City Council

FORTY FORT BOROUGH COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024 The April work session of the Forty Fort Borough Council was held on Monday, April 15, 2024 at the Borough Bldg., 1271 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, PA. with council president, Thomas J. Murray, III, presiding. President Murray called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM with the following council members present: Phil Mertz, Frank Mazza, Cara Devine, Dave Sieminski (via telephone), Kristy Dadurka & Sara Michaels. Also present were Mayor Brian Thomas, Atty. Greg Skibitski, Solicitor, Chief Dan Hunsinger, Code Officers, Tom Craig & Lee Hampton, DPW Foreman, Rick Kamus & Borough manager, Bonnie Arnone. Mayor Thomas led with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. RESIDENTS AND TAXPAYERS’ COMMENTS: Pam Smith, 64 E. Pettebone St., Forty Fort asked what the future plans were for the borough. President Murray stated that council has many plans to move forward with future plans for a new DPW garage being worked on, consolidated services with surrounding municipalities among many other ideas. Corky Krupp, 76 Virginia Terrace, Forty Fort thanked the borough for moving the “No Truck” signs but stated that they are so faded, truckers are already on the street before they can see them. New signs will be ordered for this area. LaVerne Corbett, 107 Dana St., Forty Fort spoke about her dog being trained to be off leash and how it has benefited by being able to run off leash at the Sports complex with other dogs. She stated that the proposed leash ordinance will be a detriment to her dog. Tori Carey, 62 Bidlack St., Forty Fort, a member of the Parks & Recreation Board updated council on their upcoming events which includes the Cancer Walk on May 11, 2024 at 9:30 AM and their event at the Forty Fort Park the evening before, May 10th, from 5-7 PM, and a June 22, 2024 Block Party. Mayor Thomas spoke to residents regarding several issues that have been topics at recent meetings and on social media sites to clear up some misinformation which included the following: The scamming incident, Manager’s salary, Kingston/Forty Fort Fire Department and pool closure. Chief Hunsinger stated that the 2024 Community Yard Sale will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2024 with a rain date of Sunday, May 5, 2024. Residents should e-mail him at dhunsinger@fortyfortpd.org with their participation. A discussion took place with Mr. Murray, Mayor Thomas, Ms. Michaels & Tony Smith regarding the communication from the Civil Service Commission stating that member, Scott Serafin, had rendered his resignation from the commission. Council will need to appoint a replacement for Mr. Serafin and seek up to two more alternates for the Commission. Mr. Smith was questioned as to why there has been a delay in getting applications to expedite the hiring of a police officer to bring the police compliment up to six full-time officers. Mr. Smith explained that the procedure of accepting applications on the prior process had not been done properly. New applications will be sought with an ad being placed in the near future. Atty. Skibitski reported that contrary to what resident, Robert Craig, had reported at the last council meeting, the borough’s bonding company, the Hartford Ins. Co., paid the Borough’s claim for the scam incident under the Deception Fraud Insuring Agreement with a payment of $15,000.00 as the claim did not meet the criteria for the $250,000. coverage. He further stated that the Hartford, after their investigation of the claim, would not have paid this claim if they felt that there had been any wrongdoing on the part of any borough employees. Ms. Michaels asked Atty. Skibitski for clarification as to when she was able to ask questions. She felt that she had been silenced at times, as had many residents speaking from the podium. Atty. Skibitski explained that council was always free to answer any questions posed to them but also wanted council to know that they were under no obligation to answer a question that may need to be deferred and answered at a later time. Ms. Dadurka stated that the pool committee that she chairs will hold its first meeting this Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 5:00 PM. Mr. Mazza echoed Mayor Thomas’s comments on the issues he spoke on stating he had also prepared something to report to residents present tonight but that the Mayor had covered everything very well. Mr. Mertz suggested that having our meetings recorded and placed on media sites for residents to view would be a good idea. Cara stated that we have the technology to do so. He also stated that he would like to see a dog park in our area. Mayor Thomas reminded council of the Little League opening day parade on Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 1:00 PM and the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 27, 2024 at 10:00 AM. He also stated that he would like to see action taken on the feasibility study for the new DPW garage begin. Mr. Kamus reported that the mine subsidence that happened recently in Luzerne Borough had been capped, their Spring Clean-up will take place the week of May 6-10, 2024 at a cost of $50.00 per household. He reported that there is a Cricket Club now occupying one of the Softball fields at the Sports Complex and he wanted permission to remove netting. At this time, 7:40 PM, council adjourned into Executive Session to discuss Police personnel issues. Council re-convened from Executive Session at 9:50 PM and adjourned the work session. The next meeting will be on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 6:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Borough Manager