City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 3, 2015 The August meeting of the Forty Fort Borough Council was held on Monday, August 3, 2015 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., with President Jeff McLaughlin presiding. President McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM with the following council members present: Deborah Troy, Dorothy Craig, Charles Rick Kamus, Frank Michaels & Karen Martinelli, via telephone. Joe Lynch was absent. Also present were Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Atty. Jack Haley, Rick Kresge, Mark Voyack & Carl Schimmel of Quad 3 Group, Manager Barbara Fairchild & Secretary Bonnie Arnone. Reverend Lukish began the meeting with invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Mayor Tuzinski. CONSENT AGENDA FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES: Motion by Ms. Troy to pass the Consent Agenda for Administrative Issues. Second by Mrs. Craig. The topics were as follows: ‐ Motion to approve the minutes of the July Regular Council Meeting ‐ Motion to approve the minutes of the July Work session ‐ Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report ‐ Motion to pay all bills ‐ Motion to accept the reports from the following departments: Mayor/Police Dept., Kingston Fire Chief, Code Enforcement Officer, WVSA Minutes, Civil Service Minutes, Borough Manager and Engineer. ‐ Communications which consisted of Luzerne Co. Advocacy, Donation from Lemonade Stand, S. Seeherman Bicycling Advocacy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. CHIEF OF POLICE/MAYOR COMMENTS: Mayor Tuzinski stated that he felt that the money being donated by citizens for the renovations & repairs to the Forty Fort Pool should be kept in a separate, restricted account. Ms. Fairchild stated that she had spoken with ESSA and that the account would earn interest and the checks would be free. Motion by Mr. Kamus to open a checking account with ESSA for the sole purpose of depositing donations for the renovations/repairs for the Forty Fort Pool. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Mayor Tuzinski also questioned when the repairs would be done on Arlington Road and he was told that when River St. was done, so would Arlington Road. He & Ms. Martinelli stated that they have received numerous phone calls questioning when that work would be done. He thanked everyone for their patience while preparing the work for these road to be renovated. 1 BOROUGH MANAGER COMMENTS: Ms. Fairchild stated that after speaking with Ron Jeffrey, it appears that there are approximately 50 residences that have not paid their 2014 sewer fees. They have been sent reminder notices and have had citations from the magistrate up to this point. She feels that it would be in the best interest of the borough to have a constable perform the next step and serve those property owners with a delinquent sewer notice. The constable fee is $15.00 per service. Motion by Mr. Michaels to hire a constable to serve the 2014 delinquent sewer fee services. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Atty. Haley stated that Ms. Fairchild had received a letter to subpoena records from a former employees personnel file due to a suit that employee has against their current employer. Atty. Haley stated that there is no culpability with Forty Fort Borough but that Ms. Fairchild must comply with the request. Ms. Fairchild stated that Mayor Tuzinski is getting the last of the income surveys to her in the near future for the Community Development Block Grant that will be submitted to the County. BOROUGH ENGINEER COMMENTS: From the Borough Engineer Report to Council: Street Paving Project: Plans and specifications/project manual are being finalized and will be presented to Council at 8/3/15 meeting for their final review and authorization to release for bidding. It is anticipated, assuming that council is satisfied with the plan content, that the project will be advertised the first week of August. A pre‐construction meeting will be held at 10:00 AM on August 17, 2015. IF any bidders, bids are due and will be opened on 9/4/15 at 12:00 noon at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA. Spreadsheet will be prepared for council for variables of how bids are presented from contractors. Upon councils review, the project can be awarded at the Tuesday, September 8, 2015 council meeting at 7:30 PM at the Forty Fort Borough Building. Sanitary Sewer Project: The Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project is currently estimated at 90% complete with a contract completion date of July 31, 2015. The 12” sewer replacement on River St. is reported complete. Trenchless lining is reported complete. Remaining trenchless work includes, lateral grouting and rim lining to be completed next week. The contractor has requested an extension until September 31, 2015 to complete paving. Items to be resolved include meeting with PENDOT scheduled for August 12, 2015 to discuss extent of pave restoration on River Street. Also to be resolved are costs for additional trench width where encountered by Mr. Rehab/Krasavage on River St., paving cost addition for additional pave width and trench depth by Mr. Rehab/American Asphalt, adjustment on unit costs and quantities at finish of contract. 2  The Contractors request for Payment #9 in the amount of $183,551.52 was received by e‐mail Friday afternoon, 7/31/15. Quad 3 Group to review. Change Order #7 in the amount of $1,300.00 was for cast iron pipe cleaning between MH3 and MH4 on Welles St. and #8 n the amount of $39,563.59 for additional costs between MH 287 and MH 288 on River St. for 12” pipe construction due to trench collapse and wider excavation required were approved by USDA for payment. Change order #9 for work on Bedford St. in the amount of $11,375.00 to connect catch basin to storm system and an extension of time on the Contract to September 31, 2015 is recommended by the Engineer to be prepared. Submitted by Richard Kresge, P.E. and Mark Voyack, P.E., Quad 3 Group CONSENT AGENDA FOR GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Michaels to accept the Consent Agenda for General Business. Second by Mrs. Craig. The Consent Agenda for General Business consisted of the following: ‐ MRT Resolution #11 of 2015 for the Police Pension. ‐ MRT Resolution #12 of 2015 for the Fire Pension. ‐ MRT Resolution #13 of 2015 for the Non‐Uniform Pension. ‐ Multimodal Resolution #14 of 2015. On the question, Mr. Michaels verified that the pension would remain with the same people and Asked what the Multimodal Grant was seeking. Ms. Fairchild stated that she had included the next worst road condition list of approximately 15 street including Wesley & Yates St. in case they are not done thru the USDA Loan. The grant total was for $1,276.145.00 and the Borough’s responsibility portion may come from the Liquid Fuels allotment received yearly. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Kamus to advertise bids for the Road Paving Project to be due and opened by September 4, 2015 at noon at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA 18704 with a pre‐bid construction meeting on 8/17/15 at 10:00 AM at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg. and to be awarded at the September 8, 2015 council meeting to be held at 7:00 PM at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA 18704. Second by Mr. Michaels. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Michaels to authorize the Borough Manager to accept the telephone quotes for the work to be done on Yeager Ave. Second by Mrs. Craig. On the question: Ms. Fairchild stated that she has requested bids from several contractors but no one has replied. She stated that the amount must not exceed $8,000.00. She will seek bids once again and place a 48 Hr. time limit for bids to be received. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Due to the resignation of civil service member Cheryl Sealock and the appointment to replace her position of Alternate #1, Anthony Smith, there is a vacancy on the Alternate list for the Civil Service 3 Commission. Applicants are being sought to fill this vacancy and they must write a letter to the Borough Manager indicating their interest. NEW BUSINESS AND OPEN DISCUSSION: Mr. Michaels stated that some time ago, it was discussed to begin council meeting at 7:00 PM rather than 7:30 PM. Atty. Haley was asked if this could be done, to which he replied that it could but it must be advertised extensively. Ms. Fairchild stated that it would be placed on the Borough’s Web site, a legal notice would be submitted and it will be posted in the newspapers Community News section and posted on all door of the Borough Building. Motion by Mr. Michaels to begin Regular Council meetings and Council Work Sessions at 7:00 PM beginning with the Tuesday, September 8, 2015 council meeting. Second by Mr. Kamus. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Atty. Haley stated that after reviewing the minutes of the most recent Civil Service meeting minutes, he advised the Commission that there must be a separate set of Civil Service Rule and Regulations for the Fire Dept. He stated that there are several sections of the current Rules and Regulations that only would apply to Police Officers. Another questions was what to charge the applicants to take the test. He stated that he felt, along with the Commission, that no fee should be charged in order to encourage more applicants to take the test. Motion by Mrs. Craig to no require an application fee for those individuals taking the Civil Service Examination for Full Time Police Officer. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At this time, 8:45 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss Personnel issues. Council re‐convened at 9:10 PM from Executive Session. MOTIONS AS A RESULT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION: Motion by Ms. Troy to allow Allen Brezinski of the Code Office to work a modified work schedule from 9/2/15 to 10/1/15 and to perform services from his residence as necessary. Second by Ms. Martinelli. All council was in favor of this motion. With there being no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Troy at 9:11 PM with a second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. The next meeting will be held on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Secretary 4 5