City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH OCTOBER 16, 2013 COUNCIL WORK SESSION The October work session of the Forty Fort Borough Council was held on Monday, October 21, 2013 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, with Vice‐President of Council, Frank Michaels presiding in the absence of President Joseph Chacke. Vice‐President Michaels called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with the following members of council present: Charles Rick Kamus, Robert Craig, Dorothy Craig and Karen Martinelli, via telephone. Absent were Joseph Chacke, Betty Mascelli, and Mayor Boyd Hoats. He asked to have Mrs. Mascelli in your thoughts as she was in Wilkes‐Barre General Hospital from a recent fall. Also present were Barbara Fairchild, Manager. Mr. Michaels asked if anyone from the audience would like to address Council and no one wanted to at this time. Items discussed were: ‐ Families for Forty Fort Park held a Halloween event on October 20, 2013. They had approximately 500 people in attendance. The Parade went along Wyoming Ave. to Walnut St. and around to Shook Place to enter the Park since there were so many people. The next event they are planning will be Christmas in the Park with the Santa Parade. No date has been set but they are in contact with the Mayor from Wyoming to finalize arrangements but will be publicized. ‐ Mrs. Craig spoke with the Treasurer of the Fire Company about the audit that was performed. This year they had a stellar report and the next audit will be in 3 years. ‐ Mr. Rick Kamus asked if we could revisit the 3 Strike Ordinance‐Revisions to tighten it up to possibly bring it to one strike should be reviewed with Chief Hunsinger and Attorney Sam Falcone. He wanted more of the police issues addressed than code enforcement. Suggestions for language and notification between landlord and tenant should be changed. Ms. Fairchild will check with PSAB for any sample Ordinances from other communities. Jeff McLaughlin questioned why a family would be subjected to eviction if one person in the family could have one incident of trouble and jeopardize the family. He suggested you should be very careful in making revisions. ‐ Mr. Kamus also asked about the status of the Compost application with DEP and we are still waiting for approval. ‐ Ms. Martinelli did not have anything at this time. ‐ Ms. Fairchild wanted to discuss the Borough’s General Liability, Workers Compensation, Police Professional’s, and Flood Insurance policies, etc. She received calls from other insurance agents and after discussion will have William Flock submit the applications to obtain the best price for us. Last year we went through a process and had to have broker of record letters signed and to get quotes back in a timely fashion, it is getting late to change agents. She also met with Blue  Cross for the discussions with health insurance and will be meeting with Stahl and Co. for the use of the secondary insurance for any additional cost savings. ‐ Ms. Fairchild asked Council for their suggestions to take back to the W. Side COG for the Local Share Account application. Mr. Kamus recommended that we consider maintenance issues with equipment and stick to doing things with our DPW. No other suggestions were mentioned for any equipment. She discussed the W. Side COG wanting to quote health insurance and has concerns with the collective bargaining agreements currently in place. They may not be able to be quoted due to the contract timing. ‐ Budget‐Ms. Fairchild presented a draft budget for to council to review. She met with the Finance Committee and department heads for their input and added their wish lists to the draft budget. She included the 2013 budget, actual income and expenditures to date and proposed 2014 figures for comparison. She suggested the Sewer fees be increased by $4.00 annually. No tax increase would be anticipated for 2014. This will be presented for the November 11, 2013 meeting for first reading of the Budget. ‐ Mr. John Kalinas asked if we could have the sewer bills collected in house. Ms. Fairchild said this may be another way of saving money and not have any need for an increase. The Ordinance will have to be amended to reflect billing annually and not quarterly but accept payments quarterly. Mr. Craig asked if she could contact Mr. Ron Jeffrey to see if he would be interested in collecting it in house since he did such a good job before the Don Wilkinson Agency was hired. ‐ Work Session adjourned approximately 9:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Fairchild, Manager