City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 2, 2015 The November meeting of the Forty Fort Borough Council was held on Monday, November 2, 2015 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., with President Jeff McLaughlin presiding. President McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM with the following council members present: Deborah Troy, Dorothy Craig, Frank Michaels, Charles Rick Kamus & Karen Martinelli via telephone. Joe Lynch was absent. Also present were Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Atty. Jack Haley, Chief Dan Hunsinger, Carl Schimmel & Mark Voyack of Quad 3 Group & Manager Bonnie Arnone. Reverend Lukish led with invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Mayor Tuzinski. GUESTS: Brian Koscelansky of Stevens & Lee presented the USDA Road Paving Loan Ordinance to council for adoption. The ordinance had been advertised and will allow for the borough to borrow $1,200,000.00 from USDA for the Road Paving Project at an interest rate of 3.25% for a term of 15 years. CONSENT AGENDA FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES: Motion by Mr. Michaels to accept the Consent Agenda for Administrative Issues. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. The agenda consists of the following: 1. Motion to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting of 10/5/15 2. Motion to approve the minutes of the work session of 10/19/15 3. Motion to accept the treasurer’s report 4. Payment of bills 5. Motion to accept the following department reports: Mayor/Police Dept., Forty Fort Fire Chief, Kingston Fire Chief, WVSA Minutes, Shade Tree Commission minutes, Safety Committee minutes, Civil Service Commission minutes & Bonnie’s time sheet. 6. Communications from USDA regarding document preparations for the Road Paving Project; UGI letter requesting our decision in lighting choices for street lamps; recommendation from Tony Gallagher on what response to give UGI; memo from American Asphalt giving anticipated work start dates for River St. paving; confirmation of our certification for our workers compensation policy reduction. REPORT OF MAYOR/CHIEF OF POLICE: Mayor Tuzinski read a Resolution he had prepared and requested council to adopt at this meeting that would dedicate the newly renovated Police Station the Robert Mack Police Station named after the officer who was the only one to die in the line of duty in Forty Fort Borough history.  Motion by Mrs. Craig to pass Resolution #18 of 2015 to dedicate the newly renovated Forty Fort Police Station to the Robert Mack Police Station. Second by Mr. Michaels. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Mayor Tuzinski read a resolution he had prepared and requested council to adopt at this meeting that would bestow the Medal of Honor to Patrolman Robert Mack, the only officer to die in the line of duty in Forty Fort Borough. Motion by Ms. Troy to pass Resolution #19 of 2015 to bestow the Medal of Honor to Patrolman Robert Mack. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Chief Hunsinger thanked Mayor Tuzinski for all the work he had done to gather the information needed to prepare the two Resolutions honoring fallen officer, Robert Mack. Mr. Michaels commended the Chief and his officers for the work they did on Halloween Night passing out candy to the children. MANAGER’S REPORT: Manager, Bonnie Arnone, read the correspondences that were received reporting that River St. would be milled beginning the early part of next week with other streets following provided the weather stays warm enough. Also, with regard to the correspondence from UGI, the following motion was made: Motion by Mrs. Craig to advise UGI Electric that Forty Fort Borough will have the 60‐watt LED lights as their choice of lighting. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. UGI will be notified in writing. ENGINEER’S REPORT: Mark Voyack of Quad 3 Engineering Group stated that the Bedford St. paving has been completed. Documents have been received from USDA which they will begin work on with the contractor, American Asphalt. Mayor Tuzinski complemented Russo & DeMaio, sub‐contractors for UGI gas division on the work they recently did on Butler St. RESIDENTS AND TAXPAYERS COMMENTS & PETITIONS: Wyoming Valley West student, Joe Gibbons, was present doing a research paper for school. He was introduced by Mayor Tuzinski. GENERAL BUSINESS: Motion by Mr. Michaels to pass Ordinance #11 which would allow the Borough to borrow the sum of $1,200,00.00 from USDA at an interest rate of 3.25% for a period of 15 years for a Road Paving Project. Second by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to pass Resolution #17 of 2015, the Luzerne County 2015 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed.  Motion by Ms. Troy to accept Change Order #10 for the USDA Sewer Rehabilitation Project for the storm and sanitary sewer work on E. Turner St. to be performed by Holena Construction in the amount of $32,796.75. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Secretary of the Civil Service Commission, Tony Smith, requested of council that a $30.00 stipend be given to the following volunteers for the various stages of the Civil Service Testing for police officers recently: Sheryl Sealock who administered the written exam; Tom Craig who proctored the written exam; James Gallagher who administered the Oral Exam; Chief Michael Moravec who administered the oral exam; Chief Michael Krywicki who administered the oral exam; Joseph Eagono, who administered the physical agility exam; Adam Michaels who administered the agility exam and Peter Lakkis who administered the agility exam. Mr. Smith was thanked by council for the letters that he had sent to all volunteers thanking them. Motion by Mr. Michaels to give a $30.00 stipend to the eight volunteers named above who have assisted the Civil Service Commission during the exams. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mrs. Craig to deny the request of Charles Shiber of 35 Bedford St. to overturn the decision of the Shade Tree Commission to not allow him to cut his tree. Second by Ms. Troy. On the question: It was noted that the tree is perfectly healthy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Troy to accept the bid of $121,304.00 for a recycle truck from A & H Equipment on the condition that a backup camera could be included. Second by Mr. Michaels. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. NEW BUSINESS & OPEN DISCUSSION: Mr. Michaels stated that he has been speaking with businesses in town requesting donations for the borough wide home decorating contest for the upcoming holiday season. Three winners will be chosen from each ward by a panel of judges from out of town individuals. Motion to approve the undertaking of this home decorating contest was made by Mr. Michaels and seconded by Mrs. Craig. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At this time, 8:00 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss on going contract negotiations and personnel issues. At 10:00 PM, council re‐convened the council meeting with the following motion as a result of the Executive Session: Motion by Mrs. Craig to order an actuarial study of the Police Pension plan to study the effects of the following issues: Changing the retirement age to 55; lowering the amount of disability benefit to 65% from 75%; adding a service increment of up to $500.00 per month. In addition to these items to be studied, council will also ask for the study to determine the effects on the pension of Officer Brian Eovich, currently out on Heart & Lung, retiring before the end of 2015 with a 75% disability pension. The cost of the actuarial study will be paid for from the police pension fund. Second by Ms. Troy. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Kamus at 10:10 PM and seconded by Mr. Michaels. The next meeting will be a work session on Monday, November 16, 2015 at 7:00 PM in council chambers. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Manager