Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Dayne Dice, Eli Diacopoulos, Jason Lemak, Jamie Lingg, Carl Stepanovich, and Mayor Synan. Also, present were Chief Administrator, Michael Nestico, and Solicitor, Wes Long. Council members Mac McKenna and Matthew Olszewski were absent. PUBLIC HEARING A PUBLIC HEARING ON CONDITIONAL USE CU-1-24, CASTIGLIONE, LLC, MAJOR EXCAVATION AND STEEP SLOPE DISTURBANCE, APPROXIMATELY 48,000 CUBIC YARDS, WIESTERTOWN ROAD AND HILTY ROAD, 54.57 ACRES, TAX PARCELS 49-12- 00-0-051 AND 49-08-00-0-012, R-R ZONING. A Public Hearing was held at 7:00 p.m. on Conditional Use CU-1-24, Castiglione, LLC, Major Excavation and Steep Slope Disturbance. A stenographer was present to record the hearing. Mr. Nestico gave a brief background. This is a proposed development for 24 single family lots consisting of a minimum of 1.5 acres in an R-R District. It is a Conditional Use approval for excavation and grading of steep slopes. The Planning Commission reviewed and made a recommendation to Council. Bryan Metzler, with T3 Global Strategies, is the engineering firm speaking on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Metzler gave a power point presentation and stated that this is a 24-lot plan, and it consists of public road and utility infrastructure; because of the 48,000 cubic yards of grading and steep slopes, we are here tonight for the conditional use hearing. Mr. Metzler advised that these will be 1.5 acre lots. All roadways and public infrastructure will be constructed in one phase at the beginning of the project. Individual lots will be sold to private homeowners/custom builders. Lot grading will occur on a lot-by-lot basis as detailed home plans are defined. They will have homeowner’s association requirements on what can be built to maintain the quality of the neighborhood. Mr. Metzler stated that the vision for these homes is 1.5 acre minimum, with estimated cost of the homes being $2 million. They are working with the DEP on conservation concerns. One of their goals is to respect the land with as many trees as possible. Another goal is to have all the homes with their rear yards towards open space or a wooded backdrop. They have prepared a steep slope analysis and geotechnical investigations of the soil type. As far as utilities, the developer has preliminary approval for water with MAWC. They have requested the ability for electric and gas and have everything they need for public utilities. They have had several public meetings and concerns were taken and addressed. The client definitely wants to work with and be a part of the community as much as they can. Well water was one of the big concerns of the neighbors. That was reviewed in the Geotech report, and they saw limited risk. If the adjacent neighbors would like to connect to their public water system, they could. An easement would be made available for them to use for the connection. The tie-in would be their obligation. Noise and traffic were brought up. They did follow the land development ordinance and completed the proper acoustic statements and received no outstanding comments from the engineer. A traffic statement was prepared by David Wooster & Associates and has been included in their submittals. There is one gas well currently on the property owned by Diversified Energy. The intention is to cap the well and remove it properly. The development will absorb the cost of making that happen. Placement of the main entrance was a concern of vmp -1- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 one of the residents. It was analyzed and recommended by Wooster on where to place the entrance as far as site distance. Going through a joint permit, they had to prove that they are minimizing their impacts. So, they moved it out of all the buffers and stream locations. Mr. Stepanovich asked if there were going to be any grinder pumps. Mr. Metzler answered that there is one lot that the basement of the lot sits lower than where they can get gravity sewer. So they would pump from their basement to the front yard to gravity, but there will be no pumps that are publicly maintained and none that cross any property lines. Mrs. Lingg asked if the entrance was changed from the original plan. Mr. Metzler stated that it has changed over the years, but since the submission, it has not changed since the last public hearing. Solicitor Long stated that in his review of the plans, the sanitary sewer easement will have to go across a portion of MCP which will bring into play the donated and dedicated property act. We will need to obtain Orphans Court approval for the grant of that easement. Hearing no further comments from Council, Mr. Dice asked for comments from the audience. Michael Tometsko, 4250 Wiestertown Road: Mr. Tometsko stated that he objects to this conditional use. His biggest concern is the quality of this well water which sits below Wiestertown Road. His property is directly across from the proposed development. He feels his property will be greatly affected as he is downslope from this development. He has high quality well water and he feels this development will affect his water. What does he need to do to monitor that? Is he financially responsible for the monitoring when he is not the one impacting the quality of it? In terms of Steele’s Run, which goes through this property, which is a high- quality, cold-water stream, it is a tributary of Turtle Creek and anything over there will adversely affect the quality of that water. In terms of traffic, with 24 lots being proposed, that will bring 37,000 extra cars by his house if everyone has two cars and makes a trip to and from their house. People speed on that road. 60mph is not uncommon. A traffic study wasn’t even done for this - just a review. He has a very peaceful environment that will be ruined. There is half a mile of frontage on Wiestertown and frontage on Hilty that could serve as entrance into the plan. Why does the entrance have to be so close to his front porch? Those are his concerns and hopes that Council can give him some advice and direction. Mr. Dice noted that this isn’t for approval or denial tonight. Solicitor Long stated that the applicant indicated that in regard to water supply, the developer is going to afford tie-ins to any affected property owners who would be adversely affected in some fashion. That would be up to the property owner. Testing is a private property matter. Everything in the supporting documents has been addressed by staff. Hearing no other comments, Mr. Dice closed the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. with all those present voting aye. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Matthew Olszewski-absent, Dayne Dice, Mac McKenna-absent, Carl Stepanovich, Jason Lemak, Eli Diacopoulos, Jamie Lingg, and Mayor Synan. vmp -2- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council President, Dayne Dice led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: None CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: A. Approval of April 16, 2024 Council Meeting Minutes B. Accounts Payable C. Cash Investments and Transfers Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to approve the Consent Calendar Items. Mrs. Lingg seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Synan presented the following slide announcements. EMS Week is May 19-26 which marks the 50th anniversary of EMS Week and honors all EMS providers. Our Murrysville Medic One serves the communities of Murrysville, Export, Washington Township, and Upper Burrell Township. Our crews are highly trained and dedicated to serving these communities 24/7, 365 days a year. The Mayor would like to take this time to thank them for their service to this community. We have one of the top EMS providers in the State of Pennsylvania. Mobile Shredding Event will be Thursday, May 23rd from 4-6 p.m. at Representative Jill Cooper’s Washington Township/Export Office located at the Donal Plaza, 105 Pfeffer Road, Suite 5 in Export. This free event is specifically for personal documents and not commercial use. There is a limit of two bags or boxes. Books, magazines and metal binding materials cannot be shredded. They have partnered with the Westmoreland Food Bank to merge this event with a food drive to help local families. Optional donations must be non-perishable and in non-glass containers. For more information call 724-387-9113. Glass Recycling “Pop-Up” Collection Event will be Saturday, June 15th at Veterans Field parking lot, 4200 Sardis Road, from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Residents are also encouraged to support the Loaves and Fishes Emergency Food Pantry by donating non-perishable food items. This is sponsored by the Municipality and Republic Services. The Splash Pad at MCP will open May 25th. May 27th is Memorial Day. This year the White Valley Amvets, Delmont American Legion, and Murrysville American Legion sponsor ceremonies in the community. The itinerary is as follows: 8:00 a.m. -The Export Honor roll; 8:30 a.m. – The Murrysville Cemetery; 9:00 a.m. – Hill’s Church Cemetery; 9:30 a.m. – White Valley Cemetery; 10:00 a.m. – Twin Valley Cemetery; 10:45 a.m. – Parade through Export; 11:30 p.m. – Grandview Cemetery; 12:15 p.m. – The Honor Roll at the White Valley AMVETS Post. This year the parade route will be from the Export Firemen’s Social Hall down Old William Penn Highway to the Export Moose. CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Nestico made the following announcements: School Road will have a closure near the intersection with Sardis Road beginning June 3rd and likely not reopening until mid to late August. PennDOT is conducting the bridge replacement there. vmp -3- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 The Public Works Department has completed the tennis court rehabilitation project at Bear Hollow Park. It looks really nice and a lot of folks are out using it already. The tennis court in Kovalczik Park will also be redone as well. This will be put on hold till August as a lot of the road projects have begun. They did start the resurfacing. The court has a black topping on it. As a community reminder, we do have a lot of issues going on right now with solicitation in the community. Last year we developed the Do Not Knock list. We Encourage folks who do not want people knocking on their door to register for that list on our website. People that are campaigning for political or nonprofit groups are permitted to go door-to-door. We do have issues from time to time of folks who are soliciting who shouldn’t be. You can report them and that way we can confirm if they have a permit or not. COMMUNITY INPUT: Ronald Wolfe, 3644 Forbes Trail Drive: Mr. Wolfe stated that he is back again about the sewage issue. FTMSA has been placing flowmeters in manholes. He talked to the DEP last week. They placed the flowmeter for this sewer line at the head of the line instead of down in his yard where it overflows routinely. It just overflowed again at the beginning of the month. He is getting sick of it. He would like to see someone do something about that line out there. Get someone on the board that is going to do something. Mr. Dice stated that he will follow up with FTMSA. Jeff Silvis, 4087 Golden Mile Highway: Mr. Silvis stated that he is frustrated with the issue of the intersection in front of his house at 380/286 where they are putting in a traffic light. In January, a representative from Olympus Oil contacted him and said he knows this is really short notice, but Murrysville is going to put a new intersection there, and like it or not, it is going to happen. Mr. Silvis stated that he retained a lawyer. They want part of his driveway and part of his property to do this intersection. The representative told him that they should take their deal, because they would give him a better deal than Murrysville. That Murrysville is forcing the oil company to change part of the intersection to use them as a “cash cow” - This was his words. Mr. Silvis stated that his dad built that house in 1958 and his mom, who is 95 years old, lives there. He is representing his mom. He and his lawyer would like to know what kind of light is going to be going in there. Mr. Dice asked Mr. Nestico and Solicitor Long if we are aware of anything we are doing with Olympus Oil whereby we are saying we demand you put in a light? The last time this was discussed with staff, we, as a municipality, are not involved in this and we don’t want to be involved with this. We don’t want either party saying we put pressure on anybody. Mr. Nestico explained that this is relating to the gas well project through Olympus that is nearby. The traffic light installation is part of that project. Olympus will be putting in the light which the municipality would then own and maintain thereafter. Olympus got PennDOT approval to put up a temporary signal. The difficulty they encountered is that the driveway Mr. Silvis mentioned is being impacted by this traffic signal installation. Because of the slope, they would have to acquire more property going into his property. The proposed signal is for a continuous “T” where traffic continues to flow on the outside lanes, but the inside lanes are turning. In order for Olympus to get approval, they would have to work with the various property owners impacted. Solicitor Long also said that this is between Olympus Energy and the property owners. Mr. Nestico noted that PennDOT is a big component of this because it is a state road. Mr. Dice stated that he should talk to his attorney because this is your private property and PennDOT and Olympus need to negotiate with you. Mr. Nestico stated that he vmp -4- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 would get Mr. Silvis’ contact information and then facilitate communication between Olympus or PennDOT for his attorney to reach out to them. LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Lemak: He missed the Library meeting last week because of a business meeting Mr. Stepanovich: Murrysville Parks and Recreation Foundation had a meeting and members attended a health fair. Officer nominations for the Foundation will be after additional board seats are filled. The bylaws will be revised to allow additional board members. D.J. Capazuto has been approved and will be notified that he will be a member of the board. Medic One had a short meeting this past Thursday. Billing issues are continuing and Medic One has given notice that there will be a new billing company. Subscriptions are coming in. Mrs. Lingg: She has two Planning Commission meeting to report on. The first one was April 30th. The CU-1- 24, Castiglione, LLC, Major Excavation and Steep Slope Disturbance, was recommended for approval and forwarded to Council. S-10-23, Subdivision Application and SP-7-23 the Major Development Application by Castiglione were both recommended for approval and forwarded to Council subject to 14 recommendations outlined in the staff briefing. Discussion concerning the study of the zoning requirements of the general business overlay district was held. The map is being revised and the overlay redrafted with definitions being separated for ease of understanding. This will be presented at the June meeting. The meeting on May 14th was a short meeting with one item. Summerhill Phase II. SP-5-23 was discussed. There were several residents of the current development, Phase I, present with concerns. This item will be brought back when some legal questions are cleared up. Mr. Diacopoulos: The Pension Committee met on Thursday, May 9th. They reviewed the overall market performance of the pension fund. For the first quarter there was a very strong overall market performance. April gave back some of those gains and May took back some of those gains again. Q-1 had 4% growth. The pension fund is sitting at $30.5 million as a result of that growth. There were two actions in the meeting: 1) Chris Brokaw took an action to create a portfolio watch list to present at the next meeting in August. This is to have a target watch list should the committee decide to transition from one low performing fund to one that is projected to have higher performance; 2) Jacie Milchak will review the pension committee bylaws of the number of community volunteers that can be on the committee. This action results from a discussion in the meeting about having a succession plan for the long-time committee members Larry Schultz and Mark Miller. No specific timelines were discussed. WORKSHOP ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 9.A. Discussion regarding Old William Penn bridge repair detour route. vmp -5- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Mr. Nestico stated that this is the bridge repair project that is on Old William Penn Highway near Griff’s Ice Cream. This is the bridge where the load rating has been reduced in recent months and a repair is necessary. He would like feedback from Council regarding the proposed detour and approval of which timeline we want to commit to. The detour route proposed by Gibson-Thomas Engineering would be a 2.4 mile long detour from Cline Hollow Road to Hills Church Road. The repair would be a carbon fiber replacement. Gibson-Thomas said that instead of doing that, they want to replace the deck of the bridge with concrete. That will help keep the water off the beams and increase the load rating and also avoid the permitting process of doing the carbon fiber replacement. With the new alternative, the project would take 45 days to complete if they did a full closure of the bridge in both directions and implement the detour. The alternative to that would be to do a one lane closure which would double the project length to 9 days (3 months). The one lane closure would increase costs because of having to put a temporary signal in place. The project would probably start in mid to late August. Mr. Nestico recommended doing the full closure and get the project done and completed. This would also limit costs. Once the project is completed it will allow us to get the bridge load rating back up to where it was at a 16-ton load rating. After a brief discussion by Council, that either way it is going to be an inconvenience, it would be better to just fully close it and get it done and over. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Advertise Ordinance No. 1086-24, amending Salary Ordinance No. 1081-23, establishing the compensation and salary ranges of the employees of the Municipality of Murrysville for fiscal year 2024. Mr. Lemak made a motion to advertise Ordinance No. 1086-24, amending Salary Ordinance No. 1081-23, establishing the compensation and salary ranges of the employees of the Municipality of Murrysville for fiscal year 2024. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that staff is asking to amend the salary ordinance for three reasons: 1) The salary ordinance need to be updated to reflect the most recent Police Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the rates of pay; 2) The Finance Department is looking for another fiscal assistant. This was a position that was previously filled in the Municipality but has gone for a period of time without a second fiscal assistant. Due to the volume of workload, filling that positon would be a benefit to the Finance Department. The current fiscal assistant is nearing retirement eligibility and we wanted to make sure that we have a succession plan in place for someone familiar with the system for accounts payable/receivable and payroll; 3) A facilities worker position, which the current salary ordinance as adopted does not account for that position. Much of that work has been performed by an outside contractor for cleaning and maintenance vmp -6- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 services. We are examining the costs of that and think that it is best to handle that internally. That position was previously held in the Municipality but went they went to an outside contractor to do cleaning and maintenance, we got rid of the internal employee. It’s looking like the cost increases year after year, so it would be more prudent to bring that back in-house. The salary ordinance amendment would account for those three changes. The salary ranges will remain the same. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.B. Accept the resignation of Gregory Hammill from the Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board, said term to expire December 31, 2028. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to accept the resignation of Gregory Hammill from the Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board, said term to expire December 31, 2028. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.C. Accept the resignation of Scott Kelsey from the Parks and Recreation Commission, said term to expire December 31, 2024. Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to accept the resignation of Scott Kelsey from the Parks and Recreation Commission, said term to expire December 31, 2024. Mrs. Lingg seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.D. Advertise Ordinance No. 1087-24, vacating an unopened or abandoned portion of Carolina Street. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to advertise Ordinance No. 1087-24, vacating an unopened or abandoned portion of Carolina Street. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this portion of Carolina Street is located in the White Valley area next to Wilson Road. It appears to be a roadway that has never been opened by the Municipality. We are looking to vacate that portion of the street. The adjacent property owners may have an interest in obtaining title to the property. The first step would be for Council to approve an ordinance vacating the roadway. Mr. Nestico showed a map of where the roadway is located. Mrs. Lingg asked who would be responsible for maintaining the property once we would vacate it. Mr. Nestico answered that once the property is vacated, the Municipality no longer has responsibility over it. We don’t maintain it now. This would then become a private matter that an individual property owner or multiple property owners could engage in that would not involve the Municipality. It would be them going to the courts and requesting title to the property. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. vmp -7- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 13.E. Advertise Ordinance No. 1088-24, vacating an unopened or abandoned portion of Carson Avenue. Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to advertise Ordinance No. 1088-24, vacating an unopened or abandoned portion of Carson Avenue. Mr. Lemak seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that Carson Avenue is located near the Community Center. Mr. Nestico showed a picture of where the street is located. Some folks are using it for parking, but it is blocked off from access to Route 22. Once vacated, the private property owners in that area can go to the courts and secure title to the property. There is a 20-foot alley way near there which may be included in this vacation. Solicitor Long stated that it is an unopened alley near Reed Boulevard. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ENGINEERING: None 15.A. Authorize advertisement for DPW-4-24, Crack Sealing Project. Mr. Diacopoulos made a motion to authorize advertisement for DPW-4-24, Crack Sealing Project. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this was a project included in the 2024 CIP with the approved budget amount of $30,000. The roads scheduled for this year’s crack sealing program include Old William Penn Highway between Cline Hollow and Export. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 15.B. Award the contract for inspection services for the 2024 Overlay Project. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to award the contract for inspection services for the 2024 Overlay Project. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this is for the inspection services for the 2024 Overlay Project. The lone RFP we received was from Gibson-Thomas Engineering in the amount of $32,237.00. The inspection services for the Overlay was budgeted in the General Fund Budget in the amount of $40,000.00 All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 15.C. Award the contract for DPW-1-24, 2024 Overlay Project. Mr. Lemak made a motion to Award the contract for DPW-1-24, 2024 Overlay Project. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. vmp -8- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Mr. Nestico stated that the Overlay Project was not to exceed $1.5 million. There were five bids received. The lowest bid was from Tresco Paving at $1,507,905.40. The bid is within 2.1% of the Engineer’s estimate of $1,540,611.69. Staff recommend awarding the contract to Tresco Paving. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Nestico noted that the air handlers for the new heating/air conditioning system are due to be received by the Municipality within the next two weeks and installation will take place thereafter. Hopefully they will be repaired by the next meeting. EXECUTIVE SESSION: ACTION ITEMS: None ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Lemak seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. The Regular Voting Meeting and Public Hearing were 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 -9-