Gale objects to officials for authority seats
NORRISTOWN >> Several appointments to the Higher Education Health Authority Board were opposed by Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale during Thursday’s county Board of Commissioners meeting.
“If the goal is to have ... more county oversight on this specific board, perhaps appointing the solicitor or the county controller to oversee finances, or the legality of actions with the board would make sense,” Gale said Thursday. “But this is a complete overhaul, and I just don’t feel comfortable with that, and the precedent it sets moving forward.”
Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Val Arkoosh recommended Jocelyn Gallagher, Barbara O’Malley, Tara Gaudin, Joshua Stein, and Jerry Nugent be appointed to serve on the Higher Education Health Authority Board.
Several of the appointees are currently affiliated with Montgomery County. For instance, Stein serves as solicitor, O’Malley works as the county’s deputy chief operating officer and Gaudin is the director of the Montgomery County Office of Health and Human Services.
The board provides financing to health and educational institutions in the form of tax-free bonds, according to Kelly Cofrancisco, Montgomery County’s director of communications.
The appointees’ terms were slated to “begin immediately and to serve at the pleasure of the county commissioners,” Arkoosh said.
Gallagher’s term would then expire in 2022, according to Arkoosh. Additionally, the terms for O’Malley, Gaudin and Joshua Stein would lapse in 2023, with Nugent’s following in 2024.
The five new board members were nominated to the seven-member board, according to Cofrancisco, who confirmed that the terms of the previous representatives had ceased.
Ultimately, the board members were appointed in a 2-1 roll call vote. Gale was the sole dissenter.
In other business, the trio of county elected officials authorized more than $678,000 in contracts spanning several departments including assets and infrastructure, information and technology and public safety.
Additionally, officials allocated $178,790 to install a Sept. 11 memorial at the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety’s campus in Eagleville.
The initial $9.08 million contract with SJ Thomas Co. Inc., of Lansdowne, provided for the construction of a warehouse and storage facility on the property of the Montgomery County Emergency Operations Center, located at 50 Eagleville Road in Eagleville.
Additional funds would cover the “construction of a base, including foundation, electrical, landscaping, and paving, and installation” of the memorial, according to the agreement.
The revised contract now stands at $9,264,801.
A previously approved, $320,401.44 contract with Crown Castle Fiber, of Warrington, was approved once again.
According to the agreement with the Montgomery County Department of Information and Technology Solutions, the Bucks County company provided “dark fiber connectivity and ISP services for Montgomery County.” It was initially set as a five-year contract with five optional one-year renewal terms, according to the contract.
The county’s IT department requested renewing the contract “for the third available renewal term,” which is not set to exceed $320,401.44.
A contract award for 200 parking spaces at the Norristown Transportation Center was approved in a 2-1 roll call vote. Arkoosh and Lawrence voted in favor of the matter, while Gale voted against it.
The agreement between the Montgomery County Department of Assets and Infrastructure and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, of Philadelphia, would allocate spaces in the parking garage, located at Lafayette Street in downtown Norristown, for $7,000 per month.
According to the contract, the department “requires parking while the justice center is being constructed.” The spaces would be designated for up to 60 months, or five years.
The next Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on July 15. There will be a virtual viewing option, but it will take place on the eighth floor of One Montgomery Plaza, located at 425 Swede St. in Norristown.