Submitted photo
Pictured from left are Juniata County Commissioner Todd Graybill, Milford Township representative Steve Baumgardner, Thompsontown Borough representative Sue Pontius, Commissioner Alice Gray, and Commissioner Mark Partner.

MIFFLINTOWN — Two municipalities in Juniata County have been awarded $25,000 from the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund, and representatives of each municipality shared their plans for the funds during Tuesday’s Juniata County Commissioners meeting.

Bradley Kerstetter, the Juniata County planning director, said the county has received funding from the legacy fund for the past 10 to 12 years.

Lack Township, Thompsontown Borough, and Milford Township all applied for funding, but only Thompsontown Borough and Milford Township were awarded funding.

Vivian Sue Pontius, the secretary/treasurer of Thompsontown Borough, explains that the borough will use the funds for repairs and projects around its municipal building to help make it accessible and safe for all.

According to Pontius, the Borough moved offices when it purchased an old church, and the building came with a flight of steep steps.

Pontius added that the steps create difficulty for residents attempting to enter the building in the wintertime. The borough plans to remove the steps and provide handicap access.

Pontius said that the cement around the stairs is falling apart, and the guardrail needs to be replaced.

Steve Baumgardner, the Milford Township roadmaster, then shared that his township will use the funding to address frequent flooding on River Road.

Baumgardner added that the Juniata County Conservation District funded the repair of the riverbank after flooding a few years ago that washed it out.

The district recommended a larger pipe at the pipe crossing. Baumgardner explained that the township cannot simply install a pipe because the river would wash it out following rainfall.

Baumgardner shared that the township plans to place a 36-inch concrete pipe, concrete head rolls, and seal the blacktop the next day, allowing more water to flow through and preventing future flooding.

In other news, commissioners approved a resolution establishing a fee schedule for the release of the complete Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal dataset. This appraisal software helps assessors determine property values with ease.

Michael Hower, director of assessment and GIS, says this is a result of countywide reassessment. Because the dataset price was last set in 1973, it needed to be updated.

“This is just a reflection of the value of it,” said Hower.

Commissioners also approved a resolution to establish and adopt a revised fee for processing delinquent real estate tax claim files.

Hillary Kindervater, director of the tax claim office, explained that Juniata County is behind on its payments and must increase the amount from $250 to $750.

“This is a delinquent real estate file that settlement and mortgage companies will request and normally charge $250 in the past, but it came to our attention that they were just a little bit behind on that. So, in order to keep up with all the other 67 counties, they were increasing to $750,” said Kindervater.

Commissioners also:

• Ratified the transfer of $39,278.36 from the Keystone Opportunity Zone account to the general fund account due to an error in the deposit from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;

• Approved the resignation of Bailey Haubrick from his position as caseworker at Juniata County Children and Youth Office, effective as of the end of business on May 8;

• Approved the April 2026 departmental reports submitted by the treasurer’s office, the assessment office, and the sheriff’s office;

• Approved tax exonerations for Delaware Township;

• Approved payment of checks in the amount of $69,842.42.