Survey contract approved
$60,000 contract granted to Mike Menard

Some 60 communication towers spread around Potter County will be inventoried by registered surveyor Mike Menard, at a cost of about $60,000.

The Potter County Commissioners granted the nobid contract to Menard by a 2- 0 vote, with Ken Wingo and John Torok approving the deal. Commissioner Cathy Bowers was absent.

Wingo said County Solicitor D. Bruce Cahilly had advised the board that competitive bidding is not required for professional services. Terms of the contract with Menard call for payment of $1,000 per tower site.

According to John Hetrick, 9-1-1 deployment coordinator with the Potter County Emergency Management Agency, an extensive database is required to assure proper coverage of the county and to accommodate wireless phone traffic.

Wingo noted that the surveys are required as a condition of the county's wireless 9-1-1 grant from the state.

In other business, the commissioners made two appointments to the Potter County Conservation District Board of Directors.

H. Richard Curfman was named as public representative to the board. The other nominee was Joseph Parr. Commissioner Torok was appointed as a farmer representative. Other nominees were Phil Lehman and Jon Blass.

Torok has served as the Board of Commissioners' representative on the board, a vacancy that will be filled by the new commissioners, Doug Morley, Paul Heimel and Susan Kefover, when they take office in January.

Commissioner Wingo noted that Roy Thompson opted not to seek re-appointment, which opened the farmer representative position.

The commissioners also:

• heard a presentation from Valerie Duperron, president of the Potter- Tioga Chapter of Pa. Assn. of School Retirees. She pointed out that members of organization devoted almost 60,000 hours to community service in the two counties last year.

• approved easements on properties in the vicinity of the county-owned North Fork Dam. As the dam is repaired and rebuilt, height of the dike will rise by about six feet, broadening the area into which water could potentially back up and requiring additional easements in Potter County and in Steuben County, N.Y.

• tabled bids for alterations to the former MH/MR building at the county-owned Maple View, which will be headquarters for the county's 9- 1-1 program. Hamilton Construction Company of Ulysses is low bidder among two contractors, asking $299,156 with an alternate bid for a lightning protection system of $4,500. Hetrick will review the bids and make a recommendation.

• approved an agreement between Potter County and UGI Energy Services for the lock-in of gas prices at the Gunzburger Annex for November 2007 at $8.43 per DTH.

• agreed to pay expenses for Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Amy Moshier to attend a two-day training session in Mechanicsburg. Several requests from Potter County Human Services for out-ofcounty employee training were also approved.