CLEARFIELD – On Tuesday the Clearfield County Commissioners and members of the public said they hoped to use a recent business construction as a lesson for the future.
DuBois resident Lester Smiley addressed the commissioners concerning a press conference that was held regarding Bionol Clearfield’s hiring practices. When the meeting was initially announced by the commissioners, it was announced as a public meeting. This was not Smiley’s first visit to the commissioners concerning the ethanol production facility that’s under construction.
“When we arrived we couldn’t get access,” said Smiley. “We never did get in to that project.”
Smiley also said a proposed town hall meeting with Bionol representatives never materialized. He also expressed disappointment with elected officials’ handling of the situation.
“This thing was handled poorly from day one … when the governor handed them $16 million.”
He added that there was on opportunity to put local people to work.
“Clearfield Countians never saw these jobs,” said Smiley. He added that
Smiley also argued that workers there were not paid prevailing wage, which Commissioner Chair Joan Robinson-McMillen contested. She said that at a meeting last spring, she and Commissioner John Sobel saw the reports, and they were indeed paying prevailing wage.
“We would have liked to see more local contracts,” said McMillen.
McMillen and Commissioner Mark McCracken said they were also under the impression the press conference was going to be public. They said the problem was one of miscommunication.
“We were really caught off guard by everyone being turned away,” said Commissioner John Sobel. McCracken and McMillen said that up until they night before they were telling those interested to attend the meeting.
“We’re sorry for the misinformation that we gave,” said McMillen.
She also added that Bionol had agreed to meet with Smiley’s group privately.
“That would have served no purpose,” said Smiley, who wanted a public quorum.
McCracken said that in the future, using the Bionol project as a learning tool, anytime projects come into the county from the state government that requires the county to be the pass-through authority for funding, the county will explore getting a project-labor agreement.
“I was very disturbed the way this whole matter went down,” said DuBois resident Darl Ferguson. He said he hoped the county’s solicitor could investigate the matter.
“In the future we can all learn from this thing,” said Smiley.
McMillen said the main focus now is getting locals hired at the plant.
“Now we need to turn our focus to getting Clearfield County residents hired, full-time with family-sustaining jobs.”