(3/2025) The January 22nd Commissioners meeting coincided perfectly with date of Adams County’s 225th Anniversary. Adams County was formed on January 22nd, 1800. At the beginning of the meeting Adams County Historian Tim Smith provided a brief history of the County as well as displaying several significant County artifacts from the Adams County Historical Society archives. As part of the celebration on that day, Adams County residents were invited to enjoy free admission at Beyond the Battle Museum at the Adams County Historical Society. One artifact was an image of the first Adams County Courthouse that was in center of the town square until 1859. I was aware of that fact. One provided fact I did not know, was that prior to Adams being part of York County, both Adams and York were part of Lancaster County. You learn something every day!

To have received the nod from the Pennsylvania Dairyman’s Association to locate the $26M Pennsylvania AG Discovery Center in Adams County, is not only exciting and a great compliment to our Tourism industry, but it will educate the public and our youth to Pennsylvania’s agriculture diversity, food origin and job opportunities. After competing against strong counties like Cumberland, Dauphin and Lancaster, the collaboration between Adams County Planning, Destination Gettysburg, Adams County Economic Alliance, and the Adams County Commissioners, resulted in the search committee choosing Adams County. I am happy to report the project is alive and well. An executive director was hired, and the search committee has located a suitable parcel, in open fields behind the Gettysburg Outlets along the RT 15. The center is expected to draw 150,000 visitors annually.

The long-term saga of Oak Lawn Cemetery has been a well-publicized and agonizing community concern for years. Left with few options, the County temporarily took over the Cemetery as a temporary caretaker when many other options failed. Allowing the cemetery to fail and become dormant was not an option! At the March 6th Commissioners meeting, the Board approved the Purchase Agreement between the County and the Adams County Industrial Development Authority of approximately 15.81 acres upon which the Oak Lawn Cemetery is located, and Lot 2 totaling approximately 9.63 acres of vacant land, with the exception of a structure that previously served as an office for the Oak Lawn Cemetery.

The intent of the Agreement is Lot 1 will be conveyed to the Oak Lawn Foundation, a Pennsylvania non-profit organization organized and existing to operate and maintain the Oak Lawn Cemetery, and that Lot 2 be conveyed to an appropriate entity for development consistent with the terms and conditions and covenants in the Agreement. Lot 1 will continue to operate as a cemetery, while the 9.63 acres on the western end will be sold with the proceeds conveyed to support the non-profit. Oak Lawn Cemetery has been one of the most difficult, frustrating, agonizing, and challenging issues this Board has faced in 14-years. We will hopefully see a fully operating and vibrant cemetery again in the not-too-distant future!

At the March 6th public meeting the Commissioners had the pleasure of recognizing March 13 – April 22 as Land Conservancy of Adams County Month. The Land Conservancy of Adams County (LCAC) is an accredited, member-supported nonprofit land trust with the mission to preserve the rural lands and character of Adams County, using conservation easements, outreach, advocacy, and collaboration to maintain the benefits of open space and water quality to preserve our community’s way of life and to protect our unique heritage and ecosystems. The LCAC is in its 30th year of operation and has recorded 193 easements, enabling Adams County landowners to preserve over 13,518 acres of farmland and open space. LCAC volunteers are the core of the organization, donating their time and energy to support its goals and purposes. Thank you to all those volunteers!

On the subject of preservation, Adams County continues its strong commitment to preserving our agricultural heritage. This year, the County’s match of $657,677 leveraged $1,189,041 in state funding through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Program — an impressive 1.81 to 1 match! These funds will help protect valuable Adams County farmland, ensuring that agriculture remains a vital part of our community for generations to come.

On the ever-evolving election front KNOWiNK Poll Pads are the most widely used electronic poll book. Poll pads are used in place of paper poll books to check in voters, see whether they already received or voted a mail ballot, and direct them to the correct polling place if they are at the wrong location. The poll pad software runs on commercial off the shelf Apple iPad tablets. With voter experience, poll worker convenience, and election security paramount, at the February 19 public meeting, upon the recommendation of Election Director Angie Crouse, the Board authorized signing an agreement for 16 electronic polling pads for trial use during the 2025 Primary Election on May 20. We will keep you apprised of how well they worked!

Affordable housing remains near the top of the list for needed improvement and resources in Adams County. At the February 5th public meeting, Commissioners approved the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Agreement with the Adams County Housing Authority. This Agreement grants $70,000 from the County’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to the Housing Authority to assist with continuing provision of affordable housing in the County. This comes at a time when we have received notice that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has been suspended Affordable Housing Vouchers.

Last month, I was asked to attend and make remarks regarding NEXTGEN 911 at a Pennsylvania Emergency Management press conference at Franklin County Department of Emergency Services. The purpose of the press conference was to highlight the statewide implementation of NEXTGEN911. Adams & Franklin Counties have a strong partnership in supporting each other with their 911 Centers operations. The benefits of NEXTGEN911 are significant and many. They include enhanced compatibility with cell phone calls, better and more specific location capability, use of fiber which is more stable and reliable resulting in less down time, improved data transfer, and redundancy that supports the primary system.

NEXTGEN 911 was made possible largely through the .30 cents a month increase in cell phone surcharge passed by the legislature in 2023. What a small price to pay for response enhancement! This improvement was made possible by the Administration, Legislature and Counties working collaboratively to make this critical service improvement happen! Counties did a lot of the heavy lifting and thus a shout out to our Department of Emergency Services staff is warranted.

While on the subject of Emergency Services, it is a sad but well-known fact that it has become increasingly difficult to attract, train and equip Volunteer First Responders. In many Pennsylvania counties, like Adams, volunteers have historically been the backbone of emergency services. As a result, the state legislature passed into law Act 172 giving the authorization for counties and municipalities to provide tax credits to volunteers who meet service goals and hours. Unfortunately, it should also be noted the legislation did not provide any funding. In 2023 the Adams County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance providing for a tax rebate of up to $250 for qualified volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel residing in the County who meet service requirements. When reviewing this program with tax services, at the end of this first year, 245 volunteers from 12 of 17 Adams County departments participated. These Adams County volunteer first responders qualified by meeting minimum guidelines and having their names and documentation submitted by their department. Thank you to all our volunteer responders! The goal is to have all Adams County departments participate in this incentive program.