Pledge of Allegiance lead 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.

• Joe Grazulis, 417 E. Beau, 724-328-9585. Mr. Grazulis asked Council when the park may re-open.  We are in the green phase and if possible open with some reasonable limited capacity.  Mr. Grazulis also asked about the proposed ordinance that is under consideration regarding blighted properties in the borough.  He commented that we currently have ordinances to address these in the borough under section 123 and 245 property maintenance.  Is there a need to create additional ordinances?  Also because of COVID-19 and people on unemployment and without jobs folks may not be able to repair their homes and be in compliance with the ordinance.  The borough is not a HOA community.
• Kelly Alderson, 535 E. Chestnut, 724-207-0482.  Mr. Alderson is in favor of fun to celebrate the 4^th of July however fireworks have been going off all around the borough until 2:00 am.  Will Council be addressing this issue?  There is a safety concern, debris and noise associated with fireworks.  Asked if Council would consider an ordinance to limit the time to no later than perhaps 10:30 pm. Families have small children and others still must get up for work. Also wanted to compliment the police department when called, they came promptly and took care of the issue.

Motions

• Motion Arthur J. Fulton, second Demond Nixon to approve Minutes June 1, 2020 and June 11, 2020 – Motion passed.
• Motion Arthur J. Fulton, second Demond Nixon to approve Bills Gen Acct  $ 46,915.66   Check Nos. 6782 to 6819 (June 1 to July 2, 2020) Note: Annual PIRMA insurance ($20,194.00) due July 31, 2020 and Fire protection 2^nd qtr. 2020 payment ($15,175.00) included in this bills list) – Motion passed

Rich Rush – Road Update

• Rich is waiting for a start date from the contractor on the Central, N Wade and Wilmont street improvement projects.  Regarding the water at 16 Wilmont, he has talked to John Slusarczyk and will let us know when that project has been tackled

Executive Session

• President Weinstein announced Council would enter Executive session at 7:20 pm for personnel and litigation purposes. Out of Executive Session 8:10 pm.

Official Action:

1. . Playground /parks:
   1. Should we reopen? Final decision for the rest of the summer. Council discussed at length opening the park. Council members agreed that due to the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, the park will remain closed at this time.  Demond Nixon suggested that after a two-week period, to look at the numbers and if they are consistently going down, follow government regulations and address opening the park at the next meeting if necessary.
   2. Landscaping options. Reca Panian informs Council that the usual landscaper that she has used cannot do the job this year.  She has calls in to two other companies about the landscaping.
2. Trash pickup-enforcing terms of contract Update from Dan/Aaron. –  What do we want to charge Republic for an item picked up by our employees?  With continued concerns about bulk items being left and not picked up by Republic Services, Council discussed how to address this situation. A motion was made by Dan Bird, second Kent James, to charge Republic Services $100.00 for the first item the borough employee would have to pick up and $50.00 for a subsequent item in accordance with the contract agreement.  Also, if Republic is notified by 4:30 pm the same day and the bulk item is picked up we cannot bill Republic.  However, if the bulk item is left until the following morning, the borough can bill Republic services. Motion passed. If notified after 4:30 pm Republic to come the next day to do the pickup.Note:  As stated in the Republic Calendar/Information flyer only 2 bulk items will be picked up per resident.  Moving forward this item should be included in the next contract. There was a brief discussion about a possible spring or fall clean-up day or electronics pick-up day.
3. Communications Report –
   1. Contact forms (update) – Mr. Fulton reported that the contact forms on the website stopped sending emails sometime in 2020. No messages were lost as the website stores all messages from the contact forms. Mr. Fulton fixed the forms and reached out to the residents whose messages were not addressed.
   2. Communications Protocols – The Council needs to make a decision on communication protocols for the Borough Website and other external communications. To be discussed in August.
   3. New website site structure- Mr. Fulton presented an update on the new Borough website. He proposed a new site map and reiterated that the website is being developed free of charge by him, Kris LaGreca, and the communications committee.  He also asked that the information regarding his email exchange with the mayor and answers to questions from the mayor about the web site be entered into the official record.
      * Attachments were removed on March 1, 2021
      Site map structure and communications committee will work to develop the content of the website. The committee are looking for volunteers to assist with content. Mr. Fulton stated that he will have a tentative schedule/timeline for the website development at the August meeting.  Council members are encouraged to contact Mr. Fulton with their ideas about the website. A motion was made by Kent James, second Demond Nixon to approve Arthur J. Fulton, Kris LaGreca, and the communications committee to proceed with the development of the new website free of charge.

      Maryann Weinstein	Yes
      Kent James	Yes
      Tim Hurney	Absent
      Douglas Corwin	Yes
      Daniel Bird	Yes
      Demond Nixon	Yes
      A. Joseph Fulton	Abstain – Did not want to vote for himself
      Motion passed.

4. Possible new ordinances.- There is currently a challenge in court to the occupancy permit ordinance that we are considering. Dennis recommends waiting until the court rules to proceed with this ordinance. Regarding the serious code violation ordinance, Mrs. Weinstein will confer with Dennis. Three council members have sent their questions/concerns to her. Council needs to review any ordinance very carefully before it is passed.
5. Code enforcement additional hours – On hold.  Person under consideration unavailable tonight.
6. Third person for public works to help with leaves as in past Dan/Aaron to discuss – Mr. Lucero advised Council that Mr. Bernie Froats may be leaving the borough in the near future.  He would like to hire a previous employee to help with Leaf Season.Motion Demond Nixon, second Doug Corwin to hire Kultyn Lusher as a part-time public works employee at a salary of $10.00 per hour for 32-34 hours per week with no benefits and a possible start date of August 3, 2020 subsequent to a satisfactory interview with Council members.  President of Council has discretion to appoint a committee to interview the candidate. – Motion passed.
7. Legal and engineering expenses We are over budget on legal expenses, partly because we paid for October and November as well as December 2019 in 2020 but also because we have had a lot of issues come up.   Regarding the engineer, there was one instance of $995 overcharge in April that was corrected with a credit on a subsequent bill.  The road project has generated a lot of the engineering expense.  Mr. Makel stated he does not bill for phone calls and will not do anything until authorized to do so in order to keep expenses down.
   1. 1. Motion Dan Bird, second Arthur J. Fulton to appoint President of Council to be the point person for questions for Solicitor.
         

         Maryann Weinstein	Abstain – Did not want to vote for herself
         Kent James	Yes
         Tim Hurney	Absent
         Douglas Corwin	Yes
         Daniel Bird	Yes
         Demond Nixon	Yes
         A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
         Motion passed

      2. Motion Arthur J. Fulton, second Doug Corwin, to support the Council President’s decision to remove the Mayor from the Blight Committee.
         

         Maryann Weinstein	Yes
         Kent James	Yes
         Tim Hurney	Absent
         Douglas Corwin	Yes
         Daniel Bird	Yes
         Demond Nixon	Yes
         A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
         Motion passed

      3. Motion Kent James, second Arthur J. Fulton, to support the Council President’s decision to appoint Aaron Lucero, Gerry Coleman, Dave Bradley, Doug Corwin, and Kent James to the Blight Committee with the Council President as an ex-officio member.
         

         Maryann Weinstein	Yes
         Kent James	Yes
         Tim Hurney	Absent
         Douglas Corwin	Yes
         Daniel Bird	Yes
         Demond Nixon	Yes
         A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
         Motion passed

      4. Motion Kent James, second Doug Corwin, to remove the Mayor as the point person for the Code Enforcement Officer, Gerry Coleman.
         

         Maryann Weinstein	Yes
         Kent James	Yes
         Tim Hurney	Absent
         Douglas Corwin	Yes
         Daniel Bird	Yes
         Demond Nixon	Yes
         A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
         Motion passed

      5. Motion Kent James, second Dan Bird to assign Doug Corwin as the point person for the Code Enforcement Officer, Gerry Coleman.
         

         Maryann Weinstein	Y
         Kent James	Yes
         Tim Hurney	Absent
         Douglas Corwin	Abstain- Did not want to vote for himself
         Daniel Bird	Yes
         Demond Nixon	Yes
         A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
         Motion passed

8. ARLE bid for flashing light at the Faith Christian School. – President Weinstein felt that the Solicitor should read the ARLE bid documents and confirm that they are satisfactory.  We will need to advertise for bids…the proposed due date for bids is July 31.  Mr. Makel thinks that the July 31 deadline for bids doesn’t give us enough time to get through the bid process.Motion Demond Nixon, second Dan Bird, to authorize Solicitor Makel to review the ARLE bid documents.  Bid advertisement date to be determined once Solicitor Makel reviews the bid documents.
   

   Maryann Weinstein	Y
   Kent James	Yes
   Tim Hurney	Absent
   Douglas Corwin	Yes
   Daniel Bird	Yes
   Demond Nixon	Yes
   A. Joseph Fulton	Yes
   Motion passed

Reports

• Mayor – Absent
• Solicitor Dennis Makel – No report
• Maryann Weinstein, President – Our cleaning service ended, and Sandy is checking into getting another service. President Weinstein authorized Arthur J. Fulton to get the Professional Zoom service package at $15.00 per month for unlimited time. Zoom meetings may work better for our council meetings. Kent James and Maryann Weinstein will go through the ordinance regarding burning and fireworks to be discussed at the next meeting.
• Kent James, Vice President – No report
• Daniel Bird – No report
• Douglas Corwin – No report
• Arthur Joseph Fulton – Report above
• Tim Hurney – Absent
• Demond Nixon – No report

Motions

• Motion Arthur J. Fulton, second Kent James to adjourn the meeting at 9:24 pm.  – Motion passed.