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Change orders approved for Cambria County courthouse roof project

By Matt Churella 6 min read

PATTON -- The Cambria County commissioners voted to approve change orders for the courthouse roof project and ratified emergency repairs for the county prison during their meeting Thursday at Rock Run Recreation Area in Chest Township.

There were two change orders approved for the courthouse roof project, bringing the new project total to about $3.8 million -- $20,183 to remove damaged ethylene propylene diene monomer, a synthetic rubber, and $39,910 to install three roof hatches.

Commissioner Keith Rager, who wasn't physically present at the meeting but attended via a phone call, said he was on the courthouse roof twice with project manager Bruce Mancini to inspect the work.

The roof hatches will allow the county's staff to look onto the roof from the attic to see whether there's any sitting water causing damage without physically having to go onto the roof itself, Rager said.

"That was the problem the last time, so that's what these change orders are for," Rager said.

President Commissioner Scott Hunt said the roof project was probably 20 to 30 years overdue. In the winter of 2024, the county had a few hundred thousand dollars in insurance claims due to water on the roof, so the commissioners decided to "bite the bullet" on the project and get it done, he said.

The construction work is about two-thirds of the way done and is expected to be finished this fall, Hunt said.

"It's a vast improvement already," Hunt said. "There's also warranties of 30 to 50 years, so the hope obviously is that it will set up the county and boards of commissioners for years to come so that they won't have the issues that we had with the roof."

The commissioners approved and ratified a $43,790 estimate by Watkins Security to install software and purchase a block of hours for security upgrades at the Cambria County Prison.

According to Rager, Warden Kurt Wolford was having problems at the prison and wanted Watkins Security to fix them.

Toby McIlwain, the county's solicitor, said the emergency repair deals with the safety and security of the prison staff, the prisoners and the community at large.

"It was imperative that this issue was addressed right away," McIlwain said.

The board also accepted the retirement of longtime elected treasurer Lisa

Kozorosky, whose last day with the county is today, Hunt said, adding Kozorosky will be missed.

Rager, Commissioner Tom Chernisky and county Controller Ed Cernic Jr. echoed Hunt's statement.

Following Kozorosky's retirement, first deputy treasurer Michelle Jackson will become the acting county treasurer, serving in the role through the end of Kozorosky's term, Hunt said.

An appointing process to name an interim treasurer, should state officials choose to do that, would be handled through the governor's office and then ratified by the state senate, according to Hunt.

"Unless someone else is appointed by the governor and then the state senate, Michelle would serve in that role until a couple days into January 2028 when Lisa's term would have been over," Hunt said.

Rock Run hosts meeting

As the commissioners' meeting was going on, hundreds of people were bringing in their trailers to set up campsites and attend the ATV recreation park's "Summer Blast" event.

Gary Haluska, chairman of the board that oversees the site, said this year is Rock Run's 20th year in operation and Summer Blast is one of their busiest weekends, alongside "Rally at the Rock," which takes place during the last weekend in September.

There are 350 campsites scattered among six hidden camping areas at Rock Run that are fully booked this weekend, Haluska said, noting the event sold out in March. There are also "day trippers" from the local area who visit Rock Run to ride over 140 miles of trail, purchase food and merchandise and enjoy free concerts, which take place about 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, he said.

"We build a stage over on the other end of that field and we have bands,"

Haluska said, adding people can walk in at no charge to enjoy the concerts.

"The concert basically is for the people that are here on the grounds," Haluska said. "(But) we allow people to come in through the gate and go to the concert. It's no big deal; we don't charge for that."

Summer Blast, and Rock Run in general, brings "other people's money" to Cambria County and the region, Chernisky said. Chernisky tours Rock Run every year and always meets new people who are visiting the site for the first time, he said.

Those people then go back to where they came from and tell their friends about Rock Run, which brings in more and more people every year, according to Chernisky, who toured the site this year Monday afternoon.

"Rock Run is a huge asset to Cambria County and the region. Word of mouth is the slowest form of advertising, but it's the best," Chernisky said. "People are recreating and having fun, and they're doing it right here in Cambria County and our region."

As the commissioners, their staff and meeting attendees were pulling into the area, Haluska was at the site's entrance, greeting visitors and directing traffic around the line of event attendees, which spanned from the visitors center all the way down to St. Lawrence Road for most of the commissioners' meeting.

Once traffic cleared up, Haluska walked to Rock Run's pavilion to observe the meeting and address the commissioners before they adjourned.

"I just saw some trailers from Maine, Maryland (and) Virginia. They'll be all over the place," Haluska said.

Many out-of-state riders stay at hotels and Airbnbs in Altoona, Clearfield, Ebensburg and Johnstown, Haluska said. A lot of those people spend money in the area, particularly at the Patton Sheetz, where they fill up on fuel and get a bite to eat, he said.

"If you go to Sheetz in Patton on a weekend, they get a lot of their business from this place," Haluska said, adding he hopes riders will continue to embrace Rock Run for generations to come.

"It's been a really neat project," he said. "Hopefully it carries on for the next 20 or 30 years."

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.

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