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Jul 31, 2023

Big turnout for 110th Annual CCATO meeting

Jun 6, 2023 CHASE BOTTORF/THE EXPRESSThe 110th Annual CCATO meeting had a big

Jun 6, 2023

CHASE BOTTORF/THE EXPRESSThe 110th Annual CCATO meeting had a big turnout, pictured here within a hall at the Clinton County Fairgrounds.

MACKEYVILLE — The Clinton County Association of Township Officials (CCATO) held its 110th annual convention to an astounding attendance.

Every municipality was able to attend this year's convention that featured engaging, informative presentations and marketing from equipment vendors on Thursday, June 1. The annual convention was held at the Clinton County Fairgrounds.

Dave Sanko, the executive director of the PA State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), was in attendance to inform local municipalities on how they can help. PSATS attends the CCATO convention every year.

"We (PSATS) travel around to each of the county association's annual meetings to tell them what we as a state association can help them do from education to learning best practices for training at our conferences and workshops," Sanko explained.

The mission of PSATS is to help municipalities statewide with tools they can use to improve their jobs for the better.

CHASE BOTTORF/THE EXPRESSThe current CCATO board is composed of, from left, Member at Large Brandon Coleman, 1st VP Mala Moore, 2nd VP Corey Lucas, Secretary/Treasurer Carol Colucci and President Kevin Frank.

"We really just try to give township officials the tools they need to help do their job better (and) thank them for their service — because it's a thankless job — and let them know that there are another couple thousand people who do what they do in different parts of the state they can learn from. In some cases, they can teach things too because we all, in the local community, share some of the same problems," Sanko said.

The convention included several workshop sessions like on sight distancing conducted by Mark Hood, of PennDOT, for road masters, road workers and supervisors; a session on budgeting by Jim Rose and Lisa Burns from the Department of Community Economic Development (DCED); and a self-defense demonstration by Steve Walker.

After the work sessions were complete, the convention held a special Excavation Rodeo for all attendees. Sponsored by Stephenson Equipment, the rodeo involved an operator of an excavator collecting three tennis balls from atop of three traffic cones. Without knocking over a cone, the operator had to drop all three balls into a plastic bucket using the large machine.

Each contestant competed against time to see who could finish the quickest.

Third place went to Derek Caris, second to Karl Walizer and Brian Hoy took first place, winning $150. Participants did not need to be an equipment operator or a licensed operator in order to compete.

CHASE BOTTORF/THE EXPRESSAn attendee tries his hand at the equipment rodeo, using the excavator to collect three tennis balls from the traffic cones.

Many business and equipment vendors attended this year's CCATO. Business display vendors included: Chemung Supply, R&B Insurance services, Dotterer Equipment, Russell Standard, Groff Tractor & Equipment, Scan Tek, Keller Engineering, Inc., The EADS Group Engineering, PA One Call, Unique Paving Materials, PLGIT, Woodlands Bank and World Wide Hose & Supply Co.

Equipment vendors included: Best Line Equipment, Five Star Equipment, Bradco Supply Co., Maxwell Trucking and Sunbury Motors.

The current CCATO board is composed of President Kevin Frank, 1st Vice President Mala Moore, 2nd Vice President Corey Lucas, Member at Large Brandon Coleman and Secretary/Treasurer Carol Colucci.

Technical support was provided by Keith Kern.

CHASE BOTTORF/THE EXPRESSThe top three finishers are pictured. They are, in no particular order, Derek Caris, Brian Hoy and Karl Walizer.

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