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Blair County

News in brief from around the region

Commissioners OK labor contract

Blair County commissioners have approved a three-year labor contract with the Service Employees International Union representing about 25 employees in the highway and maintenance departments.

The contract provides a 2.5 percent increase for 2017 and 2.25 percent increases in 2018 and 2019.

The contract also provides a $500 payment in 2017 to bargaining unit employees who will no longer be eligible to claim a bonus for unused sick time as allowed in past years.

While the bonus was likely introduced as an incentive to keep down sick time, Katherine Swigart, the county’s human resources director, said that almost every employee was claiming it. That included ones who resorted to using vacation days instead of sick days, just so they could be eligible for the bonus.

The new contract also permits sick time to be taken in hourly increments, a new option.

The new contract also removes language associated with the union’s representation of Valley View Home employees, when the nursing home was owned by the county.

Commissioners Bruce Erb, Terry Tomassetti and Ted Beam Jr. voted last week to ratify the new contract that extends through Dec. 31, 2019.

County CYF director leaving position

Stacie Horvath, administrator of Blair County’s Children, Youth & Families office, will switch from full time to part-time status starting Wednesday.

Horvath has submitted her resignation, effective Jan. 31, and the county is advertising for a replacement, at a salary range of $57,000 to $62,000 annually. In the meantime, Horvath will be paid $35.44 for the part-time hours she works within a three-week period.

Commissioners debated the possibility of needing to set a higher pay to attract qualified applicants.

“This is a key position,” Commissioner Bruce Erb said. “Stacie is a highly-valued manager and this is quite a loss for the county.”

Horvath was hired in December 2013 at at $55,015 annually, and her 2016 salary was $64,500.

County looking into renting office space

Blair County leaders are looking into renting office space in a building across from the courthouse, specifically to accommodate staff in the Children, Youth & Families office.

Options have been under consideration, but commissioners agreed Tuesday to postpone a discussion of the proposed lease and related matters, pending more information.

Director Stacie Horvath, when addressing commissioners a few weeks ago, said her department has long been in need of more space for its personnel. She proposed the option of moving some staff who don’t interact with the public to the nearby building where office space is available. The county previously leased that space for reassessment-related work.

The expense of leasing space could be partly covered by the state, which reimburses Blair County for a portion of children and youth expenses.

Sheriff sales to be held quarterly

The Blair County Sheriff’s Department will hold quarterly rather than monthly sheriff sales in 2017.

“It’s something we’re trying out this year,” Lt. Holly Garner said. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to monthly.”

The number of properties the department offers at monthly sales has been dropping, she said, to an average of about 13 to 15 a month which takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Garner said she has 22 new properties on a list for the first sale in 2017 scheduled to be held March 8. They’ll be advertised with descriptions in the Feb. 9, 16 and 23 editions of the Mirror. But owners do have some options to keep the property from being sold.

Property sales are also scheduled on June 14, Sept. 13 and Dec. 13.

County switches some meeting days

Blair County leaders are changing some meeting days and locations in 2017.

The county Salary Board, which handles responsibilities associated with setting salaries and creating new positions, is scheduled to meet at 10:15 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month. The board’s meetings will be held in the public meeting room in the courthouse basement.

The county Retirement Board, which oversees management of the countyás pension fund and related responsibilities, will meet monthly at 9 a.m. on the second Thursday, except in February, May, August and November when the board will convene at 9 a.m. on the second Tuesday for a quarterly review of the pension fund performance.

While the county prison board will continue to convene at 8:30 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month, meetings will be held in the public meeting room, except in March, June, September and December when they will be held at the prison.

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