Call to Order   President Matthew Boice called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

Roll Call   Attendees: Michael Gomber, Mayor, Absent  Matthew Boice, President, Harold Hartger, Vice President, Absent,  Council Members-Charles McHugh, Jerad Cypher, Dawn Petrosky, Maryann Weinstein, Timothy Hurney,  Solicitor Dennis Makel, Rich Rush, Widmer Engineering, Absent, Secretary, Sandy Motichak

Pledge of Allegiance Lead by President Matthew Boice.

PUBLIC COMMENT

David Kucherawy, 115 Wilmont Ave. Mr. Kucherawy told Council he is in favor of the speed humps and they are very effective for reducing the speeding in the borough.  He requested Council consider putting an additional speed hump at the junction of Fairmont and North Wade Ave. or a stop sign.  President Boice will discuss his request. 

Steve Palvey, 645 Lemoyne Ave. Ext.  Mr. Palvey asked Council if there was plans to correct the flooding on Lemoyne Ave. Ext.   President Boice said that he is working with the Borough Engineer and the Public Works Department personnel and is aware of the situation. He met with the Borough Engineers and looked at the storm sewer and are trying to devise a plan to correct the issue.

Gregg & April Kittridge, 641 Lemoyne Ave. Ext. Mr. Kittridge asked Council to help with the storm sewer/drainage and flooding at his home.  Mr. Kittridge presented Council with a Drainage Investigation report from Mr. Brian L. Fischback, Principal Engineer, Pennoni Corporation, that detailed his recommendations for correcting the storm sewer/drainage problem at the Kittridge’s residence.  President Boice stated that no definite decision could be made that evening but will continue to investigate the drainage issue in conjunction with the Council, Borough Engineer and Mr. Kittridge to come up with a solution. A possible solution may be to raise the wedge curve elevation to divert the water. Council will evaluate all options to correct the issue and will follow up with homeowner.

Scott Horne, 192 Lemoyne Ave.  Requested Council put some patching at the intersection E. Wheeling and Lemoyne Ave.   Also, asked if there was an ordinance regarding no overstuffed furniture on the porch in the borough. A car is out of inspection on Wilmont Ave.  All of his concerns were directed to the appropriate personnel, Code Officer, Chief of Police and/or Public Works for action.

Motion Dawn Petrosky, second Tim Hurney, to approve items 1, 2, 3, and 4 as presented. Motion passed.

1. July 2, 2018 minutes.

2. Approve Bills – General Account $ 33,648.27 and Liq. Fuels PLGIT Account $ 136.40.

3. Reports – Submitted to Council Prior to Meeting 

Library Board Representative-Mr. Gerard Weiss

• The Citizens Library Board did not meet in July. However, two events were held which I attended as your representative. On July 19th, there was a training  led by an outside speaker for board members and staff from many area libraries on building stronger, more efficient boards. This is accomplished through board “governance” committees, which are, basically, long-range planning and recruitment committees. On July 24th, our governance committee met to discuss the training and how it might apply to Citizens Library. This work is ongoing.

Chief David Bradley wanted Council to know that Halloween Trick or Treat was scheduled on a Saturday last year and wanted to continue the Halloween Trick or Treat and request it be scheduled for Saturday, October, 28, 2018.  No action taken.

4. Engineer Report- Rich Rush

Wilmont Avenue Project

I have been e-mailing Linda Slusarczyk and she indicated John is planning to begin work on Wilmont the week of August 6^th or soon thereafter.  She indicated he has been coordinating with Columbia Gas for the project.  I told her to make sure he lets the Borough know when he plans to start work so they are aware of any traffic restrictions, etc.  I will let you know as I get a more definite schedule.

Thayer Project Yard Restoration

The yard restoration work has been performed for the Thayer Project (former Lingg property).  The contractor replaced the fasteners for the pipe couplings and graded and seeded the yard.  I was not present when the work was performed as I was not informed it was taking place.  Aaron indicated he was on site during the work.  The concrete work Bob Burns completed looks good and the yard restoration work appears to address the issues of concern.  The yard restoration should be monitored to make sure the grass grows properly over the entire disturbed area.

LeMoyne Avenue Extension Storm Issue

Aaron and Sarah met at the LeMoyne Avenue Extension site to look at a storm inlet near the base of the repaired slide area near the intersection of LeMoyne Avenue Extension and the lower side of Sheraton Drive (see the forwarded e-mail from Sarah below).  I agree with Sarah’s assessment of the storm inlet.  It does present some safety concerns, particularly with vehicular traffic.  The cross pipe is reportedly in good condition.  The existing inlet could be removed and replaced with a Type M inlet.  I would suggest removing the pavement in the immediately surrounding area and re-paving the area to provide a smooth transition to the storm inlet grate.

While the inlet may back up at times due to debris clogging the grate and have storm water run down the roadway, I think the main cause of the water issues the homeowner two houses down on the lower side of the road is having is due to insufficient gutter capacity.  From what I can see it appears that the gutter line of the concrete curb and gutter has been filled with asphalt at some time in the past when the road was resurfaced.  This reduced the conveyance capacity of the channel.  The gutter line appears to have little capacity all the way to the intersection with Watson.  I cannot determine the condition of the existing concrete gutter due to the asphalt pavement.  It may be possible to remove the asphalt from the gutter and provide additional capacity.  There may also be sections of gutter that may need replaced.  During the extreme storm events we have experienced over the past couple of years the gutter system is likely to overflow.  It is very unlikely the gutters were designed to handle those storm events.  Additionally, the driveways should be constructed so a full gutter capacity is maintained or the storm water will likely jump the curbs in those area and flow through the yards or down the driveways.  If and when LeMoyne Avenue Extension is resurfaced in the future, the roadway should be crowned where possible to prevent all storm water from flowing along one side of the street where possible.

UPCOMING EVENT:           

East Washington Borough Shredding and Drug Collection

Friday, August 24, 2018         5:00-7:00 pm

Location:  Church of the Covenant, 267 East Beau Street, Washington, PA

Motion Chuck McHugh, second Tim Hurney to authorize payment to Ten Mile Paving, LLC not to exceed $5,000 for paving of Ford Alley contingent upon receipt of:

1. Certificate of Insurance
2. Performance and Maintenance Bond
3. Determination to pay or exclude the mobilization lump sum fee of $1,200.00. Motion Passed.

Mayor – Michael Gomber – Business Man of the Year is Brian Pizzi and Service and Leadership Couple is William and Sharon Adams.  President Boice discussed the Mayor’s request to consider a joint purchase of a Milling machine with the City of Washington and other municipalities. Also, the City of Washington has a small milling machine that we may be able to rent and pay for the City Employee’s wages for a day or so to mill some of our streets.

Motion Chuck McHugh, second Dawn Petrosky to authorize $ 8,000.00 from the General Fund for curb work on North Ave. from Beau Street to Central Ave. (one side only) The $8,000.00 is to be used with the funds from the Community Development Block Grant from Washington County.

Motion passed.

Council Reports/Discussion: 

Council Member Petrosky stated she will not be able to do the East Washington Borough Newsletter due to other obligations.  Ms. Petrosky said she will accept the opportunity to be the point contact to hire a professional marketing firm to do the borough Newsletter, Website or other communications for the Borough if Council deems necessary. She may call Quality Quick who did the borough’s previous Newsletter to see if a FALL Newsletter can be done. Council Member Weinstein suggested we reach out to other municipalities to get the cost of their Newsletter.

Council Member McHugh is concerned that when Wilmont Ave.is completed, it will be an autobahn which will result in increased speeding on the road. He asked Council to consider putting additional speed humps on the road to deter speeders. He is also concerned because of the children and the school bus picking up children at the stop sign. East Washington Borough police presence has been on Wilmont but with only one officer per shift, it is difficult to enforce at all times.

Council Member Cypher indicated that Mr. Durr, West Penn Power, First Energy will be initiating a work order for the street lights in the borough that are not working, or have not been replaced and Mr. Cypher asked Council to provide him with any other locations in the borough that may need additional lights or that are not working so he can forward the information to Mr. Durr so the work order/project can be completed at one time.

Motion Dawn Petrosky, second Chuck McHugh to adjourn meeting at 9:10 pm. Motion passed. 

Sandra Motichak