Regular Session of Council

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF GREENVILLE BOROUGH COUNCIL HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order Council President Longiotti called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Invocation: Rev. David Dobi, First Presbyterian Church Flag Salute 3. Roll Call: Pete Longiotti, Council President David Henderson, Council Vice President Pamela Auchter, Councilor Robin Douglas, Councilor Henry M. Mueller, Councilor Theodore E. Jones, Councilor Jasson Urey, Councilor Landis Erwin, Jr. Councilor - absent Andrew Woodley, Councilor - absent Richard H. Miller, Mayor Also present was Joe Joseph, Borough Solicitor, Ryan T. Eggleston, Borough Manager 4. Public Comments / Public Participation No public comments 5. Approval of Minutes Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Urey that the minutes of the November 14, 2006 regular meeting and the minutes of the November 21, 2006 special meeting be accepted as written. Motion approved. 6. Budget Report Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Council Vice President Henderson to accept the Budget Report – Fund 01 as presented. Motion approved. 7. Mayor’s items Mayor Miller thanked Rev. Dobi for his invocation. 1 8. Council reports Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to accept the monthly reports as written. Motion approved. a. Police report for November 2006 b. Fire Chief’s report for November 2006 c. Treasurer’s report for November 2006 The following reports were placed of file: a. Code Enforcement report for November 2006 b. Public Works report for November 2006 c. GALSA meeting report for December 11, 2006 9. Reports from Council Committees Council President Longiotti verbally reported on the most recent Council of Government meeting he attended. He asked for council permission to cooperate with Mercer Co. Council of Governments to find an alternative and less expensive source of power for the borough. Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to authorize President Longiotti to enter into a contract with Premier Power Solutions, LLC. Motion approved. Councilor Jones spoke of the Greenville Public Library Board’s opposition to a having a regionalized Mercer County Library Board. Council Vice President Henderson stated he along with Erik Bielata and Debbie Clark met with the Hempfield Twp. supervisors to discuss funding to the spots complex. He felt the meeting was positive and hopes to have an answer from them by their January 2007 meeting. No other council committee reports. 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Authorize HRG Engineering to develop bid specifications for the storm sewer repair work on Davidson Avenue and authorize advertising of the bids. Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Urey to authorize HRG Engineering to develop bid specifications for storm sewer repair work on Davidson Avenue and authorize advertising of the bids. Motion approved. 11. NEW BUSINESS a. Appointment to the Greenville Municipal Authority Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to table the appointment until the January 9, 2007 regular council meeting. Motion approved. 2 Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to readvertise for candidates and have the letters of interest due to the Borough Manager’s office by January 2, 2007. Motion approved. b. Award bid for the purchase of a 2007 police cruiser Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to award the bid for a 2007 police cruiser to Phil Godfrey in the amount of $22,106.00 with the understanding this vehicle would be available within 7 days. If this car is not available, Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to purchase a 2007 police cruiser from Phil Godfrey in the amount of $20,580.00 with the delivery date being approximately 90 to 180 days. Motion approved. c. Award bid for the purchase of road salt Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Urey to award the bid of $46.14 per ton to Morton Salt, Chicago IL for the purchase of road salt. Motion approved. d. Ordinance 1458 – Tax Rate for General Purposes for 2007 Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter for a first and final reading of Ordinance 1458 – Tax Rate for General Purposes for 2007. Motion approved. Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to adopt Ordinance 1458 – Tax Rate for General Purposes for 2007. Motion approved. e. Ordinance 1459 – Tax Rate for Indebtedness for 2007 Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Councilor Urey for a first and final reading of Ordinance 1459 – Tax Rate for Indebtedness for 2007. Motion approved. Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Council Vice President Henderson to adopt Ordinance 1459 – Tax Rate for Indebtedness for 2007. Motion approved. f. Greenville Tax office request for permanent exonerations Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to approve the request from the Greenville Tax office for permanent exonerations to the Per Capita Duplicate in the amount of $5.00. Motion approved. g. Resolution 2006-06 – Authorizing the execution of an agreement with Penn DOT for Streetscape Phase II Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Urey to adopt Resolution 2006-06 – Authorizing the execution of an agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for Streetscape Phase II. Motion approved. 3  h. Resignation letter from Dennis McClimans, Greenville volunteer firefighter. Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Council Vice President Henderson to accept the letter of resignation letter of Dennis McClimans from the Greenville volunteer fire department. Motion approved. i. Resignation letter from Patrolman Christopher Hughes Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to accept the letter of resignation letter of Patrolman Christopher Hughes from the Greenville-West Salem Police department. Motion approved. j. Inter Municipal Sewage Agreement Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to approve the Inter-Municipal Sewage Agreement between the Greenville Sanitary Authority and Hempfield Township Municipal Authority. A roll call vote was taken. Councilor Jones Yes Councilor Auchter Yes Council Vice President Henderson Yes Councilor Douglas Yes Councilor Urey Yes Councilor Mueller Yes Council President Longiotti No Motion approved 6-1 k. Appointment of Borough Manager/Secretary for 2007 Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Councilor Jones to re-appoint Mr. Ryan T. Eggleston as Borough Manager/Secretary for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. Motion approved. l. Appointment of Borough Treasurer for 2007 Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to re-appoint Tracey Vale as Borough Treasurer for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. Motion approved. m. Appointment of Code Enforcement/Zoning Officer for 2007 Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to re-appoint George Pangas as the Code Enforcement/Zoning Officer for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. Motion approved. 4  n. Appointment of Borough Solicitor for 2007 Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to re-appoint the firm of Douglas & Joseph as solicitor for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. Motion approved. Councilor Douglas abstained from the vote. o. Appointment of Borough Engineer for 2007 Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Urey to re-appoint HRG Engineering as engineer for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. Motion approved. p. Appointment of auditing services for 2007 Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to re-appoint McGill, Power, Bell, and Associates as auditors for the Borough of Greenville for 2007. A roll call vote was taken. Councilor Jones Yes Councilor Auchter Yes Council Vice President Henderson No Councilor Douglas Yes Councilor Urey Yes Councilor Mueller Yes Council President Longiotti Yes Motion approved 6-1 q. Establish dates and time of Borough council meetings for 2007 Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to hold Borough Council meeting for 2007 at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, with the work session held on the Thursday preceding the regular Tuesday meeting. The one exception will be the April 2007 work session will be held on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 due to Holy Thursday. Motion approved. r. Transfer of PA Liquid fuels funds Councilor Auchter moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to approve the request of Borough Treasurer Vale to transfer PA Liquid Fuels funds in the amount of $72,805.30 to the General Fund. Motion approved s. Authorize HRG Engineering to develop specifications for a new boiler at the Recreation Center Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Douglas to authorize HRG Engineering to develop specifications for GALSA and once complete, advertise for bids for a new boiler at the Recreation Center. Motion approved 5  t. “Greenville Teen Day” Councilor Jones moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to authorize the formation of an investigative committee for the potential development of a Greenville Teen Day. The committee will include, Councilor Jones, Chairman, Council Vice President Henderson, Councilor Urey, Junior Councilors Woodley and Erwin, and Borough Manager Ryan Eggleston. Motion approved u. Storage of public works vehicles Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Councilor Mueller to accept the offer, pending final approval from Canadian National, to use their building as temporary housing for the public works vehicles. Motion approved v. Street Committee recommendation to draft a letter to Trinity Industries Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to table this item for one month. Motion approved w. Amend the Code of Ordinances, Section 15, Part 2, Subsection 201, entitled, “Maximum Speed Limits Established on Certain Streets” Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Council Vice President Henderson to authorize the Borough Solicitor to develop an amendment to the Code of Ordinances, Section 15, Part 2, Subsection 201, to include a maximum speed limit of 15 mph on East Avenue between Union Street and Columbia Avenue, to be in effect 24 hours a day. A roll call vote was taken. Councilor Jones No Councilor Auchter Yes Council Vice President Henderson Yes Councilor Douglas Yes Councilor Urey Yes Councilor Mueller Yes Council President Longiotti No Motion approved 5-2 x. Amend the Code of Ordinances, Section 15, Part 2, Subsection 213, entitled, “Stop Intersections Established” Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Council Mueller to authorize the Borough Solicitor to develop an amendment to the Code of Ordinances, Section 15, Part 2, Subsection 213, to include placement of two permanent stop signs on Fessler Place at the intersection of Virginia Way, to cover Northbound and Southbound travel. Motion approved. 6  y. Amend Ordinance 1432 – An ordinance that prohibits parking at all times in certain locations Councilor Mueller moved, seconded by Councilor Douglas to authorize the Borough Solicitor to development an amendment to Ordinance 1432, an ordinance which prohibits parking at all times in certain locations, to include no parking at any time on the north side of Main Street between North Mercer Street to Wall Street and on the south side of Main Street between Front Street to Water Street. Motion approved. 12. Council Comments Councilor Jones stated he felt Mayor Miller was out of line in his comments to the paper after the special council meeting to approve the budget when he stated Councilors Urey, Douglas and Jones were irresponsible for voting no on the budget. He said that the Mayor did not know whether he researched budget issues before making his decision and even though he appreciated the hard work the Finance committee did he was opposed to approving the budget. Councilor Douglas read from a prepared statement, which consisted of her anger and resentment towards Mayor Miller and most recently by his comments in the newspaper regarding her and others councilors vote on the 2007 budget being irresponsible. She explained her reasoning on opposing the budget and of the numerous inquires she made to try to get answers to her questions, in the limited time she had before the special meeting. After her lengthy statement, Councilor Douglas announced she would be vacating her council seat effective December 31, 2006. She handed her letter of resignation to the Council President. President Longiotti admitted it will be a tough budget this upcoming year and stated the budget will not be reopened this year and that it has been a tough year. One of President Longiotti’s goals next year is to possibly reorganize GALSA. Council Vice President Henderson stated he has enjoyed working with Mrs. Douglas and feels she is correct in the things that she spoke about. There was a brief discussion on user fees for GALSA. 13. Borough Manager’s comments The Borough Manager thanked Vicki Hildebrand for her years of service and wished her the best in her future endeavors. Solicitor Joseph stated since Councilor Douglas would be vacating her seat, the council has 30 days to replace her and advised the Borough Manager to advertise the open seat, with an appointment to be made at the January council meeting. Council Vice President moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to accept Robin Douglas’s resignation effective December 31, 2006. Motion approved. 7 Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Auchter to authorize the Borough Manager to advertise for the open seat and have the interested candidates submit a letter of interest to the Borough office by January 2, 2007. The full council will make the appointment. Motion approved. 14. Bills for Approval Borough Manager, Ryan T. Eggleston, read the bill report for December 12, 2006. Payroll $122,736.68 Traffic Lights $ 57.29 Administration 7,657.90 Street Lights .00 Tax Expense 6,637.00 Airport 876.77 Douglas & Joseph 2,000.00 Park Utilities 2,060.71 Borough Building 2,373.29 Park Expense 2 356.02 Police Department 12,633.20 Bank Payments 676.40 Fire Department 9,963.44 Liability/Comp/ 345.00 Code/Zoning/COG 2,577.21 Sewer Sys. Operating 92,772.84 Sewer Employee Ben 4,067.00 Capital Fund Proj 9,209.24 Street/Pub Works 10,391.00 Railroad Park .00 Municipal Pension .00 Real Estate Tax refund 101.87 Total $289,492.68 Councilor Urey questioned the $2,000 payment to Douglas & Joseph. Borough Manager Eggleston stated he would have to investigate the payment with the Borough Treasurer. With that being said, Council Vice President Henderson moved, seconded by Councilor Urey that the bills be paid as presented with the exception of the $2,000 for Douglas & Joseph. The total to be approved is $287,492.86. Motion approved. Councilor Douglas abstained from the vote. 15. Adjournment Councilor Urey moved, seconded by Council Vice President Henderson to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:33 p.m. Motion approved. 16. Press Time Respectfully submitted, Ryan T. Eggleston Borough Secretary Borough of Greenville vh 8