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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM - Meeting Minutes - 20-P - 8-27-1975 - PRISON BOARDSALARY MINUTE BOOK 453 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA MICHAEL R. FLYNN. JOHN P. BEYEC, JOHN MAZZA, COMMISSIONERS L7 I� Minute No. 20-P Office of the County Commissioners Washington, Pa., August 27, 1975 The regular monthly meeting of the Washington County Prison Board was held in the Public Meeting Room, at 11:30 a.m. , August 27, 1975, with the following memberE being present: Sheriff Debreczeni; Commissioner Flynn; Judge Gladden; Commissioner Jones; Controller Mascara; Commissioner Paluso; and Judge Sweet. Absent being: District Attorney Costa; Judge DiSalle and Judge Hanna. (Judge Simmons entered the meeting later.) Also being present: Deputy Warden Hanna Johns; Phil Angelo of the Daily Notes; Earl Buggile of WKEG Radio and John Stevens of the Observer -Reporter. Chairman asked if there were any corrections, additions or omissions to Minute No. 19-P, each member having received a copy. Moved by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Paluso, that Minute No. 19-P be approved as read. Motion carried by unanimous vote cast by the Board signifying their approval verbally by stating "Aye." Warden's Report: Deputy Warden Johns stated that operations at the County Jail during the month of July have been normal. Mr. Johns stated that the recreation yard has been completed; however, the lines are to be painted on the brick wall and on the paving. Mr. Johns stated that leaks on the roof have been taken care of and that all plumbing has been repaired. Mr. Johns stated that Mr. Smith, the locksmith, has been working on all locking devices throughout the Jail. Deputy Warden Johns also stated that they had a trial run Monday on the Prison Yard. (Judge Simmons entered the meeting.) Mr. Johns stated that there is about 18 feet of fence where the balls can roll under, and that two balls have been lost. Mr. Johns stated that he would like to set a dedication ceremony date for the exercise yard. Remarks: Mr. Paluso suggested that some morning that is convenient for the Courts, the Prison Board should meet at the recreation yard. Judge Gladden suggested that it it isn't too late, the Board should have the dedication ceremony immediately following the Prison Board Meeting of September 17, 1975. Moved by Mr. Paluso, seconded by Judge Gladden, that the date for the dedication ceremony of the exercise yard be set as September 17, 1975, immediately following the regular Prison Board meeting, and that all members be so notified. 454 5AL'A'RY`,.MINU"TE. BCa0K BOARD OF, COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WASHINGTON, COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA MICHAEL R. FLYNN, JOH N P. BEVEC, JOHN MAZZA, COMMISSIONERS Motion carried by unanimous vote cast by the Board signifying their approval verbally by stating "Aye. It Chairman stated that the next item concerns the record room where the deeds are filed; the problem is that the exercise yard will be in use and the interested people will not have access to these records. Chairman stated that it appears that there is going to be five to six hours that the recreation yard will be tied up during the entire day. Remarks: Mr. Paluso stated that all of the deed books and the records are public property and we are required to maintain access to those records during the regular working hours of the Courthouse. Mr. Paluso stated that since the exercise yard was set up, there is no access to these records. Mr. Paluso stated that he has already had some complaints and that he asked them to please try to bear with us. Mr. Paluso stated that he has some alternatives that the Board may consider to try and correct this situation. Mr. Pa] stated that there is no way that we can put in a separate entrance where the present door is in the exercise yard without tearing down all of the stairway. Mr. Paluso stated that there is no way to make a separate entrance for people to go in and out, unless we undo everything we have done already, and this would not be practical. Mr. Paluso stated that the other alternative is to let people come in through the boiler room and the electricians' office into the record room. Mr. Paluso stated that this is not a good setup either because we do not want people walking through the boiler room, and if people have free access to the electricians' office, someone would have to be there to watch that none of the material was disturbed or missing. Mr. Paluso further stated that the electricians could not work with people walking back and forth. Mr. Paluso stated that in talking with Mr. Johns and some of the guards, he thinks the only practical solution to the problem is to get those records out of there into another place where they will be avail- able to the public during working hours. Mr. Paluso stated that the Jail could really use that space for juveniles and weekend prisoners because it is a fairly large room. Mr. Paluso stated that it is right next to the boiler room and if something should happen in the boiler room, those records could never be replaced; there are no other copies of them. Mr. Paluso stated that if someone wants a page out of a book, they could simply tear out the page and walk away. Judge Simmons stated that he thought that those records were microfilmed. Mr. Paluso stated that there are no copies of anything down there. Mr. Paluso stated that the only things that are being microfilmed are the ones that are presently in the Recorder's Office. Mr. Paluso stated that this should be looked into in the future, and if it was copied, those original records could be stored away permanently. Mr. Paluso stated that we are obligated to provide access to the records during working _.hours, and there is not an access to them, except if we decide to let them go through the boiler room, through the electricians' office, into the boiler room. Mr. Paluso stated that as an interim solution, we will have to do this; but we should have someone there to watch what is going on. Chairman stated that he thinks that the Prison Board and the County Commissioners will agree that we know that the problem is there as far as the record room is concerned; and he thinks that as far as the housing problem is concerned, it is more or less in the hands of the County Commissioners. Chairman stated that if there is space to be gained somewhere else, it will be up to the County Commissioners, not the Prison Board. Moved by Mr. Paluso, seconded by Controller Mascara, that the Prison Board recommend to the Board of County Commissioners that other quarters be found as soon as practical to get the records out of there, and that this space be utilized for other prison activities. Remarks: Mr. Flynn stated that those records have been in there prior to any of the Board member being here. Mr. Flynn stated that we have tried to face up to this problem for a number of years, and up to this point, we do not know where we would put them. Mr. Flynn stated that Judge Sweet suggested years ago that we try to remove those books and use so 1 SALARY MINUTE BOOK 47,N5 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA MICHAEL R. FLYNN, JOHN P. BEVEC, JOHN MAZZA, COMMISSIONERS e space for other purposes. Judge Sweet stated that he has approximately nine letters to wardens asking them for room for his out prisoners. Judge Sweet stated that he wants to have more out prisoners than he does, and that he and Judge Simmons agree that partial confinement is a good thing. Judge Sweet also stated that he now has a committee of genealogical people, historical societies, antiquarians and local history buffs meeting from time to time and they are very upset about the lact of access to these records. Judge Sweet further stated that the Courts would be very anxious to have shat the Commissioners have spoken of today moved forward. r. Flynn stated that the problem is where will the Commissioners find ample space in e courthouse to house the records. hairman stated that not only are there a large amount of records, but it is heavy materia' r. Flynn again asked where the records will be stored. udge Sweet asked if the County is going to acquire the first floor of the Carroll Building. Mr. Flynn stated that this matter has never been formally discussed, but that this would be the most logical place because we do not have the space in the courthouse. Judge Gladden stated that one of the solutions to this problem might be the microfilming of all records. Mr. Paluso stated that even if we do this with . the older records, we still have a two-year period that we have to provide access to them. Mr. Paluso stated that maybe the Board could consider renting one of the office spaces in the Carroll Building for that period of time to put these records in until we can devise a permanent solution. Mr. Paluso stated that the fact remains that no one has access to the record room and we are obligated to provide access. udge Gladden stated that possibly the Board could state that temporarily the record room ,ould be open to the public between 10:30 and 2:30. Tr. Paluso stated that the problem with this is that we cannot bring all of the prisoners ut at 3:30 and have them back at a certain time. Mr. Paluso stated that there are too iany prisoners and not enough people to guard them. Mr. Paluso stated that the worst omplaint that he had was from the people that are contracted by Consolidated Coal becaus( :iev have a lot of work to do there. Further discussion was held.) Motion carried by unanimous vote cast by the Board signifying their approval verbally by stating "Aye.I' Mr. Paluso suggested that the Board authorize the Warden to get the bottom of e fence fixed so that the balls cannot roll under the fence. emarks : hairman stated that, ,this should be turned over to the Building Superintendent. Moved by Mr. Paluso, seconded by Judge Gladden, that this matter be turned r to Tony Bevec, Building Superintendent. Motion carried by unanimous vote cast by the Board signifying their approval rbally by stating "Aye." Mr. Paluso then informed Deputy Warden Johns that he has had inquiries from rganizations in Charleroi to do some sort of a county -type project, and he suggested to raem that they undertake the purchase and furnishing of the equipment for the recreation rd. Mr. Paluso stated that they are going to have a meeting on this to take the cessary steps. SALA':RY M1NU`TE BQOK BOARD OFMCOUNTY COMMISSIONERS . WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA MICHAEL R. FLYNN, JOHN P. $EYEC, JOHN MAZZA, COMMISSIONERS Old Business: New Business: (Judge Sweet left the meeting.) Prison Bills for the Month of July, 1975: Prison Bills for the month of July, 1975, in the amount of $8, 894. 52 (Prison Days - 3372). Income from units for the use of the County Prison: United States Marshal $1, 139. 56 Allegheny County 750.20 Westmoreland County 4,579.45 Prisoners Board 530.00 TOTAL $6, 999. 21 Restitution made by U. S. Marshal: Michael Butler $ 2.95 Nellie Puleo 25.60 Ronald Buchert 4.95 TOTAL $ 33.40 Restitution made by Westmoreland County: Galeon Cook Restitution made by Allegheny County: LeoFnard Reed 2.65 TOTAL $ 60.00 Moved by Mr. Paluso, seconded by Mr. Jones, that the bills for the month of July be paid. Motion carried by unanimous vote cast by the Board signifying their approval verbally by stating "Aye.11 Meeting adjourned. THE FOREGOING MINUTES READ AND APPROVED: August 27 , 1975 ATTEST:— t4oal-4.� SECRETARY sh �1