Schuylkill County's chief adult probation officer is retiring from the department after spending 30 years there.
John Richmond, Butler Township, held the position since 2004. He started as a deputy chief for the department in 1984.
The retirement was announced at a public commissioners' meeting Wednesday and will go into effect Aug. 1. As chief adult probation officer, he had an annual salary of $73,044.49.
Richmond still remains employed by the county as deputy court administrator. He replaced Bruce Heffner in the position June 2.
The commissioners' salary board approved the promotion of Joseph Szeliga, Minersville, to chief adult probation officer. Szeliga has been a chief deputy in the department since 2004. He started as a probation officer with the county in 1990. His new salary will be $73,045 and the promotion will go into effect Aug. 4.
Neil Stefanisko, Gordon, was promoted from probation officer supervisor to Szeliga's former position with a salary of $63,241. His promotion will also go into effect Aug. 4.
In other action, two more county bridges will undergo repairs this summer.
The commissioners approved the advertisement for bids to repair county bridge No. 42 on Orchard Road over Pine Creek, Rush Township, and county bridge No. 125 on Kopp Road over Mahantongo Creek, Klingerstown.
Bids will be accepted in the controller's office until 3 p.m. Aug. 4. Bids will be opened at the commissioners' work session Aug. 7. A tentative award date was set for the commissioners' meeting Aug. 13.
The structurally deficient bridges were included in the 26 locally owned bridges in the county that the state Department of Transportation posted new weight restrictions on last August.
The board also gave its approval to disencumber $55,408.24 for repairs to county bridge No. 120 carrying Black Creek Road over Mahanoy Creek, Barry Township, and to submit the project completion report to PennDOT. The total cost of repairs was $449,591.76 and was funded through the liquid fuels tax fund. The disencumbered money will be used for another project.
Additional funds will be used for county bridge No. 30 carrying Spittler Road over Swatara Creek, Pine Grove Township. The board gave its approval to encumber $300,000 for the project, bringing the estimated cost of repairs to $600,000.
County Engineer Lisa Mahall said the plan is to repair at least one more bridge this summer.
In other news, the commissioners approved an amendment to the small agreement standard terms and conditions. A new paragraph was added that essentially allows county officials to treat an electronically transmitted copy of an agreement, such as an email, fax or photocopy, as an original.
County Finance Director Paul Buber said the change helps bring practices into compliance with technology. Commissioners Chairman Frank J. Staudenmeier thanked the finance and controller's departments for working together on the amendment.
"This will save a lot of time," Controller Christy Joy said Wednesday. "This is a great idea."
The county retirement board also met Wednesday. The total market value of the retirement fund was $125,185,608 as of June 30. On Wednesday, it was at $124,810,233.42.
The monthly prison board meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the commissioners' board room.