Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday September 6, 2023 The Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Dayne Dice, Jason Lemak, Jamie Lingg, Mac McKenna, Tony Spadaro, and Carl Stepanovich. Also, present were Chief Administrator, Michael Nestico, Director of Finance, Jacie Milchak, and Solicitor, Wes Long. Mayor Synan and Council member Jamie Lee Korns were absent. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Jason Lemak, Carl Stepanovich, Tony Spadaro, Jamie Lee Korns-absent, Mac McKenna, Dayne Dice, Jamie Lingg, and Mayor Synan-absent. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council President, Dayne Dice led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: 4.A. Approval of August 16, 2023, Council Meeting Minutes. Mr. McKenna made a motion to approve the August 16, 2023 Council Meeting Minutes. Mrs. Lingg seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Nestico presented the following slides and announcements for Mayor Synan: The Splash Pad at MCP will close the week of September 11th. Glass Recycling “Pop-Up” Collection Event will be Saturday, September 23rd at Veterans Field parking lot, 4200 Sardis Road, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Residents are encouraged to support the Loaves and Fishes Emergency Food Pantry by donating non-perishable food items during the same hours. Sponsored by the Municipality of Murrysville and Republic Services. Trick or Treat on the Trail. Sign up to be a vendor. We need businesses and organizations to join us on the Westmoreland Heritage Trail on Saturday, October 28th to provide treats to our trick-or-treaters. Register on the website or call 724-327-2100 x131. Bottle Fillers in the Parks! Bring your own bottle and use the new bottle fillers in Chambers, Pedora and Heritage Parks, plus one at the Leftwich pavilion at MCP. You will soon see one in Townsend Park and at Veterans Field. Drink water!! CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: None COMMUNITY INPUT: None LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Lemak: He missed the library meeting due to a business meeting. vmp -1- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday September 6, 2023 Mr. Stepanovich: The Planning Commission will meet next Tuesday. Mr. Spadaro: Medic One meets in two weeks. Mrs. Lingg: School Board and Committee of the Whole will meet on Monday, September 18th. Mr. McKenna: Parks and Recreation finished the Tuesdays at Townsend which was a big success. They will meet next week. Mr. Dice: FTMSA meets in two weeks. WORKSHOP ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 9.A. Discussion regarding Short Term Rental Ordinance Mr. Nestico stated that the definition of short-term rental was updated and will have to be readvertised and any decisions made this evening on the wording can be incorporated into the ordinance. Mrs. Lingg stated that she still has a problem with the 5+ acres in the draft ordinance and said that the ordinance should do away with restricting rentals to specific zoning districts. Rentals should be by permit and be enforced according to the requirements. Mr. Dice agreed and said that it makes more sense. He doesn’t want to impact the residents in making an extra income. Mr. McKenna also agreed. There are very few rentals in the community so there is no reason to put the R district with 5 acres plus in the ordinance. People should have a right to do what they want with their homes. He does agree that rentals should be by permit and there are consequences if the restrictions are not followed. Mr. Stepanovich stated that the gentleman that spoke at the last meeting had a list of about 20+ rentals and in essence, he is conducting a business in a residential area, which isn’t allowed. I think you open the door to people who are not as civic minded as he was. You have zoning for a particular reason. All you need is one incident to cause a major problem. He would rather that we not have short-term rentals in residential areas. Mr. Spadaro stated that he agrees with that. The ordinance will just escalate things until it gets out of control. One person complained and now we are changing the ordinance, changing the zoning, changing the rules – for what? All it’s going to do is draw attention for people to come to Murrysville and you may get some unwanted people here. We should have left it alone. That one guy had more rentals than the Holiday Inn and made a business out of it! It’s about strangers coming into town. Mrs. Lingg said that it is more important to have people in a home than to leave it vacant. Short-term rentals would have rules and consequences if they aren’t followed. Mr. Stepanovich stated that this has been unregulated for many, many years and there hasn’t been a problem. This wouldn’t have even been brought up if one person hadn’t complained. Why regulate it at all? vmp -2- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday September 6, 2023 Mrs. Lingg added that if long-term rentals need to be permitted, then short-term rentals should be permitted. It’s for the protection of the person that rents the house and for the police if they would have to go to a home, they would know exactly what to expect. Mr. Lemak commented that from the landlord point of view, he understands what they are trying to achieve in renting a place short-term. Profit would be much higher for a short-term rental. People are in and out so the landlord could use the property themselves in between. As a resident with children, he would not know who was next door renting for a weekend. That should be in the business district and in a hotel. He is for the regulation, but it belongs in the business district. John Fallat, 2502 Covington Court: Mr. Fallat wanted to clarify that the current ordinance doesn’t regulate short-term rentals. Long term is regulated. He feels you should side with the homeowner and their rights. You don’t want to bring strangers in, but when someone sells their homes, you don’t know them either. It can get messy if it gets out of control, but it doesn’t sound like it’s out of control. Mr. Fallat asked what the options were right now. Mr. Dice answered that everyone agrees that there does need to be permitting and regulations for safety purposes. To regulate via zoning is what the split is right now. Mr. Fallat said that he feels that we shouldn’t make too big of an issue of something that isn’t an issue. Tony McGartland, 2511 Covington Court: Mr. McGartland feels that the ordinance for something that hasn’t occurred – what are you doing? There are a lot of other things that you can be doing. You get so many ordinances; you will have to hire an additional ordinance officer. If there was a problem, he would be for doing something. Be careful. If we have a problem, we address it. If we don’t have a problem, let’s not address it because you are just creating bureaucracy and we don’t need that. Jeannette Pavlik, 4200 Colonial Drive: Ms. Pavlick stated that her friend is right next door to a rental facility. The women is in a nursing home and her son runs it to get income for his mother. Her friend said it has been fine. People have stayed for three months (three men who were working on some powerlines). Where would they go – they would have to travel a distance. Or how about a nanny. They are not going to stay in elaborate houses. They are going to go to a smaller home where they can cook their own food and stay for a little while. You don’t get that going to a hotel. Her friend said it is silly to have strong regulations. A permit is common sense, but you don’t need the 5 acres. People should be free to use their home as they wish – within the law of course. Mr. Dice noted that the comments seem to be divided. This needs to be revisited when all of the council members are present and before a vote on advertising would take place. ENGINEERING: None COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Approve the proposed 2024-2028 Capital Improvements Program. vmp -3- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday September 6, 2023 Mr. Lemak made a motion to approve the proposed 2024-2028 Capital Improvements Program. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. Ms. Milchak noted that nothing has changed since the August meeting. This would be a foundation for the budget that will come through in November for 2024. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.B. Authorize professional services agreement with Environmental Planning and Design, LLC for zoning ordinance review and policy evaluation. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to authorize professional services agreement with Environmental Planning and Design, LLC for zoning ordinance review and policy evaluation. Mr. Spadaro seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this is for the municipality to contract with EP&D, Environmental Planning & Design, to do some work on our zoning ordinances and policy evaluation. Some of the districts in the community need looked at more closely and identify whether it is the proper use for those parcels and whether changes are needed to improve the use of those locations. Mr. Dice noted that this does need to happen to update the zoning map and zoning ordinances. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: 14.A. Adopt Ordinance No. 1076-23, an ordinance adding Chapter 219 to the Code of the Municipality of Murrysville to regulate short term rental units within the municipality and establish penalties for violations. ENGINEERING: 15.A. Adopt Ordinance No. 1078-23, an ordinance accepting streets located in the Barrington Heights plan situated in the Municipality of Murrysville, County of Westmoreland and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the public highway system of the same. Mr. McKenna made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 1078-23, an ordinance accepting streets located in the Barrington Heights plan situated in the Municipality of Murrysville, County of Westmoreland, and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the public highway system of the same. Mrs. Lingg seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this item was advertised and is ready for adoption. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 15.B. Advertise Ordinance No. 1079-23, an ordinance accepting streets located in the Villa Ciano Plan situated in the Municipality of Murrysville, County of Westmoreland, and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the public highway system of the same. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to advertise Ordinance No. 1079-23, an ordinance accepting streets located in the Villa Ciano Plan situated in the Municipality of Murrysville, County of Westmoreland, and vmp -4- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday September 6, 2023 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the public highway system of the same. Mr. McKenna seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: None EXECUTIVE SESSION: None ACTION ITEMS: None ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Spadaro seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. The Regular Voting Meeting was broadcast on local government Channel 21. 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-