Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Berks County commissioners approve agenda, list promotions and appointments; treasurer reports $212 million opening balance
Summary
At its Dec. 5 meeting the Berks County Board of Commissioners approved the agenda and minutes, introduced multiple personnel promotions and appointments for county boards and advisory councils, and heard financial reports including an opening balance of $212,020,430.00 from Treasurer Mitch Darkcourt.
The Berks County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 5 approved the meeting agenda and minutes and read a slate of resolutions that would promote staff, reappoint members to county authorities and advisory councils, and authorize several administrative agreements and reports.
The meeting, held in a hybrid format with one commissioner participating remotely, opened with routine procedural business. The board approved the minutes of the Nov. 21, 2024 meeting "as presented." A motion to approve the agenda passed on a voice vote with commissioners responding "aye."
The agenda items read into the record included personnel actions and appointments across departments. The slate of human resources resolutions included authorization to promote Amanda Burkhardsell from program manager to deputy director in the Department of Agriculture and to promote Barbara Jakubic from manager of permanency to CYS administrator in Children and Youth Services, both effective Dec. 6, 2024. Under Commissioner Santoni, the board was asked to reappoint Charles Jones (Wyomissing) to the Berks County Solid Waste Authority for a term through Dec. 31, 2029, and to reappoint Dave Mates (Reading) to the Planning Commission through June 30, 2028.
Other items presented for board action included a proposed 2% increase to the Berks County Planning Commission fee schedule effective Jan. 2, 2025 (cited as authorized by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code and a county ordinance), an intergovernmental agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to allow county jail staff to provide incarcerated individuals with Pennsylvania photo IDs or driver's licenses prior to release, and a request to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to change scope and extend the Union Canal trail footbridges grant to June 30, 2025. The board also was asked to authorize acceptance of Department of Human Services capitation rates for the county's HealthChoices program for calendar year 2025 and to execute a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency grant for statewide NG9-1-1 GIS migration work.
Treasurer Mitch Darkcourt presented the county's cash position, reporting an opening balance of $212,020,430.00, a balance to clear of $4,305,546.31, and a resulting available balance of $207,714,883.69. "Today, we have an opening balance of $212,020,430.00," Darkcourt said. A deputy presenting weekly disbursements reported total outlays of $11,760,509.13 for the week ending Dec. 6, 2024, broken into $6,474,388.65 in accounts payable and $5,286,120.48 in payroll.
Deputy Chief Operations Officer Larry Medallia highlighted parks matters and personnel notes: he acknowledged the upcoming retirement of longtime parks staff member Kathy Wagner and encouraged residents to visit the holiday lights display at Gring's Mill (Wednesdays–Sundays, 5:30–8:30 p.m.; free admission and parking). Commissioners also noted local events including a ribbon cutting at the Etchberger Veterans Center in Wyomissing, participation in the Reading Holiday Parade, and Small Business Saturday on Penn Avenue.
Commissioners who attended the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania fall conference reported priorities set by the CCAP membership for 2025: reauthorization and statute updates for the 9-1-1 surcharge, continued advocacy for adequate county mental health funding, and nonpartisan vote-by-mail reforms. One commissioner characterized the current 9-1-1 surcharge situation as a temporary fix, saying the issue "kinda put a Band Aid together" and needs further legislative attention.
The meeting closed with no public comments recorded and a motion to adjourn that carried.
Listed agenda items and proposals were read into the record during the meeting; the transcript does not record individual roll-call votes on each listed resolution, so where the minutes list specific adoptions or authorizations this article reports the items as presented to the board during the Dec. 5 meeting.
