City Council

CITY OF MCKEESPORT REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY 7:02 P.M. SEPTEMBER 5, 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 President of Council Richard Dellapenna. Prayer was led by Reverend James Levenberger from the McKeesport Presbyterian Church. The following Members of Council were present: RC-1 PRESENT: RICHARD DELLAPENNA, TIMOTHY BROWN, KEITH SOLES, JIM BARRY, JAMIE BREWSTER-FILOTEI, BRIAN EVANS ABSENT: LUETHEL NESBIT APPROVAL OF MINUTES: MOTION: Mr. Soles, seconded by Mr. Brown, “to approve the Minutes of the Special Meeting of August 8, 2018.” RC-2 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) COMMUNICATIONS: Received the Fire and Police Reports for the month of August 2018. MAYOR’S REPORT: President Dellapenna said I believe we cut the Mayor’s Report short but he might have a little bit more. Not sure yet. Mayor Cherepko said thank you Mr. President I will be extremely brief. I just, the only thing I missed, I did see Gina here today with us and of course Gina is the face, our McKeesport face for sure of Pure Penn and I do want to thank her for being here. They attend our Council meetings regularly. Councilman Tim Brown and Councilwoman Luethel Nesbit also sit on their Board, their Community Fund [1] Board with myself and others from the community and I just want to once again thank them. They have kept their word about having money available for different groups and organizations and 501c3’s in the City and every month we meet and we award some Grants to different organizations so if anyone is out there and they are looking for some funding for a 501c3 they can apply, they can see Gina, or look up Pure Penn’s Web Site, I think, Gina, correct, and/or visit her in person down at the old YWCA Building, the Common Grounds Building, that’s where Gina is located. I just wanted to once again thank her for all that she does. When you talk about being part of our community, Gina is without question part of our community which makes Pure Penn part of our community. So, I did just want to mention that. Believe it or not that concludes my Report Mr. President. President Dellapenna said thank you Mr. Mayor. CITIZENS IN THE AUDIENCE: Mr. Mellinger, please come forward, state your name, your address. Regis Mellinger, 310 25th, McKeesport, PA 15132. Good to see everybody again. First, I want to invite you to check out the sunflowers at Renzie Park if you haven’t seen them on line yet. They are just ginormous, taller than anybody here in the room. There’re some pretty tall people. They have been a great joy and I am very grateful to the History & Heritage Center who are looking into maybe even expanding the sunflowers for next year. I am working on cross-pollinating, the really, really good ones, personally, and anywhere you want to put them next year I am going to keep a lot of the seeds. So, that’s just the one thing. Anyway, I am not going to be too fun today but this is a true story of something I witnessed in August. I was taking a walk. Here is the scene, I was walking on 6th Avenue, on the other side of the street was a yellow brick building and it had the usual boards on the windows and caution tape and cones but that’s not the important part. What I did see and what called my attention was 2 guys yelling at each other, there was a guy who just got a ticket and the ticket writer, you know he had to explain he had to do his job of course and everybody has a job but the opposition of the two things really stood out to me in a way almost like art when you see two things that really conflict, would be parking meters and boarded up [2] places and I wonder what’s the cost and the benefit to parking meters. Well the benefit would be some quarters in revenue from the tickets we may get but the cost, the salary of the ticket writer, it would infuriate the guests of somebody that comes from out of town and they might never come back. One time I got a ticket in New Jersey so we just never went back to New Jersey and we went on fine. I think businesses, the ones that do exist, may lose revenue, somebody might not have a quarter, people my age carry cash less and less each day. So, if we do want to get parking meters there’s many good reasons but maybe we can get the 2018 models where you can maybe use a debit card or put a dollar bill in. I think that businesses may be losing tens of dollars for every person who just doesn’t have a quarter. So, I think there’s a lost of cost to the parking meters. Many people will go to work probably tomorrow on Fifth Avenue and you will see the same thing. City hall, a beautiful building, and so is the Peoples Building right there but you will also see a lot of parking meters right across the street where the GC Murphy’s used to be. Especially with if we have the Jerome Street Bridge coming up next year, if we got to have traffic on that more and more people are going to be coming into the downtown area less. Could we possibly boost the businesses up if we just saw down the parking meters? That’s something to think about. I think it really would boost a lot of business. Then you could advertise it. If anybody here watched the controversial show South Park in the theme song they say, “…going down to South Park going to have myself a time, ample parking day and night, people shouting howdy neighbor…” Ample parking could be something we could really advertise. Why do you want to come to McKeesport? Well, you don’t have to pay for parking. It’s not like Butler Street or other places where you have to pay and it’s really busy and hard to find a place to park. We could really, we got so much parking here, we got two garages, we don’t even use one, but that’s I don’t mean to cut nothing down. What I’m saying is I think it’s a really good thing how much parking we have but I think it could be really hurting us making people pay for it and it’s kind of like supply and demand. I think most of you guys are probably college graduates or teachers, every price is determined by supply and demand and we have a high supply of parking spaces and we are aiming, we are getting toward the demand that we want to have but we don’t quite have the demand for coming to McKeesport yet. So, when you have a high supply and low demand it just doesn’t really make sense to make people pay a quarter. But, if we do need to, I think the Parking Garage is a great place and [3] people want security. We know what people think of us sometimes even though we are better than that but if they really want the security of parking in a great place the garage would be a great place to do it but for now on the streets that’s all I am trying to say. Maybe it’s time to put the parking meters in the History & Heritage Center which, by the way is a great place to see some really good sunflowers. If you really want to go check them out I really highly recommend that you do. It all comes around at some point. But anyway, thanks, it was just a thought. President Dellapenna said Regis I want to introduce you to Mr., this gentleman here from Meter Feeder. Mr. O’Brien said you know there’s an app and you can pay for parking right through your smart phone. Mr. Mellinger said oh, there’s an app for that? I didn’t know that. Mayor Cherepko said we’ve had it for about three years now. Mr. Mellinger said that’s really cool, I had no idea. That’s really cool man, that’s really cool. Mayor Cherepko said just so you aware on the other end of things. Issues that we have had in the past which have hurt businesses, people, if me and Tommy and Keith and Tim and Jamie work in Pittsburgh and we decide to come down and park our car on Fifth Avenue right in front of CVS, and then we all car pool to Pittsburgh, then now your businesses don’t have parking and when we were not enforcing tickets, that’s what was happening and that’s also why years ago I was sitting up there as a Councilperson why they upped the price of the tickets because people even got to the point where they said I could park in McKeesport for $5 if I get a ticket, tickets were $5, drive to Pittsburgh and come back here and at that point I pay a $5 ticket it is cheaper than what I pay to park in Pittsburgh. Mr. Mellinger said interesting, I never knew that. Mayor Cherepko said so, there’s another end to that as well, but we have businesses complaining why do I have all these cars parking all day in front of my business, you need to enforce these meters so there’s both ends of it as well. But, also, I for one realize we are hurting a little bit and we need to get more supply, or as you would like to call more demand I should say, but I still think my [4] City is good enough to ask people to pay to park in it. If Pittsburgh can do it so can McKeesport. So, but, I do appreciate your comments. Mr. Mellinger said hey, anytime. I just got a ticket in South Side because I was parked too long in a 2-hour zone, they have 2-hour parking there, and they need more signage for that. So, maybe that would solve one problem. Mayor Cherepko said and we are looking to actually restore a couple of our garages, we are. On the down side people tend, they really don’t like parking in parking garages anymore, especially if they are walking by themselves and things. They would rather be out in the open but we are looking at a feasibility study right now on the one next to the Daily News Building because of possible traffic that will be coming. Mr. Mellinger said that’s great! Well, I am going to have a great one for you guys next month but always thanks again, it’s wonderful seeing you and check out the sunflowers. President Dellapenna said thank you Regis. NEW BUSINESS: Vice President Brewster-Filotei asked Secretary James for New Business. ORDINANCE NO. 18-018 – BILL #73 (Introduced by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei) – AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, ESTABLISHING OFFICIAL STOP SIGNS ON BROWNLEE AVENUE TO REGULATE EAST AND WEST TRAFFIC ON BROWNLEE AVENUE AT THE INTERSECTION WITH BROWNLEE AVENUE AND OHIO STREET IN THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. MOTION: Mr. Evans moved, seconded by Mr. Barry, “to approve Bill #73.” President Dellapenna asked for any questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said Mr. President this is just to make it safer for our individuals that are staying in the ADA accessible homes, crossing the street there. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. [5] RC-3 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-054 – BILL #74 – (Introduced by Mr. Barry) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH METER FEEDER, INC. MOTION: Mr. Brown moved, seconded by Mr. Soles, “to approve Bill #74.” President Dellapenna asked for questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said this is just an extension with Meter Feeder. They have done a wonderful job. It’s an asset to the City. They also, when someone does get a ticket, they let you pay through Meter Feeder as well. And, just so, since Mr. Regis, since Regis made a comment, just so everyone knows, when we are writing tickets we are not trying to create revenue off tickets. It’s just, respect the City, put money in the meters, and abide by the laws. Nothing would make me happier than a day when our ticket writer says you know what I couldn’t write any tickets. That’s all it is. I mean that’s our goal. It’s not to write tickets, it’s not to cause harm to people, just put money in the meters and help with the revenue. RC-4 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-055 - BILL #75 (Introduced by Mr. Soles) – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AWARDING THE BID FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LAROSE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB, CONTRACT A, TO BRYN ENTERPRISES, AND AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH BRYN ENTERPRISES FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $165,648. MOTION: Mrs. Brewster-Filotei moved, seconded by Mr. Evans, “to approve Bill #75.” [6] President Dellapenna asked for questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said I do just want to commend Mr. Tedesco for finding money to help the Boys & Girls Club out. When you talk about volunteers throughout the community, not necessarily volunteering, but volunteers and all those people down at the Boys & Girls Club and those that work there as well, Mr. Barry, Mr. Brown, and so many others, I got to be honest with you, the Boys & Girls Club is extremely inspiring to me when I see the volunteers and the workers and their true sincere concern for the kids well-being. I just want to thank you guys personally and publicly for all that you do at the Club. I am glad that we as a City through CD money are able to help out with some much-needed renovations to keep that facility operating. I always say it takes a village to raise a child and our goal in this administration, everyone, is to provide our youth with as many positive, life-learning experiences as possible to help impact their lives so that when they make choices they make the right choice and I think the Boys & Girls Club is extremely important to our community and I just want to thank you for your time and thank Mr. Tedesco for really going through the CD Budget. I asked him to do this and he was able to do it and we are going to make that building renovated and get it back to where it needs to be, make it safe with cameras and continue to be a place that our kids and our community can gather, a safe place where they can gather, a place where they can interact with one another, a place where they can interact with adult individuals, people that show them the right path of life. So, I do just want to say thank you. President Dellapenna said thank you Mayor. RC-5 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, SOLES, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (4) ABSTAIN: BROWN, BARRY (2) Solicitor Elash said they both abstained because they are employees of the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-056 - BILL #76 (Introduced by Mr. Evans) – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AWARDING THE BID FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LAROSA BOYS & GIRLS CLUB, CONTRACT B, TO BARRIER PROTECTION SYSTEMS, INC., AND AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS [7] NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH BARRIER PROTECTION SYSTEMS, INC. FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $28,387.70. MOTION: Mr. Soles moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei, “to approve Bill #76.” RC-6 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, SOLES, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (4) ABSTAIN: BROWN, BARRY (2) Solicitor Elash said again, they both abstain because they are employees of the Boys & Girls Club. NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-057 - BILL #77 (Introduced by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei) – A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, AUTHORIZING THE DEMOLITION OF CERTAIN DETERIORATED PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF MCKEESPORT, PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE #2253, SERIES 1962, SECTION 5, AND AWARDING THE BID FOR THE 2018 CITY-WIDE DEMOLITION PROJECT-PHASE III, AND AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH JADELL MINNIEFIELD CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC. FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $679,000. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mr. Evans, “to approve Bill #77.” President Dellapenna asked for questions or discussion and Mayor Cherepko said, as I said earlier, this is just Phase III of our McKeesport Rising Demolition that will put us up over the 300-house mark that this Council has authorized to help clean up these neighborhoods. Mr. Barry said this guy did a really good job on Evans Avenue on the houses he removed. Mayor Cherepko said yea, like I said, at this point, the only thing in my opinion that is holding him up seems to be the asbestos surveys and things which he has a company for him doing that because he is basically one day that house is gone. I mean, he’s done a tremendous job. RC-7 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (6) [8]  NAYS: NONE (0) RESOLUTION NO. 2018-058 - BILL #78 (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 KUCICH CONSTRUCTION, INC. FOR REPAIRS TO THE SALT STORAGE SHED LOCATED AT THE CITY GARAGE, AND AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH KUCICH CONSTRUCTION, INC. FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $59,950. MOTION: Mr. Barry moved, seconded by Mrs. Brewster-Filotei, “to approve Bill #78.” RC-8 YEAS: DELLAPENNA, BROWN, SOLES, BARRY, BREWSTER-FILOTEI, EVANS (6) NAYS: NONE (0) ADJOURNMENT: President of Council Dellapenna said ok that concludes the Council meeting Wednesday, September 5, 2018, I’d like to thank everyone for coming and have a good night. Thank you. The meeting then adjourned at 7:24 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Annette James City Clerk and Clerk of Council APPROVED: Richard Dellapenna President of Council das [9]