Pledge of Allegiance led by Maryann Weinstein, President

Public Comment

Any person from the public may speak for a 3-minute period. Total time allotted for public comment is 15 minutes. Please state your name, address and subject. Please choose a representative to speak if you have the same concern.

• Jeff Bull, Fairmont Avenue – Mr. Bull sent a letter to Borough Council members and requested the letter be included as part of the minutes of record.  President Weinstein said she will have to take that request under advisement with the Solicitor.
• Sandy Dunlevy – no comment, just listening.

Discussion & Updates

• Retain Current Council President – Discussion to change. A motion was made by Doug Corwin, second Demond Nixon to keep Maryann Weinstein as President through December 31, 2021, at which time her term ends. A unanimous yes vote was passed.

Official Action:

1. Tim Hurney – Joe Fulton made a motion, seconded by Kent James to accept Council Member, Tim Hurney’s resignation with regrets.  Motion passed.  Recommend a letter be sent to Tim Hurney. Council needs to appoint a replacement within 30 days.  If that is not done, the vacancy board then handles getting the replacement.
2. Other Appointments – (Motion/second to approve)
   1. Motion Joe Fulton, second Doug Corwin to appoint Secretary/Treasurer – Mrs. Sandy Motichak. Motion passed.
   2. Motion Kent James, second Demond Nixon to appoint Public Works Supervisor-Mr. Aaron Lucero. Motion passed.
   3. Motion Joe Fulton, second Demond Nixon to appoint Code Enforcement-Zoning Officer – Mr. Gerald Coleman. Motion passed.
   4. Motion Kent James, second Demond Nixon to appoint Police Chief – Mr. David Bradley. Motion passed.
   5. Motion Demond Nixon, second Doug Corwin to appoint Emergency Management Coordinator – Mr. Gerald Coleman. Motion passed.
   6. Motion Joe Fulton, second Kent James to appoint Solicitor- Mr. Dennis Makel, Makel & Associates. Motion passed.
   7. Motion Doug Corwin, second Kent James to appoint Borough Engineer –Harshman & Harshman. Motion passed.
   8. Motion Demond Nixon, second Doug Corwin to appoint Auditor – Palermo/Kissinger. Motion passed.
   9. Motion Joe Fulton, second Doug Corwin to appoint Uniform Code Construction Inspectors – CodeSys. Motion passed.
   10. Motion Demond Nixon, second Kent James to appoint Depository Bank – Washington Financial. Motion passed.
3. Set Regular Meetings – Motion Demond Nixon, second Joe Fulton to approve to Set Regular Meetings – 1^st Monday of the month at 7:00 pm except July and September meeting will be the second Monday of the month due to Independence Day and Labor Day Holiday (all meetings will be via zoom until further notice) – Motion passed.  
4. Minute Approval – Motion Demond Nixon, second Dan Bird to approve Minutes – December 7, 2020 and December 14, 2020. – Motion passed.
5. Bills Approval – Motion Demond Nixon, second Joe Fulton to approve Bills Gen Account $ 19,302.80 (Checks 6992 to 7018), PLGIT $ 19,846.31 (Checks 975 to 977) – Motion passed.

   President Weinstein announced going into an Executive Session (for personnel related to employees) at 7:40 pm.  Resume regular meeting at 8:21 pm.  President Weinstein stated no action will be taken at this time.  Council Member Demond Nixon will get in touch with employees regarding annual evaluations.

6. Resolution 001 of 2021- Motion Demond Nixon, second Dan Bird to approve Resolution 001 of 2021 allocate funds $7,500-from Local Share Fund for New Police Car (Approved in 2021 Budget) – Motion passed.
7. Resolution 002 of 2021 – Motion Kent James, second Dan Bird to approve Resolution 002 of 2021 match funds for Freedom Transit in the amount of $500. (Approved in 2021 Budget) – Motion passed.
8. Resolution 003 of 2021 – Motion Dan Bird, second Demond Nixon to approve Resolution 003 of 2021 to appoint Kent James, and Secretary-Treasurer as delegates to serve on the Washington County Tax Collection Committee. (This committee appoints Keystone Collections as the tax collection agency for EIT, Local Services Tax, Per Capita Tax, etc. for Washington County.  – Motion passed.
9. Columbia Gas Project – E. Wheeling, East Lane, repairs. Awaiting their signature on agreement to restore sidewalks and streets if damaged.
10. State of Emergency  – Motion Kent James, second Dan Bird, to approve the State of emergency retroactive from the second week of December 2020.  The Continuation has already been signed. – Motion passed.
11. Drug Take Back Program – EWB borough has received a 180lb metal drop box through the police department that can be used to collect all old medications which are stored in the borough’s evidence room until they are destroyed by the state police. A motion was made by Dan Bird, second Doug Corwin to approve the Drug take back program.  – Motion passed.
12. Neighborhood Improvement Report  – including options for recycling glass, electronics, and hazardous waste, doing spring clean-up and stream clean up, and looking at options for disposal of tires.

    Glass.  Consensus was that we should start doing glass recycling ourselves.  We can get a dumpster for $300 per load picked up from Carry All Products (CAP) and have it at the salt lot.  Hours of operation need to be discussed.  So far this year we have paid S Strabane around $600 for glass recycling.  Municipalities can apply for grants from the state for their recycling. The current contract with S Strabane is over in early March and we can drop out at any time by giving 30 days’ notice.  If there is contamination that is an ongoing problem, there is an extra charge.  Before charging, CAP works with the municipality to correct the problem.

    After discussing Glass recycling a motion was made by Kent James, second by Dan Bird to drop out of the glass recycling agreement with South Strabane.  Send notification to South Strabane effective February 1, 2021.  Vote taken after President Weinstein asked if there were any comments from the public. Having none, a unanimous yes vote was passed.
    
    Other Items discussed:

    Electronics and hazardous waste. Republic has an electronics and hazardous waste program that we can add as an addendum to our contract.  They charge each household $1.35 per month and will pick up electronics and hazardous waste.  Residents call them and are given instructions and color-coded bags for the various types of waste.  Pick up is once a month. This program could start in April.  We need to let Republic know before March 1.

    Spring clean-up.  We are thinking about having a 30 yd roll off dumpster available for residents to use for some period.  Need to set a date, possibly in June.  Republic initially gave a price of $750 for 10 days.  Now they are offering $300 plus $42 per ton for one month. Rozner is offering the same dumpster for a flat fee of $450 for 2 weeks.

    Stream clean-up.  Aaron has the vests, gloves, and garbage bags that Mike obtained last spring which could not be used.  We also have a waiver form.  Need to set a date.

    Tires.  Storage of tires in the front of houses is unsightly.  Question is whether these are tires that are still in use or not (e.g., snow tires).  Coen Tires will take up to 4 used tires at a time for $5 plus tax per tire.  The group thinks this information should be on the website and people should be encouraged to properly dispose of used tires but if they do not voluntarily get rid of them it might be worthwhile for the borough to have a tire pick up day.

13. Alternate Cleaning Company – We can obtain cleaning services from Supportive Concepts for Families which is a job training program for $150 a month which comes to $1800 per year.  Our current cleaning company costs are expected to be $3386.70.  Supportive Concepts would come 3 mornings a week and do the office, the police station, and the police cars (one morning devoted to each area).  Current provider does the office every other week and the police station every week.  City of Washington uses Supportive Concepts.  Dennis has reviewed their insurance policy and the contract.

    After discussing the alternate cleaning company and a start date, President Weinstein asked Mr. Makel what if the cleaning company is not able to start in 30 days.  Mr. Makel suggested contacting the company Supportive Concepts to determine an official start date and as a courtesy give the new company a 30-day termination notice.    Kent James then suggested a formal motion to approve the new cleaning service could be done at the continuation meeting on January 18, 2021.    (from the video recording, that is why I don’t have an official motion here.)

14. 2021 Road Projects – Need to decide on what we want to do this year to get bids out. Decide to include speed humps/bumps in the bid. Council decided to delay this road project discussion and discuss 2021 Road Projects at a continuation meeting to be held on January 18, 2021 at 7:00 pm.  Aaron Lucero to provide estimates and more information at the continuation meeting.
15. Department Reports – Police Chief – A motion to accept the resignation of Officer Frazee was made by Dan Bird and second by Doug Corwin. – Motion passed. At the recommendation of Chief David Bradley, a motion was made by Demond Nixon, second by Dan Bird to hire part-time officer Alysa Haines. – Motion passed.

Reports

• Mayor Gomber – No report
• Solicitor – Dennis Makel
• Council Members – Reports / Discussion
  • Maryann Weinstein, President – No report
  • Daniel Bird – No report
  • Douglas Corwin– No report
  • Kent James, Vice President– No report
  • Demond Nixon – No report
  • Joe Fulton– No report
  • Tim Hurney– No report

Motion

• Motion Joe Fulton, second Kent James to continue the meeting on Monday, January 18, 2021, at 7:00 pm via zoom. – Motion passed.