City Council

1 BOROUGH OF AKRON COUNCIL MEETING- JUNE 13, 2022 2 Council Members present- Nathan Imhoff, President; Justin Gehman, Vice- 3 President; Kleon Zimmerman, Paul Swangren, Jr., Randall Justice, Ryan Cochran, 4 Bonnie Young. 5 6 Others present- Mayor John McBeth, Susan Davidson, Borough Manager; West 7 Earl Police Chief Eric Higgins, John Taylor, Betty Eberly, Warren Bingeman, George 8 D. Wolf. 9 10 Roll Call 11 Kleon Zimmerman-Present 12 Paul Swangren, Jr. – Present 13 Randall Justice-Present 14 Ryan Cochran-Present 15 Bonnie Young-Present 16 Justin Gehman, Vice-President-Present 17 Nathan Imhoff, President- Present 18 19 Meeting opened at 6:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 20 21 Approval of Minutes 22 Kleon Zimmerman made a motion to approve the May 23, 2022 Borough of Akron 23 Council meeting minutes. Justin Gehman seconded the motion. Randall Justice 24 commented that he like the numbers on each page numbering the sentences. It 25 was discussed that the minutes did not include enough detail of what was 26 discussed at the meeting and should include names and addresses of those that 27 spoke at the meeting. Susan Davidson will review the minutes and will include 28 additional information that was missed and place on the agenda for approval at 29 the June 27, 2022 Council meeting. 30 Randall Justice rescinded the motion and to table the May 23, 2022 Council 31 meeting minutes until the next meeting. Paul Swangren, Jr. seconded the motion. 32 Motion carried. 33 34 Visitors 1  1 Sidewalk at Manor Ridge and Edgehill Drives 2 Randall Justice mentioned that he has been approached by a few people that 3 would be okay to pay higher taxes for having the Borough repair/replace 4 sidewalks. 5 Bonnie Young mentioned that she walked around the Colonial Park area and the 6 sidewalks seem good. 7 8 Justin Gehman mentioned that he could not attend the June 9, 2022 Streets 9 Committee meeting. 10 11 Ryan Cochran mentioned that he has heard different opinions from residents of 12 Edgehill and Manor Ridge Drives. Randall Justice mentioned these suggestions 13 and concerns were taken back to the Borough engineer. 14 15 Ryan Cochran stated the homeowner has the option to choose their contractor 16 and if the Borough would put the sidewalk in they would do it at a reasonable 17 cost which would be assessed to the resident. 18 19 Warren Bingeman, 412 Edgehill Drive, Akron asked Council if they are voting on 20 the sidewalk policy tonight and would there be a remarking of sidewalks? Warren 21 Bingeman asked about the Colonial Park sidewalk (Pervious) and Nathan Imhoff 22 mentioned replacing that sidewalk should be on as an addendum to the street 23 project. 24 25 Mayor McBeth mentioned that the residents have a right to know what’s going on 26 and the policy should have been made public. Susan Davidson mentioned that 27 Council did not have an opportunity to discuss the policy and finalize a draft 28 before it went out to the public. 29 30 George Wolf mentioned that it was always the borough’s policy to follow the 31 recommendation of the borough engineer. 32 33 Mayor McBeth mentioned that there was never a criteria and why do the two 34 have to be tied together. John McBeth talking as a citizen of Akron Borough 35 mentions that he has over 700 sq ft to repair/replace and the sidewalks are fine. 2  1 2 Paul Swangren, Jr. Council Member agrees with the policy and guidelines in 3 theory, but not seeing what the changes are such as the depressed street and 4 who is taking care of the utilities. Paul also said he comes from a long history of 5 doing this and this policy is too strict, and we need to use common sense. 6 7 Paul Swangren, Jr. Akron Borough Resident, mentioned his sidewalk is fine. 8 9 Randall Justice mentioned our discussion should follow a motion. 10 11 Randall Justice made a motion to approve the Akron Borough Curb and Sidewalk 12 Inspection Program dated June 2022. Ryan Cochran seconded the motion. Ryan 13 Cochran mentioned he supports the motion and the engineer has reviewed the 14 policy and it’s a good guideline. Mayor McBeth mentioned to throw out an 15 alternative that any sidewalk where there is not a 3ft passage throughout the 16 Borough should be taken care of. Nathan Imhoff stated if we keep pushing this 17 off the Edgehill/Manor Ridge Project won’t get done until 2023. Kleon 18 Zimmerman mentioned we should adopt this for curb only for this project. Justin 19 Gehman mentioned we need to tie this together and having all these construction 20 vehicles messing up the newly paved street. 21 Roll Call 22 Bonnie Young- No 23 Ryan Cochran-Yes 24 Kleon Zimmerman-No 25 Randall Justice-Yes 26 Justin Gehman-Yes 27 Paul Swangren, Jr.-Abstained 28 Nathan Imhoff-Yes 29 Motion carried 4-2 30 31 Staff will try to get letters out to residents by the end of the week. 32 33 34 35 Police Report- West Earl Police Chief Eric Higgins 3  1 Chief Higgins distributed May and June Police Reports to Council and Mayor. 2 Chief Higgins mentioned that West Earl Twp Police were at Akron Day in the Park. 3 Chief Higgins also mentioned that they should have the speed trailer out on the 4 street in Akron sometime next month. 5 6 Chief Higgins spoke on a proposed animal shelter ordinance and is cautious about 7 enacting and a lot can be covered under the state statute but it is difficult to 8 enforce. Chief Higgins also mentioned there is no program to send an officer to at 9 this time. Residents should contact the police department with any animal 10 complaints. 11 Chief Higgins mentioned to Council that West Earl Police Dept will have a National 12 Night Out on August 2, 2022 at the Broad Street Park (tentative time 5pm-8pm). 13 14 Kleon Zimmerman told Chief Higgins he will email the Reading City Animal 15 Ordinance for him to review. 16 17 Parks & Property Committee- Randall Justice 18 Randall Justice distributed copies of proposals for the Colonial Park Pavilion from 19 Eby Exteriors for $29,046.00. The quote does not include excavation, damage to 20 landscaping, permit fees, surveying, painting, electric and disposal of topsoil. 21 Musselman Lumber and Ames Construction could donate lumber and other goods 22 and services. 23 24 Bonnie young made a motion to accept the proposal from Eby Exteriors for the 25 park pavilion not to exceed $29, 046.00. Ryan Cochran seconded the motion. 26 Randall Justice mentioned we will have engineering stamped plans and including 27 excavation. Motion carried. Randall Justice thanked Bonnie Young for all her 28 help. Randall Justice left the meeting at this time. 7:50 p.m. 29 30 Bills 31 Ryan Cochran made a motion to approve the June 2022 Board of Akron 32 disbursements and fund the appropriate account for the disbursements as 33 reviewed by the Finance Committee. Ryan Cochran read into the minutes the 34 June 2022 disbursements totals. 35 General Fund $157,661.76 4  1 Water Fund $10,164.92 2 Sewer Fund $3,096.90 3 Capital Projects Fund $8,209.22 4 Payroll Fund- $1,418.78 5 Kleon Zimmerman seconded the motion. Motion carried. 6 7 Borough Managers Report 8 May 2022 month-end financials were reconciled, and the June 2022 payables will 9 be reviewed by the Finance Committee. 10 11 12 A motion for advertisement for the loan for the unfunded police liability in the 13 amount of $200,000.00 is on this evening’s agenda for proposed adoption at the 14 June 27, 2022 Council meeting. 15 16 Akron Lions Club is getting roof quotes for pavilion #1 and bathrooms. 17 18 Akron Day in the Park took place on Saturday, June 10, 2022 from 11 a.m. to 4 19 p.m. There was a good turnout for this event including the car show. 20 21 Staff is waiting on cost estimates for the park house. 22 23 Staff has prepared a resolution for the destruction of records. The resolution is 24 on the agenda for the June 13, 2022 Council meeting. 25 26 Work to remove a wall between the former police locker room and lab will be 27 removed to make a larger area for Public Works. PW will do most of the work. 28 29 The first Concert in the Park took place on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at the Roland 30 Park. The band was Rizzetta’s Tones. Bonnie Young said she counted around 100 31 people in the audience. The next concert is scheduled for June 19, 2022. 32 33 Pond Aerators are in at the Roland Park pond. 34 5  1 The Ninth Street drainage project was completed by Affordable Paving. A letter 2 from Hanover Engineering and a payment request letter was in the Council books 3 last month. However, there are some outstanding issues. Staff requested C.S. 4 Davidson visit the site (report in Council book) Staff contacted Hanover 5 Engineering and forwarded this information. Hanover met with Affordable Paving 6 to go over these issues. Affordable paving is preparing a schedule, and staff will 7 forward to Council once it is received. 8 9 Standpipe/Reservoir- received estimates and will evaluate for a drone inspection. 10 11 Water/Sewer bills are due June 15, 2022 12 13 A full-time Public Works employee has been hired. His name is Joshua Eberly and 14 his first day of employment was June 10, 2022. A seasonal part-time employee, 15 Brody Martin was hired and will begin work on June 13, 2022. Dale Putt is also 16 working as a seasonal part-time employee. 17 The Active Transportation Plan Committee met on Thursday, June 2, 2022 to hear 18 any comments or questions from the public. The final draft plan will be submitted 19 to Akron Borough Council by August 8, 2022 with adoption at the September 12, 20 2022 Council meeting. 21 22 Next Planning Commission meeting is Thursday, July 7, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. for a lot 23 add-on plan for 314 Diller Drive. 24 25 Sean Molchany is updating the current zoning ordinance and will have a draft by 26 mid-year to present to the Borough Planning Commission for their review. 27 28 A Zoning Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. There are 29 two applicants- 30 1)Variance for 929 Eshelman Drive for a side yard setback. 2) Lot depth variance 31 and lot area variance for 727 Main Street. 32 33 Lancaster County Association of Twp Supervisors invitation to a golf outing and 34 picnic on July 28, 2022. 35 Invitation is in the Council books. Please contact staff if you plan on attending. 6 1 2 Webpage continues to be updated. Staff has been entering additional 3 information. Minutes are up to date and will continue to make changes and 4 updates. 5 6 Finance Committee- Ryan Cochran 7 Ryan Cochran read into the minutes the May 31, 2022 fund balances . May 31, 2022 General Fund $368,915.70 Water Fund $13,732.78 Sewer Fund $120,931.03 Highway Aid $168,669.52 General Fund Reserves General Fund Reserves Restricted $158,000.00 Restricted (Goal) $144,363.00 Operating $160,076.35 Capital $302,089.98 Total $620,166.33 Total $144,363.00 Water Fund Reserves Restricted $72,992.00 Operating $199,747.73 Capital $0.00 Total $272,739.73 Sewer Fund Reserves Restricted $121,822.00 Operating $310,095.88 Capital $0.00 Total $431,917.88 Capital Projects $378.58 Community Fund $2,030.05 Total $1,999,481.60 7  Escrow $18,567.26 1 Community Relations Committee- Bonnie Young 2 Bonnie Young mentioned that she attended the Borough of Akron Task Force 3 Implementation Committee on June 2, 2022. The committee shared suggestions 4 for town mottos. 5 The Task Force gave a recommendation on a town motto. 6 “Akron is just not a walk in the park, it’s where friendly neighbors, small town 7 values and connecting with nature thrive." 8 9 Council and Mayor discussed to choose three and let the public respond to the 10 one they like the best. 11 1) “Akron is just not a walk in the Park, it’s where friendly neighbors connect, 12 care and thrive." 13 2) Akron Welcomes You” 14 3) Akron, it’s not just a walk in the Park, Come Explore. 15 Staff will try to put on the webpage and Facebook through SurveyMonkey. 16 17 Bonnie thanked Randall’s Law firm (Haggerty, Silverman & Justice) for 18 contributing the full amount for the 2022 Summer Park Concerts in Roland Park. 19 The next concert is scheduled for Sunday, June 19, 2022 and staff will publicize on 20 social media and the sign out front of the municipal office. 21 22 Fred Yochum will meet with the Borough Manager and staff to discuss writing a 23 webpage manual. 24 25 Personnel Committee- Paul Swangren, Jr. 26 Paul Swangren, Jr. told Council that a full-time public works employee has been 27 hired starting on Friday, June 10, 2022 and a seasonal part-time employee was 28 hired and started employment today, June 13, 2022. 29 8  1 Susan Davidson mentioned that one of the crossing guards is only able to work as 2 a substitute beginning the next school year. A crossing guard that was hired as a 3 substitute this past year will be taking that position. 4 5 Streets Committee- Justin Gehman 6 Nothing to report at this time 7 8 Public Utilities Committee- Kleon Zimmerman 9 Kleon Zimmerman mentioned that we don’t have a definite date from Mr. Rehab 10 for the I & I work. 11 12 Old Business 13 Animal Shelter Ordinance 14 Kleon Zimmerman will forward information on animal shelters from Reading City 15 to Chief Higgins. 16 17 The net for the volleyball court at Roland has been ordered. 18 19 Mayor McBeth asked the Borough Manager to forward the Ames Costar # to the 20 Assistant Borough Manager for the proposed pavilion project. #542713 21 22 New Business 23 Ephrata National Bank Loan Advertisement 24 Nathan Imhoff, Council President handed the meeting over to Justin Gehman, 25 Council Vice-President. 26 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to authorize staff to have the Borough Solicitor 27 advertise an Ordinance increasing indebtedness of the Borough of Akron for the 28 Unfunded police Liability in the amount of $200,000.00 for adoption at the June 29 27, 2022 Akron Borough Council meeting. The loan is through the Ephrata 30 National Bank. Ryan Cochran seconded the motion. Motion carried. Nathan 31 Imhoff abstained from any discussion or voting on this motion due to a conflict of 32 interest. 33 34 Meeting handed back to Council President, Nathan Imhoff. 35 9  1 Budget Donations 2 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to approve the donation to the Akron 3 Volunteer Fire Company in the amount of $17,500.00 (1/2 of the total 2022 4 annual donation). Bonnie Young seconded the motion. Motion carried. 5 6 Justin Gehman made a motion to approve the donation to the Ephrata Public 7 Library in the amount of $10,000.00 (1/2 of the total 2022 annual donation). Ryan 8 Cochran seconded the motion. Motion carried but not unanimous. Paul 9 Swangren, Jr voted no and Bonnie Young abstained from voting. 10 11 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to approve the donation to the Ephrata Area 12 Recreation Center in the amount of $6,240.00 (total 2002 annual donation). Justin 13 Gehman seconded the motion. Motion carried but not unanimous. Kleon 14 Zimmerman voted no. 15 16 Kleon Zimmerman made a motion to approve the donation to the Historical 17 Society of the Cocalico Valley in the amount of $2,500.00 (total 2002 annual 18 donation). Paul Swangren, Jr. seconded the motion. Motion carried. 19 20 Bonnie Young made a motion to approve the donation to the Ephrata Community 21 Ambulance Association in the amount of $5,000.00 (total 2002 annual donation). 22 Kleon Zimmerman seconded the motion. Motion carried. 23 24 Wolf Tract Escrow 25 Ryan Cochran made a motion in accordance with Hanover Engineering’s 26 recommendation to approve the Escrow Reduction #5 for the Wolf Tract in the 27 amount of $25,708.50. Financial security will no longer be retained for this 28 project. Kleon Zimmerman seconded the motion. Paul Swangren, Jr. mentioned 29 there are issues with bio-retention basin and is concerned with who is going to 30 maintain it. 31 Roll Call 32 Bonnie Young – Abstained 33 Ryan Cochran-Yes 34 Kleon Zimmerman-Yes 35 Paul Swangren, Jr. – No 10  1 Justin Gehman – Yes 2 Nathan Imhoff -No 3 Motion carried. 4 5 Resolutions 6 Sidewalk/Curb Colonial Drive. Edgehill Drive and Manor Ridge Drive 7 8 Ryan Cochran made a motion to approve Resolution #2344 per the Akron 9 Borough Code, Section 21-101 part 1, requiring sidewalks as defined in Section 10 21-101. To be installed by the abutting property owners, at their own expense for 11 the Colonial Drive, Edgehill Drive and Manor Ridge Roadway Project. Justin 12 Gehman seconded the motion. Paul Swangren, Jr. abstained from discussion and 13 voting. Bonnie Young and Kleon Zimmerman voted no. Motion carried. 14 15 Ryan Cochran made a motion to adopt Resolution #2345 which allows for the 16 destruction and disposal of certain Borough records as identified in Exhibit A of 17 the Resolution. Paul Swangren, Jr. seconded the motion. Motion carried. 18 19 The Lancaster County Association of Twp. Supervisors Picnic Golf Outing is July 28, 20 2022. Please contact staff if you are interested in attending. 21 22 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ryan Cochran 23 seconded the motion. Motion carried. 24 25 Meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m. 26 27 Respectfully submitted, 28 29 Susan Davidson 30 Borough Manager/Secretary 31 32 SD 11