On Wednesday, their first meeting this year, Schuylkill County Salary Board ratified salaries for county employees.

Commissioners on Dec. 21 agreed to increase salaries by 3% for this year.

The compensation applies to union, exempt, and non-union, non-exempt employees. It does not apply to elected officials and those who work by the day.

Also on Wednesday, commissioners reappointed Mark Scarbinsky to the Highridge Improvement District Authority for one year, and G. Robert Sterling to the Schuylkill County Industrial Development Authority for a five-year term.

As the meeting came to a close, Chairman Barron L. Hetherington looked back at some of the county’s accomplishments in 2022.

They included a 250-foot communications tower to be built in Hegins; a 911 microwave ring closure connectivity project to provide backup should the T1 lines that connects communication towers in the western part of the county be disrupted; water system expansion projects to help the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority pay for infrastructure projects that would provide additional water supply in support of industrial development in the north central area of the county; extending the CHIRP (COVID-19 Hospitality Recovery Program) to help restaurants and other hospitality businesses hurt by the pandemic; and adopting a 2023 budget with no tax increase by using American Recovery Act funds.