(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
The Beaver County Commissioners gathered for only twenty minutes during their April 19 work session, but the direction paved for the next several weeks ahead became clearer.
One of the biggest subjects facing the County and its Commissioners is the ongoing reassessment of properties, which Solicitor Garen Fedeles provided the latest updates. Fedeles stated that 9,974 review requests have been submitted to Tyler Technologies, with 5,257 of those requests already completed. The final numbers for the reassessment are projected to be completed by June.
Concurrent with the reassessment process for Beaver County over the last several weeks has been the response to the train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio; recent concerns have been focused on agriculture and soil for growing food and other crops.
Commissioner Jack Manning spoke about the “very good results” through recent soil testing that showcase that there has been “no contamination at elevated levels” for the soil in local crops, which has led local farmers to continue growing crops as previously intended. “I would just ask that everyone in Beaver County continue to support their local Farmers’ Markets,” Manning said, saying that it’s important to carefully combat the perception that the soil is unsafe following the recent results.
Commissioner Tony Amadio echoed Manning’s statements regarding supporting the farmers: “We have to maintain the perception that it is good, because if the perception is not there, people will not buy those goods. So we’ve got to convince them, based on our data that we’ve been receiving, that the food is safe, the meat’s safe, the water’s safe, and the soil’s safe. Until we see something to the contrary, I think we’ve got to keep continually promoting that.”
Another promotion for Beaver County’s success came from Manning, who spoke about Beaver County’s job growth over the last five years, with Beaver County being one of only five counties within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have positive numbers during that span. “It’s not just all related to the Cracker Plant,” Manning added, “it’s also a lot of entrepreneurship, new businesses, and startups in our downtowns, and I’m pretty excited to say that.” Beaver County had a net positive of roughly 1,500 jobs over those five years; by comparison, neighboring Allegheny County lost a cumulative 50,000+ jobs over that same time period.
Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp spoke about the regionalization of the soon-to-be Beaver Valley Regional Police, comprising of the Freedom, Baden, and Conway municipalities and subsequent resources. Per District Attorney David Lozier, whom Camp spoke to during the session, the official date for regionalization is set to take place in early June. However, due to a lack of grant funding, the previous resources for the BVRPD will not be labelled with the new name.
The next work session for the Beaver County Commissioners is scheduled for April 26 at 10:00 AM.