Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Toni Brockway, Dayne Dice, Loren Kase, Jamie Lee Korns, Mac McKenna, Tony Spadaro, Carl Stepanovich and Mayor Synan. Also present were Chief Administrator, James Morrison, Director of Finance, Diane Heming, Director of Parks and Recreation, Carly Greens, Director of Public Works, Bill Paiano, and Solicitor, George Kotjarapoglus. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Tony Spadaro, Mac McKenna, Carl Stepanovich, Toni Brockway, Loren Kase, Dayne Dice, Jamie Lee Korns, and Mayor Synan. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mr. Dice led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: None CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS A. Accounts Payable B. Cash Investments and Transfers C. May 5, 2021 Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Dice noted that he will abstain from any accounts payable matters or any cash investments related to KU Resources because he has done legal work for them. Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to approve the Consent Calendar Items. Mr. Spadaro seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Synan stated that the annual Memorial Day service will be a combined service this year on May 31. Join the White Valley AMVETS and Export, Delmont, and Murrysville American Legions to honor our fallen. Ceremonies begin at 8:00 am, followed by Murrysville Cemetery at 8:30 am, Hill’s Church Cemetery at 9:00 am, Twin Valley Cemetery at 10:00 am, Export Memorial Dedication and Parade at 11:00 am, Grandview Cemetery at 12:00 pm, and White Valley AMVETS at 1:00 pm. The Farmers’ Market opening day is June 3rd from 3:00 – 7:00 pm. The market will be Thursdays, June through September at the Medic One, Murrysville Fire Station parking lot located at 3235 Sardis Road. Tuesdays at Townsend, a free live performance in the park, will be held at Townsend Park, 130 Townsend Park Court, from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Scheduled dates for 2021 are: June 8, June 22, July 6, July 20, August 3, and August 17. There is usually a food truck and a beverage truck at the performances. If you are looking to spend the summer outside enjoying a variety of activities with friends, sign up for the Murrysville Recreation’s Playground Program. You will have fun all summer long! Participants should bring a lunch and refillable water bottle each day. The program begins June 14 to August 6 (closed on Monday, July 5). The program is open to ages 6 to 12. Mondays and Tuesdays will be at Bear Hollow Park. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at Murrysville Community Park. Registration and details can be found at www.murrysvilleparecreation.com. vmp 1 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 There will be a Free Fishing Derby at Northmoreland Park on May 23 from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. This event is open to all ages and trophies will be awarded to both youth and adults. Registration is required. All youth participants will receive a door prize upon registration. For more information, please call the Westmoreland County Bureau of Parks and Recreation at 724-830-3950 or visit www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/parks. Mayor Synan stated that he attended an Eagle Scout promotion for T.J. Schreck of Troup 208. T.J. built hammocks at Scouting Knob that have a roof over top of them. Two other Eagle Scouts, Trevor McLeigh built two covered picnic tables at MCP around the splash pad and Ian Sunny cleaned old headstones in various cemeteries around the community. Boy Scout Troup 208 had a very busy and successful year in spite of the pandemic. CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Morrison noted that the Public Works crew started working their 4/10s this week up through Labor Day. The Pension Committee had their quarterly meeting this morning. The combined funds exceeded $30 million for the first time. That plan about 10 years ago was around $18 - $20 million. The police plan is almost 90% funded and the non-uniform about 95% funded. The earnings year-to-date are almost 5%. COMMUNITY INPUT: None LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. McKenna: Parks and Recreation met last Tuesday. There was a presentation for the amphitheater. The Farmer’s Market is starting June 3rd. Tuesdays at Townsend begins June 8th. Concert in the Park is August 14th. An up-and-coming Scout gave a presentation of the Eagle Scout project that he is working on which will be continuing the work that his brother started with doing the signs for the trails. The projects that the Scouts do have really been great for the Parks Department and much appreciated. Thanks to Public Works for helping with what the Scouts are doing. The Chalk the Walk was this past Saturday and was very successful. Ms. Brockway: Registration for the Murrysville Community Library Annual Summer Reading Program begins Monday, June 7th, with the program running June 14th through August 6th. This year’s theme is “Tails” and “Tales” featuring fun stories, activities and events all centered on the animal kingdom. Children, teens and adults are all invited to participate by downloading the Beanstack app at Murrysville.beanstack.org. Interested participants can also contact the Library to sign up. The end of summer reading party will be August 6th featuring Pittsburgh’s Zoo-mobile, Stage Right, princesses, balloon animals and much more. Check the Library summer calendar and newsletter. Dr. Lee Korns: Mr. Morrison kindly presented the Pension report. Mr. Kase: Nothing to report from Environmental Advisory Commission. Mr. Stepanovich: The Parks and Recreation Foundation met on May 11th. There was discussion of the possibility of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. It was judged to be too costly. There are plans to have a Food Truck Day early September at Murrysville Community Park. Mr. Stepanovich asked if Council would have any objections to there being a beer truck at this event. Mr. Kase said he doesn’t recall any problem that they have had in the past with having a beer truck at different events. The rest of Council vmp 2 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 agreed. Mr. Morrison noted that there have been beer trucks before at MCP. The vendor would have to have his own liability insurance. Mr. Stepanovich stated that the purpose of this would be to raise funds for the Foundation. The Iron Ranger Collection Box has been ordered. The next meeting will be June 8th. The Planning Commission met on May 11th. A Public Hearing was held for construction of six outdoor courts for Murrysville Racquet Club. There will be no seating, no lighting, and no sound. They did ask for one waiver for a storm drainage pipe with smaller dimensions than required. Villa Ciano has some changes to its Stormwater Management Plan located along Cline Hollow Road. Mr. Spadaro: Medic One meets tomorrow night. Mr. Dice: FTMSA meets tomorrow. Just a reminder to look for notices that FTMSA will be smoke testing in your neighborhood. WORKSHOP ITEMS PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: 9.A. A Presentation by HDG and Mackin Engineering on the Murrysville Community Park Amphitheater Conceptual Plan. Ms. Greene stated that after several meetings, emails, phone calls, drafts, and revisions, staff has a proposed concept plan for the amphitheater performance area site at the Murrysville Community Park. The presentation tonight will show two versions. One will be proposed within the budget and the other is what it could look like in the future when there is funding and time available to expand the project. A lot of different options were explored to try to pull this together and keep it within budget and use the grant funds available for this project. Mark Duane, Hayes Design Group, and Bob Genter, Mackin Engineering, provided a slide presentation of the layout of four different concept plans. Mr. Genter stated that after meeting with staff and doing a site investigation, they wanted to come up with a plan that will fit the development into the site. Priorities had to be determined for the project: budget limitations, infrastructure needs and future expansion possibilities. Staff has also explored solar lighting options and acoustical needs. They discussed and had to take into consideration existing conditions, conceptual plan options, preferred conceptual plan, project phasing, site selection, amphitheater structure design options, budget, and the final conceptual design. Of the four initial site layout concepts, they discussed the pros and cons of each and pulled the best of ideas and narrowed down the options to two; one within budget and one beyond budget. The first proposed concept plan provided an audience of approximately 500-600 people with the bandshell, storage building, restroom, parking, and a new entrance road to MCP. The second includes all of that plus a full build of the entire space to allow for guest capacity of around 3,000, including bench seating throughout the field area, walkways, a play area, and additional parking. Mr. Duane went through the different phases with Phase IA. Construction by the Municipality. This would include demolition and clearing, earthwork and subbase for the park entrance road, erosion control and stormwater management and utilities. Phase 1B. Public Bid Construction for work that could go out for a competitive bid, trying to do it for the least costs. He also showed future project phasing or small projects to complete the Master Plan. vmp 3 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Mr. Duane then went on to discuss the amphitheater itself. He stated that there were discussions about having it custom built, but it made more sense to go with a prefabricated structure. Some ideas were brought to staff, which were shown on the slides. The preferred prefabricated structure is lower in the back, higher in the front, tapers in width, having a backdrop, and open on the sides. Mr. Duane went over the budget which was broken down into each phase and category. Phase 1A. was estimated at $58,000 and Phase 1B. was estimated at $629,750. Ms. Greene noted that the staff did take the opportunity to tour and meet with Park & Recreation Directors from Monroeville, Hempfield, Twin Lakes and Saint Claire Park in Greensburg and to see their amphitheaters. They were all very gracious and spent a lot of time showing their facilities, explaining their operational costs, how much it gets used, the different ways the facility gets used, and the mistakes that they made. The door is still open to learn from them. All of the facilities are very, very different. Dr. Lee Korns stated that she recalls that around $600,000 was budgeted for this with $300,000 from the Community Conservative Partnerships Program Grant and floated a bond previously for $300,000. From the presentation and support documents, it looks like even if we go with the current concept, the cost would be around $832,000. What is the plan for that gap? Mr. Morrison answered that there is some addition money in the recreation fund to cover that in the Capital Reserve. There are other alternatives like looking for naming rights and the Foundation can help. Staff is looking to solicit local companies to help to construct it or contribute to it. Mr. Kase asked about use of the space when the amphitheater is not being used. Mr. Genter showed on the slide that there is a lot of space between the road and the amphitheater itself. The area can be used as a play area, picnic space, trails that go through, a festival area for art shows, food trucks, and possibly sled riding down the sloped area. The area can be used all seasons. Mr. McKenna asked if there were other options for moving the road instead of having to tear down the storage building. Mr. Paiano explained about the site distance and the location of the sewer line and water pit along with a lot of utility work that is going to go through that property and some of it cannot be moved. Materials from that building that can be salvaged can be moved and used somewhere else. Mr. Morrison stated that the next step would be to come to Council with recommendations on hiring the consulting firms to do the final design. ENGINEERING: 10.A. A Discussion concerning a Proposed Study to Evaluate Alternatives for the Logan Ferry Bridge and Heather Highlands Bridge. Mr. Morrison stated that about 5 years ago there was a Traffic Feasibility Study Report to evaluate the intersection at Old William Penn Highway and Sardis Road and as part of that, some alternatives were evaluated as for other access points to that area. There is a major problem with several bridges in this community, in particular Logan Ferry and Heather Highlands. The bridges are required to be inspected annually and money is being put into them to maintain their structure. We need to find alternatives to replace those bridges. We need to look at the alternatives in the original proposed study, evaluate the placement of Logan Ferry, and if a bridge is put back in at Logan Ferry on where and how. vmp 4 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 The issues with Heather Highland also needs addressed. Mr. Dice noted that this would be for the study. Mr. Stepanovich asked if there were any time constraints on this. Mr. Morrison answered that he feels this should be done the sooner the better. If a decision is made on a bridge, it could take two years to get a bid. Logan Ferry Bridge could fail within those two years, so we need to be prepared. It is anticipated that the Municipal Engineer would do that study. Dr. Lee Korns asked if it was possible to construct the new one before we close the old one. Mr. Morrison answered, that was the plan. 10.B. A Discussion regarding award of a Contract for Inspection Services for the 2021 Overlay Program. Mr. Morrison stated that we are getting prepared for the Overlay Program. We only received one proposal this year and it is staff’s recommendation to hire Markosky for inspection services at $23,870.40. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ADMINISTRATION: 12.A. A Discussion concerning a proposed Conditional Use Application and Land Development Application for the Bollinger Interconnect, Titan Well, Olympus Energy, Bollinger Road. Mr. Morrison stated that this was a heads-up. Staff has reviewed permitting and design requirements for the upgrades to the roads, Silvis Road, Bollinger Road and Hilty, which were part of the Conditional Use approval. It is now at the point that they are requesting that the Highway Occupancy Permits be signed off on and the DEP permitting for some culvert work that has to be done on those roads. It is anticipated that this will begin either later this summer or fall. Last week a Land Use Application and a Conditional Use Application were received for development of the pad on Bollinger Road. They are proposing the pad development and an interconnect near the Titan Well on property that they own. They are also bringing a waterline and a proposed gathering line from Washington Township. The Planning Commission will probably see the plans next month. COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Consider approval of the Proposed Chen Tax Appeal Settlement, 3902 Ridgemont Court, Tax Parcel #49-10-13-0-143. Ms. Brockway made a motion to approve the proposed Chen tax appeal settlement, 3902 Ridgemont Court, Tx Parcel #49-10-13-0-143. Mr. McKenna seconded. Mr. Kotjarapoglus stated that the property has an assessed value of $74,000 right now which translates to a commercial value of $564,000 for residential. The home was originally built by a bachelor for himself in 1994. The property was recently purchased by Chen for $295,000 which would establish an assessed value of $38,350. Upon review of the property, it was proposed a market value of $328,244 be established. The resulting assessment would be $43,000. A copy of the proposed settlement and correspondence is included vmp 5 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in the support documents file. The proposed settlement would reduce the municipal taxes by approximately $375.00 per year. Staff recommends approval. Upon a roll call vote: Mr. Spadaro – yes, Mr. McKenna – yes, Mr. Stepanovich – yes, Ms. Brockway – yes, Mr. Kase – yes, Mr. Dice – yes, and Dr. Lee Korns – yes. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ENGINEERING: 15.A. Consider approval of a Contract for Inspection Services for the 2021 Overlay Program. Dr. Lee Korns made a motion to approve the contract to Markosky for inspection services of DPW-1-21 Overlay Project not to exceed $23,870.40. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. Upon a roll call vote: Mr. Spadaro – yes, Mr. McKenna – yes, Mr. Stepanovich – yes, Ms. Brockway – yes, Mr. Kase – yes, Mr. Dice – yes, and Dr. Lee Korns – yes. Motion approved. 15.B. Consider reducing the sequestered funds being held in insure completion of the required improvements at the Hillstone Village Development. Dr. Lee Korns made a motion to reduce the sequestered funds being held in insure completion of the required improvements at the Hillstone Village Development. Mr. Kase seconded. Mr. Morrison stated that the developer requested a reduction in the sequestered funds of $112,488.00. They have deposits on 25 of the 32 lots. Upon a roll call vote: Mr. Spadaro – yes, Mr. McKenna – yes, Mr. Stepanovich – yes, Ms. Brockway – yes, Mr. Kase – yes, Mr. Dice – yes, and Dr. Lee Korns – yes. Motion approved. PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None OLD BUSINESS: Commonwealth Court Hearing – Murrysville Watch Committee vs. Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board Mr. Morrison stated that there was an article in Sunday’s Trib regarding the Commonwealth Court Hearing for Murrysville Watch Committee vs. Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board. He talked with Bill Sittig the day after the hearing. The article covers very nicely the events that occurred during the hearing. The decision is expected in about 2-3 months. There is a similar case going up to the Supreme Court, which is the Penn Township case. The feeling is that the strategy of the attorney that represents both the group in Penn Township and Murrysville Watch is to try to get these consolidated at the Supreme Court level. Both are similar that they deal with the Overlay District. Just a note that Titan is proceeding at risk at this point while these work through. vmp 6 THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, May 19, 2021 NEW BUSINESS: None EXECUTIVE SESSION: Personnel Dr. Lee Korns made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session regarding a personnel matter with no action anticipated. Mr. Kase seconded. All those present voted aye. The meeting was adjourned to an Executive Session at 8:30 p.m. ACTION ITEMS: None ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. The Regular Voting Meeting was broadcast on local government Channel 19. A true copy of the Council meeting DVD is available for the public to purchase from the Municipality of Murrysville and is in the Murrysville Public Library for review. vmp 7