Fulton County commissioners adopt 2026 bylaws, approve $229,387 in payments and make multiple appointments

Fulton County commissioners met Tuesday for their annual reorganizational session and cleared a slate of governance and fiscal items, adopting bylaws for 2026, approving $229,387.17 in accounts payable and $122,828.46 in payroll, and confirming a series of reappointments and committee assignments.

Commissioner Randy H. Bunch, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, called the meeting to order. Commissioner Steven L. Wible, vice-chairman, moved to approve the Dec. 30, 2025 minutes of the commissioners and the Dec. 30, 2025 Salary Board minutes; both motions passed with all three commissioners voting in favor. Commissioner Hervey P. Hann moved to approve accounts payable dated Jan. 6, 2026 totaling $229,387.17 and later moved approval of payroll totaling $122,828.46; both motions carried unanimously.

The accounts-payable approval listed fund-level allocations, including $53,157.03 to Fund 100 (General Fund), $75,662.44 to Fund 300 (Capital Projects), $28,783.34 to Fund 400 (Debt Service), and smaller allocations to funds for Independent Living, Law Library, 911 and others; the minutes provide a full fund breakdown. The board also approved an RBA invoice for $7,957.31.

Commissioner Bunch moved to adopt the board's 2026 bylaws governing the regulation of board business pursuant to the County Code and the Act of August 9, 1955 (16 Purdon, Section 503 and 509 as amended); the motion passed with all commissioners in favor. The board approved reappointments to outside and county authorities: Commissioner Wible moved to reappoint Eric Weisbrod (term to Jan. 1, 2029), Paul Johnston (term to Jan. 6, 2030) and Greg Henry (term to Jan. 5, 2031) to the Bedford Fulton Joint Recreation Authority to stagger terms.

Commissioner Hann moved to reappoint several county officers and positions for 2026, naming Jim Stein & DSS Law as solicitor, Stacey M. Shives as chief clerk, Amy Bishop as Tax Claim Bureau director (and later reappointed by motion as Interim County Treasurer for 2026), Melissa Gordon as chief assessor, and designating the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture as sealer of weights and measures. All such reappointments were approved by unanimous vote.

The board designated committee and board assignments for the year: for example, all three commissioners serve on the Permanent Salary Board and the Criminal Justice Advisory Board/Intermediate Punishment Board; Commissioner Bunch and Commissioner Hann were assigned to the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission committees with Commissioner Wible as alternate on some committees; Commissioner Wible was designated for Emergency Management Agency Local Emergency Planning Committee duties and certain industrial development authority roles. The minutes list committee assignments comprehensively.

Commissioner Bunch moved to appoint Michael Beatty as chairman of the Farmland Agricultural Land Preservation Board for 2026; that appointment passed unanimously. The commissioners held separate annual reorganizational meetings for the Salary and Retirement Boards at 9:00 a.m.; separate minutes are on file. Commissioner Hann moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:37 a.m.; the motion carried.

Meeting minutes list attendees as Commissioner Randy H. Bunch; Commissioner Steven L. Wible; Commissioner Hervey P. Hann; and Chief Clerk Stacey M. Shives. The minutes also note that County Treasurer Interim Amy Bishop and Fiscal Administrator Sue Reed met with the commissioners to provide Treasurer's Office updates. Separate, itemized minutes for Salary and Retirement Board reorganizational meetings are maintained by the clerk.

What happens next: the board will operate under the adopted bylaws for 2026 and implementation of committee assignments and reappointments will proceed according to the minutes and separate board records.