City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting March 6, 2017 Call to Order Gavel Strike of Vice President of Council, Tom Murray, called tonight’s meeting to order. Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance Reverend Lukish led those present in prayer and Mayor Andy Tuzinski led the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call Vice President of Council, Tom Murray ordered Roll Call. Members in attendance were: Vice President Tom Murray, Dominic Butchko, Deborah Troy, Amy Craig, Ted Ritsick and David Sieminski. Borough Mayor, Andy Tuzinski, Chief of Police Daniel Hunsinger, Borough Manager, Bonnie Arnone, and Borough Secretary Brandy Fuller. President of Council Jeffrey McLaughlin came in late. Visitors numbered 21 and there was no one from the Press Present. Vice President Tom Murray confirmed a quorum. Residents and Taxpayers Comments & Petitions Rob Swabeck of 15 Susquehanna Ave acquired about the movement of no parking signs, the proposed bike trail, and questioned the acquisition of the land at the county soccer fields. Regarding the bike trail Mr. Ritsick advised that he could gather more information on that at Representative Kauffers office. Mr. Swabeck also questioned as to who directs the Full Time Forty Fort Firefighters and what their Salary was. Mr. Swabeck was advised that the Kingston Fire Chief as well as Chief Shedlarski directs our Full Time Firemen. Charlie Holena of 103 Slocum Street wanted to know the status of the investigation regarding Rick Kamus conducting personal business on Forty Forts time. Mr. Holena was advised it is being addressed. He also, inquired about the status of his complaint. He was told the answer was mailed to him. The last concern he had was regarding the new Excavator and if different estimates were looked at from different companies. Brian Thomas asked how the employee handbook was going. He was advised that this is a process and the solicitor needs to draft the handbook and we need to then sit down and discuss it, but it is in the process. Mr. Thomas advised council that the minutes from the last meeting were still not up on the website. He was told that Chief Hunsinger takes care of our website on his own personal time and has been very busy. He will do his best to get the minutes up. Mr. Thomas questioned if there was a yearly $100 tax fee for residents who are in a C1 district. President Jeff McLaughlin said it will be researched. Mr. Thomas asked for a phone call to follow up. Ed Kopec advised council of what it would take to finish the pavilion. For the whole thing to be finished including the floor, grading and seeding, electrical, and benches comes to approximately $16,753. Mr. Kopec would at least like to get the floor done so the pavilion could be used, which would be $4559. Financially standing there is $2600-$3000 in donations. Chief Hunsinger recommended that $1000 of the money put aside for Code Red (which we are no longer using) be put to the project and Charlie Holena also offered to donate $1000 of concrete towards the concrete floor. Motion was made by Ted Ritsick and seconded by Tom Murray to relocate $1000 from the police budget and donate $2559 to be put towards the Pavillion project. Dominic Butchko voted No. The rest of the council voted yes. Motion passed. Don McDonough 9 Colonial Drive Mountain Top, wanted to know what to do with the strip of mud in front of Turkey Hill. Mr. McDonough was advised to get permission to plant two trees, and put something on the tree lawn to prevent traffic from driving on the tree lawn. Bill Howell voiced his concerns over the new proposed bike trail. He was advised that it was in the beginning stages and only being talked about. Consent Agenda for Administrative Issues: Matters listed within the Consent Agendas have been referred to members of the Borough Council for reading and study, are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion of the Council. If separate discussion is desired, the item may be removed from the Consent Agenda by Council action. The Resolutions listed below were submitted to the Borough Council for review and will be adopted by one motion. 1. Motion to approve the minutes of the Council Meeting of February 6, 2017 2. Motion to approve the minutes of the Council work session of February 20, 2017 3. Motion to approve the January 2017 Treasurer’s Report 4. Motion to pay all bills as presented 5. Motion to accept minutes and reports from the following: A. Kingston Fire Chief B. Code Enforcement Officer and letter regarding Sip n Silk  C. WVSA Meeting minutes D. Planning Commission meeting minutes E. Safety Committee meeting minutes F. Manager’s time sheets 2.15.17 and 3.1.17 G. Forty Fort fire Chief Report 6. Correspondence: 1. Gorman Subdivision letter from Mr. Harvey 2. PA One Call Proclamation 3. David Sieminski letter of resignation as alternate for the civil service commission, Mr. Sieminski will abstain from this vote. 4. Stormwater Municipal March meeting update A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to accept the Consent Agenda and seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. Police Chief and Mayor Report Chief of Police Daniel Hunsinger advised council that the department has been registered with Offer Up as a Safe Meeting Spot for an internet purchase exchange location. Citizens will be able to use our lobby to make any in-person exchanges from purchases they made over the internet. Signage will be hung identifying the lobby as a safe meeting spot. Chief asked the Street Department if they would hang the signage to identify the spot. Assistant Chief Stone read to the students at Dana Street School on Thursday, March 2nd for the annual read Across America celebration. Chief Hunsinger also advised that Officer Ian Bycek has completed his year of probation. The Chief also requested that the Borough advertise for Part-Time officers. In addition to Officer Kudzinowski resigning, Officer Fuller has obtained a full-time security position with Geisinger Hospital and his availability has changed. As a result the department is shorthanded and filling the schedule has been difficult with existing staffing levels. A motion was made by Ted Ritsick to advertise for Part-Time Police Officers. David Sieminski seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. Mayor Andy Tuzinski wanted to give a shout out to the Street Department for pruning the trees on the tree lawns. Due to the recent high winds, we had only one call regarding trees. The Mayor just wanted to Thank Rick Kamus and the guys for being proactive in taking care of the trees. The Mayor also made a proclamation, encouraging and supporting *811 PA One Call, declaring April PA One Call Month. The Mayor also brought up acquiring land from the Forty Fort Pioneers for $1. A motion was made by Tom Murray and seconded by David Sieminski, to allow Ted Ritsick to talk to the County regarding the land. Ted Ritsick abstained from the vote, the rest of council were in favor. Motion passed. Engineers Report There were no representatives from Quad three at this meeting, but an Engineers report was handed out to all of council. Manager’s Report Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone advised Council that letters will be sent out this month to all last year’s lifeguards to see if they have an interest returning for this year’s swim season. While we had hoped to have a newly refinished pool for this year, circumstances have prevented that work in time for summer of 2017. The borough has received the 2017 Liquid Fuels allotment in the amount of $116,682.26 with an additional $560.00 received for the Road Turnback Annual Maintenance. These funds have been deposited into the Borough’s Liquid Fuels fund and will be used for only those expenses allowed by PENDOT. We also, have received one of the checks from the PA Treasury in the amount of $1524.36 in payment of EIT Tax from the now defunct Don Wilkinson Agency. We are anticipating the receipt of another such check from the treasury Dept. in the amount of $2281.92 also for unpaid EIT taxes. Bonnie Arnone also wanted to thank the Mayor and Teddy Ritsick for donating the money to the Kingston Forty Fort Little League. Our Forty Fort Sign will be hung at the Fields. General Business Consent Agenda: 1. Approval of Gorman Subdivision A motion was made by David Sieminski and seconded by Tom Murray for approval of the Gorman Subdivision. All were in favor. Motion passed. 2. Accept resignation of David Sieminski as alternate for Civil Service Commission A motion was made by Tom Murray and seconded by Ted Ritsick to accept the resignation of David Sieminski as alternate for Civil Service Commission. David Sieminski abstained from the vote. The rest of council were in favor. Motion passed. General Business 1. Approval of Caterpillar Excavator from Cleveland Brother  A motion was made by Tom Murray and seconded by Amy Craig for approval of the Caterpillar Excavator from Cleveland Brother. Dominic Butchko voted against it. The rest of council were in favor. Motion passed. 2. Proposed changes to Pave cut ordinance A motion was made by Deborah Troy and seconded by Tom Murray to advertise proposed changes to the Pave cut ordinance. All were in favor. Motion passed. 3. USDA Sewer Rehab Final payment - $10,000.00 A motion was made by Ted Ritsick and seconded by Dominic Butchko for the USDA Sewer Rehab final payment of $10,000.00. All were in favor. Motion passed. 4. Motion to approve amended offer of employment for Charles Rick Kamus based upon recommendation of the Borough Solicitor. A motion was made by Tom Murray and seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. New Business and Open Discussion: 1. Tree Lawn Ordinance Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made by Deborah Troy and seconded by David Sieminski at 8:35PM. All were in favor. The next meeting will be a work session held on Monday March 20, 2017 at 7:00PM. Respectfully Submitted by, Brandy Fuller Secretary/Treasurer