COUDERSPORT — Potter County officials continue to work with regional, state and national organizations to bring up-to-date information and best practices back to the communities they serve.
In recent weeks, Commissioners Paul Heimel and Susan Kefover have attended a number of meetings and conferences focused on dealing with big issues facing both rural and urban communities.
Heimel serves on boards within the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) to address criminal justice reform and behavioral/mental health issues, and presented information on efforts to push communities to form multi-county collaborative efforts to address these issues.
Members of the CCAP Behavioral Health Task Force are working to meet with the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, the state District Attorney and Public Defender associations and lawmakers to support these programs and ensure that necessary funding is awarded.
Limited state funding is currently available, and may be curtailed further due to the pending expiration of the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed in 2016 and granted two years of funding for states to implement common-sense criminal justice reforms.
Kefover works with the Rural Development Council and is a member of CCAP’s Community and Economic Development Committee, and stated that the opioid epidemic has been part of the conversation at many recent meetings she has attended. In 2016, 4,600 people died of opioid overdoses in Pennsylvania. In 2017, that number swelled to more than 5,000, and opioids now kill more people than automobile accidents annually in the state.
A correlation has been found between opioid addiction and a lack of economic opportunity, and efforts are being made to help communities address ways for their residents to have a greater sense of well-being. A five-county area of Potter, Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming and Clinton counties, is now being studied to try and identify improvements that can be made.
Other issues are also being identified that may be linked in one way or another, either through drug use or the general feeling of dissatisfaction that appears to be having a pervading influence on residents. Women’s health has also been on the decline in rural Pennsylvania, and an uptick in substantiated child abuse cases have also been noted in the region compared to the rest of the state.
Commissioners heard a presentation from Aleshia Marshall, a business consultant with the Clarion University Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Marshall consults with small business owners in Potter, McKean and Elk counties, and the Clarion SBDC also assists business owners or potential business owners in Armstrong, Cameron, Clearfield, Clarion, Forest, Jefferson and Venango counties.
Commissioners approved the resignation of James Lane from the Potter County Solid Waste Authority, and approved appointment of Jon Blass to fill the unexpired term through Dec. 31, 2020.
The next meeting of the Potter County Commissioners will be held at 11 a.m. on March 1 at the Gunzburger Building in Coudersport.
