At the Monroe County Commissioners meeting there was some movement in solving the safety issues at the Monroe County Correctional Facility.

Chairman Sharon Laverdure thanked Officer Don Kubik, the Teamsters’ Union Shop steward, for attending last Wednesday’s prison board meeting.

“It was an informative presentation and at the same time, very helpful,” she said.

Kubik in turn thanked the commissioners for listening, which he agreed made the conversation more productive. He also said he wanted to thank them if they played any part to finally having two of the units in the facility searched.

Laverdure said they plan to take steps toward correcting the issues.

Kubik asked what steps they plan to take and she replied they would let him know after they spoke with Warden Gary Haidle and the other prison board members.

“I can tell you that not knowing what happened to the missing kitchen items, we are still going to work not knowing if we are safe and we won’t feel safe until we know what happened to the kitchen items,” he said.

Then Kubik and another officer brought up the subject of COVID protocol, because the directive from the facility’s medical management company was to follow the CDC’s newest guidelines and the suggestion from the prison board was to keep to the even higher standards.

Kubik said they do not follow the CDC’s guidelines and because of crowding they don’t have a separate quarantine unit with tray passes and glass to prevent COVID from spreading to other inmates and officers. He said they don’t test the inmates coming off quarantine unless they show signs such as a runny nose or a fever.

Having a quarantine area, according to Kubik, “You need only three officers, one for each shift grid, so for three officers at their pay rate, you would rather expose 100 officers and expose all the inmates and continue to spread COVID.”

The commissioners listened and took notes as he spoke and said they would take the issues to the prison board.

According to Warden Haidle, the mandated back to back shifts will soon be less because the prison board is having better success with hiring. With only two weeks of initial training, the applicants can be out on the units working.

New business

• On behalf of the Monroe County Control Center, the PEMA 911 Statewide Interconnectivity Funding Grant Agreement was executed, in the amount $548,681,for migration support efforts for NexGen 911.

•A Professional Services Agreement was approved with ARRO Consulting Inc. to perform a study and make recommendation for upgrades to the water system and sewage treatment plant at the correctional facility and Pleasant Valley Manor.

•The District Attorney’s Office approved the submission of a Gun Violence and Prosecution Grant with the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency.