City Council

Forty Fort Borough Council Meeting Monday July 7, 2025 The July 7, 2025, 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 Reverend Lukesh lead the prayer and Mayor Brian Thomas lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call President Thomas Murray ordered a roll call. Members in attendance were President Thomas Murray, Vice President Cara Devine, Dave Sieminski, Kristy Dadurka, Sara Michaels, Frank Mazza, Borough Manager Bonnie Arnone, Borough Secretary Michele Pascarella, Solicitor Greg Skibitsky, Police Chief Dan Hunsinger, Code Officer Tom Craig, DPW Supervisor Rick Kamus and Borough Mayor Brian Thomas. Amanda Gallagher was on the phone. There were 16 visitors in attendance. Public Comments Forty Fort Parks & Recreation Vice President Maryann Bottaro stated they are extending the collection for the Cancer Wellness Center of NEPA until Friday July 11, 2025.The box will beat the River Street entrance of the Borough building. There will be Yoga in the Park sponsored by the Forty Fort Parks and Recreation on Friday July 18, 2025, at 11AM. Maryann also stated that they are up to 60 vendors and 9 food trucks for the Fall festival, The Parks and Recreation is asking for sponsors and for donations to help with the Fall festival. She also asked Council if they would donate their time to help day of festival. Consent Agenda Matters listed on 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 the Borough Council for review and will be adopted by one motion. These items were presented to the council at the prior month’s work session for review. Motion to approve and/or accept the following consent agenda items: • 5/19/25 Council work session minutes • 6/2/25 Council Meeting Minutes • May2025 Code Office Report • May 2025 Forty Fort Police Chief Report  • May 2025 Treasure’s Report • May2025 Manager’s Time Sheets • May 2025 Kingston/Forty Fort Fire Chief Report • May2025 Tax Collector Report • 4/15/25 WVSA meeting minutes A motion was made by Cara Devine to approve the consent agenda and seconded by Sara Michaels. All were in favor. Motion passed. Council Action Items A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to pay all bills as presented and seconded by Cara Devine. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. All bills that are to be paid at every meeting are on the Council table for anyone to view. A motion was made by Sara Michaels to pass Ordinance #5 of 2025- Zoning Ordinance amendment and was seconded by Dave Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Kristy Dadurka to enter a contract with No Nonsense Neutering for TNR and seconded by Cara Devine. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Sara Michaels to appoint Jimmy T. Martin to the Planning Commission and seconded by Cara Devine. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Sara Michaels to adopt Resolution 5 of 2025- appointments to boards and commissions-Copy of Boards & Commissions-updated 7/7/25 and seconded by Cara Devine. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to pass Resolution 6 of 2025- leasing of Forty Fort Soccer club fields and dog park area from Luzerne County and was seconded by Kristy Dadurka. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to pass Resolution 7 of 2025- Leasing of Recreation Fields from Luzerne County and seconded by Sara Michaels. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to pass Resolution 8 of 2025-Leasing of Composting area from Luzerne County and was seconded by Kristy Dadurka. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Cara Devine to instruct Chief Hunsinger to send an offer of employment to Corey Pavinski based on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission and seconded by Dave Sieminski. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Cara Devine to accept the resignation of Officer John Bryan and seconded by Sara Michaels. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Dave Sieminski to request the Planning Commission to review the airport overlay to be added to the Zoning Ordinance and changes to the Use Table in the Zoning Ordinance and seconded by Frank Mazza. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Cara Devine to hire part-time Police officer, Dan Roper, and was seconded by Frank Mazza. All were in favor. Motion passed unanimously. Old Business Pool Committee Update- Kristy Dadurka-Kristy stated they will have a meeting next week to discuss the operation use. Kristy said structural plans will need to be drawn up by an engineer. Hughes Street parking issues-Chief Hunsinger-Chief stated that they have talked with the business employees and asked them to park elsewhere. DPW will be placing No Parking here to Corner signs within a week. The Chief said if this does not resolve the issue they will conduct a traffic study, and the last case scenario would be to make the street parking only on one side. Chief Hunsinger suggested calling 911 and not the emergency number if there is a violation so an officer could be dispatched right away. New Business Letter from Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority re: Street Arts Society murals on levy structures. Around the Table Sara Michaels thanked the Forty Fort Police Department and Mayor Thomas for all the communication with the Civil Service. Kristy Dadurka gave a shout out to the DPW and to the Borough for having bulk item pickups. Cara Devine stated National Night Out will be August 22, 2025, and the Soccer Fields. Cara said she was at a parade on the 4th of July and how nice it was to see one of our officers representing the Borough. Cara wanted to let everyone know that the Coffee with Council was a success. She and Amanda Gallagher enjoyed talking with some of the residents. As soon as another date is picked, they will let everyone know. Attorney Greg Skibitsky gave a status report on the pending litigation against the Borough and the Civil Service Commission. There is a meeting November 7, 2025, at 11 AM with Judge Gartley which then a trial date should be announced. Attorney Skibitsky is thinking a trial date will be sometime in 2026. Frank Mazza said he read an article in the newspaper on the regionalization for Police and stated this is a good thing for the borough and the police officers. Mayor Brian Thomas said that the paperwork and information has been submitted for Police regionalization. Chief Dan Hunsinger thanked the Council, the Civil Service Commission and the Mayor for their support of the Police Department. Ray Elias stated that storage is needed to park the new vehicle. The detached garage was measured, and it will not fit. Ray also stated that payroll is still not being submitted correctly. He is working more hours than are being put on the payroll form. Tom Murray stated they will have a Fire meeting on July 21, 2025, after the work session. Thomas Craig stated Lee Hampton, and Mayor Thomas attended training on the iWorQ system Tom asked that it can be discussed at the work session so this can also be used will doing West Wyoming permits. Bonnie Arnone stated that the check for the parts that are needed for the handicap swing was sent to Australia via UPS. After 3 weeks of the check being sent, the company reached out and said they do not accept personal checks or credit card payment. The only payment they will accept is a wire transfer. Adjournment A motion was made by Dave Sieminski at 6:38 PM and seconded by Cara Devine for adjournment. The next meeting will be a work session held on Monday July 21, 2025, at 6:00PM. Respectfully submitted, Michele Pascarella Borough Secretary