Commissioner Mark McCracken said he has some concerns that although there are local union employees working at the site, local workers won't be given enough positions when construction begins in earnest in a few weeks.

Herbert, Rowland and Grubic of State College is the contractor currently performing the site work, but much of the actual construction of the plant will be done by Fagen Inc. of Granite Falls Minn.

"We have a terrific work force in this area, and it would be a terrible mistake if it wasn't tapped into," Mr. McCracken said.

Mr. McCracken made the motion to send a letter to the governor stating that when local residents are qualified to fill open positions, they should be given preference over bringing in someone from outside the area.

All three commissioners voted in favor of sending the letter.

Commissioner Joan Robinson McMillen said company President Ron Fagen told her at the groundbreaking ceremony held for the ethanol plant last month that his company would consider hiring local subcontractors for construction work at the ethanol plant.

Interested parties can inquire on the company's Web site, www.fageninc.com , Mrs. McMillen said.

Mrs. McMillen said BioEnergy International LLC officials gave her assurances that as long as the people are qualified, the company would hire local residents to work at the ethanol plant when it is completed in 2009.

She also said BioEnergy recently hired a human relations director and is now taking applications for work at the new ethanol plant, and people interested can contact the company's office in Quincy, Mass., at 781-681-5050.

BioEnergy International's ethanol plant will employ approximately 70 full-time workers when it begins operations, expected to be in 2010.

Mrs. McMillen also said Corinne Young, director of governmental affairs for BioEnergy, has informed her that the company is paying Penelec to install a $2 million electrical line from the Shawville Power Plant to service the ethanol plant and will hire local union workers to install it.

Company officials from Fagen Inc. or BioEnergy International LLC did not return phone calls from The Progress prior to presstime.

Commissioner John Sobel said he understands that there are some highly specialized positions that are needed at the ethanol plant that will likely need to be brought in from outside the area, but he said he believes there are plenty of positions that can be filled by local residents.

Mr. McCracken admitted that the county commissioners cannot do anything to force the companies to hire local workers and the letter is only a statement of the commissioners' opinion. But, he said, with a two-year, $275 million construction project taking place in the county, the commissioners are trying to maximize the economic impact on the area of the project by having as many of the construction jobs go to local residents as possible.

In other business, the commissioners voted to:

• approve the memorandum of understanding between the commissioners and the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Institute for the implementation and use of the Pennsylvania Standard Automated Victim Information Notification System. The SAVIN system allows any resident to be notified when a prisoner is about to be released from prison. Implementation of the system will be at no cost to the county, according to Judy Shirey, coordinator of Clearfield County Victim/Witness program.
• apply for an Independent Living grant from the state. According to Fran Kuhn, coordinator of Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services, it is a yearly grant the county receives. This year, the county's expected allocation is $25,385. There is no local match requirement.

The grant is to provide training to area youth who are in or have been in foster care placement. According to Mr. Kuhn, many youth transitioning from the foster care system to adult life flounder and experience high rates of alcohol and drug abuse and homelessness.

The program provides educational programs as well as life skills coaching for youth aged 14-21 to help them have successful lives. The program includes a full range of services including employment and job seeking skills, tutoring, anti-pregnancy and anti-alcohol and drug abuse counseling, Mr. Kuhn said.

The program will serve approximately 24 youth, he said.

• approve the lease agreement with the Clearfield County Housing Authority to have the polling location for Second Ward of Clearfield Borough to be at the Henry E. Meyer Towers on Leavy Avenue. According to Mrs. McMillen, it is a very nice location, and the polling place will be held in the first floor conference room. There is also plenty of parking available across the street along Third Street.

The county pays a rental fee of $40 per election for all of its polling places.

The county was forced to relocate its polling place after Clearfield Borough sold the previous location, the Second Ward firehall, after moving the fire company to its Centralized Fire Station on Cherry Street.

• approve the following liquid fuels allocations: Clearfield Borough, $5,681; Osceola Mills Borough, $1,317; Westover Borough, $1,000; Cooper Township, $3,457; and Lawrence Township, $8,721.