Borough Council

MEETING MINUTES FOLCROFT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 18, 2023 LOCATION: 1555 Elmwood Ave, Folcroft PA 19032 Council President Papaleo called the meeting to order at 7:00pm Mayor Dicicco led the flag salute and invocation. Roll call - Council President Papaleo was present, Councilmember Leigh Daly was present, Councilmember Tawana Grayson was present, Councilmember Malinda Isaac was present, Councilmember Lorna Fyffe was absent, Councilmember Stephen Ropski was present, Mayor Franny DiCicco was present, Solicitor James Gallagher, Secretary/Manager Andrew Hayman Audience Participation Mr. Shawn Dolan 1510 Baltimore Ave said he lives right by the train station and that the weeds and grass aren’t being cut regularly like they used to. Mr. Papaleo said he was aware of the location. Mr. Dolan asked who owned the property. Mr. Hayman said he believed Amtrak. Mr. Papaleo said that if a resident would receive a ticket for it then it should be addressed. Mr. Dolan said that cars frequently drive the wrong way on Baltimore Pike. Mr. Papaleo asked Mr. Woods to look into the matter. Mr. Dolan said that his mother sent taxes in three weeks ago and they haven’t been taken out of the ban yet. Mr. Dolan said he sent an email. Ms. Daly said to send email requests to the deputy tax collector. Ms. Petty asked for the address. Mr. Dolan provided his contact information. Mr. Papaleo spoke highly of Mr. Redding and spoke of his qualifications. Ms. Daly made a motion to appoint Mr. Redding to Borough Council seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. Mayor DiCicco swore in Mr. Redding. Mr. Redding said he was happy that he was voted in and mentioned that he is a practicing attorney who meets at Delaware County Community College but started his career as a mechanic and that he is not a stuffed shirt although he is an educated. Mr. Redding said he would bring a lot of common sense decisions to Council. Engineer’s Report Mr. Van-Otoo said that the municipal complex has a payment release on the agenda for tonight’s meeting for rough site grading, sewer connections, the retaining wall and a few other items including the basin liner and other material. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the site curbing is all in and the rough grading including modified stone prior to an asphalt base course which is expected in mid May. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the next meeting is scheduled for May 5 th on a biweekly basis which will contine. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the corners of the building will be staked out on the week of the 10 th. Mr. Van-Otoo said the shared driveway project has been completed and there are some punch list items to do and a few items that need to be redone depending on the status of the driveway apron. Mr. Van-Otoo said that there is some damage off of chester pike due to trash trucks making a wide turn at King Avenue. Mr. Van-Otoo said payment estimate number 6 in the amount of $47,500 is due. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the bid on pennbid for trash collection was opened and that there were three bids including H&H disposal, Opdenaker recycling and JP Mascaro and sons. Mr. Van-Otoo said tha the overall contract was for 5 years with a base bid of 3 years and an alternative of 2 more years. Mr. Van-Otoo reviewed the bids for Council. Mr. Papaleo asked Mr. Van-Otoo to clarify the cost. Mr. Hayman asked to confirm that the overall cost would double. Mr. Van-Otoo reviewed the bids and said that the bid from H&H was being rejected as they did not provide offers for bulk trash pickup and alternate trash pickup. Mr. Van-Otoo recommended Opdenaker trash and recycling in the amount of $2,354,854.76 for the base bid and the alternate bid. Mr. Papaleo asked the difference between the base bid and the alternate. Ms. Daly asked to clarify that the alternate was $1,799,013. Mr. Papaleo asked the public works director to start looking at prices for vehicles. Ms. Daly asked for clarification about the cost. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the smaller vehicles used for more trips may account for this. Ms. Daly said that this was a $500,000 increase. Mr. Papaleo asked if there were any risks here. Mr. Hayman said that the current low bidder had implied they would stop providing the service but requested that he be allowed to ask to continue on a monthly basis for the timebeing until a decision is made. Mr. Redding asked for the justification for the increases. Ms. Daly explained that she expected higher costs because smaller vehicles would be used but said this was unacceptable. Mr. Papaleo said a few million dollars were just invested into this project and that he did not want the driveways ruined. Mr. Papaleo directed manager Hayman to investigate bringing this in-house. Mr. Van-Otoo listed the streets intended for the 2023 Folcroft roads program including Delmar Drive, Glencroft Circle, Ashland Avenue and Charmont Avenue. Mr. Van-Otoo said he is preparing a proposal for plans for this project. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the DCIU technical school review has submitted a planning module for the sewer and there will be a meeting with DEP for their review. Lastly, Mr. Van-Otoo said that he spoke to the developer Mr. Miller and said that 7/11 is not going to be the store and it will not be a convenience store and it will go back to being a gas station on this site. Mr. Van-Otoo said that Mr. Miller is looking for another partner but this is not convenient yet. Ms. Grayson said that the 7/11 will not be 7/11 anymore. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the site will still be a convenience store but will not be a 7/11. Mayor DiCicco said she did not like this and said that convenience stores sell everything. Ms. Daly asked how this worked for the project. Mr. Hayman said that the issue that could arise is that the liquor license is in the name of 7/11. Mr. Gallagher said that this could be an issue. Mr. Papaleo suggested that Mr. Van- Otoo look into the cost with the possibility of purchasing the property. Mr. Papaleo reviewed the reasons that he believed the property may not be able to be developed. Ms. Daly said that council initially approved the project they were supportive however based on the conduct of the developer and with a large Wawa coming in there may be less competition. Ms. Isaac asked the location of the 7/11 and Wawa. Mr. Papaleo provided the location. Ms. Isaac said the developer messed up getting the project done and she did not think the project would do well. Mr. Papaleo said this would become a problem again if the next project comes in and fails. Ms. Isaac asked about land use. Mr. Papaleo said he believed the market is different now but believed that things may have changed. Ms. Grayson asked how meetings are conducted to consider degraded streets. Mr. Van-Otoo asked if members would like to add another street. Mr. Papaleo asked clarification about specific locations. Mr. Van-Otoo said that the aqua payment restoration has been completed on Henderson and Columbia and it looks very nice. Ms. Daly said that there is speeding here now. Public Finance & Administration - Mr. Papaleo • Mr. Ropski made a motion to approve the bill list for the month of March, 2023. Ms. Daly seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. • A motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for the month of March, 2023 was made by Ms. Grayson and seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • A motion to approve the March 7th and March 21st 2023 Meeting Minutes was made by Ms. Isaac and seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered Resolution R2023-03 authorizing the sale of a 2009 Chevy Tahoe Mr. Papaleo said as background council was going to sell a newer car in better shape. Ms. Daly made a motion and Mr. Ropski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Public Works - Ms. Grayson • Ms. Grayson had no new business to discuss. Public Safety– Mr. Ropski • A motion to approve the March 2023 Police report. Mr. Ropski made the motion and Ms. Grayson seconded. The motion passed unanimously. • A motion to approve the March 2023 Fire Chief’s Report was made by Ms. Ropski and seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • A motion to approve the March 2023 Fire Marshal’s report. Mr. Ropski made the motion seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. Public Health and Literacy - Ms. Fyffe • No new business. Ms. Fyffe was not present. Public Parks and Recreation – Ms. Daly • Members considered a contract from Skyshooter for $7,000 for a fireworks display Ms. Daly said that this is the same company that provided this service in 2022. Ms. Daly said that this was the same price or cheaper and that this would be a large portion of the budget however it would make the rest of her budget tight unless there are a miraculous amount of donations like last year. Ms. Daly said that approval of this means that the money will be donated and did not want to jeopardize Juneteenth. Mr. Papaleo clarified that this is an allocation from the general fund for this. Ms. Daly said that if the same amount of money is brought in again for community day then it may not be an issue but last year’s contributions may be a result of the Borough’s centennial and said she did not want to shortchange the community day as a result of this. Ms. Daly said that nearly $10,000 was raised last year. Mr. Papaleo said that the motion should be made from the general fund. Ms. Daly made a motion to approve a contract for $7000 from the general fund to skyshooter for fireworks. Mr. Ropski made the motion . The motion passed unanimously. Municipal Ordinances and Code Enforcement – Mr. Papaleo said that he would be glad to give this section to Mr. Redding. Ms. Daly provided guidance on this section. • Members considered authorizing Ordinance 2023-02 setting side yard fence height requirements for advertisement and consideration by the planning committee. Mr. Papaleo asked if this specified material and if it grandfathered in certain situations. Ms. Daly said that it confirmed the type of fence and height. Mr. Papaleo said that this was not to support the ordinance but to advertise it as per the requirement. Mr. Redding made a motion authorizing ordinance 2023-02 setting side yard fence height requirements. Ms. Daly seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Municipal Planning and Borough Beautification – Ms. Isaac • Prompted by Ms. Isaac, Mr. Hayman said that TNT cleanout had agreed to place dumpsters at four locations in the Borough and would charge 90 dollars per ton of refuse collected, noting that about 4 tons had been collected in 2022. Ms. Isaac asked how this worked and what she needs to do. Ms. Daly said that she dropped off balloons and materials at homes and then used the code truck to collect bags of trash at noon to try to get it into a dumpster and noted that she does not finish the work until 2pm generally. Ms. Isaac said she can drop off material but she does have an event at 1pm. Mr. Papaleo asked why an event would be planned for 1pm. Ms. Isaac said she expected to be done by then. New Building – Ms. Grayson • Consider tabled motion to accept a proposal for furniture for the new municipal complex Ms. Grayson said that last month the furniture proposal was tabled and that Mr. Caponi is trying to get price reductions from the current companies but she is asking to get another tabling of the motion and that if this is done by June 1st it should be fine. Ms. Grayson made a motion to table seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider a change order for wood flooring in the community center gym for a total cost of $100,261.52. Ms. Grayson said that this would be for wood flooring comparable to what is in the current gym. Ms. Grayson explained the increase in cost. Ms. Daly asked what the material is and that there may have been a misunderstanding on the type of material being used. Ms. Daly said that wood was intended as the original material was expected as industrial tiles which are unsafe. Ms. Daly said that if this floor is intended for basketball she would be comfortable with it. Ms. Daly said she did not want to spend more money but also did not want an unusable floor and asked for physical samples. Ms. Daly said that vinyl flooring would not be useful. Ms. Daly suggested using the current material if it is not vinyl and it is usable. Mr. Papaleo asked if this is an immediate need. Mr. Van-Otoo said that it is not needed. Mr. Papaleo asked if the current plan is for maple floor. Mr. Ropski said that the current plan for a change order is for Maple. Mr. Papaleo asked if this is as hard as oak. Ms. Daly said these are stripped and coated regularly. Ms. Daly suggested finding out what we are getting. Mr. Ropski asked for a sample for the next meeting. Ms. Daly asked if the Borough is $100,000 ahead on the shared driveways. Mr. papaleo said this is all from the same loan and that technically this was not different. Mr. Hayman said that there was already an approve change order for contaminated soil which had already been paid for existing soil. Mr. Ropski asked if the punch list items had been addressed. Mr. Van-Otoo said that they had. Ms. Daly said that she saw a lot of work being done including sealing alleys while she was out walking. Ms. Grayson made a motion to table seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered payment release number 8 in the amount of $129,953.11 Ms. Grayson made the motion to approve seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. Driveways and Parking Permits – Ms. Daly • Members considered payment release number 6 in the amount of $47,500 Ms. Daly made the motion seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. Police Chief’s Report Solicitor’s Report Solicitor Gallagher had nothing to report. Finance Director’s Report Ms. Stilwell was not present. Borough Manager’s Report Manager Hayman presented a report with current code enforcement statistics and updates on projects and services in Folcroft Borough. Acting Fire Department president Rich Kesser requested information about advertising for volunteers which are desperately needed for the fire company. Mr. Papaleo asked what age is needed. Mr. Kesser said 16 and up and the fire company will pay to send volunteers to school. Mr. Matthews said several people have left for career positions. There was no old business. There was no new business. Mr. Ropski made a motion to adjourn at 7:57pm seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously.