LEWISBURG – Did two Northumberland County representatives to a local rail authority run up unreasonable travel expenses? Don Purcell and former county commissioner Stephen Bridy, who represent Northumberland County on the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, have racked up higher travel expenses in the last year than any other member, including the authority’s chairman, Jerry Walls.
All board members receive mileage reimbursement for travel to and from JRA meetings in Lewisburg. Additionally, expenses for attending conferences are reimbursed or paid directly by the JRA. Between April 2015 and April 2016, Bridy claimed over $2,500 in mileage, tolls and food and Purcell’s expenses topped $3,200. That total does not include hotel or conference registration fees. Together, their expenses represent 37 percent of travel expenditures by the sixteen member board.
The pair attended the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference in Rhode Island in April 2015 and again in Philadelphia in October of the same year. These two conferences alone cost the JRA $2,100 for mileage and food. Bridy and Purcell were the only board members to attend both conferences that year.
Further, Purcell billed the JRA for mileage to attend a number of passenger rail excursions across the Valley, from Bellefonte to Williamsport and Sunbury. Purcell, a former employee of Penn Valley Railroad, a company contracted by the JRA to conduct passenger excursions, was reimbursed $1,131 to ride trains, sometimes three days in a row. In contrast, Dr. John Spychalski, chair of the authority’s passenger excursion committee, was reimbursed for $554 in mileage expense to oversee excursions during the same time period.
Walls said it is the JRA’s understanding that Purcell is not compensated by Penn Valley Railroad for his time or effort during excursions, but if he were, it would be “a different matter altogether in charging expenses to the rail authority.”
As a Northumberland County commissioner, Bridy supported a motion to prevent commissioners from submitting mileage expenses to the county. In a public meeting July 24, 2012, Bridy stated that he was “guilty” of charging mileage for meetings in Harrisburg, but that he paid the money back after being convinced that being reimbursed for mileage was inappropriate.
At a special meeting April 22 this year, the JRA responded to a request from Bridy and Purcell to reimburse them for legal expenses related to the authority’s lawsuit filed in Clinton County. The authority agreed to reimburse board members and staff up to $2,500 for legal fees if they were in compliance with the JRA code of conduct and their actions were “in the best interests of the JRA.”
When asked why the JRA’s own attorneys could not represent the pair in the lawsuit, Michael Crotty, a JRA attorney told WKOK “personal records outside the scope of their official capacity as authority board members” were requested and they may require personal legal counsel. According to court documents, Tony Michetti is representing Bridy and Purcell in the Clinton County case.
When asked about budgetary limits for travel expenses, Jeff Stover, executive director of the JRA said board members are encouraged “to attend conferences related to freight rail issues so that they are better informed.” The authority is not required to have a public operating budget, but will present one to the board this fall for the 2017 calendar year. (Jennifer Wakeman)
