Nov 11, 2021
Another tool — one that allows for high-resolution images of buildings in the county — was approved by the Lycoming County Commissioners at their recent meeting.
Introduced as being primarily used by the Assessment Department, pictometry shows structures at an oblique angle or a 45-degree angle from all sides, according to Brooke Wright, the county’s chief assessor.
The pictometry provides for an “important perspective and overhead shot image that’s accurate to 1/100 of an inch,” Wright told the commissioners.
“This technology also has what’s called a change finder, which will take our sketches of houses and overlay them with the 3-D aerials from pictometry,” she said.
“That’s going to help to determine if there’s a section missing from a house or where we’re missing a structure. We do run into situations where people will build things onto their house without getting permits and everything or we don’t get permits from zoning officers,” she added.
She noted that data collectors from her department can also work from the program when they can’t be out in the field.
The flyovers will be done every two years, with the first beginning in the spring when there are fewer leaves on the trees.
The technology will be purchased from Pictometry International Corp. at a cost to the county of $688,251 which will be spread over six years beginning in 2022 and running through 2027.
Other county departments will also be able to use the technology, Wright said.
“The sheriff’s office can use it when they are serving warrants. It’s going to allow them to see a 3-D visual of the house,” Wright said, adding that it could also be used by adult and juvenile probation, public safety and the planning and community development departments.
The program will account for privacy. Because of the sensitivity of the images of people’s homes, it will not be available to the public, Wright said.
In other actions, the commissioners approved a Keystone Communities Program Grant agreement with the Department of Community and Economic Development for the Timber Run Industrial Park project in the amount of $500,000.
The grant will go towards the cost of getting potable water to the Digger Specialties building project at the site. Total cost of the water line project is $825,000.
Approval was given to the county’s planning and community development department to submit a grant application for a state housing affordability and rehabilitation enhancement fund grant totaling $952,534. The grant will be used to fund seven projects. The money comes from the Marcellus Shale Act 13 funding.
A rate increase for commercial accounts at the county’s transfer station were given the okay by the commissioners. The rates for certified commercial haulers went from $52.80 to $55, according to Jason Yorks, the county’s resource management services director. Also at the transfer station, there will no longer be a discount volume program. Haulers wanted that should take the material to the landfill, Yorks said.
Effective Jan. 1, 2022 rates per ton at the landfill will be: cash customers $73; individual accounts $60.00; commercial business accounts $60.00; commercial hauling enterprise $60; and certified waste haulers $55.
Yorks noted that the transfer station is still not accepting refrigerant items or electronics.
The commissioners approved the purchase of a 2021 Cat 725 Haul truck for $310,216 and a Motorola Radio repeater system for $75,115 for resource management services.
It was noted that revenue from RMS pays for these purchases. Commissioner Rick Mirabito stated that $3.9 million was also put into the general fund from that revenue.
Several Lycoming nutrient trading contracts were also approved at the meeting.
The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 16 in the Commissioners’ Board Room, 1st floor, Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.
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