City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting Monday October 4, 2021 The October 4, 2021, meeting for Forty Fort Borough Council was held at the Forty Fort Borough Building, 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA with president, Thomas J. Murray III presiding. Call to order Gavel strike of President of Council Thomas Murray called tonight’s meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag Pastor Tom Morris led the invocation along with Mayor Andy Tuzinski leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call President Thomas Murray ordered a roll call. Members in attendance were President Thomas Murray, Dave Sieminski, Phil Mertz, Frank Mazza, Jeffrey McLaughlin, Kristy Dadurka, Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone, Borough Mayor Andy Tuzinski, Borough Secretary Michele Pascarella, Thomas Craig Code Enforcement Officer, DPW Supervisor Rick Kamus and Solicitor Greg Skibitsky. Vice President Cara Devine was absent. There were 6 visitors in attendance. Public Comments No comments Consent Agenda Matters listed with the consent agenda have been referred to members of the Borough Council for reading and study, are routine and will be enacted by one motion of Council. If separate discussion is desired, the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda by Council action. The resolutions listed below are submitted by Borough Council for the review and will be adopted by one motion. These items have been presented to the council at the prior month’s work session for review. Motion to approve and/or accept the following consent agenda items: • 8/16/2021 Council work session minutes • 9/7/2021 Council Meeting Minutes • August 2021 Code Office Report • August 2021 Kingston Fire Chief Report • August 2021 FF Fire Chief Report • August 2021 Forty Fort Police Chief Report • August 2021 Treasure’s Report • August 2021 Manager’s Time Sheets • August 2021 Tax Collector Report  • 7/20/21 WVSA meeting minutes Motion was made by Dave Sieminski and seconded by Frank Mazza. All were in favor, motion passed. Correspondence A motion was made by Jeffrey McLaughlin to accept the resignation of Chris Maida from Shade Tree Commission and seconded by Kristy Dadurka. All were in favor, motion passed. Council Action Items A motion was made by Dave Sieminski of payment of all bills as presented and seconded by Frank Mazza. All were in favor. Motion passed. Jeffrey McLaughlin abstained from payment of GBM. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski for Kuharchick’s estimate for the generator plug for traffic light at Rutter and Cross Valley and was seconded by Phil Mertz. All were in favor. Motion passed. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski of Resolution 15 of 2021- Appointment of Leigh Henry to Shade Tree Commission and seconded by Kristy Dadurka. All were in favor. Motion passed. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to the 7 year tax free at 2.37% (Monthly payments $6,803.17) (Annual payment $80,687.95) from Luzerne Bank for five (5) DPW truck loan terms and seconded by Phil Mertz. The amount of the loan will be up to $525,000.00. All were in favor. Motion passed. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to hire Tyler Vasquez as part time DPW employee and seconded by Kristy Dadurka. Jeff McLaughlin had questions and concerns. Dave Sieminski rescinded his motion and this was tabled into an Executive Session. New Business UGI Public Meetings- Meetings will be held at the Borough Building on October 8th and 11, 2021. UGI sent letters to all residents that were involved. Skip Kozich’s retirement breakfast new date- Sunday October 17, 2021 @9:00AM at Kingston Fire Headquarters Blanket Permit fee for UGI Pave Cut-Tom Crag proposed a 1 application fee and a $25 cut. A motion was made by Phil Mertz and seconded by Dave Sieminski. All were in favor motion passed. Old Business Hometown Heroes Application Open-Started accepting applications again beginning October 2021 FEMA appeal letter to Flood Maps Fire Department discussion-Robert Pugh discussed daily duties. He also stated that the average response time is 3-4 minutes, to his knowledge there has never been any complaints Concession Stand for Park/Pool-Approval was given to Frank Suma to go forward with the surveying and engineering. A discussion took place regarding the licensing of our current Health Officer, Andy Tuzinski. Atty. Skibitski stated that a Health Officer would need to be licensed by the Department of Health but there is no formal certification for restaurant inspections. Council requested the resignation from Mr. Tuzinski as the Health Officer but stated that he could remain the Restaurant Inspector. Mr. Tuzinski stated that he will resign from both positions. The Dept. of Agriculture will be contacted to perform future restaurant inspections. Executive Session At 6:55 PM, council adjourned to Executive Session to discuss DPW Personnel Issues. Council re-convened from Executive Session at 7:25 PM. Motion by Mr. Sieminski to hire Tyler Vaszuez as a part-time employee with the Department of Public Works. Second by Mr. Mertz. Roll call vote was: YES: Mr. Mertz, Ms. Dadurka, Mr. Mazza, Mr. Sieminski, Mr. Murray. NO: Mr. McLaughlin Motion passed. Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM. The next meeting will be a work session on Monday October 18, 2021, at 6:00PM. Respectfully submitted, Michele Pascarella Borough Secretary