Trehab transportation getting new vehicles

BY STACI WILSON

Trehab’s Susquehanna – Wyoming County Transportation (SWCT) will be getting some new vehicles.

The commissioners signed for the purchase of one low-floor bus, one under 30-foot bus, two MV1 vehicles, and one non-accessible minivan.

Total cost of the purchase is $343,200 and is fully reimbursable from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation.

Trehab administers the county’s public transportation system. In addition to PennDOT, the Shared-Ride system is also sponsored by the Dept. of Welfare.

Transportation programs available in the county include the Senior Shared Ride, available to seniors age 65 or older.

Information and applications for the available transportation programs are available, call Trehab’s transportation office at (570) 278-6140, or toll-free, (866) 278-9332; or e-mail: scwt@trehab.org.

After reviewing the list of people appointed Jan. 13 to the Susquehanna County Emergency Preparedness Task Force for 2016-17, the commissioners approved an updated list of names at the Jan. 27 meeting.

The task force is comprised of county leaders and public safety personnel, as well as representatives from health care, fire companies, state police, the US Army National Guard, the oil and gas industry, and area school districts.

Some of the names initially presented for appointment no longer held positions in the organizations they represented.
The Jan. 24 presented list of names reflected those changes.

The sheriff’s office will be piloting the use of a networked printer in the office.

Commissioner Alan Hall said that the networked printer would eliminate the need for individual print stations and reduce the county’s cost on printer toner.

If effective, Hall said more offices would be moved toward using central, networked printers.

The commissioners signed a 5-year agreement and lease with Eastern Management Print Network of Endicott, N.Y., at a monthly cost of about $130. The cost will be paid out of the county’s general fund.

Although some state funding has come through with line-item approvals, the local impact of the impasse remained at the forefront of public discussion at the meeting.

Although there was a $70 million lost to the agriculture budget, including Extension services, Hall said he doesn’t expect any cutbacks to services provided locally at this point.

Hall said that in a recent meeting with Extension employees in the county, they were asked to notify the commissioners right away if they received word from the state to cut programs.

Hall also said the Area Agency on Aging has received funding for its services and returned the $100,000 fronted by the county in October to cover its cost for services in July and August of 2015.

The commissioners were also questioned about establishing a “newspaper of record.”

Audience member Bruce Paskoff said he believed that in addition to public notices, available jobs and important information should be advertised in the newspaper.

The county uses the Susquehanna County Independent, as well as other publications circulated in the county, for its legal notices.

Hall said the commissioners would look into the matter.

Audience member Vera Scroggins asked for clarification about the handling of noise complaints from natural gas compressor stations.

She was advised to contact DEP and state lawmakers and ask for that language to be included in state regulations.

Another way to handle noise, Hall said, was for local municipalities to adopt a comprehensive plan and put zoning into place. However, he said, municipalities generally did not have the budget or ability to sustain prolonged zoning battles with large corporations in court.