City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 2, 2015 The March meeting of the Forty Fort Borough Council was held on Monday, March 2, 2015 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., with President, Jeff McLaughlin, presiding. President McLaughlin called the meeting to order with the following members of council present: Deborah Troy, Dorothy Craig, Joe Lynch, Charles Rick Kamus, Frank Michaels & Karen Martinelli, via telephone. Also present were Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Chief Dan Hunsinger, Solicitor, Atty., Jack Haley, Mark Voyack from Quad 3 Group, Manager Barbara Fairchild & Secretary Bonnie Arnone. Invocation was led by Reverend Lukish followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. CONSENT AGENDA FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES Motion by Mr. Lynch and second by Mr. Kamus to accept the Consent Agenda for Administrative Issues which consists of the following items: 1. Approve the minutes of the regular scheduled meeting of February 2, 2015. 2. Approve the minutes of the work session held on February 16, 2015. 3. Accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented. 4. Payment of Bills as presented. 5. Accept the following department reports: Mayor/Police Dept., Forty Fort Fire Chief, Kingston Fire Chief, Code Enforcement Officer and WVSA Minutes. 6. Communications which include: Penn Dot Traffic counting between March & June 2015 Annual Downstream Notifications – PAWC, Waste Management, MACTAC Change in date for the Elizabeth Wood Run to benefit Candy’s Place to April 18, 2015 REPORT OF DEPARTMENT HEADS CHIEF OF POLICE AND MAYOR: Chief Hunsinger stated that he had received a letter of resignation from full time officer Brian Casella who has accepted a full time position in Wilkes‐Barre City. A lengthy discussion ensue concerning his concerns for filling shifts as part time officers are working in other departments. He feels he needs four full time, working officers to properly run the police department. Several council members stated that with the recent increase in taxes, residents are expecting a full time police department. President McLaughlin stated that the Civil Service Commission is in the process of preparing the corrected set of Civil Service Rules & Regulation which will be needed prior to any testing and hiring of another full time police officer. He will be attending 4/1/15 seminar on Civil Service Rules & Regulation at his own expense, but feels that the borough should pay for other borough employees to attend this seminar. Motion by Mr. Michaels to have the Borough pay for Barbara Fairchild, Atty. John M. Haley and a member of the Civil Service Commission to attend the 4/1/15 Civil Service Seminar at a cost of $125.00 per person. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion by Mr. Lynch to send a letter to the Civil Service Commission requesting a draft of the updated Civil Service Rules & Regulations be presented to council within 30 days which will then be sent to TEAM for review and taken to the Civil Service Seminar for their review. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Council members are invited to attend a webinar on 3/4/15 at the Borough Building from Noon to 1:00 PM on the Heart & Lung Act. Council states that they will actively pursue resolution to the current Heart & Lung Claim currently with the Borough with a police officer. Motion by Mr. Lynch to authorize Borough Council to reimburse the Civil Service Commission up to $1,000.00 for legal services rendered with proper documentation for the year 2015. Second by Mr. Kamus. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Mayor Tuzinski stated that regarding the Stop Sign Ordinance that the Borough is in the process of preparing, upon investigation he has found that since July 1977, there have been only two areas in the Borough where stop signs have been posted. All others have been in place prior to that date. Further, after an extensive search, no ordinance could be located for the installation of those stop signs. Atty. Haley stated that he will prepare a Stop Sign Ordinance given this information. In anticipation of receiving this ordinance, motion was made by Mr. Michaels to properly advertise said ordinance once received from Atty. Haley in the legal section of the Citizens Voice Newspaper. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. ENGINEER’S REPORT: Mark Voyack from Quad 3 Group told council that Mr. Rehab has requested an extension of time for the Sewer Rehabilitation Project. After some discussion, it was determined that given an extension to May 15, 2015 was reasonable. Motion to accept the Engineer’s Report was made by Mr. Michaels and seconded by Mr. Lynch. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. CONSENT AGENDA FOR GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Michaels to accept the Consent Agenda for General Business. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. This agenda contained the following: 1. Accept the Code Red Agreement with 14,000 minutes 2. Accept the letter of Resignation with regrets from Officer Brian Casella. Council wishes Mr. Casella luck in his future endeavors. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Michaels to authorize Chief Hunsinger to purchase temporary “No Parking‐Snow Emergency” and “No Parking by Order of Police Department” signs from the Borough’s DURA Fund. Second by Mr. Kamus. On the question: Chief Hunsinger stated that these signs would be placed by the police officers on available utility poles and/or trees with string when necessary. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Michaels to advertise an ordinance appointing Andy Tuzinski as the Forty Fort Borough Health Officer and setting a fee of $50.00 per health inspection and/or re‐inspection and the fee amount may be changed in the future by means of a resolution. Second by Mr. Kamus. On the question: Ms. Martinelli asked if the position of Health Officer had been advertised for anyone else who might have wanted to apply. She was told that it had not been advertised. Roll Call vote showed the following: YES: Ms. Troy, Mrs. Craig, Mr. McLaughlin, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Kamus & Mr. Michaels NO: Ms. Martinelli Motion passed 6‐1. Motion by Mr. Kamus to extend a time extension to Mr. Rehab for the Sewer Rehabilitation Project to May 15, 2015. Second by Mr. Michaels. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At this time, 9:30 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss pending personnel issues. Upon re‐convening from Executive Session, a motion was made by Mr. Kamus and seconded by Ms. Troy to table the Borough Manager’s Agreement. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Mr. Kamus to adjourn at 11:15 PM. Second by Mr. Lynch. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. The work session will be held on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 7:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Secretary