City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting May 1, 2017 Call To Order Gavel Strike of President of Council, Jeffrey McLaughlin, 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 President of Council, Jeffery Mclaughlin, ordered Roll Call. Members in attendance were: President Jeffery Mclaughlin, 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. Visitors numbered 35 and there was no media present. President Jeffery Mclaughlin confirmed a quorum. Proclamation for Bob Sgarlat and Bob Smith Representative Aaron Kaufer presented proclamations for the years of service given to the Fire Department by Bob Sgarlat and Bob Smith. Bob Sgarlat retired after 28 years of service and Bob Smith retired after 43 years of service. Residents and Taxpayers comments and Petitions Sam Bellanca of 57 Tripp Street voiced his concerns over a 34ft tree which is half dead. He feels it is a safety concern and would like to know whose expense it is to take care of it? He was advised that the Shade Tree Commission would investigate the matter. Megan Thomas of 124 Wyoming Avenue voiced her opinion about the Seller/Buyer occupancy certification. Judy Soroka of 92 Dana Street just wanted to thank the Street Department for doing such a great job with the Park. It is so nice to see how great it looks. 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 for the Consent Agenda by Council action. The Resolutions listed below were submitted to the Borough council for review and will be adopted by the one motion. 1. Motion to approve the minutes of April 3, 2017 Council Meeting 2. Motion to approve the minutes of April 17, 2017 council work session  3. Motion to approve the March 2017 Treasurer’s report 4. Motion to pay all bills as presented (Lars Anderson invoices) 5. Motion to accept the minutes and reports from the following: a. Police Chief b. Kingston Fire Chief c. Forty Fort Fire Chief d. Code Enforcement Officer e. Borough Manager time sheets f. Shade tree Commission meeting minutes g. Safety Committee meeting minutes h. WVSA meeting minutes i. Civil Service Commission meeting 6. Correspondence: 1. Request for support of CDBG Program A motion was made by Deborah Troy to accept the Consent Agenda and seconded by Tom Murray. All were in favor. Motion passed. Mayor and Police Chief Chief Daniel Hunsinger advised that the Police Department assisted with the annual Easter egg hunt in the Betty Mascelli Park. Sergeant Michaels Located a structure fire at 190 Welles Street while on patrol and notified 911. His discovery of this fire no doubt saved the building from suffering extensive fire damage. The Department received 3 window tint meters free of charge from Laser labs, Inc. The Department assisted with the muscular Dystrophy walk on 4/22/2017. Chief Hunsinger also asked Council if we could advertise again for Part Time Officers. Council advised that it was Ok and they would. Mayor Andy Tuzinski wanted to thank the Shade Tree Commission, the young volunteers and Dominic Butchko for watering and mulching over 20 trees in the Borough. Engineer’s Report No Parking Zone Posting on River Street Mr. Kevin Miluszusky with PA Department of Transportation, District 4-0 Permits Unit has advised that the Borough can relocate their No Parking Zone sign on the Borough owned portion of River Street (approaching Rutter Avenue) by submitting a supplemental Highway Occupancy Permit (HOP) application to the department, along with a copy of an adopted ordinance and sketch that establishes the revise “ No Parking” zone predicated on the lower posted 25 mph speed limit desired for the local portion of River Street. Quad 3 has prepared a sketch, which identified the revised “No Parking” zone location for the Borough’s use in legally adopting the referenced ordinance at last month’s Council meeting (submitted March 31, 2017). Quad 3 also submitted a copy of the present (HOP-approved) No Parking restriction plan, and also a copy of the planned revised No Parking restriction plan for the intersection of River and Rutter which will reduce the No Parking sign placement distance on the Borough Owned portion of River Street from 205’ from the center of Rutter Avenue, down to 121’ from the center of Rutter Avenue. Once the Borough Ordinance for revising the No Parking area based upon the reduced posted speed limit has been adopted, quad 3 will submit the supplemental Highway Occupancy Permit. Paving Project Work Rick Kamus, Carl Schimmel and David Levandoski performed a follow up inspection of the substantial completion item status on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 in advance of scheduling a Final Inspection fort the project. A copy of the inspection report/punch-list is attached for council’s reference. Quad 3 is also to meet the American Asphalt on Wednesday May 3rd to discuss final pay quantities (bituminous pavement and cast in place concrete). Forty Fort Borough Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project We believe this project is complete. Quad 3 delivered the following project closeout items to Forty Fort Borough on February 17, 2017 for execution and forwarding to USDA for project closeout: 1. Engineers certification that all project punch list items were completed: 2. Engineer’s certification that the project was completed in accordance with the plans and specification, 3. Owners Acceptance of Work (Final Completion Certification), and 4. Final Payment Request (5 copies). We are unaware of any further action that would be required on the part of Quad 3. Forty Fort Borough – Multimodal Transportation Grant Project Drawings, technical specifications and project manual for the exterior improvements to Borough Hall and various alleys I the Borough were submitted to Ms. April Hannon of PennDOT the first week of March 2017 for her review for bidding acceptability. Additionally, Highway Occupancy Permit documents were submitted concurrently to the PennDOT permits unit through Penn Dot’s ECMS system. Comments were received from the HOP permit unit the first week of April. Quad 3 has nearly completed our draft response (attached for council’s consideration) and revised drawings to address the technical comments received, however certain comments made will have an impact upon parking at borough Hall and the entrance drive utilized by emergency service vehicles. Prior to fill our resubmission, we would like to secure direction from Council relative to the No Parking ban and the modified driveway entrance referenced above. On Friday, April 28, 2017 April Hannon advised by email that our “plan set and bid package looks good”. She requested we modify our bid form to avoid lump sum quantities and advise3d that Add Alternate No. 1 was not eligible for reimbursement, but that it could be bid together with the project. She also asked us to explain and to quantify our Add Alternate No.2 bid item. Ms. Hannon also advised that we can’t bid the project until the H.O.P. permit is in place. PennDOT ARLE Project – Welles and Slocum Street Traffic Signal Improvements Our traffic consultant received second review comments on March 3, 2017 from PennDOT District 4-0 Signal Unit, and replied and resubmitted on March 30, 2017, and sent an email message on April 26, 2017 inquiring about the status of their review. As of May 1, 2017, we have not received any further correspondence or response from PennDOT. Pearl Street Carl Schimmel prepared documentation for Abrahams Creek at the end of Pear Street. The failing retaining wall at the end of Pearl Street will be removed and the stream bank will also be stabilized with rip rap and two inlets added on each side of Pearl Street with outfall to Abrahams Creek. This project will need a Water Obstruction and Encroachment Permit under Chapter 105. Accordingly, we submitted a General Permit Registration afro General Permits GP-3 (Intake and Outfall Structures) to DEP. These and Gravel Bar Removal and GP-4 (Intake and Outfall Structures) to DEP. These permits require an E and S Plan approval, so we also submitted an E and S Plant to the Luzerne conservation District. Bothe submissions were hand-delivered on Friday, Feb 24 and are under review at present. We received E and S approval by letter dated March 10, 2017 (copy Attached). We are still awaiting DEP’s acknowledgement of Chapter 105 Water Obstruction and Encroachment Permit General Permits GP-3 (Bank Rehabilitation, Bank Protection, and Gravel Bar Removal) and GP-4 (Intake and Outfall structures). As stated above, these materials were hand-delivered by our office on February 24, 2017. While there is no known specific review time limitation, we anticipate hearing from DEP any day since they have had it for more than a month. Update: Carl Schimmel was advised by Mr. Kevin White of PADEP, that they have not begun their review of the submission which was submitted on February 24, 2017, but that they must have a decision by May 19th, 2017. Borough Pool Complex Sam Scarantino, Mike Heim and Richard Kresge with Quad 3 met on site with Bonnie Arnone and Rick Kamus on Thursday, April 27, 2017 to discuss alternatives for bidding enhancements to the Borough Pool. Quad 3 will issue a report with recommendations and priorities for bidding the project in a way that will maximize available funding. It will also include estimates of cost for both design and construction of the various improvement items desired. River Street Grant Funded Project Bonnie Arnone relayed that Forty Fort Borough was recently awarded $350,000.00 for the River St. Curbing and lighting project. Since the grant amount exceeds that amount originally forecast by Quad 3, she requested that we revise the scope of work and associated budget so that it is in line with the amount of the award. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to advertise for bid the multi modal project pending PenDOT approval. Motion was seconded by Tom Murray. All were in favor. Motion was passed. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to advertise for bid the ARLE Grant pending PenDOT approval. Motion was seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. General Business 1. Ordinance #2 of 2017 Parking restriction, ordinance amendment. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko and seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. 2. Resolution #8 of 2017 CDBG Support, A motion was made by Dominic Butchko and seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. 3. Appointment of William Howell as alternate to Civil Service Commission. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko and seconded by David Sieminski. A roll call was conducted, Dominic Butchko, Deborah Troy, and Ted Ritsick voted yes. Amy Craig, Tom Murray, David Sieminski, and Jeff  Mclaughlin voted no. There was a 4-3 vote; motion was not passed to appoint William Howell. 4. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to hire the following lifeguards for the 2017 season: Clare Winton, Emily Alvarez, Corrine Smith, Alexandra Smith, Michael Featherstone, Timothy Snyder, Emily Easton, Kaelee Kane and Paul Vrabec. The motion was seconded by Amy Craig. All were in favor. Motion passed. 5. A motion was made by David Sieminski to hire the following DPW workers for summer help: Matt Jones, Derek Kamus, and Robert Semyon at $10.00 per hour. Deborah Troy seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. 6. A motion was made by Deborah Troy to advertise amended Shade Tree Ordinance. The motion was seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. 7. A motion was made by Ted Ritsick to Hire Frank Saporito as a part time DPW worker at a rate of $15.50 per hour. The motion was seconded by Amy Craig. All were in favor. Motion passed. 8. An amended motion was made by Dominic Butchko to Pay the Lars Anderson bill and to also send a letter to the Civil Service commission advising them that they have gone over there budget for legal counsel. David Sieminski seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion passed. New Business and Open Discussion 1. Spring Clean-up is being held May 17th through the 21st. Pre- Pay will be set up on-line, or you can come to the Borough Building for $35 per load. If you do not pre-pay, it will be $40 per load at the door. Drop off will be at the Borough garage off of Shook Place. Advertisement will be made through the Family’s for Forty Fort sign, Social media, and signage posted in businesses. 2. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko and seconded by Ted Ristick to hire a firefighter to replace retiring Robert Smith, in accordance with Kingston/Forty Fort agreement. All were in favor. Motion passed. 3. The personnel Policy update was discussed and council decided to bring it to the work session. 4. Pool renovations were discussed. See Engineers report. 5. The Proposed Bike Trail Public information meeting will be on May 11, 2017 from 6-8 PM. Location TBA 6. A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to pay for a Seminar for Code Enforcement, for continued training, with stipulation that Bill Harvey stays with us for 1yr and if not he is required to pay the amount of the seminar back. Motion was seconded by Amy Craig. All were in favor. Motion passed. Our solicitor Atty. William Finnegan then spoke about: 7. WVSA handout for Stormwater Management regionalization 8. Stormwater Authority Intergovernmental Agreement 9. Stormwater Authority Ordinance 10. WVSA Member Intergovernmental Agreement 11. WVSA stormwater memo- includes information on how to get a copy of the comprehensive study. Motion to adjourn A motion to adjourn was made by Jeffrey Mclaughlin and seconded by Dominick Butchko at 10:10 PM. All were in favor. The next meeting will be a work session held on May 15, 2017 at 7:00PM in the council chambers at the Forty Fort Borough Building. Respectfully Submitted by, Brandy Fuller Secretary/Treasurer