City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting Minutes August 7, 2017 Call to Order Gavel Strike of President of council Jeffrey McLaughlin, called tonight’s meeting to order. Invocation and 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, Ted Ritsick, and David Sieminski. Amy Craig was absent due to vacation. Borough Mayor, Andy Tuzinski, chief of Police, Daniel Hunsinger, Borough Manager, Bonnie Arnone, and Borough Secretary Brandy Fuller. Visitors numbered 10 and there was no media present. President Jeffery Mclaughlin confirmed a quorum. Resident and Taxpayers Comments and Petitions: Judy Soroka of Dana Street asked if the 200,000 grant for the pool can only be used for the pool. She was advised that it would have to be looked in to. She also voiced her concerns on when questions could be asked during a meeting. She was advised that the work session meeting would be a good meeting to come to, so any questions could be answered. Dan Gray of Bidlack St. showed his interest in starting a Skate Park in the Borough. He was advised that it was an excellent idea, but unfortunately we just don’t have the land or space to put something like that in. 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 July 3, 2017 Council meeting 2. Motion to approve the minutes of the July 17, 2017 council work session 3. Motion to approve the June 2017 Treasurer’s report 4. Motion to approve payment of all bills as presented 5. Motion to approve the minutes an reports of the following: a. Safety Committee meeting minutes b. Shade Tree Committee meeting minutes c. Forty Fort Police Chief Report d. Kingston Fire Chief Report e. Code Enforcement Officer Report f. Manager’s time sheets for 7/19/2017 and 8/2/2017 g. WVSA Meeting minutes h. Engineer’s Report i. Energy Savings Analysis j. Engineer’s report on Paving Project Correspondence: 1. SPCA Letter 2. Function Classification correspondence 3. Hoyt Library Invitation 4. MS 4 Information A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to accept the Consent Agenda and seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. Mayor and Police Chief Report: The Mayor and Chief Daniel Hunsinger reported that the video/audio recording system to record interviews and interrogations has been installed. Officer Matthew Ogden has been hired and has begun the new officer training phase. Assistant Chief Stone and Chief Hunsinger attended the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association conference in Harrisburg. They received mandatory MPOETC credited training hours while attending the conference. They also exchanged ideas with other agencies. Numerous vendors used the Forty Fort Police Department to demonstrate how even smaller departments can be at the leading edge of technology. (WatchGuard – In Car Cameras) (Crime watch – Law Enforcement Website/Social Media Network), (Secure Watch 24 – License Plate Readers) (Metro- Alert – Records Management System and e-Filing) all used our department as a sales pitch for their products. They had several Chief’s from throughout the state comment favorably about our department. The new police vehicle has been delivered shortly. Once the license plate reader system has been installed, we will have a press release and photo op for all. On July 19, 2017 our department was audited by the State Police for our CLEAN/NCIC System Security. Sgt. Adams and I met with the auditor at the 911 Center. Our department passes the audit with no issues relating to our secure data through J/NET and CLEAN/NCIC. This is a credit to all officers in the department along with Golden Business Machines who setup the security on our department server. On Tuesday, August 1, 2017 our department participated in the National Night out Campaign. Special thanks to Mayor Tuzinski and Council Member Amy Craig along with Families and Friends of Forty Fort Park for helping to make this night a complete success. There was music provided by a D.J, a Dunk Tank that was paid for by the D. J., food donations from Colarusso’s and Pizza Bella, a huge cake, Forty Fort Police Tattoos, games and child fingerprinting. Special thanks also go out to Mayor Andy Tuzinski and Council Member Debbie Troy for suiting up for the Dunk Tank. On Thursday, August 3, 2017, our department ran two speed surveys and conducted other traffic enforcement throughout town. Speed Study Enforcement – River Street – 248 vehicles were clocked, 2 citations were issued for speeding. Speed Study Enforcement – West Pettebone Street – 29 vehicles clocked, no speeding violations observed. Highest speed detected was 31 mph. A vehicle Inspection Check at Rutter near Welles resulted in numerous violations. There was a total of 26 citations and 7 written warnings issued during this traffic enforcement detail. The License Plate Reader was a complete success during this operation. The department is assisting in getting the word out for residents of Forty Fort who have requested a community wide Yard Sale visa the Social Media outlet, NEXTDOOR. Residents will be able to place items out for sale on Saturday, August 26, 2017 with a rain date of Sunday, August 27th. No permits will be required for this community event. Manager’s Report: Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone advised council that a DCED Multimodal Transportation grant application was submitted the end of July for the River Street and Rutter Ave. Gateway project. The total requested in the grant is $2,788,662.50 and will include the balance of work that will not be able to be completed with the lower amount of grant award from the LSA Grant for River. Curbing and lith5ting project and the entire project as requested in the LSA Grant for the Rutter Ave. Gateway Project. The $350,000.00 received for the River St. LSA Grant will be used as the match for this Multimodal grant. A budget estimate for pool repairs has been received from Todd Shady of 21st Century Pools. If his budget figures hold true, we should be able to fund the lining of the pool, Remove and replace the 18” of deck around the perimeter to install surface skimmers and re-do the steps In the pool. The total of these budget costs would be $203,200.00. Having Quad 3 Group prepare the spec’s and place the project out for bid is on the council action items for this evening. There will be a meeting with the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority on Tuesday, August 15th where Bill Collins will be present to discuss with the Authority tentative plans for the bike trail connection between Forty Fort and Kingston. An additional amount of $750.00 will be received from the PA Environmental Council which Mr. Collins has agreed to accept to attend this meeting plus travel expenses not to exceed $150.00. You will see in the Paving Project Report from Quad 3 Group, they have illustrated the punch list items and whether there would be a credit or debit for the borough with American Asphalt, They have given a deadline of August 15, 2017 to achieve the final completion of this project. Beyond this date, liquidated damages will be assessed at the rate established in the contract. The Alley Paving Grant is still being held up by mandates from PENDOT which prevents the issuance of the Highway Occupancy Permit needed for the River Street work at the Borough Building. Senator Baker has agreed to reach out to PENDOT to see if the process can be expedited in order to be put out for bid with the work being completed this year. DPW Report Council Action Items: 1. Backer Cost Share Request-amend July meeting vote A motion was made by Ted Ritsick to rescind the motion to replant a tree before giving Mrs. Backer her Cost Share back. It was seconded by Tom Murray. All were in favor. Motion passed. 2. Diane Swinchick Handicap spot request There was no motion made. The request for the handicap spot was denied due to having off street parking. 3. Jeff Pisanchyn Proposal for Building Code Official Work A motion was made by Deborah Troy to hire Jeff Pisanchyn for BCO work in the Borough. It was seconded by Dominic Butchko. All were in favor. Motion passed. 4. LC Drug Task Force Ordinance No. 6 of 2017 A motion was made by Ted Ristsick to Adopt LC Drug Task Force Ordinance No. 6 of 2017. It was seconded by Deborah Troy. All were in favor. Motion passed. 5. Recycling (Repealer) Ordinance No. 7 of 2017 A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to adopt the Recycling (Repealer) Ordinance No. 7 of 2017. It was seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. 6. Resolution No. 10 of 2017 for Multimodal Grant application A motion was made by Dominic Butchko to pass Resolution No. 10 of 2017 for Multimodal Grant application. It was seconded by Ted Ritsick. All were in favor. Motion passed. 7. Zoning Proposal from Jack Varaly A motion was made by Dominic Butchko for the new $11,650 Proposal draft of the Zoning Ordinance from Jack Varaly. It was seconded by Deborah Troy. All were in favor. Motion passed. 8. 2017 Pool Budget A motion was made by Dominic Butchko for Quad 3 to put out Pool Repair Bid by next meeting. It was seconded by David Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed. 9. Quad 3 Mapping A motion was made by Tom Murray to approve mapping the Luzerne County Recreation Fields by Quad 3. Approximate cost will be $4656.00. The motion was seconded by Dominic Butchko. All were in favor. Motion passed. New Business and Open Discussion: 1. September Council meeting at Pavilion in the park – Tuesday September 5, 2017 2. Set an AD HOC committee for DPW Employment agreement A committee was formed of Dominic Butchko, Jeffrey McLaughlin, and Tom Murray. Adjournment: A motion was made by Jeff McLaughlin to adjourn the meeting at 8:37PM. It was seconded by Dominic Butchko. All were in favor. Motion passed. The next meeting of Borough Council will be held on Monday, August 21, 2017 at 7:00PM in the council chambers. Respectfully submitted by Brandy Fuller Secretary/Treasurer