City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021 The February meeting of council was held on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at the Forty Fort Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA with council president, Jeff McLaughlin presiding. This meeting was re-scheduled from Monday, February 1, 2021 due to inclement weather. Roll call showed the following council members present: Phil Mertz, Kristy Dadurka, Frank Mazza, Tom Murray, Cara Devine, and David Sieminski via ZOOM. Also present were Solicitor, William Finnegan, Mayor Andy Tuzinski, DPW Supervisor, Rick Kamus, Code Officer, Tom Craig and Borough Manager, Bonnie Arnone. Mayor Tuzinski led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The first item of business was as reorganization of council. Mayor Tuzinski declared the office of President and Vice President of council vacant. Motion by Ms. Devine to name Tom Murray as council president. There were no other nominations for this position. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Murray to name Cara Devine as council vice president. There were no other nominations for this position. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mertz to name Frank Mazza as President Pro-Tem. There were no other nominations for this position. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. At this time, the gavel was handed to Mr. Murray to conduct business before council. CONSENT AGENDA: Motion by Mr. Mertz to accept the minutes and reports that had been presented to council for review at the prior work session. Second by Ms. Dadurka. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Correspondence supplied to council was a thank you letter from the Hoyt Library for the borough’s recent donation. A letter from the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority for the help given by Forty Fort Borough during the recent high-water event. Notification from PENDOT that they will be doing data collections in Forty Fort Borough in the upcoming months. COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS: Motion to pay all bills as presented was made by Mr. Mazza and seconded by Ms. Devine. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Dadurka to accept the resignation of DPW employee, Shawn Carey. Second by Mr. Mertz. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed.  Motion by Ms. Devine to hire Jacob Shelley as a part time employee of the DPW at an hourly rate of $13.50. Second by Ms. Sieminski. Mayor Tuzinski noted that Mr. Shelley has been working out very well with the department. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mazza to adopt Resolution 3 of 2021, a revised Resolution for the Multimodal DCED grant that was submitted last year for continued Bike Trail Work. Second by Mr. Mertz. It was noted that this revised resolution was required as the amount of the requested grant is higher after more development by GPI Engineers was done. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Ms. Devine to give final approval to CC Motorsports as per the recommendation of the Planning Commission. Second by Mr. Mertz. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. Motion by Mr. Mazza to give final approval to the Vitanovec sub-division at 1166 Murray St. as per the recommendation of the Planning Commission. On the question: Mr. McLaughlin asked Mr. Vitanovec is this was an amicable action to which he replied that it was. All council was in favor of this motion. Motion passed. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Kamus reported that the packer that the borough received through the 902 Recycle Grant had been delivered in late January. He stated that with the addition of this truck, the hours to recycle have been cut in half. Mayor Tuzinski reported that he would like to have an Executive Session with council following the borough’s work session which will be held immediately following this regular meeting to discuss a real estate transaction. He noted that there would be no action taken following this executive session. Ms. Devine stated that 13 new trees have been received through a grant submitted for by the Shade Tree Commission. She noted that these trees will be planted in the second week of April, weather permitting. Mr. Mazza questioned the status of talks with the Wyoming Valley Storm Water Authority to which Mr. Kamus stated that it was no further along than this time last year. Mr. McLaughlin, the Borough’s representative to the Authority will arrange a meeting with Board Members of the Storm Water Authority to speak with Rick and the DPW Committee. The DPW committee will hold a meeting on Monday, February 22, 2021 at 12:00 Noon to discuss this issue. With no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made at 7:25 PM by Ms. Devine & seconded by Mr. Mazza. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Borough Manager