Last week, we got a lot of reaction to the news that Schuylkill County Commissioners were going to spend about $238,000 on automatic touchless toilets and sinks for bathrooms in the Courthouse and other county properties.
The no-bid contract for the project was awarded to Antz Energy Systems, Shenandoah.
And money for these convenient commodes and sinks is going to come out of the $12.7 million CARES Act fund the County was awarded earlier this year.
READ: Schuylkill County to Spend $238K for a $5 Problem
Some people actually believed this was a good way to spend the CARES Act money that many other counties in Pennsylvania have used to create grant programs to help small businesses offset some of their losses caused by the government’s reaction to the COVID pandemic. While Schuylkill County did eventually create such a program, the details of it were kept mostly secret from the public and it has not informed any business to date if they’ve been awarded any money.
Well, those people who approved of the buying touch-free toilets will be happy to know that the touch-free technology bonanza continued on Wednesday. County Commissioners padded their deal with Antz by agreeing to spend another $21,750 on 15 Elkay Touch-Free water coolers and drinking fountains.
The money to pay for them will again come from the county’s CARES Act allocation.
The goal of these touch-free technologies is to reduce the spread of the coronavirus through commonly touched areas. And while toilets, sinks, and water fountains are commonly touched areas, they aren’t the only ones. And there isn’t enough CARES Act money to throw at each of them to completely eliminate the risk of spreading the virus.
Apparently, asking county employees to bring in bottled water from home is just too much.
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