City Council

CITY OF MCKEESPORT REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY 7:01 P.M. SEPTEMBER 6, 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 Vice President of Council Jamie Brewster-Filotei. The following Members of Council were present: RC-1 PRESENT: JAMIE BREWSTER-FILOTEI, KEITH SOLES, FAWN WALKER-MONTGOMERY, LUETHEL NESBIT, JIM BARRY, TIM BROWN ABSENT: RICHARD DELLAPENNA Also present were Mayor Michael Cherepko, City Administrator Thomas Maglicco, 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 Special Meeting of August 7, 2017.” RC-2 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) COMMUNICATIONS: Received both the Fire and Police Department Reports for the month of August 2017. MAYOR’S REPORT: Thank you said Mayor Cherepko. I will be brief, especially for those that were here the last hour. I am just pretty much for the most part make a lot of announcements and touch on a few things. First and foremost, I know Mr. Soles mentioned it, International Village, Mr. Soles is the Chairman of that Committee, to the Committee, to all the volunteers that made this event such a tremendous success like they do each and every year I just say thank you, thank you on behalf [1] of the City of McKeesport and thank you as a resident, life-long resident of the City of McKeesport who has enjoyed those festivities for my entire life. We had another great year. Great weather the first two days. A little bit of rain on the third but overall it was a huge success. Rib Fest, Concerts in the Park, the Lions Club, and everything that they do. It’s just another example. When you talk about volunteers they run these events from start to finish. People don’t realize they don’t happen the day of, that’s for sure. It’s a lot of planning that goes into these types of events. They are always very well organized, very well structured, and it’s something for everyone to enjoy. Not just the residents of the City of McKeesport, but the people all over. I think the Rib Fest has gotten bigger each and every year and we look forward to it continuing to grow as well, it’s something for people to think about each year and look forward to going to. The Patriotism Parade is this Sunday. I know that was mentioned as well, please come out and take part in our Patriotism Parade that we started a few years ago out there in Renzie Park, followed by a final Concert in the Park as well at 7:00 p.m. UPMC McKeesport they have a lot of good things going on down there, outside of their care. They are talking about some remodeling, some upgrades, redesigning things, even as far as redesigning an entire new entrance to the hospital. The top, not the top level, the top parking lot that is behind the parking garage, that’s going to be all set to be their new entrance, main entrance into the hospital. They have a lot of major projects going on up there. They are here to stay and like I said I am not going to bore you with all the details and get through everything but you always hear rumors on the streets and I could tell you we have a wonderful relationship with them. We meet with them very often, as a matter of fact I will be out there again tomorrow. They are committed to our City and they are going to be here a long time. A lot of times people see something happen and they see a foreclosure, a building closed that might be torn down, they are doing all that just to fix the inefficiencies of the hospital itself. That ER Department sees around 40,000 patients a year, just in the ER alone. That’s a lot of patients. They are busy, they are doing well, and I say that just to, in case there are any rumors out there. You always hear different rumors and I like to take the opportunity just to [2] make sure you know that is not the case. Tommy and I have seen many times their plans, there’s just millions and millions of dollars going into that hospital and we look forward to working with them and see them as a good community partner as well. The red light at the corner of Route 48, down there on Walnut Street, Long Run Road and Walnut, to help that intersection, that developer is moving along as well. Construction of the light itself obviously it is not up yet, but plans are going well. There’s been a lot of different challenges to get through and we are getting through them very slowly. We just had a meeting last Friday with PennDot and several others, probably about 20 people at the meeting to make sure that we can continue to get that moving and get that development moving forward as well right there. The amount of traffic that comes through there with the studies is unbelievable, the amount of cars that are coming through there and when you put a new street light in there where people don’t have a difficult time making that left-hand turn from the traffic light from 48 to go up Walnut into Versailles you are going to see those numbers even go up tremendously more. Jerome Street Bridge, they will be working on the Jerome Street Bridge. We are still, not any time soon, in the Spring of 2019 they will be redoing the Bridge, fully renovating the Bridge. Obviously, I would just ask our people when the time comes to be patient and to realize that a short-time inconvenience is very well worth it to see the final outcome when the project is finished. The Port Authority Bus Terminal, you may have seen that is being torn-down. That space one of a multi-phase project that is going on there through Port Authority. The next phase costing 4 to 5 million dollars and you are going to see a brand-new transportation center built there. Right here in the City of McKeesport. It’s very unique. There are not many drops in all of the system in Allegheny County. There is a similar one over in Wilkinsburg, but even that is different. This is truly one of a kind, but if you don’t think a new transportation center where people have access to get right into that area to not only get to our RIDC site for future developments and also into the town where there is potential as well. You know, the proximity of where that is and the need for transportation is essential, so we are very grateful that the Port Authority is making that type of investment into the project here in the City of McKeesport. [3] We did get a settlement check from the firm that we hired a few years ago to go after delinquent business privilege tax. They have done a tremendous job. They have now brought in a few million dollars’ worth of money that would have never been collected if it wasn’t for bringing this in and they had the resources available to them to do the research and everything that they needed to do to identify different businesses. Some may think it is as easy as seeing a business and knowing they owe us money. That’s not the case. A lot of businesses are done at home. A lot of businesses are done with other entities. Like maybe a business is running inside the hospital that we don’t know about. Things like that, but we just got our most recent one last month and I thank Council for believing in them when we brought them on a few years back. You can see it is paying off, they are doing a tremendous job. Last, but not least, it seems a little bit early to talk about this but I guess it is never early because once again when you talk about the time and energy that goes into planning things, these things just don’t happen. Our Salute to Santa Parade will be November 18th this year, 2017. We know that is a Parade that has been a tradition here in the City of McKeesport to kick off the Holiday Season. I think that’s the Saturday before Thanksgiving and then you start, everyone starts working towards Christmas at that point, and other holidays as well. So, we look forward to that and you can put that in your calendars, November 18th, and once again I do thank the volunteers and the committee and the REC committee, and Recreation Director Jim Brown takes part with that one as well, and the work that goes into making these events a success. Hopefully you can come out and enjoy the Parade and we probably get 4,000-5,000 people if the weather cooperates. We need participants so if you have any group or entity within the City, none too small, so to say, but get out there and march. You can contact Jennifer in my office and she can help get you organized and into the Parade. It is a community affair to kick off the Holiday Season. Other than that, I rambled enough earlier so Madame President that concludes my report. Vice President Brewster-Filotei said thank you Mayor Cherepko and called for New Business. [4] Mayor Cherepko said one more thing, I am sorry, since Annette didn’t go, Vegely Welding, if you have not seen, they bought the old CAPCO building right in front of Harrison Village on 12th Street about a year ago. They bought property next to it from the Redevelopment Authority. He will be moving his entire operations over here. Another new business in the City. He has been a tremendous, already, just coming in and helping with different things and being a resource for Steve Kondrosky, our Public Works Director, with different things the City needs, whether we need a crane, whether we need help on different things, he is always there to offer his services. Also, he took part of the Enterprise Zone money that is out there. We tell people all the time about the Enterprise Zone money for new businesses and you know, you have a new business the Enterprise Zone, low- interest loan is there and I believe it’s, I think it was a $300,000 loan he got from them. So, it’s a major operation and that’s not to operate his whole business, he will probably have well over a million-dollar project into there to get, just to get his business up and running. We will welcome him officially to the City after that as well, I’m sorry about that. Vice President Brewster-Filotei said no problem. NEW BUSINESS: RESOLUTION NO. 2017-043– BILL #104 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, APPROVING A REVERSE SUBDIVISION REQUEST FROM ALLEN HUTCHINSON TO COMBINE THREE LOTS INTO ONE. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mr. Soles “to approve Bill #104.” RC-3 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) [5] RESOLUTION NO. 2017-044 – BILL #105 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH ALLEGHENY FENCE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF RENZIEHAUSEN PARK WALKING TRAIL EXTENSION AND DOG PARK FENCING. Mr. Barry said I do have a question, Mayor are they fencing the Trail? Mayor Cherepko said the Trail, itself, will not be fenced in, just the Dog Park. I don’t have the acreage off hand but it’s a couple of acres. It’s going to be a very large Dog Park. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mrs. Nesbit “to approve Bill #105.” RC-4 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2017-045 – BILL #106 – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE THE ATTACHED AGREEMENT WITH HGAC BUY FOR CO-OPERATIVE PURCHASING SERVICES. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mr. Soles “to approve Bill #106.” RC-5 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) ORDINANCE NO. 17-015 – BILL #107 – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, ADOPTING THE 2009 EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE, REGULATIN AND GOVERNING THE CONDITIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF ALL PROPERTY, BUILDINGS, AND STRUCTURES; BY PROVIDING THE STANDARDS FOR SUPPLIED UTILITES AND FACILITIES AND OTHER PHYSICAL THINGS AND CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE THAT STRUCTURES ARE SAFE, SANITARY AND FIT FOR OCCUPATION AND USE; AND THE CONDEMNATION OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES UNFIT FOR HUMAN OCCUPANCY AND USE, AND THE DEMOLITION OF SUCH EXISTING STRUCTURES IN THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT; PROVIDING FOR [6] THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS AND COLLECTION OF FEES THEREFORE; REPEALING ORDINANCE #97-12 OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT AND ALL OTHER ORDINANCES AND PARTS OF THE ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH. Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for any discussion and Mayor Cherepko said this is just to upgrade our BOCA as we talked about earlier. Solicitor Elash said the Property Maintenance Code, correct. Mayor Cherepko said that’s as we are continuing to work on our Landlord/Tenant Ordinance and making sure that our residents are living in houses that are safe. MOTION: Mrs. Nesbit moved, seconded by Ms. Walker-Montgomery “to approve Bill #107.” RC-6 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) Solicitor Elash said I need to ask for a couple Motions at this point, the first one I’d like to ask Council for a Motion to Approve the Cook/Graf Lawsuit for the terms we discussed in the back involving the release of municipal liens. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mrs. Nesbit “to approve the Cook/Graf Lawsuit.” RC-7 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) Solicitor Elash said I would ask for a Motion to Amend the Agenda to Add Bill #108 relating to RADICAL Days in the City of McKeesport. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Ms. Walker-Montgomery “to amend the Agenda to add Bill #108.” RC-8 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) [7] RESOLUTION NO. 2017-046– BILL #108– A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, DESIGNATING SEPTEMBER 22 THROUGH OCTOBER 15, 2017, AS RADICAL DAYS IN THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mrs. Nesbit “to approve Bill #108.” Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for any discussion and Mayor Cherepko said obviously with that our biggest part of us taking part in RADICAL Days is through the RAD Funding. Anyone that rents a pavilion during those time periods they receive the pavilion at no charge. That does not include the social hall, the main pavilion. RC-9 YEAS: BREWSTER-FILOTEI, SOLES, WALKER-MONTGOMERY, NESBIT, BARRY, BROWN (6) NAYS: NONE (0) Solicitor Elash said the last issue is if anyone on Council is so moved after the public hearing, if anyone is in favor of transferring the Liquor License on Fifth Avenue for the Marva Joe establishment per the public hearing that was held earlier today, we would need a Motion and a second, if not, we would say the City is not in favor of that and send a letter objecting to the transfer. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said I am not but I didn’t know it was happening. Solicitor Elash said it was advertised in the paper. Vice President Brewster-Filotei said it was in our packet. Mrs. Walker-Montgomery said yea but there was an e- mail saying 6 and then 6:15 for work session so I came by 6 because that is what the last e-mail I got said. That’s why I wasn’t here but I am not in favor of it. Mayor Cherepko said I didn’t send an e-mail. Ms. James said I believe I sent the e- mail after Mr. Elash had told me what time he wanted to have that but then we advertised the meeting earlier at 5:30 p.m. so that’s why I included it in the packet. Solicitor Elash asked does anybody want to make such a Motion? [8] There being no reply, Solicitor Elash said it would be appropriate to adjourn. ADJOURNMENT: Vice President of Council Brewster-Filotei said oh before we do that, I’m sorry, we would like to have Ms. Glady’s Hunt-Mason from McKeesport Ministry please close the meeting in prayer, if you don’t mind. Vice President of Council Brewster-Filotei said thank you for coming and the meeting is adjourned. The meeting then adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Annette James City Clerk and Clerk of Council APPROVED: Jamie Brewster-Filotei Vice President of Council das [9]