Borough Council Workshop Meeting

MEETING MINUTES FOLCROFT BOROUGH COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING DECEMBER 6th, 2022 Location: 1555 Elmwood Ave, Folcroft PA 19032 President Papaleo called the meeting to order at 7:02pm Council President Papaleo mentioned that an executive session was held on Monday November 28th to discuss potential litigation. Mayor DiCicco led the flag salute and invocation. Council President Papaleo was present, Councilmember Leigh Daly was present, Councilmember Tawana Grayson was present, Councilmember Malinda Isaac was present, Councilmember Lorna Fyffe was present, Councilmember Stephen Ropski was present, Councilmember Ike Wilson was present, Mayor Franny DiCicco was present, Solicitor James Gallagher was not present but would arrive shortly, Secretary/Manager Andrew Hayman was present. Audience Participation There was no audience participation. Public Finance & Administration - Mr. Papaleo • Members considered approval of the 2023 final budget. A motion to approve the 2023 budget was made by Ms. Isaac and seconded by Ms. Fyffe. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered advertising Ordinance 2022-07 setting Folcroft tax millage rates. Mr. Ropski made a motion and Ms. Grayson seconded. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered approval of the 2023 meeting schedule Ms. Daly made the motion and Mr. Ropski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered resolution 2022-16 setting 2023 salaries. Ms. Grayson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Fyffe. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered resolution 2022-17 setting 2023 holidays. Ms. Daly made a motion to approve seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered 2022 Folcroft Borough Road Program, Payment Certificate #1, in the amount of $70,158.53 Mr. Ropski made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Fyffe. The motion passed unanimously. Public Works - Ms. Grayson • Ms. Grayson had no new business to discuss Public Safety– Mr. Ropski • Mr. Ropski had no new business to discuss Public Health and Literacy - Ms. Fyffe • Ms. Fyffe said that she, the library board president and vice president and Manager Hayman had met with some library board members and a larger meeting was planned for the full board to discuss matters at the library. Public Parks and Recreation – Ms. Daly • Ms. Daly discussed the upcoming senior luncheon. Ms. Daly said currently 25 seniors signed up for the luncheon which is 11:30am to 2pm in the Borough gym with catering from Italian Style and Majors Deli. Ms. Daly said there would be opportunities to serve food and that senior services would have information available. Ms. Daly encouraged members to invite their neighbors and said that last year was successful. • Ms. Daly discussed annual calendars. Ms. Daly said that members all had received a draft of the calendar and asked if any members could review to ensure that there were no errors. Ms. Daly asked for this to be reviewed this week as they would be printed soon. Ms. Isaac said she needed a date for the community cleanup. Ms. Daly said this was already listed as it was always on the same date. Ms. Isaac said she may not be able to do this as she may already have something planned. Ms. Daly said that this date could be changed if needed but reiterated that this was always on the same date. Ms. Grayson said that most communities did this on that date because that is earth day. Ms. Isaac said she would check. Municipal Ordinances and Code Enforcement – Mr. Wilson • Members considered advertising ordinance 2022-06 setting fire safety inspection fees. Mr. Wilson said there was a change to note that some inspections would be per storage unit. Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve seconded by Mr. Ropski. The motion passed unanimously. • Members considered advertising zoning ordinance 2022-08 setting the maximum side yard fence height. Mr. Wilson said this would go from four feet to six feet. Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider approval of resolution 2022-18 amending rental inspection fees. Mr. Wilson said this raises the rental inspection fee from $150 to $200 per unit. Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider approval of the 2023 planning commission meeting schedule. Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider approval of the 2023 zoning hearing board meeting schedule Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. Municipal Planning and Borough Beautification – Ms. Isaac • Ms. Isaac said that she put out the housing light contest on social media and so far she has some participants. Ms. Isaac said she would like a robocall to go out. Manager Hayman explained how this would work and asked for her to contact him. Ms. Grayson asked who the judges would be. Mr. Papaleo mentioned that he would like the Mayor, State Representative and State Senator to serve as Judges for the contest. Ms. Isaac said this would be great. Ms. Isaac said she would need money for prizes. Ms. Daly said that she has always done gift cards and presented the values. Ms. Grayson asked how much a trophy would be. Ms. Petty said that there would probably not be enough time. Ms. Daly said there might be. Ms. Grayson described what she felt the trophy should look like. Ms. Daly said maybe residents can look at yard signs for the placeholders. Ms. Daly said that if this was something members would like to do they should order it immediately. New Building – Ms. Grayson • Ms. Grayson discussed the Folcroft Borough Municipal Complex, Payment Certificate #5, in the amount of $180,818.19. Ms. Grayson made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Daly. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider Folcroft Borough Municipal Complex, Unsuitable Soil change order, $127,517.50 Ms. Grayson made a motion to approve seconded by Mr. Ropksi. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Daly asked if this was the complete, negotiated amount. Manager Hayman thanked Mr. Van-Otoo for this. Mr. Van-Otoo said he spoke to the contractor for the new building and he said that the employees will likely not be out there for the remainder of the year which is why members may not have seen employees out there. Mr. Papaleo asked the tentative completion date. Mr. Van-Otoo said he expected the summer. Driveways and Parking Permits – Ms. Daly  • Ms. Daly asked about the status of the driveways. Mr. Van-Otoo said he spoke with the project foreman and that it would not be completed this year. Mr. Van-Otoo said a time extension until next may was requested. Ms. Daly asked if milling would continue. Mr. Van-Otoo said that at the most milling and a base core for all milled areas would be put down for an even surface. Ms. Daly asked if these areas would be milled entirely. Mr. Van-Otoo said it did not make sense to put down the final coating as it would take out the base repair as well. Mr.Van-Otoo said that the it would not make sense to put everything down now as it would not hold up through the winter. Manager Hayman gave updates and statistics about the current construction. Ms. Petty asked when residents can start parking out back. Ms. Daly said that council needs to talk to the Police and that while the street is done there are still people parking illegally with no permits. Mr. Papaleo said that currently residents are putting their trash out front and no residents know what to do with parking. Mr. Papaleo asked for a definitive date so that parking permits can be enforced while construction is not being done. Mr. Van-Otoo said there is a meeting tomorrow morning at 10:00am to partly discuss parking. Ms. Daly asked if parking could be discussed. Ms. Petty said that certain streets should be listed. Ms. Daly said that portions of some streets are not completed like Heather and Taylor. Ms. Daly said that milling has been completed. Ms. Daly said that there should be a definitive stop date. Ms. Petty said that if this is finished and milled then residents should be able to park out back. Ms. Petty suggested allowing residents to park and place trash out front. Ms. Daly said it was worth waiting until all of the work stops to get a definitive stop. Mr. Woods asked if trash trucks could drive on the base without a top coat. Mr. Van-Otoo asked for a map of the areas that are all completed versus the areas that have been milled and based so that members can make a decision. Ms. Daly said that Abbonizio was out cleaning the streets with a sweeper today. Mr. Papaleo said that this company has been great so far. Ms. Fyffe said that residents don’t want to be off of the street. • Ratify payment release #1 in the amount of $204,289.41 for shared driveway repaving Ms. Daly made a motion to approve seconded by Mr. Ropksi. The motion passed unanimously. • Consider a change order for shared driveway repaving extending the allowable construction deadline to May 31st, 2023 Ms. Daly made a motion to approve seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Daly said that coat drive did well and a lot of coats were given out. Ms. Daly said it was a bit slower than last year and last night the borough hosted a toy giveaway with 50 families registered and a few more late additions with about 150 children receiving Christmas presidents thanks to donations from the Police Department and others. Ms. Daly said that last Friday she was invited to speak at a fundraiser for the Mid Atlantic Food Trade organization for an event with money used to fundraise for two organizations get Christmas presents. Ms. Daly said she got a big truckload of toys from the event and that while she was there she mentioned the food pantry and afterwards the president of Acme contacted her and said that he would ensure the pantry would never be empty of canned goods. Ms. Daly said that the person who invited her told her that the president personally donated 10 tractor trailer loads of food to philabundance. Ms. Daly said that the borough received a nice truckload of toys and food. Mr. Papaleo asked to have the Acme president thanked. Ms. Daly said that she would and that she has been invited back next year for December 1st for more toy donations with more coordination in the community. Members discussed who currently owns the business. Ms. Daly said that there were nice door prizes. New Business Ms. Fyffe asked if there were any grants available for the library. Mr. Van-Otoo said he was not aware but he would look into it and get more information. Mr. Van-Otoo said that he was asked for the cost of the Ashland Ave and Delmar Drive change order. Mr. Van-Otoo said that this went from $11,000 to $8,000. Old Business Mr. Papaleo mentioned the status of the work to be done at Folcroft Avenue and Delmar Drive and noted that he had to sign a resolution for an intermunicipal liquor transfer. Mr. Papaleo said he understood that there had initially been errors and asked if he could revoke or not sign this as the property was not compliant with code enforcement. Mr. Gallagher said that without the signature the resolution was not complete anyway. Mr. Gallagher asked if the property was a blight. Mr. Gallagher said he will dig into it a bit more but preliminarily said he thought it would be fine. Mr. Gallagher said that without a liquor license. Mayor DiCicco said that from day one she believed that this was done based on lies and noted first class 7/11s which she said was not accurate. Mr. Wilson asked about tiered 7/11s. Ms. DiCicco said she checked out a 7/11 in Philadelphia. Mr. Wilson compared this to visiting stores in the Hamptons. Mr. Ropksi made a motion to adjourn at 7:36pm seconded by Ms. Grayson. The motion passed unanimously.