Commissioners continue with PAGO decertification
BROOKVILLE — The Jefferson County commissioners will continue to give municipalities time to vote on the decertification of the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau as the county’s tourism promotion agency, despite a letter of separation that PAGO has drafted stating they will no longer be representing Jefferson County.
County Commissioner Scott North said their approach is that they are going to continue with the decertification process until every municipality has had the chance to speak on behalf of their people. He said they began to seek the support of the boroughs and townships for the decertification at the end of June or early July. He said because of the way the municipalities go through their meeting cycle, some of them are only having the opportunity to consider it for the first time. He said they have heard from all but seven of the 34 municipalities on the decertification. He said even though they have received PAGO’s letter and they are well past the 65 percent of the population threshold needed, they still feel it is important for those municipalities to be heard. He said they will give them until the end of this month, as some municipalities that had their meetings early in July did not have a long enough cycle to discuss and consider the issue.
Commissioner Jeff Pisarcik said they are continuing everyday to develop what tourism will look like in Jefferson County. He said they have met with several firms to look at branding and they are having them come back later this week.
In other business:
• Solid Waste Authority August collection:
Donna Cooper, director of the Jefferson County
Solid Waste Authority, said their next collection will be coming up on Aug. 26. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Goodwill at 101 Preston Way, Falls Creek. She said they will be collecting electronics, televisions, and household hazardous waste. She encouraged everyone to make sure they reserve their spots. Spots can be reserved at www. nobleenviro.com or by calling 412-567-6566 to schedule an appointment.
She said at their last collection in May, they diverted 5.8 tons of material out of the landfill, which said equaled out to 11,600 pounds.
Of that, she said just under 8,000 of it was electronics. She said these collections help people properly dispose of these items and as much of the material can be recycled, is recycled.
She said the Glass for
Good program with Owens Illinois is going well and they have collected almost 29 tons of glass from all of the drop-off sites so far this year.
She gave an update on the pharmaceutical collection being spearheaded by the district attorney’s office. She said in 2022, 351 pounds of pharmaceuticals were collected. Since 2015, they have collected just shy of 3,600 pounds. She said this keeps these pharmaceuticals off the streets and from being disposed of improperly.
North thanked Cooper for her efforts and said he was a customer of one of the collections last year and it works very well.
• Barnett and Eldred townships consolidation:
The commissioners said on Tuesday that Eldred and Barnett Townships have started the process of consolidating into one township and they have passed their necessary paper work.
Chief Clerk Karen Lupone said they have been in contact with the county solicitor to see what the next steps are. North said this is new territory for them and they will help those two townships through that process and the people will decide when it is put on the ballot.
• Jefferson County Industrial Development Authority Board appointment:
The commissioners voted to appoint Ed McGinnis to the Jefferson County Industrial Development Authority Board on Tuesday. His term will expire in December 2024. Jefferson County Economic Development Director Jessica Funk said the Jefferson County Industrial Development Authority Board is an authority that oversees industrial development, which she oversees as part of economic development. She said that board is gearing up to apply during grant season. She said industrial development boards have priority for several grants.
• EMS meeting: North said the follow-up meeting on their efforts in regards to the EMS issue will be held on Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. at Jefferson Place in the large conference room.