Tuesday's workshop meeting began with two presentations. The first by Don Ziegler of Abilities In Motion commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. All these years later and there are still only two street handicapped parking spaces for the two large County buildings.
The second was by the Andulhea Heritage Society concerning the preservation of a large barn in Bethel. The historic structure sits on land owned by the County and currently being developed as an industrial park. This group is asking the County for $25,000 to dismantle the barn so it can be stored pending their other plans to erect it at the County's Heritage Center and make it into an agriculture museum.
I see a few flaws in their plans for the ag museum. If the barn is dismantled at County expense the taxpayers have an interest in the structure. As such they should profit from whatever private operation profits from the museum. Also, how do we know any of the tourist traffic will divert itself from Lancaster County to come here to see what they can already see there?
The Board suggested a committee be formed to look into the matter. Funds already earmarked for demolishing the barn are being transferred to be used for its dismantlement. More are needed however which was why they made their presentation.
Bill Dennis spoke at length about the County's workman's compensation insurance program and announced they will begin covering some volunteers under the policy. Berks County spends $2 million a year for its workman's comp insurance.
The County has begun implementing plans for its own emergency response team of law enforcement officers. This is, essentially a County SWAT team (I know that's oversimplified but people will understand what we're talking about). As it is we've been using Chester County's Emergency Response Team in emergencies and that costs us money and precious time. The Berks County (BCERT) effort is underway and a report said training is underway and equipment is being purchased. The Commissioners authorized the purchase of this equipment this week.
Several road and bridge projects were also on the agenda. Six municipalities asked the County for financial assistance with certain road projects and four were approved but at lesser amounts than requested. The budget for these was only $250,000 after the County took care of its own projects so the four which were approved couldn't exceed that total. The money comes from liquid fuels (gasoline) taxes.
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