Carbon County Commissioners on a 2-1 vote last week approved an agreement between the county, Court of Common Pleas/Domestic Relations Office and Eileen Diehl, Esq., for legal services as domestic relations hearing officer and custody/divorce master.

The compensation will be $60,000 paid in 12 $5,000 installments and the term of the agreement runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2025.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich voted against the motion and questioned the $5,000 increase in compensation.

“My concern is we’re making a financial commitment before having an opportunity to look at overall impact to the budget. In addition, we know historically ... there is an expectation, that when you see one salary increase, that 399 other employees are asking for something similar so wouldn’t it make more sense to look at this more holistically?”

He asked about extending the contract for two months, which would allow the county to look at this $5,000 increase for the future.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the position is not a county position, but a contract, noting that Diehl has not had an increase in five years and this was the negotiated amount.

“I don’t think you can compare this to a county employee getting annual raises,” Nothstein said. “If this position had gotten a raise the same as county employees ... they would have gotten benefits, as well as the increases that would have been over $60,000.”

Other business

In other business, the county ratified the utilization of constables for coverage in all four district court offices to Oct. 31 at a rate of $13 per hour per the constable fee bill and request of the court.

• 2020/2021 Hazardous Materials Response Fund budget for the grant performance period July 1 through June 30, 2021, in the amount of $8,492.

• Contract with Eileen Diehl, Esq., of Center Valley and the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Office for the provision of legal services as hearing officer as required under the IV-D cooperative agreement. The contract runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2025, at a rate of $125 per hour.

• A 30-day notice of termination of lease agreement with Claudio and Josephine Gambino of Langhorne for rental space for the magisterial district office in Weatherly, effective Oct. 31.

• Agreement with Infocon Corporation of Ebensburg to utilize the e-Archives Systems and to charge a $3 annual fee for each tax delinquent property. The total cost for the first year is $11,199.30 and the second year is $5,259.30.