Mike Hanson introduced our speaker, Adams County Commissioner, Randy Phiel (pictured above). Randy has been with us many times over the years to give us an update on the status of the county government. Some may remember that the last time that Randy spoke to us was when we had a brief period of in-person meetings in this current Rotary year, on July 20, 2020. Randy began his talk by reflecting on his connection to Rotary by hosting an exchange student years ago which led to a life-long connection to that exchange student. He also thanked Rotary and each individual Rotarian for all that we do within our community. He spoke about the many challenges that the county government had to face during this past year with the COVID pandemic and all of the effects that it had on the various services that are provided by the county. They had to make adjustments to staff and schedules by prioritizing the essential needs. They were happy to collaborate with Wellspan to open up space in the county 911 center as a community vaccine center. That center is currently open five days per week, but will be going back to three days per week, as it was operated originally, due to the demand for vaccinations being down. As an update to other segments of the county operations that were affected by COVID, he told us that the courtrooms would be operating on a normal schedule starting May 30, 2021, and the county offices would be operating on a normal schedule starting June 30, 2021. Randy told us how the elections were challenging this past year, mostly because of the number of mail-in ballots. He described the many steps that are taken to send, receive, and count the ballots that are mailed in. Last spring there were over 10,000 mail-in ballots in the primary elections and there were about 19,000 mail-in ballots in the general election. He said that the state is well aware of the problems with the current voting laws but it seems difficult to get legislation passed that will bring reform to the voting laws. The county would like to get some legislation passed that would make the counting of the ballots easier. Randy expressed his pride in how well the election staff and voters do their duties in Adams County. He also made some announcements about polling place changes in Gettysburg and McSherrystown Boroughs and also in Straban and Oxford Townships because of restrictions with various institutions. This Friday, May 14th, there will be a ribbon-cutting at The Mercy House, which is a recovery house that is to be operated by the RASE project in a county-owned building on High Street. This was a former house for nuns attached to Saint Francis Xavier Church. There will be room for seven male residents and one house manager to live on-site. The one advantage of this local facility will be for inmates at the county prison who need resident substance abuse counseling as a requirement for their release. The county is also looking to create a substance abuse recovery house for female residents in a county-owned property within the Borough of Gettysburg in the near future. The county now has a law enforcement firearms training range at the 911 center on Greenamyer Lane. This is for any law enforcement agent in Adams County but must have a certified firearms safety instructor on site. Adams County is very fiscally healthy. They have consistently received a superior rating (A++) on their financial stability which allows them to borrow money at a very low rate. This also allows municipalities within the county to do the same. Randy mentioned three different grants that they were able to get to fund programs in the county. They received $9M for the FAIR program. $1.1M to help the hospitality businesses through the CHIP program and $6.3M to help renters and landowners. There is a $19M dollar federal grant that is coming but has not been received yet. The county has given $1M to the Adams County Historical Society for their building program. He concluded his talk by telling us about the county's role in getting the Rabbit Transit bus route from Gettysburg to Hanover. Questions from the group were answered at the conclusion of Randy's informative talk. |