SMETHPORT – McKean County will soon have its own conservation
district, which will oversee the county’s watershed and stormwater
management policies.

During Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting, officials said
the district will be led by a conservation district manager and
watershed specialist and be housed in the Old County Home near the
Penn State Cooperative Extension Office on U.S. Route 6 in
Smethport.

Also, in a related note, the home will be renovated to include
the county’s planning office and a development director – a new
position charged with overseeing industrial and commercial
development in the county.

The county is only one of two statewide which doesn’t currently
have a program in place. The state Department of Environmental
Protection has not given its official “blessing” to the program
yet.

“It (district) probably won’t get up and running until next
year,” Commissioner Clifford Lane said. “Eventually, the program
will pay for itself. This is really a wise move to make for the
county and is long overdue.”

Officials said the positions will have grant writing
responsibilities that “in a short period will generate the funds to
cover their cost.”

Jim Johnson of Custer City currently handles a large part of the
county’s conservation efforts on a part-time basis. He is currently
teaching full-time at Floyd C. Fretz Middle School in Bradford.

The county is looking for applications for the watershed
specialist position, and is currently formulating the development
director’s duties. The development director’s salary would be
funded, in part, by the county’s deal with Rustick LLC of
Pottsville, who will supply the county with $45,000 a year.

Meanwhile, the DEP will pay for 80 percent of the conservation
district manager’s salary, while the agency will dish out 50
percent of the salary for the watershed specialist.

There were no salary figures discussed for the positions
Tuesday.

Commissioner Chairman John Egbert said the planning office at
the courthouse, led by Debbie Lunden, will eventually be moved to
the Old County Home to make way for the public defender’s office,
which is in need of more space.

Officials said the first floor of the home would be renovated,
which measures roughly 4,000-square-feet.

“We are not creating a new building,” Lane said. “The county
will be using the resources it has in place.”

According to a copy of the job description for the watershed
specialist, the individual would be responsible for watershed
assessment, procurement of funding and the creation of work plans
and strategies to restore and protect ground and surfacewater
resources. The specialist would be accountable to the Conservation
District board of directors.

The specialist will also assist municipalities in resolving
stormwater complaints and land use conflicts, among other
responsibilities.

There was no time frame given for hiring individuals for the
posts.

In other news, the commissioners announced that Carl E. Swanson
& Sons Inc. of Bradford was the only bidder – $15,800 – for the
development of a holding cell for prisoners waiting trial at the
courthouse.

Egbert said the “cell” was a request by President Judge John
Cleland as part of the courthouse renovations.

The cell would be located near Cleland’s office and the small
courtroom, where inmates are currently kept – if it’s not occupied
– before entering the large courtroom.

Egbert said the new holding area will feature secure doors and
bars to which the inmates can be shackled.

Also, County Administrator Richard Casey gave those in
attendance a maintenance update on five bridges the county is
responsible for.

Casey said two bridges – Galico Crossing in Keating Township
over Potato Creek and Boyer Crossing in Liberty Township over the
Allegheny River – are in immediate need of attention, and are
recommended by the county’s Planning Commission for inclusion in
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s 12-Year
Program.

Earlier this month, the commission ranked 22 bridge and highway
projects for the program.

The Galico Bridge was built between 1900 and 1909, and
refurbished last year. It was listed in “poor condition” and is
recommended to be replaced as soon as practical. Meanwhile, the
Boyer Bridge was built in 1910 and was last inspected in May 2005.
It was listed in “poor to serious condition” and has a lifespan of
less than five years.

The county’s other three spans – the East Washington Street
Bridge in Bradford, Coleman Bridge in Liberty Township and
Brooklynside Bridge in Port Allegany – ranged from good to
excellent condition, according to Casey’s report.

The county has applied to PennDOT for a Pennsylvania
Infrastructure Bank loan to fund the replacement of the Boyer
Crossing Bridge, with the replacement of the Galico Bridge the next
priority.