City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH JUNE COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 2, 2014 The June meeting of the Forty Fort Borough council was held on Monday, June 2, 2014 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA with President Jeff McLaughlin presiding. President McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM with the following members of council present: Dorothy Craig, Deborah Troy, Rob Craig, Charles Rick Kamus, Frank Michaels & Karen Martinelli via telephone. Also present were Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Chief Dan Hunsinger, Manager Barbara Fairchild & Secretary Bonnie Arnone. Mayor Tuzinski called for a moment of silence which was followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Mr. Craig to approve the minutes of the 5/6/14 regular council meeting. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to approve the minutes of the 5/19/14 special meeting of council. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Craig to approve the minutes of the 5/19/14 council work session. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. COMMUNICATIONS: ‐ Correspondence relating to a decision recently rendered regarding a complaint from Mr. Sindaco & the manner in which billing is done with WVSA. ‐ Request from Brian & Elizabeth Ginochetti for a stop sign in the alley between Arlington Rd. & Hughes St. along with a “Children at Play” sign. A discussion ensued in which Chief Hunsinger stated that a traffic study needed to be done prior to the erection of any stop sign. He is investigating the requirements for such a study with PENDOT. ‐ Request from Sandy Liguori, 5 Sunset Ct., Forty Fort for a stop sign at the end of an alley/driveway entering onto Sunset Court. The ownership of this roadway needs to be determined. ‐ Invitation from The Community Medical College to all borough officials to a formal gala to be held on Oct. 18, 2014. ‐ Correspondence from Bill Flock regarding insurance coverage for possible cyber attacks. He will be asked to come & speak to council at a future meeting to explain this coverage. ‐ Request from Molly Tracy for cost share for the removal of a shade tree on her property. There is only $100.00 balance left in the account for this purpose.  Motion by Mr. Craig to give a $100.00 cost share to Molly Tracey for the removal of her shade tree. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Craig to waive the cost for the pool party for Cub Scout Pack 123. Second by Ms. Martinelli. Following a discussion regarding the fact that all other organizations pay the fee for parties & the pool is in need of funds, Mr. Craig & Ms. Martinelli rescinded their motion. Mayor Tuzinski stated that he would donate his next paycheck for the $50.00 payment for the pool party for Cub Scout Troup 123. TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Mrs. Craig to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. ENGINEER’S REPORT: Mark Voyack & Rich Kresge of Quad 3 Group were present & gave council an update on the sewer rehabilitation project & the road paving project. Residents Floyd Bowen of 28 Susquehanna Ave., Forty Fort & Brian Stahl of 21 E. Turner St., Forty Fort requested assistance from council and the engineers regarding the following: Mr. Bowen stated that during the sewer paving project, the sidewalk adjacent to his property will be made handicap accessible from current steps to a gradual slope. Since the slope must begin so far back, it will involve some of his sidewalks in the project. He would like to have the contractors doing to work continue on to do his entire sidewalk area, a cost which he will bear. Mr. Stahl stated that currently, he is not hooked into the Borough’s sewer system and has a septic system. While the road paving project is being done, he would like to investigate the possibility of putting a lateral to his property for future ability to hook into the borough’s sewer system. Mr. Voyack & Mr. Kresge spoke at length with both these residents about these situations & will visit their properties to make recommendations at a future meeting. MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Tuzinski stated that there was a great turnout for the recent Movie in the Park and expressed thanks to Families for Forty Fort Park, the Borough’s DPW and in particular, Officers Adam Michaels & Michael Haley for the way they interacted with the public especially the kids. Chief Hunsinger stated that Office Casella has been in training for the Commercial Truck Inspections. He is currently in the final phases of the testing & has done very well on all prior phases passing all testing. Once he passes all phases, he will become certified but not able to do inspections alone but with another certified inspector until he has done a certain number of inspections, the chief believes this number to be 30 or 31 inspections but is not positive on the actual number. Chief Hunsinger also stated that Officer Adam Michaels has been hired as the Firearms Instructor for the Luzerne County Community College. This means that they will bear all costs for sending him for the mandatory training that previously the borough had to pay for. It will also allow all Forty Fort Borough officers to utilize all resources at the college. Motion by Mr. Craig to place a letter of commendation in the personnel files of Officer Michaels & Haley for the exemplary public relations they have exhibited. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Ms. Troy asked Chief Hunsinger about the large trucks travelling on Murray, W. Pettebone & Dilley Sts. From Fortis Institute as they have a truck driving program there now. Chief Hunsinger will contact the school to investigate this situation. Mr. Craig asked that the police dept. patrol the park area & in particular the basketball courts after dark as there have been individuals playing basketball late into the night recently. When asked if there are lights on the court, Chief was told that there were lights there to deter vandalism. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Craig to advertise and hold a special meeting of council on Monday, June 16, 2014 at 7:25 PM immediately preceding the work session for General Purposes. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to accept in toto the following dept. reports: Mayor/Police Dept., Kingston Fire Chief, Code Enforcement Officer, WVSA minutes & safety committee meeting. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion with the exception of Mr. Kamus who abstained because he had not reviewed the reports prior to the meeting. Motion passed. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Kamus to pass Resolution # of 2014 for the ARLE Grant for the installation of a right turn signal for intersection of Wyoming Ave., Slocum & Welles Sts. Second by Mr. Craig. On the question: This project will be done provided we receive this grant. If received, the borough must first pay the approx. $42,000.00 for the job after which we will be reimbursed that amount through the grant. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. OPEN DISCUSSION: Motion by Mr. Kamus to advertise the Sewer Ordinance Amendment. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Regarding the Shade Tree Ordinance amendment, council requests that a hard copy of this to review & discuss as the next council work session. RESIDENTS & TAXPAYERS COMMENTS & PETITIONS FOR GENERAL PURPOSES: Lori Girvan & Rick Harmon of Barry Isett & Assoc. gave a presentation to council about their 3rd party inspection agency. They have recently opened an office at 150 Welles St. in Forty Fort. Council has asked that Ms. Fairchild look into the terms of the current contract we have with BIU for 3rd party inspections & report back to council.  Rob Swaback, 15 Susquehanna Ave., Forty Fort, asked about the partial easement that Forty Fort had with the Hinchey Property on Welles St. for the Welles St. Improvement Project of approx. 5 years ago. At this time, 9:00 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss an Administrative Personnel issue and a possible legal matter concerning a bill presented for payment. Council re‐convened at 10:05 PM from Executive Session. Motion by Mr. Craig to place a formal letter of commendation in the personnel file of Officer Brian Casella for his work in the recent homicide case that took place in Forty Fort in Dec. of 2013. Chief Hunsinger stated that this case is now complete with the defendant pleading guilty to 3rd degree murder with a sentence of 6‐12 years. Second by Mr. Kamus. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Craig to allow Atty. Haley to make appropriate changes to the Borough Managers Ordinance and Employment Agreement. Second by Mr. Kamus. All council was in favor of this motion. Ms. Fairchild was asked if an actuarial study has been done for the Fire Department which she stated it was in the process of being done. Motion by Mr. Craig to change the newspaper of general circulation for the borough from the Citizens Voice to the Times Leader. On the question: Mr. Craig stated that very often the Citizens Voice does not run the community news articles that are sent to them while the Times Leader does. Ms. Troy asked what this was about. She was told that every year, a municipality must name the newspaper where they will have all legal notices listed in. She asked if we could do both papers but was told that legal ads were very costly. Mr. Michaels asked if the costs for legal ads were the same for both papers. Ms. Fairchild said sometimes they are. Roll call vote showed the following: YES: Ms. Craig, Mr. Craig, Ms. Martinelli & Mr. McLaughlin NO: Ms. Troy, Mr. Kamus & Mr. Michaels Motion passed 4‐3. Motion by Mrs. Craig to pay all bills as presented. Second by Mr. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. With there being no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Craig & seconded by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Council will hold a special meeting on Monday, June 16, 2014 at 7:25 PM for General Purposes. The work session will immediately following. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Secretary