Tomassetti, Beam wrap up service to county
Commissioners reflect on year; McLanahan to assist on portrait project
HOLLIDAYSBURG — As workers completed the restoration of the oldest and largest courtroom in the Blair County Courthouse, the present board of commissioners wrapped up the year in a sometimes emotional fashion, saying goodbye to two commissioners, an outgoing register of wills and recorder of deeds and the retirement of a longtime chief county administrator.
While it was a time for reflection, the commissioners, Bruce R. Erb, Terry Tomassetti and Ted A. Beam Jr., had one piece of business to complete, which was to give the go-ahead to conservator John Rita of Altoona, a leader of the courthouse restoration project, to continue his work on seven frames that will hold portraits of the county’s past judges.
That work, which will include polishing of the frames, re-lacquering of the brass nameplates and installation of proper hanging hardware, will cost $2,100.
As that proposal was put of the table, the commissioners received some good news from a well-known resident sitting in the back of the board’s meeting room.
Michael W. McLanahan, chairman of the board of the McLanahan Corp. in Hollidaysburg, came to the front of the room and stated he wanted to pay for the work on the frames.
The McLanahan Corp., which produces mining equipment, will be 185 years old on Monday.
“We are 11 years older than the county,” remarked McLanahan, and he reported his interest in restoring the portrait frames came about when he heard one of the commissioners talking about the project.
His family, he said, is related to four of the judges in Blair County history and that background led him to step forward.
Three of the judges, John Dean, Martin Bell and Thomas Baldridge, go back to the county’s early years.
The fourth judge, Marion D. Patterson, was of more recent origin.
While the cost of the courthouse restoration has raised some eyebrows during the past six years, McLanahan said the commissioners are to be complimented for the ongoing effort, calling what has been completed so far “an outstanding piece of work.”
He said, “This county can be extremely proud (of its courthouse),” and then concluded, “I am only too glad to help.”
Tomassetti and Beam were attending their final meeting as commissioners on Tuesday.
Tomassetti decided not to run for re-election while Beam lost his race.
Beam said he has come to terms with the fact he was not re-elected, but in his eight years, he noted, “I loved it.”
Being a county commissioner, he said, was his “dream job,” since he was a student working with the county highway department years ago.
He called his eight years on the board, “an unbelievable ride.”
Tomassetti, who in his 12 years, was the leader in efforts to stabilize the county’s finances: by selling the county’s Valley View Home, by instituting reassessment and by preparing a plan to fully fund the county’s pension fund.
By the end of his second term, he said, the board was able to operate county government in the right way.
He was highly complimentary of county solicitor Nathan W. Karn Sr. and of county’s chief administrator, Helen P. Schmitt, who is retiring.
“We have a great team here, ” he said.
Schmitt, a 23-year county employee, was described as a person who helped educate the commissioners on the ins-and-outs of county government and as a low-keyed administrator who had the ability to change the board’s thinking on a subject by suggesting another point of view.
“Oh, that makes sense,” said Tomassetti, pointing out that after talking to Schmitt on a subject, a light bulb would go off on his head.
Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds Mary Ann Bennis was also honored for her 16 years in elected office and for her effort to upgrade that office.
Commissioners-elect Laura Burke and Amy Webster will take their seats next Monday as will Anita L. Terchanik, who will replace Bennis.
Assistant County Administrator Nicole M. Hemminger will fill the vacancy left by Schmitt.
The county’s inauguration ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the restored 1875 courtroom.