City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020 The November meeting of the Forty Fort Borough council was held on Monday, November 2, 2020 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort with president, Jeff McLaughlin, presiding. President McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM with the following council members present: Phil Mertz, Kristy Dadurka, Frank Mazza, Tom Murray, Dave Sieminski and Cara Devine. Also present were Atty. Shannon Lapsansky sitting in for Atty. Finnegan, Mayor Andy Tuzinski, DPW Supervisor, Rick Kamus and Manager Bonnie Arnone via ZOOM. Following invocation, Mayor Tuzinski led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. President McLaughlin announced that an Executive Session of council had been held immediately following the October 19, 2020 work session to discuss contract issues. CONSENT AGENDA: Motion by Mr. Sieminski to approve all items on the consent agenda. Second by Ms. Devine. These items include the following minutes and reports: 9/21/2020 Special Council meeting minutes 9/21/2020 Council work session minutes 10/5/2020 Council meeting minutes September 2020 Code Office Report September 2020 Forty Fort Fire Chief Report September 2020 Kingston Fire Chief Report September 2020 Treasurer’s Report September 2020 Tax Collector Report September 2020 Manager’s Time Sheets 7/21/2020 WVSA meeting minutes. Correspondence given to council for review was the SPCA 3rd Quarter report and the Stormwater Management updates. COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS: Motion by Ms. Dadurka to pay all bills as presented. Second by Mr. Sieminski. All council was in favor of this motion. Mr. McLaughlin abstained from voting on GBM & Kingston Municipality invoices. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Devine to accept the proposed 2021-2025 Police Contract. Second by Mr. Murray. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mertz to sponsor an LSA Grant for the Street Arts Society NEPA. Second by Ms. Devine. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mertz to sponsor an LSA Grant for the West Side Council of Governments to secure needed items for member municipalities police departments. Second by Ms. Dadurka. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Murray to approve the purchase of a Thermal Imaging Camera for the Forty Fort Volunteer Fire Department. Second by Ms. Devine. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Devine to hire Richard Vaow as a part time police officer. Second by Mr. Mertz. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mertz to approve Change Order #1 for the PENNDOT Alley Paving Grant. Second by Mr. Sieminski. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed.  Motion by Ms. Devine to hire William Daley, Jr. as a part time employee with the DPW. Second by Mr. Murray. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. OLD BUSINESS: Correspondence has been received from Gary Lamont of the Luzerne Bank outlining their intent to reach out to various companies and individuals seeking donation for the Betty Mascelli Park renovations. Mr. Lamont is asking that council send him any suggestions of whom to approach with this request prior to November 6, 2020. NEW BUSINESS: Following a request from DPW Supervisor, Rick Kamus, to allow the DPW employees the ability to utilize the Borough garage and its tools to work on their private vehicles after normal working hours was discussed by council. Concern for liability issues was raised along with the setting of a precedent. This topic will be tabled until further investigation on the matter. Mr. Sieminski noted that he is still in need of items for the Fall/Winter Newsletter that will be distributed to residents. Mayor Tuzinski stated that there should have been better communication of an employee’s COVID positive test. Following a discussion, policies and procedures will be investigated for future action should this situation arise again. Mr. McLaughlin noted that a complete sanitation process of the building will be completed on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 due to the large number of residents who used the building as their voting place. At this time, 8:03 PM, council adjourned to an Executive Session to discuss police personnel issues. Council re-convened from Executive session at 8:39 PM with the following motion: Motion by Ms. Devine to approve the Memorandum of Understanding between Forty Fort Borough and the Forty Fort Police Department, Fraternal Order of Police, and the Bargaining Representative. Second by Mr. Murray. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. With there being no further business to address, a motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Dadurka at 8:41 PM and seconded by Mr. Mazza. The next meeting will be held on Monday, November 16, 2020 at which time a special meeting will be held at 7:00 PM, immediately prior to the work session, for the first reading of the proposed 2021 Operating budget. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone, Borough Manager