Borough Council

MEETING MINUTES FOLCROFT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 21st, 2023 LOCATION: 1555 Elmwood Avenue, Folcroft PA 19032 President Papaleo called the meeting to order at 7:00pm Mayor DiCicco led the flag salute and invocation. Roll Call (Council President Papaleo, Councilmember Leigh Daly, Councilmember Tawana Grayson, Councilmember Malinda Isaac, Councilmember Lorna Fyffe, Councilmember Stephen Ropski, Councilmember Ike Wilson, Mayor Franny DiCicco, Solicitor James Gallagher, Secretary/Manager Andrew Hayman) all present Audience Participation There was no audience participation Engineer’s Report Mr. Van-Otoo said that the municipal complex project update is that the water service has been installed and the sanitary sewer is being worked on and more fill is being put in on the site. Mr. Van- Otoo said that the new addresses are 797 and 799 Ashland Avenue. Mr. Van-Otoo said that Folcroft MS4 services there is a lot of work with compliance regulations there has to be work to ensure no issues with discharge. Mr. Van-Otoo said some documentation is still needed for this program. Mr. Van-Otoo said the shared driveways project has been completed with valley view drive being the last section of the community to be completed. Mr. Van-Otoo said payment application number four is up for payment and the entire project is under budget by $150,000 or so and more paving could theoretically be done. Mr. Van-Otoo said he would do a walkthrough this week. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the Folcroft solid waste recycling collection contract is ready and advertisement dates were submitted this afternoon. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the DCIU school review is complete and the project is being split into two different phases – one for construction of the parking lot and one for the design of a roundabout. Mr Papaleo asked if phase one included the additional floor above the parking garage. A guest from DCIU said project one phase one and two and then project two is road improvements. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the 7/11 project cost estimate shows an additional $221,000 work of work being done not included on the first cost estimate which will change the amount of funds escrowed. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the Popeyes is completed and noticed some concrete damage on the sidewalks which will be completed at the end of the month and some bonds need to be released for Safestor for this project. Ms. Grayson asked the timeline for the 7/11 to start work. Mr. Van-Otoo said that after the letter of credit is rectified the work can start in March or April. Mr. Van-Otoo said he would clarify once he gets the letter. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the contractor has been on site several times and made contact with the business. Ms. Grayson said that she sometimes sees workers on site earlier. Public Finance & Administration - Mr. Papaleo • Ms. Daly made a motion to approve the bill list for the month of January, 2023 seconded by Ms. Isaac. The motion passed unanimously. • Mr. Ropski made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for the month of January, 2023 seconded by Ms. Isaac. The motion passed unanimously. • Mr. Wilson motion to approve the January 17th 2023 Meeting Minutes Ms. Daly seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered an MOU with the Delaware County Intermediate Unit regarding traffic modifications. Mr. Ropski made the motion seconded by Ms. Isaac. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered a triparty agreement with the DCIU. Ms. Isaac made the motion seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. Public Works - Ms. Grayson • Members considered resolution 2023-02 approving the sale of a 2014 Dodge Ram Grayson. Ms. Grayson said there are some misfires with the truck and other issues. Ms. Grayson made the motion seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered resolution 2023-01 approving the sale of a 2006 Ford F350 Ms. Grayson made the motion seconded by Ms. Isaac. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered ratifying the purchase of a 2014 Ford F250 that was purchased on municibid from Whitpain Township. Ms. Grayson said that this was a vote by phone and that the sale of the other vehicles is in exchange. Ms. Grayson made the motion seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. Public Safety– Mr. Ropski • Motion to approve the January 2023 Police report. Ms. Daly said that traffic citations went from 16 to 1,652. Mr. Bair said that this is from tickets going to citations and that many tickets have gone to citation. Mr. Bair said he could get more information later. Mr. Bair said that when tickets are unpaid they go to citation. Ms. Daly said that tickets went from 18 in January to 783 in January. Mr. Bair said that right now the Borough is at 347 issued in the month of February. Ms. Grayson asked the time frame or whether this was done quarterly. Mr. Bair said that tickets weren’t received for quite some time because people weren’t paying. Mr. Bair described turning in the box of tickets to the courts. Ms. Grayson asked about the number of calls, whether it is just the calls in Folcroft or all together. Mr. Bair said it depending and that it could be calls for service in Folcroft, assists or people entering the building although not all of these are entered. Ms. Grayson asked if outside calls are tracked. Mr. Bair said that he would have to look that up and he could probably look that up. Mr. Bair said that once a call goes in a code number could be put in and he would be able to track this. Mr. Wilson asked if calls in other municipalities are reimbursed. Mr. Bair said that he did not and mostly officers go to Sharon Hill, Darby Township, Collingdale and sometimes in Glenolden though this is a different sector. Mr. Bair said this is mutual aid and provided scenarios of when officers could be brought in from other municipalities. Mr. Bair said he did not want individuals to sit and wait. Mr. Ropski made the motion and Ms. Daly seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Members considered appointing William Matthews as interim Fire Marshal retroactive to February 1, 2023 Mr. Ropski made the motion seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. Mayor DiCicco swore in Mr. Matthews. Mr. Ropski made a motion to Younes Boujida as a part-time Police Officer seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. A motion to approve the December and January marshal’s report was made by Mr. Ropski and seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. Public Health and Literacy - Ms. Fyffe • No new business. Public Parks and Recreation – Ms. Daly • No new business. Municipal Ordinances and Code Enforcement – Mr. Wilson • Mr. Wilson said he is proposing an ordinance to keep smoke shops more than 1000 feet from a school. Mr. Wilson said this might be his last action before he leaves. Mr. Papaleo suggested considering this ordinance and said it would be here soon enough. Municipal Planning and Borough Beautification – Ms. Isaac • No new business. New Building – Ms. Grayson • Ms. Grayson said she just had a meeting with engineering staff and the builders and it now looks like the new completion date will be December or January. Ms. Grayson said she is going to try to work with the team to get this cut down somewhat and said that Edwin would work his magic on the site. She said she would keep council posted and that there would not be more delays like the two month delay from before. Mr. Papaleo asked for a price adjustment for the flooring in the gym. Mr. Hayman said it had not been received yet. Ms. Grayson confirmed this and gave examples of places that have newer gyms where the wooden floors were not preserved. Ms. Grayson said that the floors are too slipper with synthetic materials and that teams do not want to use them. Driveways and Parking Permits – Ms. Daly • Consider payment application #4 in the amount of $296,940.66. Ms. Daly made the motion seconded by Ms. Isaac. Ms. Grayson asked about the aprons. Ms. Daly said that some of these are in bad shape and need repairs. Ms. Grayson said that she wanted to make sure she understood who owns them. Mr. Papaleo said these are technically private property and not borough owned. Ms. Daly said this is correct but it is part of the alleyway system. Mr. Papaleo said he thought this would be great. Ms. Daly attributed damage to trash trucks. Mr. Papaleo asked what it would look like if rebar is used. Mr. Van-Otoo said the aprons are thicker but noted that asphalt cannot be placed in one big lump. Mr. Van-Otoo said that asphalt is placed in strips. Mr. Papaleo said that aprons cannot be replaced with asphalt. Mr. Papaleo said he would be fine with replacing them with concrete but not asphalt. Mr. Papaleo said that property owners are cited for not having this done correctly so the Borough cannot do this either. Mr. Papaleo said he supports the plan but it needs to be done correctly. Ms. Daly said that she received a quote from Abbonizio in concrete. Mr. Van-Otoo said that he would seek clarification about this. Mr. Papaleo reiterated his intention to get this done with asphalt. Ms. Daly said some aprons need to be repaired, otherwise water will get under them and noted a property on Edwards Road where this is an issue. Mr. Papaleo asked to have rebar be investigated for this. Mr. Van-Otoo said most rebar has wire mesh for the same reason but said he would look into it. Chief Bair said that crime watch was uploaded a few years ago and he would present what he had received so councilmembers could see what was being reported. Mr. Bair said he hadn’t had the expected success with residents registering ring cameras as had been hoped but he blamed some of this on COVID however flyers never went out. Mr. Bair said he was hoping to have the state trooper would come back and issue tickets. Mr. Bair said he would look into the cost of repairing the damaged field behind borough hall. Mr. Bair said that last week the anti crime unit made arrests on Windsor circle and that there would be more busts coming with thousands of dollars in drugs and money received. Mr. Bair recommended Lorraine Millison had applied to be a crossing guard and paid for a background check and noted that there are no issues in her background. A motion to hire Lorraine Millison was made by Ms. Daly and seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. Solicitor’s Report The solicitor had no report. Finance Director’s Report Ms. Stilwell said the audit is happening this week and the auditor would be on site on Thursday. Mr. Papaleo said the general fund looks good for this time of year. Borough Manager’s Report Manager Hayman presented a report on code enforcement, the Highway department and other matters. Old Business Ms. Grayson said that last month members spoke about the community garden and that she spoke to Shawn Payne and that the tree in question was dead but noted it would be potentially costly to remove. Mr. Hayman noted that the tree is also full of water. Ms. Grayon said the tree would come down. There was no new business. Ms. Daly made a motion to adjourn at 7:44pm seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously.