City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 Forty Fort Borough Council held a special council meeting on Monday, September 15, 2014 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., with President Jeff McLaughlin presiding. President McLaughlin called the special meeting to order at 8:50 PM immediately following the September work session with the following council members present: Dorothy Craig, Deborah Troy, Charles Rick Kamus, Frank Michaels & Karen Martinelli, via telephone. Rob Craig was absent. Also present was Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Manager Barbara Fairchild & Secretary Bonnie Arnone. Mayor Tuzinski led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Ms. Fairchild explained that due to 2008 market problems, the fact that the borough has been paying only the minimum amount of the Minimum Municipal Obligation (MMO) for the past several years, the hiring of three additional full time police officers in 2011 and retiree’s drawing on the pension, the MMO’s for the year 2015 are as follows: At 100% payment: POLICE $194,752.00 FIRE $ 98,196.00 NON‐UNIFORM $ 9,737.00 Motion by Mr. Kamus to pay 100% of the MMO’s for 2015 as shown above. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Mayor Tuzinski stated that the Forty Fort Police Dept. has been very fiscally responsible with officers making changes in their shifts to reduce the amount of overtime in the Police Dept. and has made many cuts to their 2015 budget to save costs. He stated that no one wants to see their taxes raised but no police officer should be eliminated. Mr. McLaughlin stated that research showed that as per the Police contract and case law, no Full time police officer can be furloughed. Mr. Michaels quoted figures on where Forty Fort falls in National Crime averages and also county wide crime averages. Forty Fort Borough falls well below these averages for crimes. Motion by Mr. Michaels to pass Resolution #18 of 2014 to complete the Multimodal Transportation Fund Application. Second by Mrs. Craig. On the question: This will be for the paving of several alley’s; left turn signal for the signal on Wyoming Ave. at Welles & Slocum Sts.; Boulevard lights for the perimeter of the Municipal Building along with a new sidewalk around the Borough Building, new handicap ramp at the Borough Bldg. & crosswalks. The cost of this work is approximately $1,220,534.11 which is what will be applied for in the grant. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Michaels for a sewer change order to do additional trenchless lining of areas over 12 ft. deep in the borough at an estimated cost of $195,000.00 and to do a sewer manhole reconstruction on Murray St. at Rose St. at a cost of $2300.00. Second by Ms. Troy. On the question: It was noted that these projects will be added onto the current USDA Sewer Rehabilitation Project. Roll call vote showed the following: YES: Mrs. Craig, Mr. Kamus, Ms. Troy, Ms. Martinelli & Mr. Michaels NO: Mr. McLaughlin Motion passed 5‐1. Ms. Fairchild advised council of a problem with a sewer line at 1451 Murray St. that the resident has asked for council’s help in rectifying. The line that runs through her yard to connect to the neighbors lateral has a large rock in it and the cost for her is very high to correct it. Since we have to supply a lateral we would anticipate additional slip lining from Manhole #114 to #116 which will also be a change order to the USDA sewer project not to exceed $20,000.00. We are waiting for more estimates for installing a new lateral. Motion by Mr. Michaels to rectify the sewer problem at 1451 Murray St. with a cap of $20,000.00. Second by Mr. Kamus. On the question: It was noted that the original sewer line work was done incorrectly and if the problem is not corrected, it could cause the home to be condemned. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to waive the tap on fee for the property at 1451 Murray St. once the above referenced work is completed. Second by Mr. Michaels. On the question: Ms. Troy asked how much the tap on fee was. She was told it was $2,000.00. She asked if this had been ever waived before. Ms. Fairchild stated that she believed it has been waived in other instances before. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Ms. Fairchild stated that the generator in the basement of the Borough Building is not operational at this time due to the relay failing. An estimate for the part is $3,000.00. The generator was installed in 1971 & relay panel switch in 1973. After some discussion, it was decided to table this subject in order to investigate other possibilities to solve this problem. After some discussion, it was decided to table this subject in order to investigate other possibilities to solve this problem. Motion by Mr. Kamus to issue a Broker of Record Letter to Jim O’Malia, from Engle‐Hambright & Davies, Inc. Second by Mr. Michaels. On the question: Ms. Fairchild stated that Mr. O’Malia has assured her that worst case scenario would be that the costs would be the same as we’ve had with the Flock Agency but best case scenario would result in a large savings in our policies. Roll call vote showed the following: YES: Mr. Kamus, Ms. Martinelli, Mr. Michaels & Ms. Troy NO: Mrs. Craig ABSTAIN: Mr. McLaughlin due the fact the Flock Agency is his client. Motion passed 4‐2. Motion by Mr. Michaels to do an amendment to the sewer ordinance that would not mandate a property owner to hook into the borough’s sewer system provided that they have a working septic system in place. Second by Mr. Kamus. On the question: This is being done due to the situation with Brian Stahl of 21 E. Turner St., Forty Fort and the fact that the borough wishes to install a sewer line for him to be able to hook into but he currently has a working septic system & does not wish to hook into the borough’s sewer system at this time. He is willing to pay the $129.00 annual sewer fee to the Borough. There are a few areas in the borough with this similar situation. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed.  Motion by Mr. Michael to pay all bills as presented. Second by Mr. Kamus. 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. Kamus at 10:10 PM with a second by Mr. Michaels. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Next meeting will be on October 6, 2014 at 7:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Secretary