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BELLEFONTE -- In Centre County, there is a shortage of workers.
Specifically, there is a need for 911 Centre County Communications and Centre County Correctional Facility employees. Commissioner Steve Dershem brought the topic up during Tuesday's commissioners' meeting.
"We have two 24-hour facilities that are really struggling right now to maintain the employee component to be successful -- our emergency communications and our correctional facility," Dershem said. "I think as we move forward over the next couple of days, I don't know that I would like to classify it as an emergency, but (it is) severely urgent … I would welcome conversation from our board to correct some of the deficiencies and perhaps the pay scales that are keeping us from employing the proper complement of people in those two organizations."
At the present time, both public safety telecommunicator and corrections officer are listed on the Centre County Government website. The public safety telecommunication positions lists its current pay rate at $15.66 per hour, while the corrections officer position lists its current pay rate at $15 per hour. Both positions are full-time and offer a host of benefits.
"We are in a position right now where we need to hire corrections officers and telecommunicators. We are in a position where we need to have some stern conversations how make those things happen," Dershem said.
Chair Michael Pipe agreed.
"In both of those organizations we are running in the red. You can run in the red for a little bit, but in terms of the speed that they're going, you can only do that until a certain point; until you have challenges. We have American Rescue Plan dollars to spend and invest for some pay that would assist those 24/7 operations," Pipe said.
By potentially increasing the rate of pay for telecommunicators and corrections officers, Pipe said it would accomplish different things.
"Be appreciative of the work that's been done so far, currently, because of the short staffing. And second, recruit, attract and retain folks from the public," he said.
Pipe said that he would like to see the item added to Thursday's salary board agenda "for action."
"We need to act this week and I think we're all on the same page with that," Pipe said.
Commissioner Mark Higgins noted that the positions offer many benefits.
"There's a pretty generous benefits package, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield healthcare, pension, sick days, vacation days, et cetera … let's get working on this right away," Higgins said.
The salary board will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 15.
In other business Tuesday, the commissioners:
-- Issued Proclamation No. 22 of 2021, which proclaims July 2021 as "Park and Recreation Month" and as "Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation Professionals Day" in Centre County.
-- Approved a proposal from the Penn State Psychology Department to provide psychological consultation services to staff and incarcerated individuals in the Centre County Correctional Facility. The proposal total is $16,875, which will be funded by in-kind services funds for the period of July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. The item was moved to next week's consent agenda.
-- Approved a contract with Appellation Construction Services, LLC to service and repair the Rockwell Automation Door Secure system. The contract total is $36,578.06 for the period of Aug. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2023. That item was also moved to next week's consent agenda.
-- Approved a contract addendum with The Nutrition Group to allow for a six-month extension to provide a meals program at $4.38 per meal. The contract total is $185,000, which is funded as follows: State ($92,500) and Federal ($92,500) for the period of July 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021. The contract was moved to next week's consent agenda.
-- Approved the Keystone Communities Program grant close out report for submission to the PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). That item was also moved to next week's consent agenda.
-- Heard a mid-year programs update for Liquid Fuels -- fees for local use. Letters of support for 2019 allocations to be used to submit applications for Multimodal Grant programs for four municipalities (Port Matilda Borough, Milesburg Borough, Greg Township and Ferguson Township).
The Centre County commissioners will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 20. The meetings are being held in-person, but are also available live on C-NET.