A new director for the Carbon County Geographic Information Systems department has been named.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board voted to hire Jason P. Shellhammer of Jim Thorpe as the new director of the department, effective March 10. He will be paid $31,453.50 a year.Shellhammer fills the vacancy created in November, after Lawrence Stawiarski passed away unexpectedly. Stawiarski served as the director of the department for 21 years and implemented the

G.I.S. system for the county and its municipalities.In addition, the commissioners hired John Gallagher of Weatherly as the program coordinator for the county Office of Planning and Development. He replaces James Martino of Lake Harmony, who was terminated from the position last week by the county.Gallagher will begin March 24.Other personnel action include:• Appoint Nancy A. Juracka of Jim Thorpe as the part-time legal secretary for the district attorney's office, effective March 17.• Hire Eva Labanoski of Weatherly as the part-time senior center manager I, Area Agency on Aging, effective March 10.• Change the status of Joan M. O'Donnell of Jim Thorpe from secretary II to office administrator in the district attorney's office, effective March 10.• Change the status of Renee L. Russell of Beaver Meadows from part-time legal secretary to secretary II in the district attorney's office, effective March 10.• Change the status of Samantha D. Bowman of Lehighton from part-time clerk to temporary clerk in the archives department, effective March 6.In other business, Dan Reavy, director of External Affairs for Verizon Pennsylvania, visited the board to provide an update of an ongoing initiative the Verizon Foundation and Domestic Violence Service Center are working on.He said that Verizon recently made a grant announcement naming the Domestic Violence Service Center as the recipient of a $10,000 grant. The service center serves people in Luzerne and Carbon counties.Reavy said that the grant is being used to bring domestic violence awareness program into schools to teach teenagers about healthy relationships and address any concerns they may have.