Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Commissioners discuss communications blackout, rec hall closure and regional EMS study
Loading...
Summary
During reports, commissioners described a Jan. 20 countywide communications blackout and plans to explore Starlink backups, announced temporary closure of the Rec Hall for demolition and renovations with an expected reopening within two months, and updated a regional EMS study and planned meeting with Senator Fetterman’s office about Penn Highlands’ patient-transport decision.
Commissioners spent substantial time in reports outlining recent operational and public‑safety issues, including a county communications outage, facility renovations and a regional EMS study.
The Chair recounted responding to a countywide communications blackout on Jan. 20 affecting Sal and Windstream service, said radio communications remained functional and described a county press release summarizing initial findings. The Chair said the county's office of emergency services is "exploring the cost and what it would look like to get like Starlink put in the emergency management vehicle" so on‑call staff would have a backup if phone and cellular systems fail.
On county facilities, the Chair announced a temporary closure of the Rec Hall while demolition and reconstruction occur; staff have contacted groups with bookings, and the Chair said the closure is for safety while walls, floors and doors are removed. The Chair said the county hopes to reopen parts of the facility within about two months after demolition and cleanup and that the project will yield an ADA‑accessible recreation center with co‑working space, teleconferencing, and telehealth‑support devices.
Commissioners also reported on a regional EMS study: four firms submitted RFQs and the county expects to announce which firm will be awarded the contract later in the week. Separately, the Chair said Senator Fetterman's office reached out about Penn Highlands' decision on internal facility patient transport and that county officials plan to coordinate a meeting with Fetterman’s office and the county ambulance director to examine local impacts on providers and residents.
The reports included several community and economic‑development items — plans for an America 250 PA event, heritage‑region projects and Ag Summit outreach — but the primary operational takeaways were contingency planning for communications outages, the Rec Hall temporary closure for safety, and the upcoming EMS study decision.
