Berks County Set to Award $7.2M in Ag Center Contracts

The Berks County Board of Commissioners meets Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the 13th-floor boardroom of the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, Reading. The largest item on the agenda is a set of four construction contracts for the second phase of upgrades at the county Agricultural Center in Leesport, worth $7,204,410 in all. The board will also vote to apply for up to $1,140,000 in state money to rehabilitate the Reading Gateway Bridge, and to move $43,475 inside the jail budget for a study of a jail administration building.

The packet also carries the county's first written record of the Oct. 22 meeting, the draft minutes, covered in its own section below.

$7.2 million for the Ag Center's second phase

Resolution 323.2026 awards four contracts from Invitation to Bid #26-04-GR, "Berks County Agricultural Center Facility Upgrades – Phase 2," each capped at a not-to-exceed amount: Uhrig Construction Inc. of Reading, general construction, $4,474,510; Burkhardt Mechanical of Wyomissing, plumbing, $425,900; JBM Mechanical, Inc. of Nazareth, mechanical, $1,080,000; and Engineering Excellence NA, LLC dba Berkshire Mechanical and Denny's Electric Service of Leesport, electrical, $1,224,000. The county bid the project in four trades, which is why one project produces four contracts. Uhrig's figure includes a $51,510 alternate for terrazzo flooring; by our arithmetic that is its $4,423,000 base bid plus the alternate. Each contract also carries allowances for extra labor and parts, and unit prices if more work is needed, such as $85 per square foot to cut and patch concrete slabs.

The county's bid tabulations, dated Sept. 30, show each award going to the lowest base bid in its trade. Four firms bid on general construction, from Uhrig's $4,423,000 to E.R. Stuebner's $5,032,000; five bid on plumbing, seven on mechanical, where JBM's $1,080,000 was $520,000 below the next bid, and four on electrical. The tabulations note that "Bids have not yet been examined to verify reponsiveness." The county posted the bid July 30, held two on-site pre-bid conferences, Aug. 18 and 26, and opened bids Sept. 29; the bid package came from Muhlenberg Greene Architects.

The Agricultural Center is the county building at 1238 County Welfare Road, Leesport, where the county Department of Agriculture has its office and the Agricultural Land Preservation Board meets. The architect's project page says it was built in 1973 with a 36,000-square-foot two-story office section and a 30,000-square-foot warehouse, that phase one is complete, and that the renovated wing is ready to house the county facilities department's north office, the Conservation District and the local USDA farm service agency. When the commissioners announced the project in August 2023, WFMZ reported a $9 million to $10 million job in two phases, with Phase 1 converting the warehouse into office suites, a workshop and garage, and Phase 2 covering "exterior facade renovations, window replacements as well as interior renovations." The station quoted Commissioner Christian Leinbach calling it "a commitment to the future of agriculture in this community and in this county."

The packet does not describe the Phase 2 work, name a funding source, give a schedule, or say what Phase 1 cost. The four caps include about $125,000 in quantity allowances, by our arithmetic: set amounts of extra labor and materials, such as 250 hours of general skilled labor, priced into the bids. The packet does not say what happens to that money if the allowances go unused. The county has not posted the 2027-2031 capital plan its chief financial officer was scheduled to present at the Oct. 27 workshop, so whether the project appears in it, and whether $7.2 million for the second phase fits inside the 2023 estimate, cannot be judged from the record.

A $1.14 million grant request for the Reading Gateway Bridge

Resolution 329.2026 authorizes a PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund application "for the rehabilitation of the Reading Gateway Bridge in the amount of up to $1,140,000," and lets Leinbach and Chief Operations Officer Kevin Barnhardt sign the paperwork. Resolution 330.2026 has Leinbach sign a Worker Protection and Investment Certification Form, one of the application documents PennDOT lists for the fund. The agenda does not describe the bridge, and the packet gives no project cost or local share.

PennDOT's page says the fund "is intended to provide financial assistance to municipalities, councils of governments, businesses, economic development organizations, public transportation agencies, and ports and rail freight entities to improve transportation assets that enhance communities, pedestrian safety, and transit revitalization," and that applications for the 2027-2028 round are accepted until 4 p.m. on October 30, 2026, the day after the vote. It is separate from a fund of the same name run by the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

The Reading Gateway Bridge is a 600-foot pedestrian trestle across the Schuylkill River linking Riverfront Park in Reading to West Reading on the Schuylkill River Trail; Berks County owns it, according to WFMZ and a Barrio Alegría release carried by BCTV, which says it was once used for rail traffic and now uses one lane with no view of the water. Schuylkill River Greenways unveiled concept designs by Muhlenberg Greene Architects last week, after a public survey in the spring, and presented them to the commissioners; the nonprofit says it will seek the construction money and that raising it could take at least two years, with a presentation to Reading City Council set for Dec. 14. The agenda does not say whether the county's application is tied to that concept.

Budget listing: $43,475 for a jail administration building study

Resolution 321.2026 adopts $43,475 in transfers and $27,192 in appropriations per the Oct. 23 listing. The transfer moves $43,475 in the Prison budget from "Payments To Institutions" to "Professional Fees," explained as "Transferring savings to provide for feasibility study for the Jail administration building." The listing says nothing more about the study, who will do it or what building it concerns. Our new jail tracker has the history of the replacement project, which has had no public site, price or decision since planning restarted in 2022.

The appropriations draw $26,499 from the general fund balance in three pieces ($1,483, $5,000 and $20,016) for "the required local match funds associated with new CYS FY26/27 Special Grants funds," return $16,876 across four Prison capital lines as "capital savings resulting from lower than anticipated costs to complete capital projects," and add $17,569 for "higher than anticipated costs to complete the Jail's Tankless Water Heater project."

Radio sites, an excavator, parking and a coach

The Oct. 26 contract listing has four items, all county money:

• Penn-DelMar Power, LLC: a five-year extension, Jan. 1, 2027 through Dec. 31, 2031, of its agreement for "Site Maintenance & Repair of the County of Berks Public Radio System," for Emergency Services. "All rates shall remain the same during this term." No dollar figure is given.
• Foley, Inc.: a Caterpillar 305 mini excavator and attachments for Facilities and Operations, not to exceed $98,500.
• South Central Transit Authority: an amendment extending the county's Parking Facilities Agreement through Dec. 31, 2029, at $58 per allocated space per month in 2027-2028 and $60 in 2029, subject to the Solicitor's review. The listing gives no space count or total. Resolution 328.2026 separately lets the chief operations officer, or in his absence the deputy, amend the agreement "to increase or decrease the total number of parking spaces reserved."
• Dr. Ian Coyle through Pracademic Partners: $1,200 a month, from Oct. 29 "Until Completion," for Human Resources, covering "coaching conversations focused on leadership issues and organizational challenges, and strategic planning sessions." The listing does not say who is being coached or how long the work runs.

HealthChoices rates, a promotion and five appointments

Resolution 327.2026 accepts the state Department of Human Services' capitation rates for calendar 2027 for Berks County HealthChoices, the managed-care program for Medicaid behavioral health. A capitation rate is a fixed payment per enrolled member per month; the rates are "as outlined in Appendices 3," which is not in the packet.

Resolution 322.2026 promotes Sarah Hartranft from Care Management Supervisor I to Aging Services Manager at the Area Agency on Aging, effective Nov. 4, at $80,000 a year in a range of $63,984 to $95,976, replacing Michelle Mountz, who separated. Resolution 324.2026 appoints Pamela Menet, Director of Community & Economic Development, to the Berks County Redevelopment Authority for an unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2027. Resolutions 325 and 326.2026 reappoint Arleny Pimentel and appoint Ashley Chambers, both of Reading, to the Public Library Advisory Board through Dec. 31, 2029, and Resolution 332.2026 reappoints Michael Gombar Jr. of Wyomissing to the Solid Waste Authority through Dec. 31, 2030. Resolution 331.2026 has Stephanie Williams, the library system administrator, sign a letter supporting the Boone Area Library's Local Share Account statewide application, titled "A New Chapter: Revitalizing the Boone Area Library"; no amount is given. Lt. Col. Jay Ostrich, director of Veterans Affairs, will present the 2026 Berks County Military Hall of Fame nominees for the board's approval.

What is not on the agenda

There is no item on the $350,000 Code Blue severe-weather shelter request that homeless-services groups put to the board Sept. 29, covered in our Oct. 27 workshop preview; Code Blue season starts Dec. 1. Nothing on the agenda concerns the 2027 budget, two weeks after the chief financial officer told the board that holding reserves at policy means a 3.4 percent tax increase, about $15.8 million in cuts, or both, per our Oct. 15 recap. And there is no resolution on the county's pension actuary, though the Retirement Fund Board's Oct. 26 agenda listed a "potential recommendation to the Board of Commissioners to approve the proposed assignment of our actuarial contract from Gallagher to Foster and Foster, effective January 1, 2027." The board's outcome is not yet posted.

The Oct. 22 meeting, per the draft minutes

The draft minutes of Oct. 22 list Leinbach and Commissioner Dante Santoni Jr. present; Commissioner Michael Rivera is not listed. They record an executive session on Oct. 20 "dealing with security, real estate and personnel," and no public comment on agenda items. On Santoni's motion, seconded by Leinbach, "the agenda was approved as presented," with no tally printed. That one vote adopted the $134,032 in transfers and negative $294,024 in appropriations, the Pension Coordinator hire and the Assistant District Attorney promotion, the two Justice Assistance Grant agreements with Reading, the notice ending the county's Lincoln Financial Group accident and critical illness policies at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31, 2026, the third-quarter earned income and local services tax filing, and the Oct. 19 contract listing. Our Oct. 22 preview reported that listing included the Controller's $179,450 financial-statement contract; the minutes record only the listing motion and do not name it.

Barnhardt and Deputy Chief Operations Officer Larry Medaglia reported on the Oct. 16 open house at the Keystone Regional Youth Detention Center, "which drew approximately 100 attendees," with a progress update from USA Architects, Dolan Construction and project manager Josh Williams, and "outlined the five-county partnership and next steps." Leinbach announced that Berks 1st Magazine is available. Two residents commented online, Lisa Gallagher of Spring Township on ICE and the commissioners' town hall and Craig Schaffer of Cumru Township on ICE. The meeting adjourned at 10:39 a.m. The minutes' page footers misprint the date as "October 15, 2026."

How to attend or comment

The meeting is in person at the 13th Floor Commissioners' Boardroom, Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, Reading, and live on Microsoft Teams and BCTV; the county's meeting notice carries the Teams link, and the meetings page explains how links are posted. Comments are taken in person or through the Teams Q&A; give your first name, last name and municipality or the comment will not be considered; one comment per person; in-person speakers first; 30 minutes total unless the board extends it. See how to speak at a commissioners meeting and how Berks County government works. A recap will follow once the county posts the video or minutes.