City Council

1 Borough of Akron Council Meeting-April 24, 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 not present) 5 6 Others Present: Mayor John McBeth, Susan Davidson, Borough Manager; Sean Molchany, 7 Assistant Borough Manager; Suzanne Lausch, Minute Taker 8 9 Visitors: 10 John Taylor, 216 S 8th St Akron 11 Police Chief Higgins; West Earl Police Department 12 13 Roll Call 14 Kleon Zimmerman-present 15 Paul Swangren, Jr-present 16 Randall Justice-absent 17 Ryan Cochran-present 18 Bonnie Young-absent 19 Nathan Imhoff President-present 20 Justin Gehman Vice President-present 21 Mayor John McBeth-present 22 23 Meeting opened at 6:30pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. 24 25 Approval of Minutes 26 Motion to approve minutes for April 10, 2023 27 Motion by Ryan Cochran; second by Kleon Zimmerman. On page three of the minutes, line 1 it 28 should say April 20, 2023 not April 27, 2023. On page 4, line 15 there is a typo it should state 29 2023 not 3023. 30 Motion carried 31 32 Randall Justice arrived at 6:35 p.m. 33 34 Visitors/Comments from Public 35 None 36 Zoom-one person Sue Glick 37 38 Bills-no report 39 40 Reports/Announcements 41 Police Report- 42 Report submitted to Council by West Earl Police Chief Higgins. Chief Higgins will be on leave 43 May 9 through May 23 2023.. Nathan Imhoff asked Police Chief Higgins if the West Earl Police 1  1 Department is active in investigating drug dealings when reported by Akron residents. Chief 2 shared that their police officers will check out the information and if necessary, they will share 3 with the Lancaster County Drug Enforcement Department. 4 Mayor Report 5 Mayor McBeth shared that he learned a lot about homeless persons and what is being done to 6 assist them. Mayor McBeth attended the Ephrata meetings on Homelessness and shared that 7 groups in Ephrata Borough work independently of each other and should share their resources. 8 Six to eight organizations work with the homeless population in Ephrata Borough. 9 Recommendation at these was to combine resources and use a central location for resources. 10 Mayor McBeth also mentioned that the Ephrata police said that no one has been attacked by a 11 homeless person in Ephrata. Chief Higgins said that homeless persons will only be referred to 12 Ephrata resources if the person has ties to the Ephrata community. 13 14 Managers’ Report-none 15 Finance Report-none 16 Community Relations Report-none 17 Parks and Property Report 18 Nathan Imhoff talked with Mr. Spensor, CEO of Rosenberger and shared that he was happy 19 with Borough getting a contractor for the Colonial Park Pavilion 20 Susan Davidson mentioned that there will be a home school track and field by the Lititz home 21 educators on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at the Roland Park in the morning. 22 Nathan Imhoff asked about parking for the Roland Park and asked if there are any grants for 23 those types of items. Sean Molchany shared that Akron doesn’t qualify for those grants 24 although he has submitted an application to DCNR for infrastructure improvements. 25 26 Personnel Report-Paul Swangren, Jr. shared that the new Administrative Assistant has started 27 and is doing well. Personnel Committee is still researching information on the Emergency 28 Management position. 29 30 Streets Report- 31 Street Project-Schedule- Manor Ridge/Edgehill Drive paving project is tentativley scheduled to 32 begin on April 26, 2023. Residents on Manor Ridge Drive and Edgehill Drive have been notified 33 34 Public Utilities Report-none 35 Council expressed concerned about lack of movement on current sewer project. Sean Molchany 36 states he will reach out to the Borough engineer and e-mail Council the status. 37 38 Public Hearings/Presentations/Appointments 39 Old Business 2  1 Food Vendor Trucks-no new information since the last meeting 2 Emergency Management Coordinator-discussion by committee ongoing 3 Jr. Council Member Program-Paul Swangren, Jr. shared that there is an Article in Borough News 4 magazine regarding Jr. Council program. Susan Davidson reiterated that in the interview 5 process that it be explained that it is a commitment. Nathan Imhoff feels that this would be a 6 good program for the students. Susan Davidson asked if Council will be moving forward on this 7 program and Sean Molchany asked who would be activating this program. Paul Swangren, Jr. 8 said that personnel committee could begin process and the school guidance counselors would 9 be contacted for additional information. A Resolution will be on the May 8, 2023 agenda 10 meeting for Council votes. Davidson asked council to review resolution for comments or 11 editing. School year would be the term timeframe for the students. Justin Gehman will contact 12 high school counselors for additional information. 13 14 Acknowledgments 15 Akron Borough Zoning Ordinance 16 Nathan Imhoff acknowledged receipt of the proposed Akron Borough Zoning Ordinance. The 17 Ordinance has been reviewed by the Akron Borough Planning Commission and has been 18 recommended for approval. Nathan Imhoff also authorized Borough Staff to forward a copy to 19 Lancaster County Planning for review, and forward a copy to the Borough Solicitor to advertise 20 a Public Hearing for June 26, 2023. 21 22 Adjournment -Motion to adjourn at 7:05 by Paul Swangren, Jr second by Kleon Zimmerman 23 Motion carried 24 Meeting adjourned. 25 26 Respectfully submitted, 27 28 Susan Davidson 29 Borough Manager/Secretary 30 31 SD 32 3