Schuylkill County commissioners approve contracts, appointments and budget adjustments
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Summary
At its Feb. 25 meeting the Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved multiple contracts and addenda, appointed members to the redevelopment authority, authorized a DCNR grant application for a playground and accepted the treasurer’s report and tax-collection statistics.
The Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 25 unanimously approved a series of routine contracts, budget adjustments and appointments, including foster-care service rates, election maintenance fees and a grant application for a Sweet Arrow Lake playground.
Key actions approved by the board included: an agreement with Wesley Family Services (July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026) setting foster-care per-diem rates (Class AA $114.76; BB $106.92; CC $109.42; DD $128.93); addenda to increase Pennsylvania Counseling Services’ prevention contract cap (from $332,095 to $335,677) and Pyramid Healthcare’s capitation (from $1,284,626 to $1,298,626) for fiscal year 2025–2026; and authorization to pay Election Systems & Software post-warranty maintenance and support fees for 2026–2029 (2026: $121,512; 2027: $126,318; 2028: $131,353; 2029: $136,469) for a four‑year total of $515,652.
The board also approved revisions to federal grant budgets (including the Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant), a $130,071 increase to the Servants To All cooperation agreement tied to additional ESG funding, and an advertisement for a demolition project in Pottsville. Three repository tax-sales were approved pursuant to 72 P.S. § 5860.625 for parcels identified in the record, with accepted bids ranging from $1 to $500.
Financial and administrative items approved included acceptance of the Treasurer’s January 2026 report (total ending balances reported $79,773,486.03 and $48,790,075.00 collected in 2025), adoption of the 2025 real estate and per-capita tax percentages report, and the appointment of municipal and borough deputy tax collectors (the transcript lists deputies by municipality; Ashland Borough showed a vacancy and three tax collectors had not submitted deputy information). The board ratified appointments to the Redevelopment Authority of Schuylkill County and approved an addendum to County Coal Lease No. 6C7 with Premium Fine Coal, Inc., to exclude the Mary D Water Association waterline from the leased area while allowing the lessee to re-add it if the line is taken out of service.
On parks and recreation matters the board authorized a DCNR Community Recreation and Conservation Planning grant application to construct a playground adjacent to the Waterfall Pavilion at Sweet Arrow Lake County Park. Clauser Environmental LLC was authorized to prepare and be paid for the grant application; Friends of Schuylkill Parks & Recreation committed to provide funds to meet the required 50% local match if the grant is funded. The Friends group anticipates the project will cost approximately $160,000–$200,000.
Other approvals: the Obermayer law firm was engaged as additional counsel for economic-development matters; a supplemental prior-year appropriation of $4,855 was approved for Schuylkill Community Action; salary and personnel actions were announced by Human Resources Director Anthony Kern (appointments pending drug test/physical); and the board approved an addendum to Contract 2024-101 with Shelby Grabowski Hostetter, Esquire, for annual legal services payments of $28,428 beginning March 1, 2026.
All recorded motions carried unanimously (PADORA—AYE; HETHERINGTON—AYE; HESS—AYE). The meeting concluded with adjournment.