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Northcentral Conservancy updates Clinton commissioners on activities
By SCOTT JOHNSON — sjohnson@lockhaven.com
LOCK HAVEN — Since its inception in 1990, the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy has helped preserve about 10,500 acres from development, including over 5,700 acres in Clinton County.
Officials from that organization attended Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting to introduce themselves to newly elected commissioners Joel Long and Adam Coleman and to offer assistance for future projects.
Executive Director Renee Carey said the largest plot of land saved by the Conservancy in its 18-year history was 4,212 acres of the Kelly property in western Clinton County. That land was purchased by the agency and transferred to the state Game Commission a few years ago.
She said the Conservancy is working, through the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, with the county’s Planning Office on a couple of projects along with helping the county to develop more access points to the Susquehanna River.
Board member Bonnie Hannis noted she was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley and is “unhappy” with the cornfields and wheatfields in that region being turned into developments.
“It’s delightful to be in an organization that is concerned about our disappearing agriculture land and our disappearing woodland,” she said.
Board member George Durrwachter said the organization is ready to help the county in any effort to help preserve undeveloped lands.
Commissioner Tom Bossert urged the Conservancy to press the state to require a portion of funds used to lease lands to drill for natural gas be designated toward efforts to help with acid mine abatement.
In other business at their meeting Thursday, the commissioners:
— Approved several policies for inclusion in the county’s policy and procedure manual for county employees, as recommended by the county’s Safety Committee.
The policies include an embezzlement/fraud policy, a return-to-work policy, an employment ID policy and a vehicle safety policy.
Committee member Jim Leone said the policies were not in response to any specific incidents. Instead, he said, many were recommended by the county’s insurance carrier and should result in lower premiums.
Leone said the vehicle safety policy, which states it is the responsibility of county vehicle operators to obey all traffic regulations and wear a seatbelt when the vehicle is in motion, should be posted on bulletin boards and/or distributed to all county employees.
The ID policy, he said, is to provide for better security to the Garden Building and Courthouse. Leone said the county will send out a memo to all county employees to remind them to wear their badges when in county buildings and pay for their replacement if they are lost.
— Heard from Bossert that the Western Clinton County Recreation Authority has approved inclusion in the county’s drug-testing policy.
The county’s policy, established in 2005, states all prospective employees must first pass a pre-employment drug test. Only current employees in “safety sensitive areas” are subject to a random drug test four times a year, administered by Jersey Shore Hospital.
The authority will be allowed to join the county’s pool of employees, which will lower the chance that safety-sensitive employees would be tested each quarter, and lower its costs. Each test costs $46.
— Approved $2,205 in liquid fuels funding to Beech Creek Township for the paving of Laurel Run Road, and $1,818 to Greene Township for the repaving of township roads.
Bossert said projects such as these remove the center lines from roads, and advocated the townships reline the roads following the work. He said that would help out with the traffic safety in rural and farming communities.
— Appointed Paul Conklin to a three-year term on the Clinton County Sewer Authority representing Castanea Township, expiring Jan. 1, 2011.
Bossert reported that authority has helped facilitate $12 million in grants and loans to area sewer projects in the last few years. He said the authority may also help municipalities secure funds to comply with a federal mandate to clean up groundwater flowing into the Chesapeake Bay from Pennsylvania.
Officials from that organization attended Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting to introduce themselves to newly elected commissioners Joel Long and Adam Coleman and to offer assistance for future projects.
Executive Director Renee Carey said the largest plot of land saved by the Conservancy in its 18-year history was 4,212 acres of the Kelly property in western Clinton County. That land was purchased by the agency and transferred to the state Game Commission a few years ago.
She said the Conservancy is working, through the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, with the county’s Planning Office on a couple of projects along with helping the county to develop more access points to the Susquehanna River.
Board member Bonnie Hannis noted she was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley and is “unhappy” with the cornfields and wheatfields in that region being turned into developments.
“It’s delightful to be in an organization that is concerned about our disappearing agriculture land and our disappearing woodland,” she said.
Board member George Durrwachter said the organization is ready to help the county in any effort to help preserve undeveloped lands.
Commissioner Tom Bossert urged the Conservancy to press the state to require a portion of funds used to lease lands to drill for natural gas be designated toward efforts to help with acid mine abatement.
In other business at their meeting Thursday, the commissioners:
— Approved several policies for inclusion in the county’s policy and procedure manual for county employees, as recommended by the county’s Safety Committee.
The policies include an embezzlement/fraud policy, a return-to-work policy, an employment ID policy and a vehicle safety policy.
Committee member Jim Leone said the policies were not in response to any specific incidents. Instead, he said, many were recommended by the county’s insurance carrier and should result in lower premiums.
Leone said the vehicle safety policy, which states it is the responsibility of county vehicle operators to obey all traffic regulations and wear a seatbelt when the vehicle is in motion, should be posted on bulletin boards and/or distributed to all county employees.
The ID policy, he said, is to provide for better security to the Garden Building and Courthouse. Leone said the county will send out a memo to all county employees to remind them to wear their badges when in county buildings and pay for their replacement if they are lost.
— Heard from Bossert that the Western Clinton County Recreation Authority has approved inclusion in the county’s drug-testing policy.
The county’s policy, established in 2005, states all prospective employees must first pass a pre-employment drug test. Only current employees in “safety sensitive areas” are subject to a random drug test four times a year, administered by Jersey Shore Hospital.
The authority will be allowed to join the county’s pool of employees, which will lower the chance that safety-sensitive employees would be tested each quarter, and lower its costs. Each test costs $46.
— Approved $2,205 in liquid fuels funding to Beech Creek Township for the paving of Laurel Run Road, and $1,818 to Greene Township for the repaving of township roads.
Bossert said projects such as these remove the center lines from roads, and advocated the townships reline the roads following the work. He said that would help out with the traffic safety in rural and farming communities.
— Appointed Paul Conklin to a three-year term on the Clinton County Sewer Authority representing Castanea Township, expiring Jan. 1, 2011.
Bossert reported that authority has helped facilitate $12 million in grants and loans to area sewer projects in the last few years. He said the authority may also help municipalities secure funds to comply with a federal mandate to clean up groundwater flowing into the Chesapeake Bay from Pennsylvania.
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