City Council

1 Borough of Akron Council Meeting-March 11, 2024 2 3 Council Members Present: Nathan Imhoff, President; Justin Gehman-Vice President, Kleon 4 Zimmerman, Paul Swangren, Jr., Ryan Cochran, Bonnie Young, Tonya Haynes, Max Herman- 5 Junior Council Member, Earianne Evangelista-Junior Council Member 6 Rebecca Abraham-Junior Council Member 7 8 9 Others Present: Mayor John McBeth, Susan Davidson, Borough Manager; Sean Molchany, Asst 10 Borough Manager; Suzanne Lausch, Minute Taker 11 12 Visitors: 13 John Taylor, 216 S 8th St Akron 14 Sue Glick 119 S. 10th St Akron 15 Tom Burnett 724 Fulton St. Akron 16 Christine Erb, 109 Vista Dr. Akron 17 Tom Murray, 219 S. 11th St Akron 18 Chief Eric Higgins, West Earl Police Department 19 Isabelle Erb, 109 Vista Dr. Akron 20 Claire McAleer, 16 Garland Lane Akron 21 Kim Hoffman 121 Third St. Akron 22 Emily Hoffman 121 Third St. Akron 23 24 Roll Call 25 Kleon Zimmerman-present 26 Paul Swangren, Jr-present 27 Ryan Cochran-present 28 Bonnie Young-present 29 Nathan Imhoff President-present 30 Justin Gehman Vice President-present 31 Tonya Haynes-present 32 Mayor John McBeth-present 33 Earianne Evangelista-Junior Council Member-present 34 Rebecca Abraham-Junior Council Member-present 35 Max Herman-Junior Council Member-present 36 Meeting opened at 6:32 with the Pledge of Allegiance. 37 38 Approval of Minutes 39 Motion by to approve minutes for February 26, 2024 40 Motion to approve minutes for February 26, 2024 by Paul Swangren, Jr; second by Ryan 41 Cochran 42 No discussion 43 Motion approved 44 1  1 Visitors/Comments from Public 2 Emily Hoffman, Claire McAleer and Isabelle Erb are High School students at Lancaster Catholic 3 High and are attending the meeting to fulfill a school requirement for a government class. 4 Council welcomed them and asked if they had any questions. Council did give a summary of 5 each Council committee. 6 7 Bills 8 Ryan Cochran moved to approve the March 2024 Borough of Akron disbursements and fund 9 the appropriate account for the disbursements as reviewed by the Finance committee. Second 10 by Kleon Zimmerman 11 Motion carried 12 Reports/Announcements 13 Police- “Coffee with a Cop”-scheduled for March 26, 2024 14 -Annual Summary Report was given to council from West Earl Police Department to review. 15 February report will be done by next week. 16 Interviewing for new officer at this time. 17 Last year West Earl Police Department took in more than 50 dogs and reunited with family or 18 adopted out. West Earl Police Department will be implementing a kennel fee because of 19 number of animals being picked up and the cost to kennel them or find families or adopters. 20 The fee would be $50.00/night. West Earl Police Department can only keep the dogs for 48 21 hours then they would go to the SPCA. 22 Chief Higgins plans to ask a Vet in Brownstown to collaborate for sponsoring an event to get 23 owners to chip the pets. 24 Tonya Haynes recommended that they check with Lancaster County about licensing and 25 chipping the animals. 26 West Earl does have a chip reader to identify the animal. 27 A question regarding cats was raised, but the West Earl Police Department does not keep cats 28 although they have a chip reader if the pet has a chip. 29 Mayor asked if the Borough would need to prepare a resolution as well. 30 National Night Out question from Justin Gehman regarding a group to help moving forward if 31 another officer is not found to replace the previous one who planned the event. 32 Mayor Report-none 33 34 Manager’s Report 35 Administration & Finance 36 February 2024 month -end financials have been reconciled. 37 March 2024 payables will be reviewed by Finance Committee. 38 Herbein Co. started the annual audit on January 22, 2024. Staff and Finance Chairperson will be 39 meeting with Herbein & Co. on March 18, 2024. Herbein & Co will do a presentation at a 40 Council meeting and no date has been scheduled at this time. 41 42 Parks & Property 43 Park pavilion/lodge rental reservation scheduling has been busy the past few weeks. 44 No reports of vandalism at the Broad St. Park 2  1 Staff reached out to Rosenberger in regard to the Colonial Park Pavilion ribbon cutting and 2 Rosenberg e-mailed with the dates of April 27 or April 28, 2024 would work best for him. Staff 3 would like to get back to Ryan with an answer as soon as possible to finalize the date. 4 Stream Embankment/Rain Garden update at Roland Park-Plans have been submitted to the 5 state for permitting. Memorial plaques have been removed and are being stored at the 6 maintenance shop. 7 Staff reached out to the US Running Group about Council allowing them to go through Akron 8 but a certificate of Insurance is required. Rebekah Hamner from the 2024 Get Outdoors 9 Program was also notified that Council approved her request for the 2024 program. 10 Lancaster Mennonite School requested permission to do the annual roadside/park cleanup. A 11 supervised group of students from the school will pick up trash at Roland Park on April 18 th 12 from 9am -1:00pm (Rain date is April 19th). All trash picked up will be removed from the park by 13 This group. The school has been doing this for the past few years without issue. Paul Swangren, 14 Jr asked if we know how much trash is picked up each year and put this information in our 15 annual MS4 report. 16 Pavilions and bathrooms at Roland Park and bathrooms at the Broad Street Park will be opened 17 on April 1, 2024. 18 19 Streets 20 2024 Liquid fuels monies have been received at a total of $122,938.00; an increase of $1665.00 21 more than estimated. 22 Street Sweeping is scheduled for Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5, 2024. Residents will be 23 notified. 24 25 Public Utilities 26 Sewer flow numbers are high due to large amount of rain the past few weeks. 27 Staff received a summary report of the inspections of the standpipe and reservoir and was 28 forwarded to the Public Utilities Committee. Staff is setting up a virtual meeting with the 29 engineers in March to discuss the report. 30 Staff will let council member know date of virtual meeting with the engineer. 31 Water/Sewer bills are due on March 15, 2024. 32 33 Community Relations 34 The Lions Club Annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place Saturday, March 30, 2024 at 1pm in the 35 Roland Park near pavilion #1. 36 Chief Higgins is working with staff on setting a date in March for “Coffee with a Cop”. Details to 37 be sent to Council as available. 38 39 Planning & Zoning 40 There is a Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 6:30pm to 41 review the Conditional Use Application for 22 N. 7th St. 42 No Zoning hearings at this time. 43 44 Personnel 3  1 Randy Gockley has reached to Greg Leisey, Tim Hoffman, AVFC Chief; Tom Murray, Jr., Chief 2 Higgins and Borough staff with a draft of the Emergency Management Plan to get input and 3 make updates. Staff has not received any updates and will reach out to Randy Gockley for plan 4 status update. 5 6 Other Business 7 A Liaison meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 6:00pm at the Akron Borough 8 Office. This meeting is to discuss and communicate Police matters between Akron Borough and 9 West Earl. These meetings are scheduled twice a year alternating between Akron and West 10 Earl. 11 Ambulance report was sent to council via e-mail per council’s request. 12 The new Toolcat was purchased and delivered this past week. The old Toolcat sold on 13 Municibid for $15,100.00 14 Lancaster County Assoc. of Twp Supervisors Meeting Invitation-April 30, 2024. Contact staff if 15 you plan on attending. 16 Mayor McBeth asked about the AVFC coverage of Columbia Fire Department. This was a 17 request from the CVFC to cover during their banquet. 18 19 Board Vacancies 20 Building Code Appeals Board 21 Vacancy Board 22 Paul Swangren, Jr. asked that staff send requirements for position so they could solicit 23 someone for this board. Nathan Imhoff stated John Taylor indicated he would be interested in 24 the position. 25 Add Vacancy Board to next agenda 26 27 Finance-reviewed by Ryan Cochran 28 Fund balances February 29,2024 29 General Fund-$109,186.47 General Fund Reserves 30 Water Fund-$1,450.59 Restricted (Goal) $144,363.00 31 Sewer Fund-$173,273.06 Total-$144,363.00 32 Highway Aid-$53,925.36 33 General Fund Reserves 34 Restricted-$58,000.00 35 Operating-$77,574.36 36 Capital-$110,156.52 37 Total-$245,730.88 38 Water Fund Reserves 39 Restricted-$72,992.00 40 Operating-$185,550.66 41 Capital-$0.00 42 Total-$258,542.66 43 Sewer Fund Reserves 44 Restricted-$121,822.00 4  1 Operating-$39,326.45 2 Capital-$0.00 3 Total-$161,138.45 4 Capital Projects-$1,790.57 5 Community Fund-$1703.59 6 Non-Uniform Pension-$3,764.64 7 Total-$1,010,506.27 8 Escrow-$6,456.46 9 10 Paul Swangren, Jr. asked about Highway aid fund. Monies will show up next month because it 11 was received on March 1, 2024 and the finance report reflects February 2024. 12 Escrow held for Park House. 13 Nathan Imhoff requested a General Fund Reserves update. Staff will update when decisions 14 made regarding the fund. 15 Ryan Cochran gave visitors a summary of the funds and how the monies are designated. 16 17 Community 18 Parks & Property 19 Nothing 20 Tonya Haynes asked about a picnic table for Colonial Park. Two picnic tables at new pavilion 21 and two at the playground 22 Junior Council Members Report 23 Max Herman shared that he is on a team for brain busters for Ephrata High School. Earianne 24 Evangelista and Tonya Haynes met to plan a cultural night with different foods to bring the 25 community together for a night of fellowship. 26 Rebecca Abraham received a Keystone award. 27 Relations 28 Bonnie Young will be advertising for “Coffee with a Cop”. Bonnie also mentioned a Borough 29 Council member will be donating to the concerts in the park, but we still do not have as much 30 as last year. Susan Davidson said that there is money in the budget that could help pay for the 31 concerts. $2400.00 needed for four concerts. Council would like to seek a second donation to 32 cover the costs. 33 Personnel Report- 34 Paul Swangren, Jr. requested an executive meeting later in meeting 35 Streets Report-none 36 Ryan Cochran asked about the engineer’s report regarding the signal crossing. Sean Molchany 37 explained that the current crossings for the Rail Trail located at Main and Fulton Streets are old 38 and need updated. Staff is waiting for information from our Engineer. 39 Public Utilities Report-none 40 Paul Swangren, Jr. asked about the streetlights and switching to LED to save on electricity. Tom 41 Murray, Jr. mentioned that 300 were switched over. Paul Swangren, JR. asked about savings 42 since the switch. Susan Davidson replied that they are seeing a savings and staff did shop 43 electric rates in the past two years. Ryan Cochran shared that the electric bill is complicated 44 due to different lights. Underground is more expensive than above ground to replace. 5  1 Public Hearings/Presentations/Appointments 2 Old Business 3 New Business 4 A. Resolutions 5 B. Ordinances 6 C. Motions and Decisions 7 D. Acknowledgments 8 E. Other Business/Deliberations 9 F. Correspondence and Petitions 10 a. Lancaster Co. Assoc. of Twp. Supervisors Meeting Invitation-April 30, 2024 11 G. Executive Session 12 Executive Session 13 Paul Swangren, Jr. called for an executive session related to personnel at 7:25 p.m. Second by 14 Ryan Cochran 15 Motion carried 16 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to end the Executive session and continue meeting at 17 7:37pm; second by Bonnie Young 18 Motion carried 19 Paul Swangren Jr. Made a motion to offer Sean Molchany position as Borough Manager; second 20 Ryan Cochran. Letter of offer would indicate that this position offer would be immediate. 21 Motion carried 22 Paul Swangren, Jr. made a motion to offer Sue Davidson as Assistant Borough Manager; second 23 Bonnie Young; motion carried. Letter of offer would indicate that this position would be 24 immediate. 25 26 Additional Comment: 27 Max Herman shared that the Brain Busters show would air -Ephrata vs Cedar Cliff March 23, at 28 12:30pm 29 30 Adjournment -Motion to adjourn at 7:40 p.m. by Paul Swangren, Jr.; second by Kleon 31 Zimmerman 32 Motion carried 33 34 Meeting adjourned. 35 36 Respectfully submitted, 37 38 Susan Davidson 39 Assistant Borough Manager/Secretary 40 41 SD 42 6