By Todd Bartley, TalkWilliamsport.com
News@TalkWilliamsport.com
Why is Mayor Derek Slaughter unable to be honest with the taxpayers of Williamsport? On his “Monday’s with the Mayor” show broadcast on his Facebook channel – he stated:
“We were instructed to close it (Peter Herdic Transportation Museum) due to it being run with
state and federal grant dollars that were ineligible grant dollars”
According to PENNDOT and the letters exclusively obtained by TalkWilliamsport.com; the statement by Mayor Slaughter is patently false.
Alexis Campbell, Press Secretary of the PA Department of Transportation responded by email yesterday when asked by TalkWilliamsport.com about the statement made by Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter.
“PennDOT did not instruct Williamsport to close the Peter Herdic Museum.”
On background, yesterday, another “media outlet” was confronted about the publication of a previous article mayor Slaughter was quoted in on the museum closure referencing when he referenced “letters”.
The “media outlet” when challenged to produce the letters (yesterday) then called Mayor Slaughter who quickly published the May 2021 letter from PENNDOT (as noted below) on his Mayor Slaughter Facebook page.
The letter 2021-5 Letter-PennDOT-RVT-HiawathaHerdic1 has been obtained from PENNDOT by TalkWilliamsport.com.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
May 17, 2021
Mr. Adam Winder, General Manager
River Valley Transit
1500 West Third Street
Williamsport, PA 17701
Dear Mr. Winder:
Since January 2020 the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has been working with the Williamsport Bureau of Transportation (d.b.a. River Valley Transit, RVT) and the Slaughter administration to better understand discrepancies in the use of PennDOT provided funding and the accuracy of RVT’s data reporting. As we continue to learn more about these issues, PennDOT requires certain activities to stop immediately.
PennDOT requires RVT to cease the following practices immediately if it has not done so already:
• Subsidizing ineligible tourism, economic development, and other related activities with state funds dedicated to public transportation.
• Accumulating debt, funding, or financing insurance, labor, and amenities on behalf of the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat (i.e. Hiawatha Inc.).
• Subsidizing operating costs and losses associated with the Peter Herdic Transportation Museum with state funds dedicated to public transportation.
• PennDOT understands that RVT provided a loan to Hiawatha Inc. that may have included public transportation funds. VT must make every effort to recover the past due debts owed to RVT as soon as possible. As indicated in my letter dated March 3, 2012, the City of Williamsport and RVT must incorporate the following practices into their financial oversight to remain eligible for Section 1513 funding:
• Review and follow all FTA and PennDOT policies relating to the appropriate use of grant proceeds. PennDOT’s financial reporting procedures and audit guidelines are available on the PennDOT website and in the DotGrants reporting
system.
• Develop and follow policies and procedures, including appropriate segregation of duties, to ensure adequate financial oversight and accountability of RVT.
• Retain auditors trained and familiar with PennDOT’s rules for the eligible use of operating and capital grants. The City of Williamsport RVT must accurately track and document all financial decisions to ensure required Federal Transportation Administration and PennDOT policies and procedures are being followed.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jennie A. Granger, AICP, Deputy Secretary
Multimodal Transportation
The March 3, 2021 letter Letter-PennDOT-RVT-Capital 3.3.21-1 has also been obtained from PENNDOT by TalkWilliamsport.com.
A typographical error made by PENNDOT in the May 2021 letter referencing 2012 instead of 2021 has been acknowledged by PENNDOT.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
March 3, 2021
Mr. Adam Winder, General Manager
River Valley Transit
1500 West Third Street
Williamsport, Pennsylvania 17701
Dear Mr. Winder:
As you are aware, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (“PennDOT”) has been working with the current mayor of Williamsport’s administration to understand some discrepancies with funding and accuracy in data reporting by the Williamsport Bureau of Transportation (d.b.a. “River Valley Transit” or “RVT”). The purpose of this letter is to make RVT management aware of PennDOT’s concerns related to RVT’s practices.
RVT must accurately track and document all financial decisions following policies and procedures required by both the Federal Transportation Administration and PennDOT.
Moreover, we want to emphasize that the City and RVT may not:
• Attribute municipally incurred and secured capital debt to RVT;
• Use assets funded with PennDOT capital grants as collateral for municipal bonds;
• Use Section 1513 operating grant proceeds for anything other than their leg ally eligible purposes; and
• Use PennDOT capital grant proceeds for anything other than their legally eligible purposes. To the extent any of the above is currently occurring, please take steps to ensure that the practice ends immediately. To remain eligible for Section 1513 funding, the City of Williamsport and RVT must incorporate the following practices into their financial oversight:
• Review and follow all FTA and PennDOT policies relating to the appropriate use of grant proceeds;
• Develop and follow policies and procedures, including appropriate segregation of duties, to ensure adequate financial oversight and accountability of RVT; and
• Retain independent auditors trained and familiar with PennDOT’s rules for the eligible use of operating and capital grants.
Mr. Adam Winder
Page 2
March 3, 2021
PennDOT has also referred this matter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to further investigate RVT’s use of federal grants. PennDOT will work closely with RVT’s new auditor to ensure RVT complies with PennDOT’s financial reporting guidelines.
Sincerely,
Jennie A. Granger, AICP, Deputy Secretary
Multimodal Transportation
Why did it take Mayor Slaughter nearly 5 months to release a letter from PENNDOT of great importance to local residents?
Why has Mayor Slaughter still not released the March 2021 PENDOT letter going on 8 months?
Is this so he can control his own narrative regarding the ongoing investigation being conducted by Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate for Governor Josh Shapiro into the financial irregularities outlined in both PENNDOT letters to RVT?
The Peter Herdic Museum and property it resides on has been owned by the City of Williamsport for years.
This is an exclusive story on TalkWilliamsport.com.
Additional details on the Peter Herdic Museum currently occupied by the Williamsport Bureau of Police will be forthcoming.
