The Schuylkill County Election Bureau is gearing up for another election.
A special election to redo the botched Hazleton Area school board primary will be held July 23. Residents in the Schuylkill and Carbon County sections of the school district who cast ballots in the original May 21 primary election are eligible to vote in the special election.
The Schuylkill County commissioners approved the preparations at a work session Wednesday.
A Luzerne County judge ordered the special election following a mistake made by the Luzerne County Election Bureau in the original election.
The school district comprises the City of Hazleton and serves the surrounding Luzerne County boroughs of Freeland, Jeddo, Conyngham and West Hazleton, and Hazle, Sugarloaf, Black Creek, Foster and Butler townships. The district extends into Kline, North Union and East Union townships and McAdoo Borough in Schuylkill County, and Beaver Meadows and Banks Township in Carbon County.
Luzerne County failed to notify Schuylkill and Carbon counties that candidate Steve Hahn withdrew from the race. As a result, Hahn received more than 500 votes in Schuylkill and Carbon counties.
Schuylkill County will hire two rovers for the election at a rate of $10 per hour. Rovers are responsible for setting up the machines and making sure there are no problems at each site. They will also be paid $0.565 per mile for travel to the polling sites. The target date to hire the positions is Monday.
Jospeh Contrady, McAdoo, was hired for $105 to deliver the machines for the election.
George Moyer, Pottsville, and County Administrator Mark Scarbinsky, Saint Clair, will serve as resolution board members for election night at the election bureau instead of the Schuylkill Transportation System building in Saint Clair. Moyer will receive $100 and Scarbinsky will not be compensated.
Frannie Brennan, director of the Schuylkill County Election Bureau, said Luzerne County will reimburse the county for all expenses.
Only the residents in Schuylkill and Carbon counties who voted in the Hazleton Area school board race in May are eligible to participate in the special election.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the regular polling places in each precinct. Polling places will be at Keystone Volunteer Fire Company, Grant and Hancock streets, McAdoo; Strand Theatre, 100 W. Blane St., McAdoo; Kline Township Municipal Garage, Fifth Street, Kelayres; East Union Township building, 10 E. Elm St., Sheppton; and North Union Municipal building, 185 Mahanoy St., Nuremberg.
The last day to apply for a civilian absentee ballot is July 16. Absentee ballots will be accepted until 5 p.m. July 19 at the county election bureau.
Brennan also asked the commissioners for approval to permanently change the Rush Township Elixir polling site from the old school house at 16 Holly Road, Barnesville, to the Rush Township Municipal building, 104 Mahanoy Ave., Tamaqua. The polling site is not part of the special election. Brennan said the change is due to the building being up for sale.
In other business, Scott Krater, county communications director, gave an update on the 911 narrowbanding radio project. Krater said testing was completed on June 18 and 19 and the equipment will arrive Friday.
"We tested it and everything worked," Krater said.
Krater said most of the equipment already arrived and will be dispersed throughout the county. The system will be ready for demonstration at the Schuylkill County Volunteer Firefighters and Political Leaders Summit at the Schuylkill County Fire School, Frackville, on July 30.
A Coaldale building up for repository sale will be demolished following commissioner approval next week. The borough bought the property at 292 S. Third St. for $20.
Four bids were received for two bridge projects in Tremont. The liquid fuels projects are for paving on county bridge No. 24 on Line Street over Goodspring Creek and county bridge No. 25 on Main Street over Middle Creek.
Companies submitting bids for county bridge Nos. 24 and 25, respectively: EJB Paving and Materials Co., West Lawn, $14,305.50 and $18,331.50; Reading Materials Inc., Skippack, $19,734.11 and $20,164.70; Barletta Materials and Construction Inc., Tamaqua, $19,448 and $24,300; and Schuylkill Paving Inc., Schuylkill Haven, $17,017 and $18,637.
The courthouse will be closed today for Independence Day. The commissioners' retirement board meeting will be held July 10 immediately following the commissioners' public meeting.