SMETHPORT — McKean County is moving forward on a 10-year plan to improve life in northern Pennsylvania.
The McKean County commissioners adopted during Tuesday’s meeting the Northern Pennsylvania Tri-County Comprehensive Plan, developed along with officials from Cameron and Potter counties. Cameron and Potter counties have already adopted the plan, noted Jeremy Morey, McKean County planning director.
Major areas of interest identified in the plan are workforce development, economic base, communities, infrastructure/environment and public health.
During the public review period for the draft plan, four comments were submitted, according to Morey. “All four of these have been addressed in the comprehensive plan,” he said.
Pat Frantz Cercone, executive director of communications and marketing at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Dr. Joseph T. Nairn, president of Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, both commented on the importance of education. Linda Thompson, housing & homeless service coordinator for the McKean County Redevelopment & Housing Authority, brought up the importance of varied housing stock, and an employee of a local forest company commented on the importance of developing renewable energy while preserving natural resources.
The plan, which outlines numerous ideas for improvements and lists agencies, organizations, companies and individuals who can help, can be found at mckeancountpa.org.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Lisa Pratt, director of elections, listed voting reform amendments to Act 77 that were recently passed by Pennsylvania lawmakers.
The biggest change that will affect the McKean County government is the intention of the commonwealth to use $90 million to reimburse counties up to 60% of the cost to purchase new voting equipment in 2019.
There are several changes for voters, too.
For one, there will be no straight-party voting anymore. Also, the deadline for voting registration has been moved from 30 days prior to the election to 15 days, so Pennsylvanians will have more time to register.
There will be a new type of absentee ballot, too: a mail-in ballot, for which voters do not have to give a reason. In the past, voters have always had to list a reason for voting on an absentee ballot. The deadline for the voting officials to receive absentee ballots has been moved to 8 p.m. on election day; before, they had to be received by the Friday before the election.
In addition, if someone signs up for a mail-in or absentee ballot for the primary election, they will automatically receive one for the general election in the fall. People will be able to sign up permanently as mail-in or absentee voters, too.
Commissioner Cliff Lane read aloud a commendation from the commissioners to the Children’s Advocacy Center of McKean County, as the agency was recently awarded accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance.
He talked about how, when the idea to start the agency was proposed in 2013, “the commissioners made a decision to go out on a limb” and support it despite the lack of funding — a move he said was “a leap of faith by commissioners, but ultimately you know it’s the right thing.”
CACMC now provides forensic interview services for children who are victims of abuse in McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron counties.
Lori Coffman, county finance director, made a statement to the commissioners about three fiscal policies related to federal pass-through money that needed to be updated. Commissioners adopted the changes.
Commissioners also adopted the geographic information system (GIS) data general purchase and GIS data sharing agreements, as explained by Sean McLaughlin, county GIS coordinator.
They made two appointments, too.
Susan Zook Wilson was appointed as an industry representative to North Central, and Ken Kane was appointed to the board of directors of the McKean County Conservation District, replacing Bob Wright.
Prior to taking the vote, Lane noted that, historically, an associate director of the conservation district is chosen to fill the spot of a director. He made a motion to appoint Ken Kane.
Two others had expressed interest in the position: Gus Crissman and Greg Bell. Conservation district Manager Sandy Thompson said the office will usually contact others who show interest to see if they’d like to be associate directors.
Commissioners approved the planning commission’s recommendation for distributing Act 13 Greenways funding this way: $25,000 to Kane Borough for a Knox-Kane trailhead, parking and spur surfacing; $11,201 to the Tuna Valley Trail Association for construction of a bathroom facility and pedestrian crossing signage; and $8,800 to the Kinzua Valley Trail Association for a split rail fence.
“I wish we could have funded more (projects),” said Morey, who was pleased with the quality of projects submitted.
The following Act 13 At Risk Bridge Project funds, as recommended by the planning commission, will also be awarded: $30,862 to Wetmore Township to replace Dwights Road bridge, $22,807 to Keating Township for Kent Hollow bridge and $20,625 to Bradford City for design and engineering costs for the Elm Street Bridge.
Commissioners also gave their approval for the following sales of 25 properties from the county’s repository: 18 King Road, Mount Jewett; 430 Greeves St., Kane; 330 Reynolds St., Kane; 104 Janeway St., Kane; 31 Kinzua Ave., Kane; 519 Haines St., Kane; 432 Janeway St., Kane; 17 Maple Lane, Kane; 2 Jackson Ave., Kane; 173 South Ave., Bradford; 15 Cole Ave., Bradford; 319 Jackson Ave., Bradford; 1108 South Ave., Bradford; 71 Willoughby Road, Lafayette Township; 130 Barbour St., Bradford; 50 Rochester St., Bradford; 112 Summer St., Bradford; 9 Rochester St., Bradford; 292 South Ave., Bradford; 319 Congress St., Bradford; 365 Route 446, Eldred Township; 1855 Moody Hollow, Eldred Township; 147 Fullerton Road, Otto Township; 2801 Route 446, Eldred Township; and 12 Wilson Ave., Liberty Township.
All 25 property sales already received approval by the school districts and municipalities, noted Angie Tennies, tax claim bureau director. All three entities must approve before the sales can happen.
