Lackawanna County approves grants, contracts and board appointments; awards bridge, roof and trolley work
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Summary
At its April 1 meeting the board approved a series of resolutions: payables and emergency-management grants, a food-service contract amendment with Aramark, a PCCD treatment-court grant, a partnership with Steamtown National Historic Site, a Pitney Bowes lease, multiple board appointments, and construction awards for a bridge, roof and trolley refurbishment.
The Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners approved a slate of routine and project-specific items during its April 1 meeting, including grant applications, a contract amendment at the county prison and several capital and procurement awards.
The board approved payables totaling $3,232,954.23 and electronic fund transfers including payroll of $6,806,332.05. The county also approved the submission of a hazardous materials response grant and a radiological emergency-response grant through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency; Tom Taylor, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, said the hazmat grant typically runs around $10,000 and carries no local match.
The board adopted a fifth amendment to the 2018 food-service management agreement with Aramark Correctional Services to adjust pricing for inmate and staff meals, a change County CFO David Bolzoni said conforms to a CPI benchmark and keeps the county's per‑meal cost lower than peer counties. Commissioners approved a $168,825 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant application to support medically assisted treatment (SUBLOCADE) in the county prison; treatment-court director Gregory Butts described a two-year program and said the cost per shot is approximately $1,550.
Other approved items included a partnership agreement with Steamtown National Historic Site to allow coal‑mine maintenance at the locomotive shop in winter months, and a lease with Pitney Bowes for postage machines used by Elections and the mail room at a combined $1,468.67 per month.
The board also confirmed multiple appointments to workforce, advisory and development authorities, reappointments to library and recreation boards, and the county redevelopment authority. In procurement actions, the county awarded a permanent replacement contract for the Ash Gap Road bridge (low bidder Minnicki Construction, $1,480,000), approved a shingle roof replacement at the Lackawanna County Coal Mine funded partly by a $125,000 grant, and authorized $20,000 to refurbish and paint Electric City trolley car 206.
Each of the above resolutions was moved, seconded and approved in voice votes during the meeting. The board paused to recognize proclamations for the United Way’s Start Strong Together campaign and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and acknowledged a 50‑year county employee.
What happens next: Departments will execute the approved contracts, submit grant paperwork and proceed with the described procurement and appointment processes. The bridge replacement is expected to take approximately nine months to complete, the county engineer said.
Sources: Remarks by county staff and department heads and the April 1, 2026 proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of Lackawanna County.
