City Council

CITY OF MCKEESPORT REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY 7:19 P.M. APRIL 5, 2017 This Meeting of Council was called to order on the above-stated date at the above-stated time after the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Silence by President of Council Richard Dellapenna. Prayer was led by Boniface Igba from Auberle Home. The following Members of Council were present: RC-1 PRESENT: TIMOTHY BROWN, LUETHEL NESBIT, RICHARD DELLAPENNA, JIM BARRY, JAMIE BREWSTER-FILOTEI, FAWN WALKER- MONTGOMERY, KEITH SOLES. Also present were Mayor Michael Cherepko, City Administrator Matthew Gergely, City Solicitor J. Jason Elash and members of the Administration. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION: Mrs. Nesbit moved, seconded by Mr. Soles, “to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 1, 2017.” RC-2 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) COMMUNICATIONS: Received both the Fire and Police Department Reports for the month of March 2017, also a Thank You card from the family of Ellen Lundberg and Vincent Wassel. MAYOR’S REPORT: Thank you, Mr. President. I will be brief tonight. We talked a lot earlier in the evening so I will keep this brief. I did forget to mention to you, the only other thing I need other than my Proclamations this evening is I got a letter from the Regional Trail, McKeesport Trail Commission, headed by Linda Brewster, and they [1] are asking to put Jamie Filotei onto the Trail Commission, so I am going to ask for a Motion for Jamie to serve on the Trail Commission. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mr. Barry “to appoint Jamie Brewster- Filotei to serve on the Trail Commission.” RC-3 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, WALKER- MONTGOMERY, SOLES (6) ABSTAIN: BREWSTER-FILOTEI (1) NAYS: NONE (0) Solicitor Elash asked Mrs. Brewster-Filotei you abstained because you are the subject of the Motion? Yes, said Mrs. Brewster-Filotei, sorry. Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President, I’m sorry, I have one more. Well, at least one at this time. Darlene Allen currently sits on the Trail and her term is expired and I am going to ask Council for a Motion to reappoint Darlene Allen, I think she’s with us this evening, and if you want to do it once to save time, Bobby Billsborrow, if you don’t want to do it at once, that’s up to you guys. But Bobby is also on the Trail as well and her term is up as well. As you can see I have a lot of different bosses I listen to. President Dellapenna asked Solicitor Elash if Council could do them both at once to which Solicitor Elash responded yes, you can do them at once, a Motion to appoint Darlene Allen and Bobby Billsborrow. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mrs. Nesbit “to reappoint Darlene Allen and Bobby Billsborrow to continue to serve on the Trail Commission.” RC-4 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) Mayor Cherepko said as I mentioned, the Proclamations it’s that time of year. Every quarter we find four individuals from the community that are nominated by the Message Committee that are living the message of Respect, Love, Dignity and Hope. We do have four winners here with us this evening. When we talk about the community message, for our youth to see that message so that they know [2] that these aren’t just words, these are the way we need to live our lives. Not just in school, outside of school, not just for children but for adults as well and we have had numerous winners from groups of individuals of all ages and I am going to get in with our winners for this quarter. I believe the first individual, because she is so busy, I believe may have to leave, and I think that’s when we talk about love. This is an individual, a senior in high school, Hannah Klingensmith, she’s an individual that not only does a tremendous job with her studies but goes above and beyond to help others, and that’s why I think this award is so fitting for Hannah. WHEREAS, the McKeesport Message Committee uplifts the values of Respect, Dignity, Hope and Love through community programming and other efforts; and WHEREAS, Hanna Klingensmith is a McKeesport Area High School Senior who is active in in organizations such as the National Honor Society, Student Council, Musical Theatre and Sports in addition to being the Senior Class President; and WHEREAS, Hannah’s desire to be active extends beyond her school work and extra- curricular activities as she reaches out to her neighbors throughout the McKeesport Area with Toy Drives and other community service projects; and WHEREAS, Hannah is pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy to dedicate her life to helping others. She is dual enrolled in the High School and the Community College of Allegheny County and she will move onto Clarion University. NOW, THEREFORE, as Mayor of the City of McKeesport, I do hereby honor Hannah Klingensmith as the Living the Message awardee for Love. Our next awardee goes for Respect. This individual, a McKeesport through and through. An individual that has served this Country, has retired from his services, and has come back home to the City of McKeesport to run the Junior ROTC City of McKeesport Program which already has been a tremendous success thanks to his leadership. These are young men and women, I think early on the School District was maybe 20-30, they might get, and I want to say we are up towards 70-80, I could be wrong about that, but the bottom line speaks volumes for Jason DeFelice, who is our winner for respect. WHEREAS, the McKeesport Message Committee uplifts the values of Respect, Dignity, Hope and Love through community programming and other efforts; and WHEREAS, Jason DeFelice is a veteran who has proudly served the United States Air Force for 24 years and retired under the rank of Senior Master Sergeant; and [3]  WHEREAS, Jason returns to his hometown in the leadership role with the establishment of the McKeesport Area High School Air Force Junior ROTC Program which guides teens through lessons in military procedures, ethics, health and life skills; and WHEREAS, Jason’s commitment to McKeesport Area High School students is centered on instilling the values of respect and citizenship. Teaching students to respect themselves, their peers, the adults in their community and this nation. NOW, THEREFORE, as Mayor of the City of McKeesport, I do hereby honor Jason DeFelice as the Living the Message awardee for Respect. The next individual, without question, is no stranger to the City of McKeesport. An individual that serves on just so many different Boards and organizations, someone that volunteers her time with the best of them. I don’t know of too many events that I go to where I don’t see this individual there volunteering her time to help fundraise for whatever the cause may be and I am very proud to announce that our award winner for Dignity is Sharon Soles. WHEREAS, the McKeesport Message Committee uplifts the values of Respect, Dignity, Hope and Love through community programming and other efforts; and WHEREAS, Sharon Soles is a McKeesport native who has dedicated her adult life to serving the City where she was born and raised; and WHEREAS, Sharon Soles embodies the spirit of volunteerism with grace and dignity in every role she maintains including seats with the Kiwanis Club of McKeesport/White Oak, McKeesport Lions Club, McKeesport International Village Committee, and the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center, among others as well. WHEREAS, Sharon believes everyone can make a difference in his or her community and she has embraced the moto of working together for a better McKeesport. NOW, THEREFORE, as Mayor of the City of McKeesport, I do hereby honor Sharon Soles as the Living the Message awardee for Dignity. Our last winner, I don’t know what to say to be quite honest with you. An individual, without question, is very well known in the City of McKeesport. An individual that I’ve looked up to, although he stands just slightly shorter than I am. He is truly an individual that I have always looked up to and still to this day, a mentor from the time I was a little kid to a mentor now as I sit in this very seat. Someone that I truly just enjoy his knowledge, conversations, and believe me when I tell you is an individual that has impacted so many lives of young men and women in this community. A long-time girls’ basketball Coach at the High School, [4] now he’s coaching our boys, but it’s not just about what goes on at the court but it’s about what goes on out of school and off the court. I know as a teacher I’ve seen him come in and mentor young children as well which he still does to this day and I’ve been out of education for 6 years now. Our hope winner is Coach Gerald Grayson. WHEREAS, the McKeesport Message Committee uplifts the values of Respect, Dignity, Hope and Love through community programming and other efforts; and WHEREAS, long-time basketball Coach and educator Gerald Grayson has become a household name in McKeesport area sports making a court-side impact with students as he uses the sport as a tool to shape their priorities and values; and WHEREAS, Gerald spends his days mentoring elementary age boys, teaching them that kindness is a true measure of strength and that manhood is defined by the positivity these young men can bring to their community; and WHEREAS, Gerald is a positive role model on and off the court, in his church and throughout the City of McKeesport. NOW, THEREFORE, as Mayor of the City of McKeesport, I do hereby honor Gerald Grayson as the Living the Message awardee for Hope. The last thing I am going to close with Mr. President is that it seems to be what happens just about every time we give these awards, these are people that do what they do because they just want to make life better and have an impact on our City and they truly live this message. Every month you see I offer people the opportunity to say a few words, but they are so humble that it’s not about them. They don’t do this for the awards that they get or anything else. They do it because they care. So once again, congratulations. That concludes my report Mr. President. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said, Mr. President I wanted to say something to the Mayor. I want to thank the Mayor and the Council for the discussion that we had and are continuing to have around the Drug and Alcohol Forum, but I wanted to bring something to your attention. Not that you should respond, but just something that I’m feeling. So, I guess I am using my words like I do at work but the initial reaction around drug and alcohol, opiate, as we call it now, in this country now has just been huge. However, as a black person in America, opiates [5] have been a problem in our community for years and years and years, to go on. So, I wanted to just bring that to life and when we are talking about this Forum I don’t feel like we should leave out crime and violence. We don’t want to leave out that it has been a problem in the black community for a number of years now, so God was kind of putting it on my heart to bring that to all, everybody’s attention really that this is where black lives matter kind of comes from, coming from the fact that sometimes we don’t feel like our issues are brought to the table until another part of the population is affected. So, I wanted to add that to our Forum so we can put that out there. In addition, there has been a lot of deaths of black people, black men, black boys, black women, over the years to crime and violence. I think we should add that to the Forum and I think that when you all continue on with your meetings with UPMC that you should bring that up to them to maybe add that into whatever they are trying to work on because that has been an issue nationally. I mean, look at Chicago, but look at McKeesport. I mean we’re losing, I have said this several times, we are losing a generation of black men to death. You know to death and then you turn around and you lose them to jail as well so I want to make sure that is recognized. I don’t want to go to sleep at night and not, make sure I didn’t say that to you all because that’s real and if we don’t acknowledge it, it’s kind of like the reaction that we move with the police officer in that we move so swiftly or react to that. I feel like we should add that into this Forum and make sure that we kind of bring that to the attention of somebody as we’re talking to UPMC about kind of addressing some of these issues, bringing that to the table so that we as a Council and as an administration can make sure that we are inclusive in that we recognize the diversity of this issue. Because it has been an issue in my community for years. I couldn’t tell you how many relatives, or just people that I knew period, have been affected by drugs and alcohol, and not to mention crime and violence, so I just wanted to put that out there. I feel like we, like I said, as a Council and Administration, should make sure that we are inclusive about that process and adding that to that. President Dellapenna said thank you. [6] CITIZENS IN THE AUDIENCE: President Dellapenna asked for Citizens in the Audience to please come forward when your name is called. State your name, your address and proceed you’re your comments and keep them under 3 minutes. Mrs. Jenkins. Laura Jenkins, 2004 Duquesne Avenue. I just wanted to find out about how my taxes was raised and what benefits we are going to get from raised taxes and how come the Senior Citizens don’t get a rebate since this is an elderly community. Mayor Cherepko asked President Dellapenna if he wanted him to respond. President Dellapenna said please. Mayor Cherepko said I think that this Council over decades now has been very sensitive to the elderly population and I say that, and in saying that, I believe that’s the reason why taxes have never been raised for 25 years in the City of McKeesport. You know, as far as discounts, we give discounts every opportunity we get. Seniors get a discount on the Municipal Service Fees that go out there is a discount for everybody on the Real Estate Taxes. It’s not a very large one, I think it’s 1% discount if they pay by a certain date now. But I mean, I think at the end of the day I don’t think it’s a secret that this City, and I’m not going to go into this whole thing right now, we don’t have the time, so we are trying to stay out of Act 47. When this Council made this decision, this Administration went to Council with the proposal of raising taxes, I don’t think anybody up here wanted to. I can assure you nobody up here wanted to. When we took our oath of office to do what is in the best interest of the City of McKeesport, we knew that when you take that oath, you take it to heart, that the right choice was not always going to be the popular choice and I think when you deal with an increase in taxes that’s exactly what we meant by that. What I would say is, we talked about some of the discounts, but keep in mind too everything else you pay has gone up over the last 25 years except your taxes in the City of McKeesport. Your electric bill has gone up; your gas bill has gone up; your cable bill has gone up; now we have cell phones; your phone bill; everything you pay has gone up except for your taxes and I think that needs to be noted. I think for one thing I could tell you that if we would have increased taxes over the years just a little bit we wouldn’t be in the situation we are at but when you talk about the level of services, just providing the same level of services is a battle for us. Because, I can tell you in the six years [7] as Mayor, I’m in my 6th year now, that’s the biggest obstacle we have. How do we continue to provide the same level of services to our residents that they deserve, without question? But we are doing so with less revenues. We are doing so as these services get more expensive. It’s ever increasing expenses and expenditures and ever decreasing revenues. But we still continue to balance. What I would tell you is you know this is just keeping us a float and trying to help us to continue to provide the same level of services we have given you. I could tell you it doesn’t even come close to solving our problem. If it did, we wouldn’t be doing the things we are doing such as the Sewage Authority deal and other things that everyone is very well aware that we are doing. We are just trying to stay out of Act 47 because I can tell you. I’ll say it again like I’ve said it a thousand times probably, maybe a slight exaggeration, but probably not that much of an exaggeration, we go Act 47 and anything that you have now, values of property and things like that, you can kiss them goodbye. Because a financially distressed City, it would clearly affect our public safety service that we provide. Our Street crews, everyone on down. You wouldn’t want to own a home here, I can tell you couldn’t sell your house fast enough. So, I guess, in the nutshell, I think, you know that tax increase is just for us trying to continue to provide the same level of services. I’m not going to sit here and tell you what you want to hear and say well we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that because I’d be lying to you and I don’t do that. If we can just continue to provide the same level of services than I think that’s a win for this Council and it’s a win for this Administration, but I do share your concern. I have family. I have friends. I get hit very, very hard on the tax increase, probably more so than many but I do understand your concern, but in the grand scheme of things if we would have just raised them every couple of years for the last 25 years, you would be paying a lot more for your taxes than you are now. President Dellapenna said thank you. Mr. Giles please come forward and state your name and address. Keith Giles, 336 Penny Street. Thank you first of all for this audience. First Step Recovery Homes is our organization. I’m the CEO. I come here this evening because we have been experiencing great influx of men and women being released from the Criminal Justice System back into our community. Our brothers, our sisters, our nieces and nephews, even our fathers and mothers, [8] coming back into our community with not much training, not much skills, and now most of them have felonies on their record and find it hard to find employment. I came in front of this Council maybe about a year and a half ago talking about a project that we wanted to try to get up off the ground in conjunction with a number of churches in the community. We are working with St. Stevens Church right now trying to open up a Car Wash and Detailing business on their lot on 8th Street but we’ve got a Zoning Hearing Application and they said it cost $500 just to submit it. We are a small, under-budgeted non-profit agency and we can’t really afford to pay the $500 for the Variance so that we can open up this Car Wash. We do have a Petition also that we have circulated throughout the community just to let the Council know that there are a lot of people in the community that want this. This is the beginning of three different employment opportunities for people in McKeesport. We want to also start a moving business and a lawncare/landscaping business. Now these three businesses don’t take much skills and that’s one of the reasons why we want to do it. We do have the necessary insurances in place but St. Steven’s Church wants to ensure that all of our Zoning and everything is in place before we start this endeavor. We did receive a letter from HUD addressed to Mr. Tedesco concerning the Job Core and the opportunities for training and some other opportunities for training and employment and also technical assistance, but it’s only for those 15 to 24 and a lot of these men that have come to us saying that they can’t find jobs and see we have to be very careful because we are concerned about public safety. If these men are not able to get some kind of employment we know what they are going to wind up doing and most of them just to reiterate something that Fawn Walker- Montgomery just mentioned, most of them have drug and alcohol backgrounds. So, you know, we want to provide some kind of avenue where they can support and take care of those families because if they are able to do that I’m sure we will see a different McKeesport. So, I am asking if this Council can allow us the opportunity to either lower or waive the fee for our Application for Zoning for this endeavor. Mayor Cherepko said if I may Mr. Giles, so you want us to pay for your Hearing? Mr. Giles asked, pay for the Hearing? [9] Mayor Cherepko said yes, this isn’t just money that goes into the coffers. You understand, when you have a Hearing you have an attorney that shows up there who bills that Zoning Board. The Zoning Board is an independent entity from the City. So, what you are asking is for us to pay for your Hearing? Mr. Giles said if that’s possible yes. Mayor Cherepko said well if I pay for your Hearing, then how do I not pay for a Hearing of every other non-profit in the City or any other resident that wants it? Mr. Giles said well what I am talking about is not paying but for our Hearing. The fee is $500. I’m asking if we can, the fee is just to apply, that’s just to submit the Application. Mayor Cherepko said no, that’s to have a Hearing. Mr. Giles asked that’s to have a Hearing? Mayor Cherepko said yes, that’s to have a Hearing. You will submit the Application and you will then have a Hearing date at which you will have someone come over and take the Minutes who’s working for that Zoning Board. You’ll have an attorney take his time out. It’s not our attorney. I mean they have their own attorney. We are, like I said, it’s unrealistic. We can’t do that. Mr. Giles said well one of the things that I am asking also. I mean this is just a Car Wash on a vacant lot. St. Steven’s Church is willing to allow us to use their lot and work in collaboration with us. Mayor Cherepko said my whole thing is, it’s a little bit confusing to me. If you’re not opening up as a business, then why can’t, St. Steven’s can run a Car Wash on their lot whenever they want. Mr. Giles said but they want to work with First Step Recovery Homes. Mayor Cherepko said I would advise you to go through the process of Zoning. We can’t waive the fee. If we waive the fee then we are paying and I have a responsibility for all these taxpayers out here to, you know, it’s not fair for them to pay for a hearing. I mean I understand, listen, I understand what you say your goal and your vision, listen, I truly understand. I understand the men that can’t find jobs because of things on their record. I understand all that and that’s above [10] my pay rate. Those are the ones above us. It’s just something you work on that. The government actually has some things going on to help with that very issue but I mean as far as, we can’t waive Zoning Hearing fees. Mr. Giles said just to bring it to your attention, maybe approximately 12 years ago we had to go through this same process as far as Variance and the fees were waived at that particular time. So, I’m just saying what is the difference now? Mayor Cherepko said well the difference is I wasn’t here 12 years ago and the difference is when I look every single person in the eye I can always tell people that I’m fair across the Board. I am not going to make a special exception for you and not make it for the next person that comes before me. I can’t do that. But one thing anybody that knows me knows that I am fair. I don’t treat anyone differently. So, I can’t make an exception for you and then the next time someone comes in and because they don’t ask, they might not have it but then they come and pay so when it comes to things like that, I can tell you, contrary to what people believe, this Administration, under my watch, I can assure you we’ve never let anyone get away on taxes or anything like that you might hear. We will help anybody because I am fair across the board with penalty and interest and stuff like that but there’s certain things that we do because I have to be able to look people in the eye and tell them that I’m fair across the board and that’s the way that I operate everything that I do. So, it’s not fair for you not to pay when others will. I can’t speak on other Mayors. If there were Mayors in the past when the City 12 years ago had maybe a little more money, I don’t know, but all I know is this Administration is fair across the board. Mr. Giles said so you are telling that nothing can be done? Is that what the whole Council is telling me or? Solicitor Elash said I would have to look a little bit, from a legal perspective, absent, I mean we’ve waived fees where a Hearing has been held and there was some mistake on the Application and another Hearing had to be held, we’ve waived fees along those lines. But it would be very difficult to just unilaterally start waiving those because they are justified with the cost to the Zoning Hearing Board. They just started using a stenographer which historically the City never did but because of litigation involved in some of these cases you really have to have a stenographic record of the proceedings. However, I’d like to sit down and talk to [11] you about the posture and how it’s all proceeding, with our Community Development Director. I’m not completely positive that the Mayor’s not correct that this wouldn’t even be required. I’d like to just see how that interpretation is done, what you are planning on doing. As the Mayor said we certainly will help with these types of endeavors and whatever we can do legally we will do. That’s always been our position. Mr. Giles said I appreciate that, thank you so much. President Dellapenna said thank you Mr. Giles. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I have a question, are you trying to buy the property? Why do you need the Zoning Board? Mr. Giles said no, we are not purchasing the property. We are leasing it. Well, we are not even leasing it. We are just working in collaboration with St. Steven’s Church. Solicitor Elash said I’m not sure either but we sent him an Application so somebody made a determination. Mr. Giles said well they didn’t send it to me, I went and asked for one. Solicitor Elash said oh, ok. I thought somebody had made a determination. Mr. Giles said no, they told me that I probably would need a Variance. The lot is not zones for Car Washes so they told me that I’d have to get an Application so I did but I didn’t realize that it was going to cost $500. Mayor Cherepko said and I’m not an attorney but you might run into a problem that if you now take the parking lot and change that all into a Car Wash well then now the church doesn’t have parking. I mean as far as Zoning, I think you are going overboard. I don’t think you need everything you are applying for. Solicitor Elash said there might be a much easier way to do this. Mr. Giles said ok. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said yea, if we could, because Mr. Giles has been in our community for years as an asset. His agency is an asset with respect to the problem I just spoke about earlier with the Drug and Alcohol Treatment. It’s been around for years so anything we can do to try to assist with that process I mean [12] speaking as a Councilperson I think we should because he’s been in this community for years, really attacking crime and violence from a level of treatment and job creation. It doesn’t sound like a Zoning Board issue, I guess to me anyway. Mr. Giles said well thank you for your time and I will discuss with Mr. Elash concerning this. President Dellapenna said thank you Mr. Giles. NEW BUSINESS: President Dellapenna asked Secretary James for New Business. ORDINANCE NO. 17-004– BILL #66 – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT ZONING ORDINANCE IN ITS ENTIRETY AND REPEALING ALL INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mr. Brown “to approve Bill #66.” President Dellapenna asked if there was any discussion and Mayor Cherepko said just, I am going to be very brief on these because we talked about Zoning so in depth earlier. This is just pretty much just redid our Zoning Hearing in the City of McKeesport, some of the highlights is regulating some of the social services and things like that, also the RIDC park opening up the park, the RIDC site for possibly more types of things that can go in there than what we are currently dealing with. This has been about a year and a half effort of redoing this. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-5 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) ORDINANCE NO. 17-005– BILL #67 – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING ORDINANCE #14-25 TO CORRECT THE ELIGIBILITY DATES FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE DEFERRED RETIREMENT OPTION PLAN (DROP) IN THE NON-UNIFORMED [13] OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES PENSION PLAN TO BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS OF THE CITY. MOTION: Mrs. Nesbit moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei “to approve Bill #67.” President Dellapenna asked if there was any discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President, Bills 67 and 68, just for the public’s knowledge, this is just making sure our DROP pension language is consistent with the Bargaining Agreement. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-6 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) ORDINANCE NO. 17-006– BILL #68 – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING ORDINANCE #15-3 TO CORRECT THE ELIGIBILITY DATES FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE DEFERRED RETIREMENT OPTION PLAN (DROP) IN THE COMBINED PENSION PLAN, TO BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS OF THE CITY. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mrs. Walker-Montgomery “to approve Bill #68.” RC-7 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-014– BILL #69 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Barry “to approve Bill #69.” President Dellapenna asked for discussion and Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I have a question, I apologize but I was running late from work but I guess this is to Mr. Tedesco. This Citizen Participation Plan, were any citizens involved in developing the plan? [14] Mr. Tedesco said it was advertised. (Inaudible since Mr. Tedesco did not have a microphone) Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I know nobody showed up because it looks kind of similar to what we have always had. The language is the same. So, no citizen showed up to the Hearing? We always struggle with CDBG money because we don’t get a lot of it. I recognize that. It’s supposed to go to the low-income sections of the community and it just doesn’t because we don’t get a lot of it and we have to use it for you know demolition and things like that. So, I really struggle when it comes to voting on these things because I’m not really sure that it’s going where it needs to go to but I understand that we don’t get a lot of it but if you are talking about a Citizen Participation Plan it seems like the citizens should be more involved in it. (Mr. Tedesco made comments that were again inaudible.) Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I understand that there are, along with HUD regulations, but I’m talking about the people and that maybe we should call another hearing if nobody shows up for that because it’s a Citizen Participation Plan but no citizens helped develop it. I don’t know if I’m the only one that asked, but no citizens were involved. Solicitor Elash said this Plan just dictates how the citizens are involved in formulating the CD Budget. It’s not like, you know what I mean, it’s not an actual. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said but no citizens were involved. Solicitor Elash said the Plan that we are adopting here, HUD updates this every so often and they’ve updated their requirements so this makes us in reliance with HUD that we are not going to…. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I guess I’m trying to Solicitor Elash said I think what you are saying going forward when we adopt a new CD Budget we need to find a way to get more citizens involved in how we are spending this money. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said be more deliberate about it. I know we can have hearings and no one shows up but I don’t think we should stop there. This is always my struggle with the CDBG because I understand that we don’t get a lot of [15] it but it’s to be designed for the low-income sections of the community and it’s just so hard because we don’t get a lot of it. I don’t think we should just give up and be like we are in compliance with HUD Regulations. Mayor Cherepko said I think what he’s saying Ms. Walker, I don’t know if you are confused but our CD money it goes to all low income. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I mean with demolition and things like that. Mayor Cherepko said the only, we don’t even do much with demolition, the vast, probably 90%, over 90%, huh? Solicitor Elash said all of the demolition money we spend out of the CD has to be in the census. Mayor Cherepko said yes, all of our demolitions. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I know demolitions are there and from businesses come through CDBG as well but not a lot actually comes out of it because we don’t get a lot of it. So, I mean what exactly comes out of it that goes back to the citizens? Carl Haglund asked can I answer? Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said yes. Carl Haglund said, this is just a Plan of how you are going to interact with the public and how Solicitor Elash said you need to state your name. Carl Haglund. This is how the City is going to advertise the annual action plan, substantial amendments, the 5-year plan, so this is just the plan of what the City is going to do. So, the involvement of the residents of the City is to say do you agree with this, or is there more that you think should be done. What it’s saying is the advertising is done, 15 days before public hearing, 30 days on public display, so it gives us a layout of how the City will follow its policies and procedures. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said right, so all the formalities. But what I’m saying it’s the same as to what we have already passed and it’s not working because no [16] one comes out to participate so when something is not working you try to switch it up. Carl said your previous one was done in 1997. It was updated before that from 1995. That was the first one that was ever done. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said it’s not working though. Carl said but there are certain requirements that HUD puts on the City that have to be in this so if you look at some of the areas and how it’s laid out, that is based on HUD’s guidance of what they want and how they want to see it. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I understand HUD’s and all the guidelines and everything like that but this is the Citizen Participation Plan and no citizens were involved in the developing of the plan. Mayor Cherepko said citizens were not supposed to have input on what we are passing. The plan is to let the citizens, it’s a plan put in place so that the citizens will be informed of everything. That’s what he is saying. They were not supposed to come together necessarily and put this. What this is saying is that 30 days before this we are going to have a hearing if people want to come to it they can come to it. Fifteen days after this you will have something for the public to come to. We will publicize this, we will do this. I mean, am I correct Mr. Haglund? Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said but nobody came to the hearing. Because we did have, did we have a hearing on this? Because nobody showed up. Mayor Cherepko said, yes, there was a hearing, but what would the citizens have done if they came to this hearing? Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said read the plan and give feedback. Carl said and the Plan was on display at locations. Mayor Cherepko said you talk about getting citizens there, I was in education for 12 years, I think the biggest problem we have is getting input from the public. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I don’t disagree with you, I don’t disagree with you at all. I am just saying I just think we need to don’t give up there. I don’t disagree with you. Mayor Cherepko said but every time we put a hearing out, every time we [17] advertise we are spending $700-$1,000, whatever it might be. I mean, if we continue to just do this until someone comes, then it’s really not going to change for this particular, we were going to use HUD guidelines. Carl said correct. Mayor Cherepko said I mean all we were doing is saying these are our HUD guidelines and citizens will be notified. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I am not disagreeing with you I’m just saying that we can’t stop there we need to use social media, maybe canvas, get the word out to really make sure we have citizen involvement when we talk about CDBG money. That’s my point every time we bring this up I am always talking about is it being used where it needs to be utilized. Mayor Cherepko said we are talking about two different things. I can assure you the money is going where it needs to go. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I’m talking about the same thing and I understand that we don’t get a lot of it and it has to go where it has to go. Mayor Cherepko asked how much do we get? Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I don’t know the exact number. I don’t know the exact figure. Mayor Cherepko said we get $940,000. We get a good bit. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said well how are we benefiting from it? Mayor Cherepko said everything we do out of that budget goes to low modified areas. Every single thing we do. Mr. Tedesco said City Council votes on that budget every year. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I know we vote on the budget. Obviously, I’m not feeling as it goes back to the citizens. Mr. Tedesco said do you read the budget. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said yes, I read the budget because I can read. Mr. Tedesco said well if you think you don’t know where it’s going. [18] Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I don’t feel like it’s going back to the citizens. I’ve said this before, it’s nothing new. I just don’t feel like it actually goes back to the citizens. Mayor Cherepko said we spend money on Code Enforcement it goes back. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery kept talking over comments in the background from Mr. Tedesco who was inaudible. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said it helps the entire City but it’s supposed to use for the low-income section of the community. I know we use it to be fire trucks, but if we are talking about the low-income section of the community I feel like the focus needs to be a little bit more there. We need to have more citizen involvement. Carl said one thing I think we should bring up is this is a map of the City showing the eligible areas and the eligible areas are all the areas that are in brown, so as you can see the majority of the City is eligible and so that’s when you know they are getting Code enforcement, fire trucks, over 70% of the funds are being used on eligible projects, in eligible areas. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I just don’t feel like the citizens are really getting.. Mayor Cherepko said Mrs. Walker let me ask you, were you at this meeting? Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I didn’t even know about the hearing. Mayor Cherepko said aren’t you a Councilperson. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said nobody called me about this hearing so how am I supposed to know about it if nobody calls me and tells me about the hearing. I didn’t know about the hearing. Mayor Cherepko said I’m not going to get into this right now. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said you don’t have to get into this. Mayor Cherepko said you make absolutely no sense. You make zero sense. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I just don’t make sense to you. Doesn’t mean I don’t make sense. Mayor Cherepko said you don’t make sense to anyone. [19] Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I’m allowed to ask questions. If that bothers you, you don’t have to deal with it but. Mayor Cherepko said we’ve given you the same answer ten times and you are still not understanding. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I understand it. Mayor Cherepko said it will not change the output Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I understand it, I don’t agree with it, and I’m going to keep saying I don’t agree with it. If that bothers you all I don’t know what to tell you. President Dellapenna said thank you. RC-8 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES (7) NAYS: WALKER-MONTGOMERY (1) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-015– BILL #70 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, PROCLAIMING THE MONTH OF APRIL 2017 AS “FAIR HOUSING MONTH” IN THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei “to approve Bill #70.” RC-9 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-016– BILL #71– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH GREEN LANDSCAPING & HAULING, LLC FOR WEED & VEGETATION CONTROL FOR A ONE YEAR TERM. MOTION: Mrs. Brewster-Filotei moved, seconded by Mrs. Nesbit “to approve Bill #71.” [20] President Dellapenna asked for discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President we did go out for bid on this. These are the companies responsible for spraying a lot of the vacant lots in the summer. Last year we did a couple hundred lots. As we know we can’t get houses torn down as quickly as we like but we try to accommodate our residents when they call in and ask please come out and clean out a lot and cut all the weeds and make sure there are no rodents and then we spray them. This particular company, last year we had a company that’s been doing it for several years, they then were going out of business, the one gentleman was retiring. Something happened with who was buying his business and he ended up his certification lapsed. We used two companies last year on an emergency basis and this was one of the companies. They did a tremendous job and they were one of the two bidders that we had for this summer and they were much cheaper than the other company. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-10 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-017– BILL #72– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH INDUSTRIAL APPRAISAL COMPANY FOR AN ON-SITE INSPECTION AND APPRAISAL OF THE BUILDINGS/STRUCTURES, SITE IPROVEMENTS (INSURABLE AND UNINSURABLE), FIXED EQUIPMENT, MACHINERY AND MOVABLE EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATED WITH MUNICIPALITY-OWNED LOCATIONS. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Barry “to approve Bill #72.” President Dellapenna asked for discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President this is just for Industrial Appraisals for our insurances, assets, list, things like that. This company was one that was familiar with us. I think our last one was 2011 so if we get this one done, there might be a little bit more of a cost now but if we make sure we get it pretty much every year then it will be a minimal cost to upkeep and make the additions to the list each year. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. [21] RC-11 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-018– BILL #73– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2016 CDBG PROGRAM. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei “to approve Bill #73.” President Dellapenna asked for discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. Collura, Mr. President, I’m sorry, Mr. Collura is the gentleman responsible for our animal control so his rates went up a little bit so this is to adjust for the rates. He’s done a tremendous job for us for numerous years and held his rate pretty much all the way up until this point so obviously, this is an Amendment to make sure we can pay him out of that. President Dellapenna said thank you. RC-12 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-019– BILL #74– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, APPOINTING MARK C> TURNLEY AS AUDITOR FOR THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEARS 2016, 2017 & 2018, AND AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT FOR SAID SERVICES. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Soles “to approve Bill #74.” President Dellapenna asked for discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President as we all are very well aware that the City of McKeesport is required by law to have an independent Audit each and every year. We went out for bid this year, our Auditor that we’ve had over the last couple years has been very, very late getting the Audit finished and it was hindering to the point where it was causing issues for the CDBG Program and we wanted to make sure that doesn’t [22] happen again so we did this put this out for bid to make sure. In addition to advertising we also sent the RFP out to a few different Auditing Firms as well which was above and beyond, which HUD was very pleased with us that we went above and beyond so I do commend Mr. Tedesco for making sure we did that. At the end of the day we did just have one Auditor that put in and this is the gentleman and his firm. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-13 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-020– BILL #75– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, REPEALING AND REPLACING RESOLUTION 2015-12 TO APPROVE THE FISCAL YEAR 2016 HOME CONSORTIUM GRANT AMOUNT OF $168,439.00 AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY’S PARTICIPATION IN THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY HOME SORTIUM PROGRAM, AND APPROVING THE EXECUTION OF A CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 IN THE ABOVE AMOUNT. MOTION: Mrs. Nesbit moved, seconded by Mr. Barry “to approve Bill #75.” President Dellapenna asked for questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said I believe this is just to replace an old one that we already passed. I guess there some additional money, the number was a little higher than what we previously had. Is that correct Mr. Tedesco? (Someone said Mr. Tedesco stepped out) I believe it is. Angelia Christina of McKeesport Housing Corporation said it’s right, that’s what happened. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-14 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI (5) NAYS: WALKER-MONTGOMERY (1) ABSTAIN: SOLES (1) Mr. Soles said I currently sit on the Housing Corporation Board. [23] President Dellapenna asked for a Motion to Amend the Agenda to add Bills 76 and 77. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei “to amend the Agenda to add Bills #76 and #77.” RC-15 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-021– BILL #76– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, RECOGNIZING THE MCKEESPORT REGIONAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE CENTER AS A CIVIL AND/OR SERVICE ASSOCIATION UNDER THE LOCAL OPTIONS SMALL GAMES OF CHANCE ACT, AS AMENDED. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Barry “to approve Bill #76.” President Dellapenna asked for questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said obviously, Mr. President this is just like we’ve done with other non-profits when they apply for a Small Games of Chance we just acknowledge they are who they are and they just run it through City approval. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-16 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-022– BILL #77– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, APPROVING ACT 537 SEWAGE FACILITIES PLAN REVISION. Solicitor Elash said this is the Bill that we did the call around after last meeting for Elizabeth Township approving their Act 537 Amendments. We still don’t know if [24] they need it, they were off and on, so we are just amending it to pass it in case they do. President Dellapenna said thank you Mr. Elash. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mr. Soles “to approve Bill #77.” RC-17 YEAS: BROWN, NESBIT, DELLAPENNA, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, SOLES (7) NAYS: NONE (0) President Dellapenna announced that Mr. Barry would like to make a comment. Mr. Barry said I’d just like to give kudos to the Message Committee for selecting the four individuals they did. I can’t imagine four better people for the City of McKeesport to represent the message of this City. They are all outstanding individuals and they make such a difference in the community and they make the lives of people better and we are blessed to have them so thank you! President Dellapenna said thank you Mr. Barry. ADJOURNMENT: President of Council Dellapenna said I’d like to thank everyone for attending the Council meeting of Wednesday, April 5, 2017, the meeting is adjourned. The meeting then adjourned at 7:59 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Annette James City Clerk and Clerk of Council APPROVED: Richard Dellapenna President of Council das [25]