City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 4, 2013 The Forty Fort Borough Council held it monthly meeting on Monday, February 4, 2013 at the Borough Building, 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA with V‐P, Frank Michaels, presiding. Mr. Michaels called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM with the following members of council present: Robert Craig, Dorothy Craig, Charles Rick Kamus, Betty Mascelli & Karen Martinelli via telephone. Joseph Chacke was excused. Also present was Mayor Boyd Hoats, Atty. Sam Falcone, Mike Lombardo of Quad 3 Group, Barbara Fairchild, Manager & Bonnie Arnone, Secretary. A moment of silence was held followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag led by Mayor Hoats. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Mr. Craig to accept the minutes of the 1/7/13 council meeting. Second by Mrs. Craig. On the question: Ms. Martinelli stated that she would like the minutes to reflect that she made a motion to re‐organize council. The motion failed for the lack of a second. The minutes of that meeting will be changed to reflect this. All council was in favor of the motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to accept the minutes of the 1/21/13 work session. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of the motion. Motion passed. COMMUNICATIONS: Ms. Fairchild read correspondence from Diane O’Hara regarding the Ambulance Garage located adjacent to the borough building. The ambulance association would like to turn the garage back over to the borough to assume all liability for the insurances, utilities, etc. Motion by Mr. Craig to take back full responsibility for the ambulance garage. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Ms. Fairchild read correspondence from Traveler’s Insurance Co. regarding the claim submitted by Wilkes‐Barre city for storm damages to their bandshell during the 125th Celebration. Wilkes‐Barre City did not agree with the estimates submitted for damages to the structure but no further action has occurred on this subject. Ms. Fairchild shared with council that Jason Gouldner of SWIF will be conducting an inspection of all borough properties later this week as part of their Workers Compensation coverage plan for the borough. RESIDENTS & TAXPAYERS COMMENTS & PETITIONS REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS ONLY: Robert Swaback, 15 Susquehanna Ave., Forty Fort, addressed council regarding their plans to hire a part time police officer. He stated that he had knowledge that one of the candidates for the position had been arrested for a DUI. He encouraged the council to thoroughly investigate the background of all potential candidates to protect against any lawsuits against the borough. Mr. Swaback also stated that President Jimmy Carter will be visiting the Wyoming Monument in the near future. He would like to see Forty Fort become as involved as possible with these festivities. Council agreed that this would be done. Mr. Swaback questioned the possibility of doing single stream recycling in the borough stating that this could save money. Ms. Fairchild stated that there have been positive changes to the recycling program that would result in cost savings. Mr. Swaback questioned if the borough is a member of the West Side Council of Governments. He was told that the borough is a member and Ms. Martinelli will be attending their next meeting on 2/7/13 as our representative. Mr. Swaback encouraged council to pursue any and all grant monies for sewer repairs/replacement and street re‐pavement saying that he has been reading about many other municipalities receiving grants for these type projects. Joseph Danoski, 1621 Wyoming Ave.,Forty Fort, PA questioned council as to why the police car was being leased and not outright purchased. He also questioned the amount of money spent on repairs of a police cruiser that had high mileage. Carol Seltzer of the Shade Tree Commission stated that a police officer had neglected to indicate on a police accident report that a tree had been damaged as a result of the accident. She asked that officers make sure to include this information if applicable in the future. TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Mrs. Craig to accept the treasurer’s report of December 31, 2012. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Martinelli to accept the treasurer’s report of January 31, 2013. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. ENGINEER’S REPORT: Mr. Lombardo stated that there was no engineer’s report at this time. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Craig to accept the following dept. reports: Forty Fort Volunteer Fire Dept., Kingston Fire Chief & Code Enforcement Officer. Second by Mrs. Craig. On the question, Ms. Martinelli stated that she did not have a copy of the Code Enforcement officer’s report & therefore must abstain on that report only. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Ms. Fairchild explained the process that has been ensuing regarding the Borough’s Pension Plan and changing companies for same. The committee formed to complete this process was Barbara Fairchild, Joseph Chacke, Frank Michaels, Dorothy Craig, Officer William Stone, Robert Sgarlat & Robert Johns representing all departments and council. Motion by Ms. Craig to appoint Municipal Retirement Trusts as the new administrators of the Borough’s Police, Fire & Non‐Uniform Pension plans as per the recommendations from the committee. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Ms. Fairchild announced that articles had been placed in both local newspapers and is reflected on the new 2013 Recycle calendar that Thursday recycling will now be collected on Wednesdays. Ms. Fairchild reported that she & Mrs. Craig had visited the Berwick office of the Centax agency looking for any documents that related to Forty Fort Borough. Ms. Fairchild then visited the Kingston office of the DWA to search for the same. She stated that there is a possibility that the Berkheimer agency will be able to get sewer bills out to Forty Fort residents in the next few weeks. Since the bills will be for the 3rd & 4th Qtr. of 2012 and the 1st qtr. of 2013, she would like to see a payment plan available to any resident who may wish to do so. PAYMENT OF BILLS: Motion by Mrs. Mascelli to pay all bills presented to council for payment. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. At 8:30 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss personnel & legal matters. During the Executive Session, President Joseph Chacke arrived at the meeting. Council returned from Executive Session at 9:50 PM. Motion by Mr. Craig to re‐advertise for the position of part time police chief. Second by Ms. Martinelli. ROLL CALL: YES: Mrs. Craig, Mr. Craig, Ms. Martinelli & Mr. Chacke NO: Mr. Michaels, Mr. Kamus & Mrs. Mascelli Motion passed 4‐3. With there being no further business to discuss, motion to adjourn by Mr. Kamus with a second by Mr. Craig. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Secretary