Home Rule Charter Review Commission

MINUTES OF THE TOWN OF GREENVILLE HOME RULE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION AT THE TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS Monday, January 14, 2025 at 6:30 pm 1. Call to Order: Commission Chair, Tracy Beil 2. Pledge of Allegiance: Joel Rinella 3. Roll Call: Benjamin Beck Tracy Beil Patrick Eaton Mary Reames Joel Rinella Also Present: Paul Hamill, Lisa Hamill, Chad Bromley, Jean Carr-Fisher, Paul Miller, Hal Johnson, Christopher Rinella, Gary Mueller, Michelle Mueller, Joy Peterson, and Frank Vanderslice. Staff: Jasson Urey, Town Manager Rosalynn Reagle, Assistant Town Manager Amy Hollowell, Administrative Assistant Matt Breedlove, Director of Community Development, Code/Zoning Officer Media: Caleb Stright, Record-Argus 4. Procedural Reminder: Tracy Beil reminded the group that a quorum is three. That borough emails are not for discussions that should be happening in meetings and if you choose to record a meeting you must announce it. 5. Public Comments: 3 minute time limit, Agenda Items • Joy Peterson thanked the group for doing this work. • Hal Johnson introduced himself, a former commissioner. • Paul Miller introduced himself, a former commissioner. 6. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the January 6, 2025 organization meeting minutes was made by Joel Rinella and seconded by Mary Reames. A correction will be made that Mary Reames nominated Joel Rinella and Patrick Eaton seconded. Motion carried 5-0. 7. New Business: A. Hearing from former commissioners, councilmembers, and administrators. • Mary Reames asked Paul Miller and Hal Johnson to share with our group how they arrived at the charter document and that council and administration to share what works and what hasn’t been working. • Benjamin Beck would like to work through the document methodically and in a systematic way, not bouncing around the document with changes. • Joel Rinella would like to tackle some small items first. • Patrick Eaton echoes everything everyone said. • Tracy would like to hold interviews with former commissioners, council members and administrative staff over the next few weeks so we are better informed as we review. • Paul Miller shared that the home rule charter commission put a lot of time in forming the document and did a lot of background work with input from many experts. He explained the difference between the borough code and the home rule charter. They had 13 meetings before they voted to draft a charter. A big change was combining the council president and the mayor. Paul emphasized there was a lot of valuable input before drafting the charter. • Mary Reames asked if there were any issues that were more contentious. Paul shared that there were no contentious issues, although a lot of time spent on the manager accountability to the council and on taxes. • Hal Johnson spoke that he argued for a 5 member council. They looked at the model city charter. • Paul Hamill agreed with Paul Miller. • Mary Reames was interested in what was the initiator for this charter. Benjamin Beck mentioned that it was a recommendation from Dr. Hirt. • Hal Johnson added that there was push back from the public on the what the charter could do with EIT, but the group put a limit of 2.5%. • Joel Rinella had questions about the budget used by the original commission and reminded the current commission that we do not have a set budget to work within. He also added that after looking at an original minutes, there was discussion about a stipend for council. Ben mentioned that council used to take a stipend and that it is common practice. Tracy added that if voted on, it would go into effect until the next elections. Joel also asked Paul Miller about the epitaph at the beginning. Paul shared that with Act 47 the “at the flood” from the Shakespeare quote was appropriate. • Hal Johnson encouraged the commissioners not to legislate and mentioned that another commission isn’t elected for another 10 years. Tracy added how import it is important to look to the past and look towards the future. It was also discussed that changes can be made to the charter by referendum. • Mary Reames asked council members present, based on what has been shared, does the mayor- council president work or does it not work. Paul Hamill said he opposed the idea when on the original commission and feels it should be separated. He also wonders if it should be a 5 person council again if it is separated. Paul Hamill also asked that the commissioners straighten out the name Town back to Borough. Jean Carr agreed with Paul on having the council appoint the council president and having a separate mayor position. Jean mentioned that even if it would change, that it wouldn’t be implemented until 4 years. Joel Rinella added that we will need clarification on how changes would play out with election periods. • Amy Hollowell mentioned that she agrees with Paul Hamill and Jean Carr on moving back to a separate mayor and council president. Expressing there is a steep learning curve for newly elected council members. • Paul Hamill would like the charter to clarify what the role of a council member is. This will help any rogue actions of council members. • Chad Bromley mentioned being cautious on any council pay discussion. • Mary asked if the role of council member is just when in chambers meeting, or is it at all times in the community. Jean Carr shared council members are council 24/7. Mary clarified that she means more as a council united, rather than council members acting independently. • Hal reminded the commission that we are not council, we are a review commission. B. Discussion on Home Rule Charter. • Joel shared a document with his recommendations on housekeeping items with the commission to review. 8. Public Comments: • Gary Mueller said he appreciated the conversation between commissioners • Jasson Urey had an updated with the former legal consultant, who is not available. He is doing research on legal council who have experience in home rule charters. Added additional documents to look at would be the administrative code, the administrative policies document, the PA home rule charter law, and the borough code. New legislation was passed on what a cap pay is for council members. • Paul Hamill mentioned that the PSAB website has a lot of these resources. 9. Commission Comments: • Mary thanked everyone who attended. • Benjamin Beck thanked the former commissioners and councilmembers who attended and shared. • Patrick thanked everyone for attending. • Joel Rinella thanked everyone for attending and thanked Jasson for providing emails to the commission members. • Tracy thanked everyone who shared with the commission with input. 10. Adjournment: Having no other business, a motion was made to adjourn by Benjamin Beck and seconded by Mary Reames. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Benjamin Beck Secretary