City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting Minutes July 3, 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 25 and there was no media present. President Jeffery Mclaughlin confirmed a quorum. Residents and Taxpayers Comments & Petitions Christie Wilson from Families of Forty Fort Park wanted to Thank Council for all their support with the new Pavilion at the Forty Fort Park. She invited them to the ribbon cutting ceremony which will be held July 21, 2017 at 6PM. She also wanted to make council aware that they had gotten a grant of $7000 for new Picnic tables for the Pavilion. There will be 7 regular and 1 handicap accessible. They should arrive by late July. The next list of Residents who spoke were either against or worried about the proposed Bike Levy Trail. The most impacted houses are worried about the trails going through their backyards, or increase of vehicle traffic on the roads. They are worried about the un savory people which this trail may bring to their residents. They also, voiced that they are not 100% against it, would just hope they considered the other options which are available. Ann Schwartz of 8 Susquehanna Ave Linda Houst of 45 Cayuga St Chris Grimko of 15 E Turner St Jill Shelp of 41 Cayuga St Rob Swabeck of 15 Susquehanna Ave Molly Ryan 336 River Street The next list of people who spoke were for the Bike Levy Trail, and voiced how beneficial the Bike Trail would be for our area, and how it would clean up our area. Parking was offered on the land at the end of 499 River St. They also took into consideration and felt for all the concerns of the above. Mike Sgarlett of 499 River Street Paul Lumnia of 251 Huntsville Rd Dallas PA David Bass of 30 Virginia Terrace Molly Wright of 30 VirginiaTerrace Sean Robins of 223 Overbrook Rd Dallas PA Beth Slock 100 Lathrop St. Kingston 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 June 5, 2017 council meeting 2. Motion to approve the minute of the June 19, 2017 council work session 3. Motion to approve the May 2017 Treasurer’s report 4. Motion to pay all bills as presented 5. 6. Motion to accept the minutes and reports from the following: a. Forty Fort Police Department b. Kingston Fire Chief c. Engineers report d. Manager’s time sheets for 6/21/17 and 7/5/17 e. Forty Fort Fire Chief f. Code Enforcement Office report – May and June 2017 7. Correspondence: 1. William Harvey resignation letter A motion was made by Amy Craig to accept the Consent Agenda and seconded by Deborah Troy. All were in favor. Motion passed. Mayor and Police Chief Chief Daniel Hunsinger submitted a request for funding assistance with the District Attorney’s Office to finalize the remodeling project for the police department. The money will be used to purchase a video/audio recording system that will be used to record interviews and interrogations. Do to the evidentiary value of the video/audio recording, we are required to have certain security setting in place to protect the recording so that we are able to use it as evidence in court. This setup will meet these requirements. I requested $6,000.00 and have received $4,000.00 towards the purchase. We have $1,570.00 remaining in our District Attorney Drug Forfeiture account so we will be using that money to make up some of the difference there for the total cost will have very little impact on our budget. Chief Hunsinger requested they hire a new Part-Time Police Officer. The have received an application for Part-time employment from Officer Matthew Ogden. Officer Ogden comes highly recommended by his current employers (Swoyersville and Edwardsville Police Departments) and from several officers of our department. Because of this, I am requesting that Officer Ogden be hired as a Part-Time Forty Fort Borough Police Officer to fill the current part-time vacancy in our department. A motion was made by Tom Murray to hire Officer Matthew Ogden as a Part-Time Officer. It was seconded by Deborah Troy. All were in favor. Motion passed. The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association has partnered with CRIMEWATCH, an internet based service that helps to allow the community and the law enforcement agencies to interact. I am attaching a couple sample pages to demonstrate some of the things we will be doing with CRIMEWATCH. When we post items on CRIMEWATCH, it will automatically post the same information to Facebook, Twitter and other social media. It will also send an email alert to all subscribers and there is a phone app people can download that will also receive an alert when items are posted. In addition to this notification, it will also create a blotter for the news media. There will also be a community Bulletin Board where businesses and residents can post things such as lost or found animals, lost or found property, garage/yard sales, movies in the park, church or school events, special sales or discounts offered by Forty Fort Businesses specifically for Forty Fort Residents, etc.… In addition to all of this, it also does Crime Mapping which in time will enable us to visualize where crime is mostly occurring in town, allowing us to target that area. There are currently 73 Pennsylvania Police Agencies that subscribe to CRIMEWATCH. CRIMEWATCH is a National program. Because the PA Chiefs Association has partnered with CRIMEWATC, we are able to subscribe to it at a 20% reduced cost. Based on our population, we will pay $787.26 per year. The new police vehicle will be delivered shortly. Once this vehicle has been delivered the Chief is requesting that the Mayor, Council and Borough Manager join us for a photo/press opportunity to let the public know about our technical advantage to the change in the state’s registration sticker program. Thanks to your support, our department is not only prepared for this change, but we are also a step ahead of many other agencies throughout the stated. I would also like to invite State Senator Lisa Baker and Representative Aaron Kaufer to join us in this public announcement and anyone else that has supported our department in obtaining the funding for our vehicle and license plate reader system. Mayor Andy Tuzinski advised that there will be a ribbon cutting Ceremony for the new Pavilion on July 21, 2017 at 6 PM. Following the ceremony will be the Movie in the Park starting at Dusk. The movie will be Kung Fu Panda 3. A Happy 90th Birthday on June 25th went out to Carol Stusnick Seltzer. Happy 90th Birthday to Carol Stusnick Seltzer affectionately known as "The Tree Lady." Our town is a nicer place to live because of her dedication to Forty Fort Shade Tree Commission. Carol is directly or indirectly responsible for the planting of over 200 trees in Forty Fort and other communities. In addition to her service on the Shade Tree Commission, Carol touched countless young lives as a Girl Scout Leader. Carol served her country as well, and is a US Navy veteran. Wishing Carol good thoughts on this day. Manager’s Report Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone stated that she reached out to Todd Shady of 21st Century Pool both via phone and email to once again discuss the possibilities of placing a liner in the borough pool as a way to be able to open and operate the pool efficiently staying within the budget of our LSA Grant in the amount of $200,000.00. She is still waiting to hear back from him. The Landlord Tenant Ordinance originally slated to be voted upon at tonight’s meeting has been put on hold in order to make some needed changes following a meeting with Atty. Finnegan and our code enforcement office. Mrs. Arnone stated that she is awaiting a quote from another company to do a zoning ordinance review and re-write after a recent meeting with them. She will keep council advised on that. An update was made that Mrs. Arnone had spoken with Todd Shady of 21st Century pools and Sam Scarantino of Quad 3 Group. They will meet with council at 6:30 PM prior to the July 17th work session at the pool. Todd and Sam will meet at 5:00 PM so Todd can check out the pool again. A quote was also received from Urban Research and Development Company for the work that needs to be done on our Zoning Ordinance. I have given each of you the rice quotes to review and be prepared to discuss at the July work session. Council Action Items 1. Accept resignation of William Harvey and Building and Zoning Officer. A motion was made by Tom Murray to accept the resignation of William Harvey the Building and Zoning Officer. It was seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion Passed. 2. Resolution 9 of 2017 approving the lease purchase of a 2017 Ford SUV Police cruiser A motion was made by Deborah Troy to approve the lease purchase of a 2017 Ford SUV Police Cruiser. It was seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. 3. Claire Backer cost share request from Shade Tree Commission A motion was made by Deborah Troy to reimburse Claire Backer $100 for cost share from the Shade Tree Commission, contingent upon her planting another tree. It was seconded by Amy Craig. All were in favor. Motion passed. 4. Hire Part Time employee for DPW A motion was made by Amy Craig to Hire Marty Wasnoski, contingent on $16.50 hourly rate, Part Time for DPW. It was seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. 5. Recycle Ordinance A motion was made by Deborah Troy to advertise the Amended Recycle repeal Fees. It was seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. 6. Tom Murray on Shade Tree Commission  A motion was made by Amy Craig to appoint Tom Murray on the Shade Tree Commission. It was seconded by Deborah Troy. All were in favor. Motion passed. New Business 1. 7.17.17 work session at pool to meet with engineer and Pool Company for liner. Executive Session 1. Civil Service letter regarding Fire Fighters 2. Harvey Resignation Council adjourned to Executive Session at 9:01 PM. Council re-convened at 9:05 PM from Executive Session. Motion was made by Mr. Butchko to promote both Firefighter Robert Pugh and Firefighter Joseph Kozich to the position of Deputy Chief of the Forty Fort Fire Department. Second by Ms. Craig. On the question: It was noted that this rank calls for an additional $1,000.00 salary. These two firefighters will split this stipend making it $500.00 each additional each year. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 PM with a motion by Mr. Sieminski and second by Mr. Murray. The next meeting of Council will be a work session on Monday, July 17, 2017 at 6:30PM. Meet at the Pool. Respectfully Submitted by Brandy Fuller Secretary/Treasurer