Stacey Gross
WARREN, Pa., – The Warren County Commissioners awarded the Center Street Reconstruction Project in Clarendon to IA Construction at their regular meeting Wednesday afternoon.
“We spent a couple years working on Center Street in Clarendon,” said Warren County Grants Administrator Danielle Flasher, “last year we did a stormwater project and this is the final phase of that street.”
Work will include reconstruction of the street surface from Brown Ave. to Railroad St., but also what she said was a revision of the project’s scope at the start of the year to include permanent sidewalks. She added that. hopefully, this will complete work on Center St.
Commissioner Dan Glotz thanked Flasher for her work on the project, calling the stormwater portion of it a “monumental challenge.”
Clarendon Borough, Flasher said, has been supportive of the project, adding that they’re excited to see the funding to finish the project and reduce flooding to yards on either side of Center St. during rainy weather.
The commissioners went on in Wednesday’s meeting to approve an agreement with IA Construction Corp, which Flasher said was the “lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder” of the three bids the county received. Flasher added that IA also subcontracts to minority women owned businesses, which she added in an interview following the meeting, is a part of County Block Development Grant funding. That program, she said, “tries to provide opportunities and pathways” to such businesses, so while subcontracting to them is in no way a criteria for the county’s selection process, it is “a plus.”
Originally only a stormwater and street reconstruction project, the original cost was somewhere in the $100,000 range but, Flasher said, that by revising the scope to include a separately submitted project for curbing and sidewalks, both projects are coming at a cost of $366,663.45.
Once completed, Flasher said, “Center St. will be basically brand new, built up, and should last them a very long time.”
The commissioners also acted on a pop-up agenda item, voting unanimously to add it to Wednesday’s meeting, before approving a contract with Motorola for body-worn cameras for Sheriff’s Office and Warren County Jail personnel.
“I believe that having those cameras and also cameras in sheriff’s vehicles cuts down on our liability. When we have situations, we can go back and look at the event that occurred,” said Commissioner Ken Klakamp.
The cameras now being used, Klakamp said, were purchased before his retirement as the county’s Sheriff at the end of 2020 and are “worn out.”
Commissioner Tricia Durbin commented that the funds to pay for the new cameras are from a grant and a “separate, jail-related account and not from the general fund,” and Klakamp confirmed.
Also on Wednesday, the commissioners offered well wishes to Deputy EMA Director Scott Rose, who has announced his plans to retire from that position.
“We wanted to present him with a certificate,” said Commissioner Dan Glotz, but Rose was unable to attend the meeting to accept it. “We wish him well in his future endeavors and we will miss him.”
“We were fortunate to have the years of his service,” said Durbin, “and we hope that he enjoys his retirement.”
Finally, on Wednesday, the commissioners issued proclamations recognizing National Crime Victim Rights week from April 21-27, 2024 as well as the entire month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Klakamp stated during those proclamations that A Safe Place served 735 crime victims, 111 sexual assault victims and provided 291 hours of confidential crisis services to county residents in 2023.
The commissioners also recognized Youngsville Public Library Director Kristy Wallace, who came to update them on library programs and developments. The commissioners thanked Kristy for her work to develop the library and provide new and ongoing programming and facilities to Youngsville residents and issued a proclamation recognizing April 7 – 13 as National Library Week.
