City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council work session minutes Monday, June 16, 2025 The June work session of the Forty Fort Borough council was held on Monday, June 16, 2025 at the Forty Fort 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: Amanda Gallagher, Cara Devine, David Sieminski, Kristy Dadurka & Sara Michaels. Frank Mazza was absent. Also present was Atty. Greg Skibitsky, Mayor Brian Thomas, Code Officer Tom Craig, DPW foreman, Rick Kamus & Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone. Mayor Thomas led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. CITIZENS & TAXPAYERS COMMENTS: Tom Magistro, 26 Hughes St., stated that since the opening of the new pizza restaurant at the corner of Hughes & Wyoming Ave. has opened, the amount of traffic has amounted to major parking issues for local residents. Several other residents of the surrounding area were also present to voice their concerns with parking, driveways being blocked, etc. Council will request a traffic study be done by the police department and make any necessary changes as so deemed necessary. George & Beverly Kerestes, 1642 Wyoming Ave. also related the problems with parking in the area of Hughes St. & Wyoming Ave. due to the new business. He also stated that he had been promised curbs on the Hughes St. side of his property many years ago and requested council to consider this. Patrick Craig, 1828 Wyoming Ave., reported that his Eagle Scout project of the construction of the Gaga ball pit at the Forty Fort Park is complete save for the erection of a sign citing the rules for the game. He requested a sign-off on his document verifying the project which was granted. Tom Craig requested that council consider the purchase of an additional module for the current IWorQ program currently used in the zoning & code office. He stated that there are components of the current program that have not been useful to their office and the company is willing to remove those components which would drop the price of the new module from $5,000.00 per year to $2,850.00 per year. Mr. Craig stated that initial sketches for land development have been received for the Forty Fort airport. The Planning Commission will need to consider the land development aspects, and the Zoning Hearing Board will be asked to grant a variance to allow the construction proposed. In addition, Luzerne County Planning has requested Forty Fort Borough to consider an airport overlay zone ordinance to comply with federal & state laws regarding construction which could impact aircraft operations. Mr. Craig will have these proposals on the agenda for council’s consideration at the July 7, 2025 meeting. Mr. Craig advised that a Planning Commission meeting will be held on July 2, 2025 for the consideration of a school for autistic individuals being proposed for the Mericle complex at 180-190 Welles St.  A discussion took place on prospective projects that can be submitted for the 2025 LSA Grants which are due by the end of September 2025. Some ideas were a pedestrian crosswalk signal on River St. at Fort St. & Cayuga Place, an asphalt recycler and stump grinder for the DPW, decorative street lighting for River Street and plumbing repairs at the Borough Building. The grant period for the TNR program administered by No Nonsense Neutering has expired which allowed the Borough to grant certificates to residents who trapped feral cats & had them spay & neutered at their facility costing the Borough $15.00 per cat. The new contract with NNN will now see the cost to the borough $40.00 for each cat brought in with a certificate from Forty Fort Borough. This will be on the agenda for a council vote at the July 7, 2025 council meeting. Atty. Skibitsky reported that in response to a request from Robert Craig for a letter of indemnification for his engineering stamp on the documents that will be used in seeking bids for work at the Forty Fort Pool, he must consider the liability risk to the borough if recommended. This discussion will continue following the presentation of the bid package and the possible need for a civil engineering firm to be brought in for the required drawing in the bid package. Mr. Sieminski reported that he and Borough Manager, Bonnie Arnone, attended the June 10, 2025 Luzerne County Council meeting where the topic of the leasing of County owned recreation fields to Forty Fort Borough were discussed along with the request for permission to construct a dog park on the parcel associated with the Forty Fort Soccer Club. The topic will be on the county council’s voting session at their June 24, 2025 council meeting which he & Ms. Arnone will also attend. Ms. Michaels reported that there will be a Civil Service Commission meeting on Monday, June 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM for general business. Mayor Thomas reported that he had placed a recent update from the Luzerne County Conservation District stating that additional spraying for mosquitos is planned for this week. He also reported that the required questionnaire had been submitted to DCED relative to the police regionalization. He also reported that he has coordinated with Mr. Kamus on the rental of a stump grinder to take care of the numerous stumps on tree lawns throughout the Borough. Mr. Kamus reported that he will have this rental for a month sometime this fall. With there being no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Sieminski & seconded by Ms. Gallagher at 7:45 PM. The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Arnone Borough Manager