Lawrence County commissioners approve routine resolutions; expand glass-recycling drop-off sites

The Lawrence County Board of Commissioners on March 3 approved a slate of routine resolutions and authorized a new glass-recycling drop-off site at the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department.

The board voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 25, updating the county employee handbook; Resolution 26, renewing a one-year service contract for the courthouse uninterruptible power supply (UPS); Resolution 27, allowing a Children and Youth Services employee to participate part-time in a child-welfare education program; Resolution 28, establishing a glass drop-off agreement with the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department; Resolution 29, updating membership for the county's Opioid Advisory Committee; and Resolution 30, distributing a $98,168 911 revenue grant across four public-safety projects.

The votes were taken by roll call and carried unanimously. Chair Sonata called for the routine approvals and Vanessa (the clerk) recorded the roll calls.

—Votes at a glance— - Resolution 25 (employee handbook update): Approved (roll call unanimous). Human Resources Director Mike Okabone said the update consolidates policy changes including FMLA, short-term disability and procedural updates tied to new systems. - Resolution 26 (UPS service contract, Schneider Electric / General Co.): Approved (one-year renewal, $11,169). Public Safety Director Chad Stroble described the contract as covering maintenance, 24/7 emergency response and testing for the county building's UPS and noted it helps meet requirements from the Commonwealth and FEMA. "We're required by the Commonwealth and FEMA to have an uninterruptible power supply to keep everything running," Stroble said. - Resolution 27 (SEAWL participation): Approved. Donald Andrews of Children and Youth Services said employee Megan Shainer would participate part-time while retaining a full caseload; the academic year was cited as starting in late August. - Resolution 28 (glass-recycling drop-off agreement with Wayne Township VFD): Approved. Recycling staff said the program is funded through a Mercer County grant and will add sites including the county courthouse and the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department on State Route 65. Jerry Zona said the initiative is "glass-to-glass recycling," with collected glass stored in Herminage, processed and sent to market. "There's a light at the end of the tunnel and we are getting there," Zona said. - Resolution 29 (Opioid Advisory Committee update): Approved. The board updated membership and confirmed local review of funding recommendations before forwarding them to the state opioid trust board for final approval. - Resolution 30 (911 revenue fund distribution): Approved. The $98,168 allocation was approved with $25,000 to NG911 GIS post-migration, $2,147 to West Core Eset maintenance, $58,437 to the IOR master-site maintenance (radio) and $12,584 to the Butler-Lawrence shared recorder project.

Contract and program details Chad Stroble said the UPS contract covers a short gap between generator start and full system restoration and includes routine maintenance and an upcoming battery replacement. He described the contract as an operational necessity to avoid multi-system downtime.

Recycling staff described the glass effort as a multi-site, grant-funded rollout that aims for glass-to-glass processing rather than single-stream disposal. Jerry Zona said the county purchased containers through the grant and plans a public education campaign; staff will monitor the new drop-off sites, including using surveillance cameras if necessary to deter misuse.

Other business The board also opened and tabled a parks-maintenance bid package to allow planning staff time for review, approved warrant registers for late February, and adopted minutes of the Feb. 24 meeting. A written notice from PVDI-E on behalf of Lwood Remlt Steel informing the county of a plan-approval application to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was entered into the record.

What comes next Several items will return for further administrative action: the planning office will review the parks-maintenance bids and return with a recommendation; the opioid advisory board will continue local review of grant applications before forwarding them to the state trust for final approval. The board scheduled its next public meeting for March 10 and reminded the public of upcoming planning and elections meetings.

The meeting adjourned after final announcements.