City Council

BELLEFONTE BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING OF January 3rd, 2022 In-Person, Council Chambers REORGANIZATION MEETING ATTEND IN PERSON – The Council Chambers is open to the public with normal or standard occupancy levels. FACE COVERING/MASKS ARE REQUIRED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Masks are available at the sign-in desk. VIEW LIVE FEED/RECORDING OF BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETINGS–Borough Council meetings can be viewed live on YouTube at https://youtu.be/nZBLrwcPJTA and are also recorded. Recordings can be viewed on CNET, Comcast’s Government Education Channel 7, or at www.cnet1.org ATTEND VIRTUALLY- Please contact the Borough via email: boro@bellefontepa.gov or phone: 814-355-1501 before 4PM on Monday, January 3rd, 2022 to receive the Link to the meeting 7:30 PM CALL MEETING TO ORDER – Mayor Johnson Presiding: SWEARING IN OF NEWLY ELECTED MEMBER(S) – Mayor Johnson PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: MOMENT OF SILENCE: ROLL CALL: Mr. Bernier, North Ward Ms. McKean, West Ward Mr. Brachbill, SouthWard Ms. Purnell, North Ward Ms. Cleeton, South Ward Ms. Sedgwick, West Ward Ms. Dann, South Ward Ms. Tosti-Vasey, West Ward Mr. Johnson, North Ward Mayor Johnson, At Large Nomination and Election of Officers. The Mayor accepts nominations for the office. Nominations do not require a second and are voted on in the order that nominations are made. Voting continues until one nominee attains a majority vote. Once officers are elected, the mayor turns the gavel over to the newly elected president. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF COUNCIL PESIDENT PRO TEM TRANSFER OF GAVEL FROM MAYOR TO PRESIDENT 1 ADDITIONS TO THE COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA In accordance with Act 65 of 2021, If a matter is not on the Agenda, Council cannot take official action on it with some exceptions. Council can act on matters relating to potential or real emergencies. Council may add a matter of agency business to its agenda through majority vote. Council should state the reason why the action item is being added to the Agenda. Council may vote to add an action item(s) to the agenda PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ACTION ITEMS (ORAL): This Public Comment period is reserved for oral comments regarding any action items listed on this meeting agenda or added by majority vote at this meeting. Please sign in, come to the podium at the appropriate time, state your name and address and which itemyou are speaking about. Please try to limit comments to three minutes maximum. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS (ORAL): This Public Comment period is normally reserved for oral comments regarding items not listed on this meeting agenda. Please state your name and address and the issue you are speaking about. Please try to limit comments to three minutes maximum. CONSENT AGENDA All items listed on the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine and will be acted upon by a singlemotion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the Council request specific items to be removed for separate action. Council Action Requested General Council Meeting Minutes of December 20th, 2021 COMMUNICATIONS (written): Letter from Borough Manager to Members of Council and Mayor Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Support for Joe Beigle Downtown Bellefonte Inc. (DBI) 2022 Events. Civicplus letter Regarding Nomination of Downtown Bellefonte Inc. (DBI) OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS ZONING: 140 Railroad Street – demolition application [COUNCIL ACTION NEEDED] Memo to Council from Gina Thompson, HARB, Zoning & Planning Administrator 2 RESOURCES These resources are being provided for your information. We are not intending to go over them in detail during the meeting but will highlight a few items. Please contact Ralph or Don with any questions. Reorganization Meeting How To Bellefonte Borough general information – bellefonte.net website Borough ordinances - bellefonte.net/residents/borough-ordinances or search “Bellefonte E360 Ordinances” Boroughs.org - PA State Association of Boroughs (PSAB) website PA Borough Code - boroughs.org/borough code Borough News – December 2021 Issue. You may have received a copy. Copies will be at the table for new members. Newly Elected Municipal Official (NEMO) training 2022 Flyer PA Association of Boroughs Member Services 2022 PSAB Webinar Schedule 2022 PSAB ONLINE LEARNING Schedule Borough Council Handbook Borough Mayors Manual What Are the Duties of a President of Council Parliamentary Procedures Conflict of Interest-abstention Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act (Open Meetings Law) Local Government Fact Sheet Council-Manager form of Government OLD BUSINESS Memo re conduct of public meetings & council president rotation. FYI Proposal for Rotating Council Leadership Roles. Council may take Action to Adopt Proposal Resolution on Conduct at Public Meetings draft. Council may Take Action to Adopt Resolution December 20th Council Meeting Motion to reinstate two parking spaces at northwest corner of Diamond. This action was not taken due to the police department raising concerns about safety (backing into the parking spaces) and having the appropriate ordinance language to enforce. I am recommending further discussion prior to these spaces being reinstated. Council may take some action on this. Adopted 2022 Budget and Tax Ordinance. Under the PA Borough Code, the new council is permitted to re-open the budget and re-consider the tax ordinance. If council desires to do this, then any amendments need to be completed by February 15th, 2022. Council may take action to re-open the budget and tax ordinance. Ratification of Public Works Contract Agreement Completed. The Agreement was approved by the Union after the Dec. 20th council meeting. Borough council approved the Agreement at the December 6th meeting. Copies will be distributed as soon as possible. No council action requested. Meeting Dates for 2022. These dates were approved at the December 20th council meeting. FYI. No council action is requested. NEW BUSINESS Borough Council Mandate for Masks/Face Coverings In the Borough Building. This item was added to the agenda by request. Council may decide to modify this order. Consider Appointments/Reappointments to Authorities, Boards and Commissions. Council is responsible for appointing citizens to borough authorities, boards and commissions when terms expire or when vacancies occur. Terms do not expire until the first Monday in January. Please see the list of appointments included in the meeting materials. There are vacancies with no applicants at this time. Council action requested. Appointment of Vacancy Board Chair. In the event of a council vacancy, council has 30 days to fill it. If council does not, the vacancy goes to the Vacancy Board (all of council + one citizen who acts as the 3  Chair). The vacancy board has a period of time to meet and consider the vacancy. If not filled by the vacancy board, then the court does it. Dave Provan has served in this capacity for many years. Dave is not interested in being re-appointed. Council action is requested. Standing Committees. Bellefonte Borough has a tradition of having Standing Committees of Council. As Borough Manager and Secretary, I am recommending that Council not create Standing Committees for at least one year due to the fact that five new council members are joining council. To my knowledge this is unprecedented for Bellefonte Borough. My reasons for not having standing committees and meeting as a “committee of the whole” are as follows:  It is highly valuable in your learning curve if you get to hear and participate in all discussions, especially in the area of finances  Everyone on Council receives the same information, at the same time, and is part of the same conversation  This is the most effective and efficient way for all council members to know the status of any issue or topic and to move toward a vote  This is the most transparent method of operation. All work is done together in a recorded work session. The public and/or anyone absent can view the video recording. If Council decides to have Standing Committees, it is the prerogative of the President to decide what Standing Committees will be established, who is the chair, and who is assigned to them. This is typically done between the 1st and 2nd meeting in January. If working as a “committee of the whole” is preferred, then the work session agenda would be used to discuss issues that need work prior to formal council action. Council may decide to have Standing Committees or to meet as a “Committee of the Whole.” Council Action Requested. Work Session of January 18th, 2022 (note the council meeting is moved to Tuesday, the 18th because of MLK Day). I would like to use this work session to provide a brief update/overview of larger projects/issues such as:  Armory property  Strategic management plan – LERTA draft ordinance  Council retreat - purpose, timing  Short Term Rental Ordinance Draft/stakeholder work  List of 2022 Goals included in the Budget  Projects/issues of interest to the new council. Council should consider if this agenda is acceptable for the work session on January 18th. If so, please indicate any additional projects/issues. If not, please provide input on what topics should be scheduled. Council action requested. Consider any increases in non-union employee wages. See memo. Council may take action to modify wage rates for non-union employees. ADJOURNMENT: The council meeting will be adjourned at or as close as possible to 9:00 PM TIME PM 4 5