Commissioners approve bridge and infrastructure contracts, human‑services and behavioral‑health funding in packed agenda

The Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a bundle of contracts, budget adjustments and service agreements covering infrastructure, records preservation, human services and behavioral‑health providers.

Among infrastructure items, the board approved a revision to the Pipe No. 1 bridge replacement project that adds $68,287.97 to the scope, bringing the project cost to $976,316.03 and noting the work will be 100% federally funded. The commissioners also approved a revision to the Sharpeers Number 64 bridge replacement project that increases cost by $169,020.82 for a federally funded total of $782,648.36.

Purchasing recommended awarding the records center HVAC contract to Empor Services Scalise Industries (Lawrence, Pa.) at a cost of $204,500, to be paid from record‑improvement funds. The board approved a change order No. 7 with Sunmile Group for shoring supports at the emergency operations/911 annex, adding $15,198.66 for a 28‑day rental to maintain structural integrity; funding for that change was listed as 2024 general obligation funds.

On technology and operations, the board approved a $247,480 addendum to a tower site services agreement to renovate the Kleece Field Tower site for a new radio system, to be paid from general funds. One commissioner voiced concern about repeated increases to the radio contract and about using general‑fund dollars for items originally expected to be covered elsewhere, saying the funds "could be used for anything else," before voting to approve the addendum.

Human services and behavioral health items were a significant portion of the agenda. The board approved recommended Children and Youth Services provider agreements totaling $1,329,750 for the 07/01/2026–06/30/2027 period and a $100,000 provider agreement with Family Care Services for placement, adoption and permanency services. The county approved a $158,000 agreement with Wesley Family Services for a functional family therapy program, funded by PA Act 148 and CYS’s contracted services budget. Behavioral Health and Developmental Services provider agreements totaling $6,852,350 for 07/01/2026–06/30/2027 were approved, and the board approved a year‑end contract adjustment with the Mental Health Association of Washington County, increasing an earlier $2,000,000 figure to $2,740,000 for the 07/01/2025–06/30/2026 period. The board also approved HUD master grant agreements totaling $2,477,598 to fund housing and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness.

Other approved items included a $5,000 reimbursement payment to attorney Blaine Black for title‑search expenses incurred while serving as solicitor for the tax claim bureau; authorization to advertise for design and bid work for an ADA‑accessible dog park at Mingo Creek County Park (to be paid with Mingo Creek oil and gas funds); and the purchase of two 2027 Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles for probation services for $100,580, to be funded in full through a PCCD grant.

The chair closed the meeting after announcing an upcoming executive session and the date of the next regular meeting.

The transcript of the meeting contained several irregular transcriptions of names and numeric strings; figures in this article are taken from the meeting record as read into the public record and where an item appeared garbled in the transcript this article either omitted the corrupted text or presented the cleaned numeric value that matches the contextual amount stated during the meeting.