The commissioners are afraid of commitment
Schuylkill County residents and the Commissioners gathered on Wednesday morning for another commissioners' meeting. Unsurprisingly, the topic of the Tremont warehouse dominated the meeting. But the Commissioners don't seem ready to commit to explicitly opposing the 7,500-bed DHS detention facility in Tremont.
Read the recaps from the Republican Herald and Coal Region Canary, or watch the full meeting video on YouTube.
According to the commissioners, the county has been in direct contact with several elected officials (or their staffers): Representative Meuser, Senator McCormick's regional director, Senator Fetterman's office, the governor's office, State Rep. Stehr, State Rep. Barton, and State Senator Argall.
The commissioners were asked by federal officials to provide official documentation on the tax revenue loss and the water/sewer capacity. The county sent the necessary paperwork.
Commissioner Padora also confirmed that he spoke directly with Congressman Meuser the morning of the meeting. He said that Meuser met with DHS on Monday and Tuesday of that week. Economic impact studies and engineering assessments are in the works. Also, the commissioners are pushing for a town hall meeting with federal officials.
About that economic impact study ...
Given that DHS is essentially trying to "sell" our leaders on the idea of the 7,500-bed facility, who will undertake the economic impact studies? An independent group? A group sourced by Schuylkill County? Or one of DHS's own internal teams?
Data can be cherry-picked to make the facility look like a good idea (or a bad one). Are we getting the equivalent of a fake review from the seller of the product? Or an honest review from a neutral third party?
We'll be sure to raise this question at a future Commissioners meeting.
What will it take?
During the public comment period, two residents asked the commissioners directly, "Will you oppose this facility?"
Commissioner Padora didn't commit to opposing the facility and said he wanted to wait for more information.
We can understand wanting the full picture, but one resident at the meeting put it plainly:
"The way that they snuck around to get the place, at the rate that we're going here not getting the answers, they're liable to be up and running by the time you guys get any answers."
That's certainly what it feels like to us, too.
What information, specifically, would make the commissioners publicly oppose this facility? Is there anything? Or is this an attempt to kick the can down the road?
If we can't even get our commissioners to just say they oppose the facility, how can we trust that they'll do anywhere near enough to protect us from this impending economic and public safety disaster?
If DHS moves forward with the facility, are the commissioners going to be gobsmacked by a lowball offer of payments in lieu of taxes from the federal government? Or are they going to come to the table prepared with their own numbers and research, ready to demand full compensation for what we're being asked to sacrifice?
What other residents said
Several other residents spoke at the meeting, all of whom oppose the DHS facility. Here are some of the key quotes:
"Instead of being proactive, we're reactive, and it's going to hurt us so much more." - Mechanicsville resident
"We do not want you to work with them (DHS). We want you to work for Schuylkill County residents." - Pottsville resident
"If our ambulances are tied up in Tremont, what happens when someone in Tamaqua has a heart attack?" - Orwigsburg resident
"Our county has traditionally been a place where people come and extract, take money and leave ... They don't have any respect for us." - Tamaqua resident
A resident from Washington Township shared her concerns about Pine Grove Area School District losing tax revenue.
"I do know how they'll make this up: the taxpayer. We just suffered a reassessment of our homes, so our taxes already went up."
An Auburn resident proposed a formal town hall and a community work group. (We support both ideas and are already working on holding a town hall in the Tremont area.)
One resident pressed the commissioners on releasing the water and sewer data to the public and asked them to take a position. He also made the point that Tremont Ambulance should not be transporting people out of a federal facility when they're needed for emergencies in town.
In response, Commissioner Padora shared what he learned from the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority (SCMA):
"The capacity is zero. That's honestly what we were told from SCMA. The water capacity is zero and the sewer capacity is zero. And that is documented."
What on earth could make this a good idea for the county?
What comes next
We usually urge you to call/email our elected officials, but tomorrow (Monday, February 16) is a federal holiday, so many of them will be out of office.
If you'd like some homework, though, check out the local emergency services' Facebook pages and see if you can help them out. Buy a raffle ticket, go eat some food, or maybe even consider volunteering.
Don't live in western Schuylkill County? Consider supporting your local EMS and fire companies!
If you have information, questions, or want to get involved, email us at info@noskookdetention.com.
