Meeting recap
• Date: July 20
• Action: Among public recognitions, the board thanked first responders who aided in rescuing victims of the partial building collapse July 12 at 15 N. Main St. in Washington’s central business district.
Members of the board unanimously voted to advertise an ordinance that would raise the hotel room rental tax to 5 percent. An administrative fee due the county treasurer, 2 percent under the former act and ordinance, would rise to 4 percent.
At the request of the Children and Youth Services agency, the board approved plane travel for the aunt of children whose mother was charged with child endangerment to fly from Alabama to Pittsburgh. She will return home with two nieces and a nephew, and supervision of the children is to be handled by an Alabama agency. The total cost of airline tickets will be $1,911, but no county funds are required.
The board also approved agreements with attorneys Renee Colbert and Zachary Mesher to represent CYS in juvenile court from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, at $50 an hour. Attorneys Frank Kocevar, Erin Dickerson and MariAnn Hathaway will provide legal services and counsel to children through the same period under a contract that is to pay $2,916 for the first 11 months of the same period, and an eight-cent raise for the 12th month. No county funds are required.
At the request of the coroner, the board approved a five-year agreement with Cohera Medical Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., which will provide death certificate case management software at an annual cost of $12,600 through June 30, 2022. Additional fees include $2,500 per year during the first three years for data conversion, $600 per form developed and $2,500 payable to the current vendor, eCedent.com, to integrate the old information to the new software.
At the request of the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, the board approved the purchase of two trucks for use at the airport through a state contract that does not require bidding. A 2018 International with dumping capability, snowplow and broom is being bought from Hunter International Sales and Service, Pittsburgh, for $348,366. A 2017 Ford F-550 XL, which costs $63,595, is being purchased from Suppes Ford dealership of Johnstown, Cambria County, with 90 percent of the funding coming from the Federal Aviation Administration through the state Bureau of Aviation, 5 percent from the state and 5 percent from local sources.
• Next meeting: 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, in the public meeting room of the Courthouse Square office building.