City Council

CITY OF MCKEESPORT SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY 5:05 P.M. AUGUST 8, 2018 This Meeting of Council was called to order on the above-stated date at the above-stated time after the Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence by Vice President of Council Jamie Brewster-Filotei. The following Members of Council were present: RC-1 PRESENT: LUETHEL NESBIT, JAMIE BREWSTER-FILOTEI, TIMOTHY BROWN, KEITH SOLES, JIM BARRY, BRIAN EVANS ABSENT: RICHARD DELLAPENNA Council Reports Mrs. Nesbit – nothing to report Mr. Evans – nothing to report Mr. Barry - I just wanted to mention and I think everything knows this, The Wall That Heals is in Renzie. They constructed it today and it looks awesome! I was part of the procession yesterday, I know some of you folks were. That was amazing, it was the neatest thing. It was just really heartwarming to see all of the people waving American flags and just standing there and recognizing these guys from Vietnam who really never got that recognition when they should have 50 years ago. It was a truly amazing event. It was so heartwarming, very emotional and something to be very proud of for the City of McKeesport. That’s all I have. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION: Ms. Nesbit, seconded by Mr. Evans, “to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of July 10, 2018.” RC-2 YEAS: NESBIT, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) [1] COMMUNICATIONS: Received both of the monthly Reports for July 2018 from the Fire Department and the Police Department. MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Cherepko said there’s a Mayor’s Report but it’s going to be brief, I promise. This is a special meeting so it’s going to be brief. I just didn’t want to say, our Chairman of International Village who is also a Councilman, Mr. Soles, made sure I wanted to remind you International Village is coming up and we are very excited. Next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 3-9 p.m. Tuesday night the elected officials will be invited for an introduction on stage at 8 p.m. and of course on Monday we have the Village for Kids. This will be, believe it or not, the 10th one, the 10th annual one so it’s a milestone and then next year for International Village for a milestone for us as we hit our 60th. We are going to try to do something very special next year so I do thank Mr. Soles and all of the Committee for all that they do. People don’t realize the work that goes into these types of events, especially International Village and the magnitude of just what it takes to make it successful. I know Annette is on the Committee as well and works hard and Annette has one of the most boring jobs there is. She sits in that booth and doesn’t move for three straight days, so better her than me I guess. I think I’d go crazy. But, I am very appreciative of what they do. Just to elaborate a little bit on what Jimbo said, Mr. Barry said, I apologize. Speechless is all I can say about the motorcade, The Wall, it’s unbelievable. I didn’t live in that era. I can’t imagine what these men and women are doing, how they feel with the family members and the loved ones and the classmates. Senator Brewster mentioned being in class with a couple gentlemen that are on that Wall. I can’t imagine. I know how emotional I get and mine is mostly through my father who has two Purple Hearts from the Vietnam War and up until about six years ago never talked about it once and to see your father, your super hero, the invincible guy, break down and get so emotional, it’s unbelievable and coming up there and seeing all of the other Veterans and the people on the motorcade. I mean I had chills up and down, it was just something special. I got to say a few words after the motorcade and I said it there and I will say it again, without question, hands down, in my seven years as Mayor it was by far the most [2] proud, the proudest opportunity I have ever had to stand in front of anyone on behalf of our fine City. It was just so humbling. Please take time out and get out to The Wall. Take a visit, it’s open 24/7 and its even open tomorrow as well even though the official Opening Ceremony isn’t until 6:30 p.m. We will have an official ceremony at 6:30 p.m. and once again you talk about volunteers. They built The Wall today, many volunteers, the motorcade was a success. Coach Matt Miller, the High School Football Coach brought 15-20 of our football players. They are getting ready for camp and they got a little work out today. Not nearly what they are going to see at Camp next week but just to see these young men out there, with the Coach himself helping I just think it speaks volumes on how Coach Miller, speaks volumes about what he is doing for these young men on and off the field and I think it was quite a learning experience for them and I know many of them really have no idea just what it meant but they learned a little bit today and they got a small sample when they are hanging this Wall and building this Wall with other Veterans as well standing around. So, it was quite a life-learning experience as well for them. Other than that, Madam President, that is going to conclude my Report and we can go through our business. Vice President Brewster-Filotei said thank you. CITIZENS IN THE AUDIENCE: None NEW BUSINESS: Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked Secretary James for New Business. ORDINANCE NO. 18-017 – BILL #69 (Introduced by Mr. Soles) – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 07-20, AS AMENDED, AND TO RE-ESTABLISH THE RATE AND BASIS OF THE FEE FOR THE ISSUFANCE OF A BUILDING PERMIT AND TO ESTABLISH AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE OF TWENTY-FIVE ($25) DOLLARS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF ALL PERMITS UNDER THE BUILDING CODE AND FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A COMMERCIAL OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE UNDER THE ZONING ORDINANCE. [3] Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for a Motion to Approve? Or do we want to ask questions first? Mayor Cherepko said no, you do the Motion, then a second and then discussion. Ok, said Vice President Brewster-Filotei. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Soles, “to approve Bill #69.” Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for any questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said this is just changing our structure of our fees for Building Permits. Really, it’s just coming more so in alliance with what other communities are doing. Building Inspectors, Underwriters, BIU is now in charge of our Building Inspections so this pretty much just comes in line with what they are doing in other places as well. We are looking forward to working with them. They are a third party that we hired. They are helping us not just with Building Permits but they are doing Occupancy Permits. They can condemn houses when we need them in the case of an emergency and other things. So, it’s been a nice transition with them. Obviously, it’s still early but things are going very well. They really stepped in right away and took over when our former Building Inspector retired. So, we are very fortunate to have them on board and this is really just putting things in alignment with what they had elsewhere. RC-3 YEAS: NESBIT, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-051 – BILL #70 – (Introduced by Mr. Brown) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH DAVID COLLURA. Solicitor Elash said this is for geese control throughout the City. He’s our Animal Control guy now but we wanted to do a separate contract for the geese control. We don’t talk a lot about our geese control program for obvious reasons. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Ms. Nesbit, “to approve Bill #70.” Mayor Cherepko said just to elaborate a little bit. The geese can become a problem and there are different methods I think that can be used to redirect them to other places. I know for example a team that I am actually part of down [4] at Maran Field in Harrison Village there are a lot of times before a game the geese are on there and it’s a mess. Even after we go in and clean up and Mr. Brown has just experienced that last week as well. So, it’s something we typically do. They come in every now and then and it’s just a way to redirect them so they go somewhere else. RC-4 YEAS: NESBIT, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-052 - BILL #71 (Introduced by Ms. Nesbit) – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO TAKE ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE YOUNG PRESERVATIONISTS ASSOCIATION OF PITTSBURGH TO PROVIDE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE REVITALIZATION AND REDEVELOPMENT OF THE PENN MCKEE HOTEL AND SURROUNDING AREAS. MOTION: Mr. Evans moved, seconded by Mr. Brown, “to approve Bill #71.” Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for discussion or questions and Mayor Cherepko said we talked about this at last month’s meeting and we did it by Motion to partner with them. This is the actual contract. We are excited about the opportunity we have at the Penn McKee and I have to thank Jason Togyer. He’s been a very intricate part of really looking to do something to really market the Penn McKee to attract investors to come in so that we can do something special with the building. I think we are moving along, we’re moving in the right direction. You had the opportunity to meet and talk with them. He spoke in front of the Council last month. This here is $60,000 that will be part of the contract to get it going so that we can really see where we are at. At the end of this we will have a much better idea of what it is going to cost to move forward, whether it is feasible, whether it’s not, whether we have investors lined up, things like that. This will be part of McKeesport Rising. This is just another thing we are doing as part of McKeesport Rising. That’s the part of the Budget that it will come out of. So, we are very excited with the opportunities we have with this and I think it will be great things for that area. Vice President Brewster-Filotei said thank you. [5] RC-5 YEAS: NESBIT, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-053 - BILL #72 (Introduced by Mr. Evans) – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT FOR RENOVATIONS TO THE MULTI-MEDIA CENTER BUILDING. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mr. Soles, “to approve Bill #72.” Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked for discussion or questions and Mayor Cherepko said this particular contract is for the warrant office. That’s the one part of the building that District Attorney Steve Zappala is going to be moving into. There will be an anchor tenant bringing revenue into the building as well. We had two bidders on this. One came in much lower than the other. He’s a local contractor. We are pleased to work with him. He did a tremendous job on the contract we awarded with him with the ballfields and that’s with Kucich Construction. That’s what we are recommending as you can see the two bids that we received. As far as the building goes what we are really looking to have some other tenants in there as well. Some tenants may be in there, my goal is to have some of them in there by October 1st. There’s major work to be done on this part. This is Grant money that we have set aside for the major work like this. When you are talking about totally retrofitting part of the building. We received probably in the ball park of $300,000 give or take right off the top. $200,000 through CITF and $100,000 through another entity and we are also looking for private Foundation Money as well. So, this will not be General Fund money. This will not be McKeesport Rising but we will be putting money into the building for that. We do have a preliminary set of a few tenants that will be in there that we are excited to have and Point Park, of course, being one of them. Tube City On- Line being a tenant and another private entity that wants to move their business into town as well that sells fire apparatus equipment. So, we are excited to be getting some things in there and getting this ball going and there’s potential for some other unique things to come in there as well. Someone asked, can you elaborate on the warrant office? [6] Mayor Cherepko said yes, Steve Zappala, it’s a good thing for the City, I don’t want to go into too many details. Because I don’t want to speak for the District Attorney because at some point we are going to have a big Press Release. But, we are looking to have an office here that’s going to be able to service Police Departments from surrounding communities as well. This would be a destination point. They would have an ADA on site probably most of the time. I’m not going to say 24/7 but when our Police Officers need to reach out to the District Attorney, whether it’s to file charges or whether to do something from other Departments as well. The camera system is going to be all tied into this. We are all very aware of the camera system. We didn’t put it out there yet. Like with everything we have but the media has at some point or another mentioned the fact that we have a camera system set up around the City right now at major intersections, scanning your license plates and things like that. So, there’s a lot that is going to come out of this office. I think this is just the beginning. Steve Zappala has been, Mr. Zappala has been a wonderful friend to the City of McKeesport, I can tell you that. Whether it is through our DANET, District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Team and the money he puts forth for us to do extra patrols. You know, there are two nights that we don’t have our VCU Unit out there that we created, that are out there with the extra patrols being pro- active policing and trying to make McKeesport a safer place to live. The other two nights, the District Attorney’s Office, through DANET is covering those for extra patrol so you now have I mean, you have extra men out and women, extra officers out or detectives seven days a week now. I mean we are doing everything we can to curb this addiction, the crime of violence. You know, unfortunately, we had some over the last weekend. It was a family dispute. It’s just horrific. I mean one is one too many. We all know that but we are just doing everything we can to eliminate it all together. That’s our goal and we are not going to stop until, uh, to ever stop short, that’s our goal and we’ll keep shooting for it and in today’s society it’s horrible. I really don’t. You see what you see on the news. You see it for yourself and it’s very scary. But, I will tell you we are doing everything we can in our City. We have people working together. You saw our, the peace walk, the prayer walk we had, collaborating with the McKeesport NAACP and other entities. We here in McKeesport, when we do things, we do things together and I think that’s what we tried to put out there that day. You know, there were protests, walks and other things in other communities. I don’t [7] worry about what is going on in other communities. Here in McKeesport we do it together. Our police officers were there that day as part of that walk. They weren’t there to police the event, they were there to be part of the event and I think that speaks volumes for what we are trying to accomplish here in McKeesport. So, Mr. Zappala has been a big part of things as well in the Policing aspect and to have his presence and office right here, right across the parking lot in our own town here, is just going to be another asset to the City of McKeesport and who knows what can, I don’t want to get into too many details, but who knows what can kind of snowball after that. It can have a Domino effect for other opportunities to bring people from maybe 30 surrounding communities to come to McKeesport for certain services. So, these are things we are working on. RC-6 YEAS: NESBIT, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) ADJOURNMENT: Vice President of Council Brewster-Filotei said this adjourns tonight’s special meeting and thank you for coming. The meeting then adjourned at _____ p.m. Respectfully submitted, Annette James City Clerk and Clerk of Council APPROVED: Jamie Brewster-Filotei Vice President of Council das [8]