During Tuesday’s regular meeting, McKean County commissioners declared May to be Mental Health Awareness Month.
In their declaration, they stated that they “call upon citizens, organizations, businesses and schools in McKean County to commit our community to increasing awareness and understanding of mental health, the steps our residents can take to protect their mental health, and the need for appropriate and accessible services for all people with mental conditions.”
Along with the declaration, Maggie Travis, coordinator of the STEPS Drop In Center in Bradford, shared an overview of what STEPS is doing during the pandemic.
For one, Travis has been making phone calls and video calls with clients, and she has been working with providers and case managers to help clients.
“Looking at my folks, I can tell when things aren’t quite right,” she explained.
Also, Travis started a Facebook page to stay connected with them, posting uplifting messages and contact info if they need help. She has hosted live Facebook events, including ones with wellness tips and even music appreciation events with Travis playing guitar.
Her clients get birthday cards, too, and she has been sending masks to those who ask for them.
Travis read the story of the Mental Health Bell, which is the symbol for the month. In 1956, a bell was forged from iron chains and shackles that once were used to restrain people in asylums. The bell serves as a reminder of past discrimination, as well as hope for the future.
Dan Wertz, director of McKean County Human Services, spoke, too. He explained that mental health, along with physical health and a social educational background, form a strong foundation for the “maximum potential for life. The pandemic has reminded us that life can be full of unexpected events that upset the balance as far as that foundation.”
Those events can include not only the pandemic, but abuse, violence, experiences in the military or as a first responder, the unexpected loss of a loved one, financial uncertainty or even a long winter. “At the end of it all, we all experience various stresses and events in our lives that at any point can upset that balance,” Wertz said.
There are resources to help, he added. These include the Pennsylvania Warmline, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the county’s crisis line and more.
Also at the meeting, commissioners passed a resolution approving the liquid fuels municipal allocations for 2020. The total to be distributed in the county is $112,049.59.
The liquid fuels funding will be dispersed as follows:
• Townships: Annin, $5,382.71; Bradford, $10,210.88; Ceres, $4,975.65; Corydon, $1,176.08; Eldred, $6,132.19; Foster, $10,012.11; Hamilton, $1,832.03; Hamlin, $2,570.74; Keating, $9,077.47; Lafayette, $5,156.19; Liberty, $8,182.54; Norwich, $2,573. 24; Otto, $3,878.00; Sergeant, $998.63; and Wetmore, $5,533.68
• Bradford City, $15,240.54
• Boroughs: Eldred, $1,492.01; Kane, $6,804.88; Lewis Run, $1,159.64; Mount Jewett, $1,907.27; Port Allegany, $4,274.88; and Smethport, $3,478.23.
Commissioners also welcomed Kimberly Briggs, who is serving as the new director of the Department of Aging for McKean, Elk and Cameron Counties. She replaces Bill Orzechowski, who retired.
Commissioner Cliff Lane called Orzechowski a “very nice man” who was “always very involved with the seniors.”
Commissioner Carol Duffy added that Orzechowski is currently only partially retired, as he is staying on to assist.
The county has hired a new employee, too: Frances Carner, who is a legal assistant in the District Attorney’s Office.
The county also announced summer hours for several departments, effective June 1 through Aug. 28.
Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will be these offices: assessment, chief clerk, commissioners, conservation, controllers, economic development, elections, emergency management agency, finance director, human resources, IT, maintenance, planning, purchasing, recorder of deeds, treasurer, veteran affairs and voter registration.
These will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: adult probation, Children’s Advocacy Center, Children and Youth Services, courts, Department of Human Services, district attorney, district judges, domestic relations, family law, juvenile probation, prothonotary, public defender and register of wills.
In her update on the census, Duffy said Jeremy Morey — the chairman of the county’s Complete Count Committee — continues to give weekly updates on the numbers. Also, there is a banner in each municipality showing how many residents in each have self-reported.
The commissioners approved resolutions to apply for three grants: a HAVA grant to help with extra election costs such as hand sanitizer and wipes, a $16,754.91 CARES Act grant for the county to cover extra coronavirus-related costs, and a $150,148 ESG CV grant for YWCA Bradford for homeless services.
They appointed machine inspectors to serve during the primary election on June 2.
Commissioners approved a debt ordinance of $300,000 for the Bradford Regional Airport. The county is serving as a cosigner for a loan that the airport hopes to acquire.
The next commissioners meeting will be at 10 a.m. June 9. Commissioner Tom Kreiner said that, unless they publish something differently, they plan to hold that meeting as a teleconference.
He explained that, even though McKean County is moving into the green phase on Friday, “This isn’t a return to what we were prior to the coronavirus.”
