Visiting Lancaster Co. commissioner talks CCAP summit

A commissioner from Lancaster County attended the May 10 meeting of the Susquehanna County Commissioners, after watching a video of discussion that took place at the April 12 meeting.
Craig Lehman, of Lancaster County, said Hall portrayed him as not caring about counties. “I do care about all of the counties in Pennsylvania – Susquehanna included.”
Lehman said the focus of the letter was not the natural gas issues raised but, rather, its intent was to keep CCAP non-partisan.
At the April 12 meeting, Commissioner Alan Hall reported the county had co-hosted an energy summit during the recent CCAP (County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania) conference.
Hall said the effort is to bring rural counties together to talk about common issues, including the effects of the natural gas industry; as well as guaranteed minimum royalty issues.
He also noted that a letter had been circulated at CCAP advocating for Democratic Party commissioners not attend the summit because Republican gubernatorial candidate, Scott Wagner, was a sponsor of the event.
Hall told Lehman that he appreciated him coming to the Susquehanna County Commissioners’ meeting and reiterated the point of the summit was to rally rural, small counties in the state around issues involving the natural gas industry.
Hall also spoke about the May 1 storm system with winds that caused power outages across the county.
Hall said he power company workers did an excellent job. “I never have a problem with working men,” he said. “The workers did a great job.” He did, however, say he had concerns about the corporation, lack of maintenance and the reliance on subcontractors, rather than local workers, to fix the damage.
Hall said he said he was concerned about elderly county residents who had been without power for four days.
Commissioner MaryAnn Warren said that, in future events, residents who lose food due to a power outage should contact the local food banks.
In regular meeting business, the commissioners modified the retirement date for Chief Assessor Thomas Button from June 7 to July 19.
The resignation of Mary Noldy, from the position of Director of Assessment, was accepted with regret, effective May 24.
With changes in the leadership of the office, the salary board approved combining the positions to create a Director of Assessment/Chief Assessor, effective May 10.
Members of the Susquehanna County Tourism Committee were approved: Kim Ross, Michele Suchnick, Andy Auklakh, Gregg Confer and Alan Aronowitz were reappointed to one-year terms, ending April 30, 2018; and Kerry Foose and Sandra Conklin were appointed to also serve a one-year term through April 30.
The commissioners awarded a citation for the Susquehanna County Soil Conservation District in recognition of 70 years of service.
As part of the county’s work to update the comprehensive plan, postcards have been sent out to county residents notifying them of a survey.
The survey is available online and can be found on the homepage of the county website, www.susqco.com