Lebanon County Commissioners on Thursday, Dec. 19, selected four projects to spend the remaining balance of over $3.36 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two biggest earmarks for this final round of spending are for renovations of the former city offices at the county municipal building, costing $3.062 million, and $250,000 toward a planned $6 million multi-purpose exhibition building at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center and Fairgrounds in North Cornwall Township.
Read More: 11 projects funded, Lebanon County seeks to spend remaining ARPA dollars
The other two projects awarded ARPA funds were $30,000 to Coleman Memorial Park for conversion of tennis courts to pickleball courts and $23,906 for the Community of Lebanon Association for the installation of earth planters in downtown Lebanon.
Under federal law, counties have until the end of 2024 for their funds to be allocated and 2026 for the money to be spent. County administrator Jamie Wolgemuth said Lebanon County had received $27.4 million in 2021 as part of ARPA funding distributed by the federal government to help communities get back on track during the pandemic.
After providing funding to 11 projects through April of this year, the county had a pool of money that was set aside and other funds that were available from another county-based projects that had to be allocated by the end of 2024.
“There was a sort of, I guess, unofficial set aside of $2 million that I anticipated we were gonna put toward renovations of the city, former city offices and so on. So that’s in this total number, which at the time was not yet allocated, but was anticipated or thought to be going to be part of that,” said Wolgemuth.
The other funding to be unencumbered and returned for other projects included monies for the county’s new emergency communications tower system when the total number of new towers to be constructed was reduced.
Read More: County to build 7 new towers, distribute 2,000 radios in communications overhaul
“There was $500,000 added to or unencumbered from the original project for radio towers, radio tower replacements and expansion of that system from the Department of Emergency Services due to some delays or some changes in sites or our inability to utilize some sites,” said Wolgemuth, who added that the county would be unable to fulfill that commitment by the end of 2026. “So rather than keep it there and risk not using it and it going away, we’re moving it back into the pot, so to speak, for other projects.”
Wolgemuth noted the $3.06 million earmarked for the renovation and relocation of county municipal offices would be applied towards the estimated $5.1 million to $7.4 million, multi-year project, which includes the abatement of asbestos-containing materials in affected areas.
“We’re looking at a multi-year project for this project, which contains at least six phases to it,” said Wolgemuth. “Some areas need to be done before others can, you know, there’s a whole domino effect moving around. The total estimate for all of those renovations that I have based on the architect’s estimate as well as mechanicals, et cetera, is $100 to $150 per square foot for renovations and approximately $600,000 to $725,000 for asbestos abatement.”
Wolgemuth explained that the municipal building project is covered under numerous areas of the ARPA law, including a section that permits renovations, installation of new HVAC systems, and the remediation of hazardous materials like asbestos.
“Again, not the entire building being abated, but the areas where we’re going to go into and do renovations and have an impact. Then we would abate any flooring that’s asbestos- containing, any insulation above the ceiling that’s asbestos-containing, and those are the main ACMs or asbestos-containing materials,” he said. “So I have a range of costs of $5.1 million to $7.4 million for renovations to this building, and proposing to use $3.062 million from ARPA towards that.”
County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the county renovation project and those funding requests for Coleman Memorial Park and the Community Association of Lebanon.
The vote for the expo center was 2-1, with commissioner Jo Ellen Litz abstaining. She said she abstained because she had not received information prior to the meeting concerning the project.
However, prior to the vote, Wolgemuth told commissioners that a new sheet he gave them at that meeting was a summary of other information provided to them a week ago.
“This is basically a summary of the packet I gave you last week,” said Wolgemuth. “I just put it all in one sheet for you to review and look over before – have a week to look at it – before this meeting.”
Prior to Wolgemuth’s ARPA presentation, Pat Kerwin, executive director of the Lebanon Valley Exposition Center & Fairgrounds, and expo board member Tom Siegel made their ARPA funding request. They shared details concerning a proposed $40,000-square-foot, multi-purpose building expected to cost up to $6 million.
Kerwin explained the building would be free span, meaning it would have no pillars, be air conditioned, contain restrooms and a snack bar, have ample electricity, and would include a sound system, additional parking and come with a master stormwater plan for the entire fairgrounds.
Kerwin noted it would result in “significant new business” for the expo center and create substantial additional economic activity across all business segments of Lebanon County, including lodging, restaurants, gas stations, tourism, shopping and entertainment.
He added the building will support the county’s largest industry, agriculture, for current and future generations and add to the quality of life for Lebanon County residents by offering more and larger events at the expo center.
Siegel said the new building will replace the 35-year-old, open-air dairy barns, situated between Brightbill Arena and the fairground track, which are in deteriorating condition.
An added bonus is having enough electricity so that youth who are preparing their cattle for dairy shows don’t have to groom their animals in shifts due to inadequate electrical voltage at the current dairy barns, he said.
Kerwin told LebTown that the building would be primarily used to house and show animals during the Lebanon Area Fair, the annual marquee event at the expo center, and be available for rental throughout the rest of the year, especially to vendors seeking large facility space for their events.
He added that he has referred some would-be vendors to Pennsylvania Farm Show officials in Harrisburg for events too large for the current indoor space at the expo center. It is hoped the additional space will bring some of those larger events to the Lebanon Valley.
Wolgemuth noted the other two funded projects would include the conversion of tennis courts to pickleball courts at Coleman Park and for the installation of self-watering planters in downtown Lebanon.
He stated the planters would cut down on maintenance costs over time since they flowers and other plants placed annually to beautify areas around downtown Lebanon throughout the year.
According to LebTown reports, County Commissioners approved 17 projects since receiving ARPA funds, including five since April. Prior to Thursday’s ARPA-approval votes, commissioners had also approved a $150,000 request for the Soldiers Field construction project in Mount Gretna.
The expo center received prior funding totaling $650,000, bringing their total ARPA distribution to $900,000.
LebTown previously reported that the expo center board spent their first allocation on the resurfacing of the parking area for attendance at events and adding new paved surfaces to portions of the fairgrounds. That project was supposed to have included traffic safety improvements to the entrance on Rocherty Road.
Kerwin updated commissioners that the expo board had received Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s permission to make those traffic safety improvements by widening the entrance to the fairgrounds on Rocherty Road.
In other county business, South Annville Township resident Michael Schroeder presented a letter on behalf of the executive committee of the Lebanon County branch of the NAACP that expresses “deep concerns” about the county district attorney’s office’s handling of sex crimes as noted in PennLive news reports.
Schroeder presented the letter during public comments and said he is the secretary of the local NAACP branch and was speaking on behalf of their executive committee.
NAACP officials write in the letter about their “deep concerns” about the “pattern of responses by the Office of the Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf to allegations of rape and sexual assault as documented in a year-long investigation” by the Harrisburg-based news outlet.
The letter’s concerns include: the district attorney’s office’s “pattern of not filing charges in cases where the victim knows their attacker,” Lebanon County’s ranking as “8th lowest in the state for the rate of sexual crimes prosecutions in 2022 and 2023 based on the number of sex crimes reported,” and the DA’s office exhibiting “a troubling lack of transparency and accountability, refusing to respond to any media inquiries about these matters despite repeated requests via email, phone calls and office visits.”
No commissioner made a statement following Schroeder’s comments, which included a call to action to have county commissioners exercise their voice and have the district attorney respond publicly and in writing to the NAACP’s letter.
Schroeder noted that commissioners have no authority over the DA’s office since that position is elected by county voters.
“The PennLive investigation of the pattern of responses by the office of district attorney to the sexual abuse allegations appear to show an egregious failure to fulfill this commitment to victim’s rights and an equally egregious failure to fulfill a commitment to public engagement,” said Schroeder. “We know that you, as county commissioners, have no authority over the district attorney’s office. We’re not asking you to change any policies, but we also know you have a voice, and we’re asking you to use that voice in order to try to probe this very troubling pattern of responses to allegations of sexual abuse, of sexual violence.”
Schroeder said the letter contains four questions to be addressed by Hess Graf, but added that one would have to be redacted concerning charges against Veronika Rodriguez for filing a false police report. Schroeder said a gag order was issued Tuesday preventing involved parties from making comments on the Rodriguez case.
Rodriguez, a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, was arrested in March 2023 over two counts of felony wiretapping and one misdemeanor charge of making a false report to law enforcement. The charges, which are being prosecuted by the DA’s office, followed Rodriguez’s January 2023 report of a sexual assault by another guardsman. In that interview, Rodriguez told police she was forced to engage in sexual intercourse and that she had recorded parts of the alleged assault. With her consent, Fort Indiantown Gap police later extracted data from her phone – including the recordings and text messages – which they assert show she knowingly reported false information to police and recorded the other guardsman in violation of the wiretap act.
The affidavit of probable cause cites text messages sent to a friend wherein Pervez describes her level of arousal and says that she could “ignore her morals for one night.” The affidavit also notes that Rodriguez sent the other guardsman a photo of her breasts following the encounter.
Experts hired by Rodriguez filed reports on her behalf contesting that the Middletown woman was in fact sexually assaulted and assert that the Fort Indiantown Gap police department made a litany of errors in its investigation into the alleged assault. The reports assert that denial and rationalization are common reactions of sexual assault victims and offer countering narratives for the evidence presented in the affidavit. The expert reports say that the friend later confronted Rodriguez over FaceTime regarding the text messages and said that the friend told Rodriguez she didn’t believe her statements and reassurances that the sex was consensual. They also say Rodriguez did not send a photo of her full breasts as suggested in the police narrative, but rather a picture showing bruises on her cleavage and chest accompanied with the text “Looks like I got beat up.”
Rodriguez is currently out on bail and scheduled to face trial in April.
Çounty Commissioners also unanimously voted to:
- Provide a hotel tax grant funding request to the Pennsylvania Chautauqua Foundation for $5,000 to advertise their summer ambassador program. In a separate item concerning the hotel tax grant program, a grant totaling $5,000 was provided to Mount Gretna Summer Concerts Inc. for their summer concert series. The balance in the hotel tax grant fund following these approvals is $17,907.
- Grant 10 provider contract amendments totaling $91,454 for the Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities/Early Intervention department for fiscal year 2024-25. The contracts will be paid using existing funds, meaning no additional taxpayer dollars are required to pay those invoices.
- Agree to a new contract with Vigilnet to provide electronic monitoring and SCRAM monitoring equipment for Lebanon County Probation Services. The plan is to begin utilizing the equipment in January of 2025.
- Add Matt Grodzinski as a board member for Visit Lebanon Valley.
- Accept the resignation of Housing Authority of Lebanon County board member Shila Ulrich, Palmyra, effective Dec. 31. Ulrich resigned to take the position of president of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.
- Provide real estate tax exemptions to three fully disabled veterans or their families.
- Approve the minutes from their Dec. 5, and workshop/executive sessions on Dec. 11, 17 and 18, various personnel transactions and the treasurer’s report. As part of the treasurer’s report, commissioners also agreed to renew municipal tax collection agreements with 20 municipalities across Lebanon County.
The next meeting of the Lebanon County Commissioners is a special session on Thursday, Dec. 26, in room 207 of the county municipal building, 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon. That meeting will held to consider adoption of the 2025 county budget, whose highlights can be read here. The budget is on display in the commissioners’ office and available for public comment until that meeting is convened.
Read More: Lebanon County Commissioners approve tentative $104.1 million budget for 2025
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