City Council

1 Borough of Akron Council Meeting-February 13, 2023 2 3 Council Members Present: Nathan Imhoff, President; Justin Gehman-Vice President; Kleon 4 Zimmerman, Paul Swangren, Jr., Ryan Cochran, Randall Justice, Bonnie Young 5 6 Others Present: Mayor John McBeth, Susan Davidson, Borough Manager; Sean Molchany, 7 Assistant Borough Manager; Suzanne Lausch, Minute Taker 8 Visitors: John Taylor, 216 S 8th St Akron 9 Tom Burnett 724 Fulton St. Akron 10 Richard Rupp, 1011 Oak St. Akron 11 David Jantzi, 50 Third St Akron 12 Tanya Carter, 905 Orchard St. Akron 13 Warren Carter, 905 Orchard St. Akron (Boy Scout) 14 Doug Evans 408 Edgehill Dr. Akron 15 Chief Eric Higgins, West Earl Police Department 16 17 Roll Call 18 Kleon Zimmerman-present 19 Paul Swangren, Jr-present 20 Randall Justice-present 21 Ryan Cochran-present 22 Bonnie Young-present 23 Nathan Imhoff, President-present 24 Justin Gehman, Vice President-present 25 Mayor John McBeth-present 26 27 Meeting opened at 6:30pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. 28 29 Approval of Minutes 30 Motion to approve minutes for January 23, 2023 31 Motion by Ryan Cochran second by Justin Gehman 32 Motion carried 33 34 Visitors/Comments from Public 35 Warren Carter- attended the meeting for his Communication Badge for Boy Scouts 36 David Jantzi-shared that he met with Sean Molchany to discuss his business of a mobile food 37 cart with coffee. 10,000 Villages offered to allow him to use land to set up the coffee cart. 38 David wondered if there could be some updates to ordinances to allow this type of set-up. 39 Sean-reviewed his proposal. Currently this type of business is only allowed for Special Events in 40 Akron. This type of business would have to meet requirements for second use under the 41 borough zoning. Akron is currently updating zoning ordinances and Sean offered him to come 42 to planning commission meeting to present his case. 43 44 A question raised as to what constitutes a permanent business? 1  1 Sean Molchany mentioned that a temporary time frame-less than 6 months. Monday through 2 Friday would be considered permanent. 3 Other municipalities consider it differently. 4 Nathan Imhoff is open to consider food trucks but planning and zoning committees would have 5 to update ordinances. 6 Nathan Imhoff asked what is timeframe for planning and zoning to update ordinances? 7 Molchany mentioned June/July 2023 would be earliest. David currently uses a small cart for his 8 service. 9 Question: According to current ordinances would he be able to set up on weekends to start? 10 Sean Molchany answered Akron currently allows food trucks for special events. Representative 11 from 10,000 Villages was also involved in meeting for information regarding the coffee/food 12 cart. 13 Currently this is only location David is considering. 14 Question: Is this considered a drive through or park and walk-up type of business? 15 Nathan recommended modeling from another municipality 16 This is in Akron 10-year plan for growth to have a coffee shop of some sort 17 Sean will look at municipal ordinances to review rules 18 Richard Rupp-observe 19 Doug Evans-wondering on progress of street project of Manor Ridge. Ephrata Township backed 20 out of their portion of the project due to other projects. Susan Davidson mentioned this item is 21 on the agenda for tonight’s meeting to accept the street bid proposal. 22 Tom Burnett- observing 23 24 Zoom-no one on line 25 26 Bills 27 Ryan Cochran made motion to approve bills for February 2023, second by Kleon Zimmerman 28 Motion approved 29 30 Reports/Announcements 31 32 Police Report-report submitted to Council and Mayor for their review. Chief Higgins from the 33 West Earl Police Department mentioned his department are updating policies for accreditation. 34 Proofs for outside group to review PF for accreditation 35 Assessment for accreditation is third phase 36 Kleon Zimmerman asked Chief Higgins- Does West Earl donate to Drug Enforcement task force? 37 Chief Higgins replied that West Earl contributes 50 cents per capita. Police chief feels that it is a 38 positive task force and good resource. 39 40 Mayor Report-none 41 42 Borough Managers Report 43 Administration & Finance 44 January 2023 month-end financials have been reconciled 2  1 February 2023 payables will be reviewed by the Finance Committee 2 January 2023 is very busy in the office because of year end closeout and reporting 3 W-2 and 1099 forms, PennDot reports, DCED have been completed and mailed or e-mailed. 4 Herbein & Co conducted the 2022 annual audit and AmTrust, the Borough’s Workman’s Comp 5 Company also conducted an audit. Herbein & Co will reach out and set up a meeting to review 6 the audit and will attend a Council meeting to review the audit at a date to be determined. 7 Ethic forms were mailed out to Council and other committee members. These are due back to 8 Borough secretary by May 1, 2023. 9 Water/Sewer bills will be mailed the week of February 13, 2023 and will be due March 15, 10 2023. 11 Parks & Property 12 Staff reached out to Monica Barnett the local rep for the proposed 5K run at Roland Park. 13 Monica said that she would be able to attend via Zoom on February 27, 2023. 14 Streets 15 Street project bids for 2023 came in on February 2, 2023 with Martin Paving being low bidder at 16 $207,288.40. Estimated cost was around $300,000. Item will be up for motion on February 13, 17 2023. Westview Drive dedication Ordinance is on the agenda for this evening’s meeting. A 18 completed work order was sent to PPL about the street lights to be installed on Westview 19 Drive. 20 Public Utilities 21 A pre-construction meeting for the Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project was scheduled for 22 Monday, February 13, 2023 at 1pm at Borough Office. 23 Public Works department continues to install meters and should be completed by the end of 24 the first 2023 quarter. 25 Borough received a letter from an Akron resident requesting relief from late fees for 26 water/sewer bill due to extenuating circumstances. 27 Community Relations 28 Bonnie Young and the Borough Manager met with Akron Borough’s Emergency Manager 29 Coordinator, Greg Leisey. Bonnie will be writing an article on this interview. 30 Planning & Zoning 31 The next planning commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 6, 2023. 32 Review of zoning updates is on the agenda. 33 No Zoning Hearings are scheduled at this time. 34 Other Business 35 Akron Fire Relief Audit for years 2018-2021 are now available to council members 36 Board Vacancies 37 Building Code Appeals Board 38 39 40 Administration and Finance 41 Print out of finances distributed to all council members 42 Paul Swangren, Jr.felt it could be e-mailed and not printed to save paper; Kleon agreed. A 43 printed copy could be requested. Will be done quarterly. 44 Ryan Cochran read into the minutes the January 2023 month-end balances 3  January 31, 2023 General Fund $45,560.60 Water Fund $1,268.68 Sewer Fund $141,053.40 Highway Aid $138,203.34 General Fund Reserves General Fund Reserves Restricted Restricted $158,000.00 (Goal) $144,363.00 Operating $37,205.65 Capital $423,996.54 Total $619,202.19 Total $144,363.00 Water Fund Reserves Restricted $72,992.00 Operating $242,750.57 Capital $0.00 Total $315,742.57 Sewer Fund Reserves Restricted $121,822.00 Operating $317,935.43 Capital $0.00 Total $439,757.43 Capital Projects $408.82 Community Fund $2,087.95 Non-Uniform Pension $2,550.43 Total $1,705,835.41 Escrow $6,115.95 1 4  1 2 Parks & Property-new information from Monica Barnett. She will attend the February 27, 2023 3 meeting via zoom. 4 Randall Justice said that there is some communication about the pavilion project and asks that 5 it be placed on the next agenda. Nathan Imhoff will inform Mr. Spenser from Rosenberger that 6 Council will be discussing the status of this proposed project at the next Council meeting. 7 8 Community Relations 9 Greg Leisey met with Bonnie Young to review what his job is as she thought it was interesting 10 for community to understand his role. The mayor is the person who would call an emergency. 11 Go and Dive Deep was a program for children to encourage families to exercise both mind and 12 body and 519 participated in this program through local library programming. 13 Randall’s office will support the summer music program in Akron again this year 14 Paul Swangren, Jr. would like Greg Leisey the Borough’s Emergency Management Coordinator 15 to come to a council meeting and give an update on emergency services 16 17 Personnel Report- 18 Since the last council meeting the Borough Manager sent the financial administrator job 19 description to Council. Next personnel meeting will focus on job description for review and 20 updates. February 27, 2023 at 6pm will be next personnel meeting 21 22 Streets Report 23 Martin’s Paving, Inc came in at the lowest bid at $207,288.40 for the Manor Ridge/Edgehill 24 Drive Street Project. 25 Others bids- 26 Construction Master Services, LLC -$218,652.00 27 New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co.- $231,804.56 28 Kinsley Construction Sitework- $249,800.00 29 E.K. Services Inc.- $255,180.39 30 H&K Group, Inc.- $275,549.00 31 JVI Group, Inc.- $279,282.00 32 CPA Pavement Services, Inc.- $366,117.60 33 Doug Evans asked how much to finish Manor Ridge? Sean Molchany mentioned it would just be 34 material and labor for Ephrata Township to finish. 35 Paul Swangren, Jr. commented that there were several bidders for the paving project and there 36 was a wide range of bids. Paul asked about contingency for additional needs and Sean 37 Molchany mentioned we do not have a contingency amount for the project. In engineer report 38 it appears project is on schedule. 39 Motion to accept bid from Martin’s Paving, Inc for the Manor Ridge/ Edgehill Drive Street 40 Project in the amount of $207,288.40 was made by Justin Gehman and seconded by Paul 41 Swangren, Jr. 42 Motion carried 43 44 Public Utilities Report- 5  1 Letter from Akron resident to have relief from late water/sewer payment. Discussion on details 2 of letter. 3 The Borough Manager explained that Akron Borough does charge for late payments. 4 Randall Justice commented that Borough office is able to handle these issues and council 5 should not really need to address these issues. 6 Council asked that staff deal with the issue 7 Pre construction meeting for sewer on New and S. 10th St. went well. Second week in March 8 2023 is expected start date contingent on manhole build. There will be full road closure during 9 the day but will work with neighbors for parking near homes. Discussion of detours etc. and 10 there will be a plan in place. Property owner notification will occur as soon as possible 11 12 Public Hearings/Presentations/Appointments 13 14 Old Business 15 West View Drive Dedication Process Petition-to be discussed 16 17 Roland Park 5K race request- link sent to council with additional information 18 19 Swiftreach-The Borough Manager reached out to other municipalities. Civic Ready is another 20 option that the Borough is researching information and will give report to council. 21 22 New Business 23 24 Resolutions 25 26 Ordinances 27 Ordinance 23-002 West View Dr. Dedication 28 Kleon Zimmerman motioned to approve ordinance 23-002 accepting dedication of a portion of 29 Westview Drive and additional right-a-way along Westview Drive as part of the public road 30 system in Akron Borough. Motion second by Ryan Cochran. 31 Motion passed. 32 33 Old Business/Deliberations 34 None 35 Correspondence and Petitions 36 School Resource Officer Quarterly Report-no comments 37 38 Akron Volunteer Firemen’s Relief Association Compliance Audit- 39 2 findings: tax exempt number needed from solicitor 40 Death benefit payout number now in writing 41 42 National Incident Management System Training Program 43 No longer necessary 44 Justin Gehman said that it is a good program 6  1 Most of fire department had this training as well as the mayor 2 3 Lancaster County Conservation District Annual Awards Banquet 4 If you are interested notify Staff 5 6 Mayor asked about sidewalk repairs and costs to residents. The Mayor asked if a property 7 owner does not meet the requirements because of lack of finances or other reasons, what will 8 be the cost to the property owner. No bids were reported and so the cost is unknown. The 9 Mayor mentioned that a previous comment made to property owners was that the Borough 10 would put in sidewalks, “They would do so at a reasonable cost, which would be assessed to 11 the property owner.” With the sidewalk project automatically being given to the street 12 contractor with no known price, it is not known if the sidewalks will be replaced at a reasonable 13 cost. It was then stated by a member of Council that at this point in time it’s more important to 14 the borough to have both projects done by the low bidder on the street project then it is to 15 consider the cost that is going to be charged property owners if the Borough puts in sidewalks. 16 Since taxpayer money will be tied up indefinitely if the Borough pays to put in the sidewalks. 17 The mayor asked what the interest rate return would be for the taxpayers. That questions was 18 not answered. Sean Molchany said that all but three residents are under contract and he 19 spoke to two of the three resident’s contractors. Residents were aware of need to do sidewalk 20 repairs for months. If the sidewalks are not completed by the time of the street project, the 21 sidewalks will be installed by the contractor and a lien will be put against the property until the 22 Borough is reimbursed for the work. 23 24 25 26 Adjournment -Motion to adjourn by Paul Swangren, Jr; second by Justin Gehman 27 Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. 28 29 Respectfully submitted, 30 31 Susan Davidson 32 Borough Manager/Secretary 33 34 SD 35 7