of $12,575. The public defender's office renewal of a software subscription with Celebrate for $10,500 was ratified.

Capital-purchase approvals included two AED defibrillators and related corrections totaling $3,848.93 for the correctional facility and a previously budgeted cascade compressor system with control panel and water separator for emergency-management use at a cost of $62,528. Information-technology capital purchases included NAITNET gateway equipment and service for $19,540 for the district attorney's office.

Every item listed above was approved by voice vote with commissioners saying "Aye"; the record shows the motions carried for each item. No recorded roll-call tallies or named votes were provided in the meeting transcript.

Ending

The meeting continued with public-comment items, including questions about this year's budget posting and the Community Partnership for Gun Safety Program (covered in a separate discussion).