Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday March 2, 2022 Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Dayne Dice, Jamie Lee Korns, Jason Lemak, Jamie Lingg, Mac McKenna, Tony Spadaro, and Carl Stepanovich. Also, present were Chief Administrator, James Morrison, and Director of Public Works, Bill Paiano. Mayor Synan was absent. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Carl Stepanovich, Dayne Dice, Jamie Lee Korns, Tony Spadaro, Mac McKenna, Jamie Lingg, Jason Lemak, and Mayor Synan - absent. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mr. Dice led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: None CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: A. Approval of February 16, 2022, Council Meeting Minutes. Dr. Lee Korns made a motion to approve the Consent Calendar Items. Mr. McKenna seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Morrison presented comments for Mayor Synan. Egg My Yard: The Murrysville Recreation Department wants to egg your yard for an at-home Easter egg hunt. Staff and volunteers will visit your home to hide candy-stuffed eggs in your yard (select eggs will reveal prizes to be redeemed at local merchants). This event is open to those who live within the Franklin Regional School District. Registration is open Monday, February 21 through Thursday, March 31. You will be provided with a date and estimated time of the “egging” once registered. Easter Drive -Thru: The Easter Bunny will be hopping through Murrysville on Wednesday, April 13 with the Murrysville Recreation Department and the Murrysville Community Library at the Easter Drive-Thru from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Say hello to the Easter Bunny and Yellow Chick and pick up a free treat bag. This event is free and open to the community. Murrysville Community Library will be celebrating its Centennial anniversary on Friday, March 11th with an all-day open house. Come take a trip down memory lane, learn about the history of the library and get a cupcake. Murrysville Clean-up Week at Pleasant Valley Landfill will be April 25 through April 29 from 6:00 am – 3:00 pm and Saturday, April 30 from 7:00 am to 11:00 am. Permit passes for residents will be available through April 29 at the reception desk, 4100 Sardis Road, Murrysville. The first Glass Recycling “Pop-Up” Collection Event of the year will be Saturday, March 19th at Veterans Field parking lot from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Residents are also encouraged to support the Loaves and Fishes Emergency Food Pantry by donating non-perishable food items. vmp -1- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday March 2, 2022 CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Morrison stated that he notified Council that the Murrysville Watch Group has appealed the Titan Well approval to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The second round of interviews for the Chief Administrator position is scheduled for the week of March 7th. Staff met with Senator Casey’s office last week to discuss grant opportunities for bridge replacements and will continue to follow up with them. We would like to welcome Robert Depew as our newest Public Works employee. He will be replacing retired Public Works employee Edward Korchok. Several Council members and himself attended a tour of the Titan Well on Friday, which was quite impressive. There will be another tour coming up within the next 2-3 months when they begin to frack the well. COMMUNITY INPUT: None LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Lemak: All of the Library programs and information is available on their website at www.murrysvillelibrary.org. Children’s programs include: Toddler Time designed for children 24-36 months; registration is required. Preschool Storytime for children ages 3-5 years old, which also requires registration. Dog Reading Pals is the second Friday of each month from 4-5 p.m. in 15-minute slots. Pokemon League is March 15th from 6-7 p.m. Bring your cards to play and trade. All ages and abilities are welcome. Dungeons and Dragons for Middle Schoolers will meet March 5th and 19th from 2-5 p.m. Adult Programs include: Be Smart, an educational program about safe gun storage, will be Monday, March 14th from 6:30-7:30 pm. Free gun locks will be available. Registration is required. Aging with Grace is Monday, March 21st from 2:00-3:00 p.m. This is a virtual event. The 100th Anniversary is Friday, March 11th, which is an all-day event. Hope to see you there. Mr. Stepanovich: The Parks Foundation meets on March 22nd. Planning Commission meets next Tuesday. Mr. Spadaro: Medic One met this past week. They had 1,217 trips, 339 wheelchair transports, 200 Washington Township calls and 30 calls for motorcycles. They had been out of rubber gloves and finally got a shipment in from the PPE. Payments have been slow from UPMC. Medic One wants to start a program with Franklin Regional School, as they do with Penn-Trafford, to go to the schools or have the children come visit and show them what Medic One does and how they do things. Dr. Lee Korns: No update from the Pension Committee. Mrs. Lingg: The next School Board meeting is Monday. Mr. McKenna: Parks and Recreation meets next Tuesday. Mr. McKenna wanted to thank Public Works for starting to get the parks ready for summer. He also wanted to thank the Murrysville Police Department for the active shooter training and Medic One for the CPR training for the municipal staff. vmp -2- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday March 2, 2022 Mr. Dice: FTMSA did meet in February. Piper Sandler gave them an update regarding their debt and debt service payments. Right now, all is well, and it doesn’t make sense to refinance. FTMSA is seeking millions of dollars in grants because the State, through the Casino tax, has a pool of money for these type of sewer projects that people are not applying for. WORKSHOP ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: None ENGINEERING: None COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Consider authorization to advertise Ordinance #1057-22, an ordinance amending Ordinance #1009- 19, an ordinance authorizing participation in an intergovernmental police mutual aid agreement for the purpose of responding to police emergencies in authorized jurisdictions. The proposed ordinance would add the City of Greensburg to list of participating jurisdictions. Mr. McKenna made a motion to consider authorization to advertise Ordinance #1057-22, an ordinance amending Ordinance #1009-19, an ordinance authorizing participation in an intergovernmental police mutual aid agreement for the purpose of responding to police emergencies in authorized jurisdictions. The proposed ordinance would add the City of Greensburg to the list of participating jurisdictions. Mr. Lemak seconded. Mr. Morrison stated that, in 2019, Murrysville participated in an intergovernmental police cooperation agreement with the City of New Kensington, the City of Lower Burrell, Washington Township, Allegheny Township and Vandergrift for a unit known as the Westmoreland SWAT Team. The City of Greensburg has asked to join. This ordinance amends the number of participants authorized in the intergovernmental cooperative agreement and also expands training from one eight-hour day per month to two eight-hour days per month as recommended by the board of the SWAT Team. Dr. Lee Korns asked about the impact on the budget. Mr. Morrison stated that there are four officers that train, which would be 32-hours per month. Approximately $2,500. Mr. McKenna asked if the responses to incidents in those areas are just for those trained officers only. Mr. Morrison answered yes and that it is only in those municipalities in the agreement. Those outside the areas would be for the State Police. Mr. Dice noted that we are all proud to be a party of the Westmoreland SWAT Team and thank you to the officers who participate in that. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. vmp -3- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday March 2, 2022 13.B. Consider approval of recommendation(s) for the expenditure of funds provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury known as the American Rescue Funds. Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to consider approval of recommendation(s) for the expenditure of funds provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury known as the American Rescue Funds. Dr. Lee Korns seconded. Mr. Morrison stated that, as reported in a previous meeting, the Municipality is in receipt of $250 million. The final guidelines concerning the expenditure of the American Rescue Funds have been published. The notable change was in the way the determination of revenue loss was calculated. The new rule permits a standard allowance of up to $10 million in the least restrictive category. It was staff’s recommendation that those funds be used to reimburse police service costs from March 3, 2021. Those funds will then become General Fund money once reimbursed. Staff provided a list of proposed projects to add to the Capital Projects Program. Mr. Morrison stated that, as a side note, staff is in the process of putting a road program together for 2022 with every indication that prices are going to be at least 25-30% more expensive than last year. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ENGINEERING: 15.A. Consider entering into a “permission and damage agreement” with property owners James and Sandra Esperseth and Ronald and Mariann McHenry, being the property owners of parcels 49-04-00-0-024 and 49-04-00-0-034, respectively to complete an investigation of a landslide on Saddle Pack Road. Dr. Lee Korns made a motion to enter into a “permission and damage agreement” with property owners James and Sandra Esperseth and Ronald and Mariann McHenry, being the property owners of parcels 49- 04-00-0-024 and 49-04-00-0-034, respectively to complete an investigation of a landslide on Saddle Pack Road. Mrs. Lingg seconded. Mr. Morrison stated that there is a significant slide on Saddle Pack Trail. In order to access the slide area with a boring machine, we have to pass over these two property owners’ land. This is a standard agreement which obligates us to reclaim any damages to those properties. The properties are located off of Route 286 heading west. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: 16.A. Consider awarding a contract for mowing and trimming at various municipal properties to Dojonovich Landscaping. vmp -4- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday March 2, 2022 Mr. McKenna made a motion to consider awarding a contract for mowing and trimming at various municipal properties to Dojonovich Landscaping. Mrs. Lingg seconded. Mr. Paiano stated that there was a bid opening on February 16th with three responsible bidders. Dojonovic Landscaping was the low bidder. Dojonovic had the last contract with no complaints. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: None EXECUTIVE SESSION: None ACTION ITEMS: None ADJOURNMENT: Dr. Lee Korns moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Spadaro seconded. All those present voted aye. The meeting was adjourned at 7:23 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 -5-