POTTSVILLE - The Schuylkill County Commissioners and the county Sheriff’s Department are now on the same page about badges for county employees.

At Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting, the enactment of a new policy about badges was tabled until the commissioners met with County Sheriff Joseph Groody.

Commissioner Chairman Larry Padora said the commissioners met with Groody, and worked out a new policy which will probably be introduced at next week’s work session.

“We came up with a new badge policy because certain people should not have access at certain times,” Padora said. “We sat down with the sheriff and worked out a policy amicable to the commissioners and the sheriff.”

Padora said in 2018, the county’s Human Resources Department was charged with issuing new badges to all county employees. Before 2018, issuing the badges was up to the Sheriff’s Office.

“It was too much for the Sheriff’s Office to do, issuing an entire set of badges, so it was turned over to Human Resources,” Padora said. “Since 2018, Human Resources has been issuing the badges, but the Sheriff’s Department has been modifying the badges.”

The issue of issuing new badges came up, Padora said, “because of concerns brought up (about people) that had access that shouldn’t have.”

The new policy was developed by the County Administrator’s Office and the county’s Human Resources office. Padora said.

“The Sheriff’s Office was in the loop, I thought,” Padora said.

National Nutrition Month

The commissioners proclaimed March National Nutrition Month in the county.

The commissioners learned that Community Action Schuylkill Food Network’s 400 volunteers at 20 locations fed 20,156 families in the county in 2023.

Helping Harvest supplied food to 30 pantries, meal programs and shelters, hosted 10 monthly mobile markets throughout the county, supplying 2.5 million pounds of food with the support of 500 volunteers last year.

Meals on Wheels provided 125,065 meals with the help of 716 volunteers in 2023.

And 240 Senior Community Center members received 15,115 meals at the centers in 2023.

Tamaqua park grant

The commissioners voted to advertise for a federal Community Development Block Grant for an Americans with Disabilities Act project at the North/Main and South Ward playgrounds in Tamaqua.

Cheryl Fuss, the county’s grant writer, said the grant would be used for fencing at both parks