Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Eli Diacopoulos, Jason Lemak, Jamie Lingg, Mac McKenna, Matthew Olszewski, Carl Stepanovich, and Mayor Synan. Also, present were Chief Administrator, Michael Nestico, and Solicitor, Wes Long. Council President, Dayne Dice was absent. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council Vice President, Mac McKenna led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Mac McKenna, Matthew Olszewski, Jason Lemak, Carl Stepanovich, Eli Diacopoulos, Dayne Dice - absent, Jamie Lingg, and Mayor Synan. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: None CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: A. Approval of October 2, 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 announcements. Curbside Leaf Collection Program will be on the following Saturdays: October 19th, November 9th, November 16th, and December 7th. You must schedule a pick-up by completing the Curbside Leaf Collection Program Form on the website. There is a 20-bag limit. The deadline to sign up is the Thursday before the pick-up date. The Old William Penn Highway Bridge Closure will be closed until around Thanksgiving. The posted detour will follow the route of Cline Hollow Road and Hills Church Road. If you require additional information or have questions, please contact the Engineering Department at 724-327-2100 ext. 114. Murrysville Trick or Treat is Thursday, October 31st from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Please drive carefully and watch out for the kids crossing the roads. CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Nestico stated that the paving project is complete. The PennDOT paving project on School Road is also wrapping up. They just have some line painting to do there. vmp -1- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 COMMUNITY INPUT: Ron Wolfe, 3644 Forbes Trail Drive: Forbes Trail Road is starting to become a Route 22. The police department did put up signs to warn against speeding, but people come down Trouthaven and run the stop sign all day long and are going 40-45mph. Can there be speed bumps put on Forbes Trail Drive or a stop sign be put at the bottom of that hill? Stop signs are not designed to be speed control devices according to PennDOT standards. As far as speed bumps go, the big difficulty is for plow trucks and winter maintenance. Mr. Wolfe asked if the bridge on Old William Penn is just a temporary fix. Mr. Nestico answered yes that we don’t have funding in place to do a full repair. Mr. Wolfe asked why FTMSA can’t be made to have their meeting here in Council Chambers and have them televised. Mayor Synan answered that the sewer authority is a separate entity. They decide where they have their meetings. We have no authority over that. Danny Westfell, 3001 Hillcrest Lane: Mr. Westfell stated that he is just 2 minutes away from Duff Park. He visits that park about 3 to 5 times a week and its proximity was a key factor when he purchased his home. He is here to talk about the subsurface leasing that is happening with drilling underneath the park. Council can take the easy route on the subsurface leases by just moving along and accepting the possible risks. Or you can choose the rights to protect our community, even though you’ve agreed to the subsurface leases, by rescinding them. Protect our parks and uphold the rights of our community members. Robert Alman, 4109 Devonwood Court: Mr. Alman stated that he lives in the same neighborhood as Mr. Wolfe and wanted to reinforce what he had said about Forbes Trial Drive and Trouthaven intersection. Speed bumps could have a calming effect. He and his wife are here this evening to advocate for the rescinding of the fracking leases. This industrial activity poses numerous environmental risks to the parks and to the residents living in those areas. Ownership of mineral rights for the parcels listed in the petition will cause the taxpayers of Murrysville to foot the bill if legal action is taken by the actual rights holders. We strongly encourage Council to rescind these leases to avoid any legal liability. Paul Metzler, 6962 Berkshire Drive: Mr. Metzler stated that it has been two years since he first brought a petition representing over 200 people in Manordale Farms regarding the noise on the highway. He is looking for Council’s support. PennDOT did put up signs for the jake brakes but put one down by the church rather than where it is needed by Berkshire Drive. There has been no enforcement of those signs by the police, who stated that there is no way of them enforcing it because of safety concerns. Trucks are using the jake brakes because they are going in excess of 50 mph. If police can’t enforce the jake brake law, start ticketing these guys for speeding. Another concern is noise. Mr. McKenna stated that he did contact Olympus Energy in their transportation department, as he did last year, so they can send a memo to their drivers. A lot of their drivers are contracted though. They have been very cooperative. Mr. Metzler stated that every time the fees on the turnpike are raised, traffic increases and it’s getting worse. Mr. Nestico stated that we have talked to Jill Cooper’s office, Senator Ward’s office and part of the issue is that it’s not our roadway. It is a state highway. This issue has been going on for over 20 years. There is more traffic on that highway, but there is only so much in our control. Police do patrol that area and pull people over and ticket them. The feedback from PennDOT is that they are not going to change the paving from concrete to asphalt and they are not going to put in a sound wall. Mr. Metzler suggested that Council pressure PennDOT enough so they will change their mind and looking into federal funding for noise pollution. Stephen Parker, 4100 Manor Oaks Court: He believes that Council has put an environmental time bomb under Duff Park in December in a sense of exposure to legal problems with several of the leases for the gas vmp -2- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 rights. The decision to sell those leases in December violated Section C-90 of the Code that talks about getting an Environmental Impact Statement before these decisions are made. Also under Code 3-45, Council was obligated to seek advisement from the Environmental Advisory Council. If they did so, the results of that consultation should have been made public to Murrysville. If not, then Council should explain why. As far as liability, you are aware of the three leases whose ownership in Murrysville is questionable. The parcels for the record are Duff Park 49-14-00-0-138, Kovalczik Park 49-21-03-0-101, and Duff Park 49- 14-00-0-071. Why is Council in such a rush to serve the interests of Olympus Energy? There is no justification for the decision. His hope is that Council will reconsider this reckless decision. Tom Pike, Representing Protect PT: Mr. Pike stated that there were 330 signatures to the citizen’s petition who are Murrysville residents, and he is here to speak on their behalf. The parcels leased by Murrysville to Apex or Olympus for fracking contain possible conflicts that may risk exposing the Municipality to liability. The Duff Park parcel: Olympus did not bid on this parcel so its gas rights cannot have been sold to Olympus. The parcel in Kovalczik Park: an 1899 deed grants the mineral rights to a third party. It does not appear that the Kovalcziks ever owned these rights. Another parcel in Duff Park sold to HG and Isabel Barnett by the Haymaker family, may have wanted to keep the mineral rights in their own family. It was sold to the Municipality in 1967. No one did a title search that any such lease was recorded. Murrysville’s ownership of gas rights in this parcel are in doubt. Mr. Pike said that they are asking for Murrysville Council to rescind the three leases to avoid legal liability to the Municipality. LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Diacopoulos: Nothing from the pension fund. Mr. Olszewski: The next meeting of the EAC is October 29th. Mrs. Lingg: The Planning Commission met on October 8th. They considered and recommended a conditional use application for excavation in steep slopes and poor soils for Summerhill – Phase II, contingent on four conditions. A discussion occurred concerning the proposed changes to the General Business Overlay. They will be getting back to Council with a more detailed presentation. The next meeting is November 12th. Mr. Stepanovich: Medic One meets this Thursday and Murrysville Parks and Recreation Foundation meets on October 28th. Mr. Lemak: The Library meets this Thursday. They recently received a state grant of $375,000. The Library is advertising for a new Library Director. If you know anyone interested, please contact the Library to submit their application. Mac McKenna: Parks and Recreation Committee met last Tuesday. There were two scouts there looking at two Eagle projects in the parks. Trick or Treat on the trail is a huge event. Make sure you register if you plan on going. We thank all the volunteers that are helping with that. There is an open membership available with the Parks and Recreation Commission. vmp -3- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 WORKSHOP ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 9.A. Discussion regarding the Protect PT Petition Mr. Nestico stated that pursuant to the Murrysville Home Rule Charter, a citizen’s petition may be presented to Council as described in Section C-46 provided that it is signed by at least 2% of the number of registered electors in the Municipality. We did receive a petition from Protect PT that has the required signatures from Murrysville residents. Under the Home Rule Charter, the Municipality must take action to consider the petition within 60 days of presentation either in support or denial of the petition. Solicitor Long wanted to address a few items that were brough up during public input. In regard to liability based upon title issues, he would like to advise Council that we did not warrant into leases titled to the oil and gas. The quality of the title to the oil and gas is the responsibility to be determined by Olympus or Apex. The only thing we warranted in the leases was that we were not currently getting any royalties or revenues under any other leases in connection with the properties that were being leased by Apex at Kovalczik Park or Olympus in the Duff Park area. So, there is no liability on the Municipality. The liability rests on the shoulders of the drilling companies. Secondly, last year we entered into contracts with the gas companies. We signed leases. They paid us consideration. They are binding contracts. It is his recommendation, as your solicitor, that we cannot rescind the leases because we can not put ourselves into a position of voiding or violating our obligations under the contract. We leased them the oil and gas rights that we do own and in return they paid us compensation. The liability would rest with the Municipality if we voted to rescind the leases. Contractually we are obligated to follow through with the leases. Mr. Stepanovich stated that probably all of Council was concerned on what was received from Protect PT and Protect Murrysville Parks. Based on what the solicitor has said, the title issue is the responsibility of the gas producers and not Murrysville. We don’t have liability there. We do have leases with the two energy producers and if we were to rescind that, we would then be involved in litigation, which would be an expense to the Municipality. It seems like the best action would be to deny the petition. We understand their concerns, but we have to protect ourselves (Murrysville). Mrs. Lingg stated that she agrees with Mr. Stepanovich. Mr. Diacopoulos commented that if we were to rescind, any monies that had been transferred would be required to be paid back. The value is over $2 million. Solicitor Long added that any additional monies that the energy companies spent in reliance upon the leases - like engineering, permitting, design, development, drilling - would all fall back on the Municipality. Mr. Stepanovich asked if we know any more from Old Growth Forest on their position on this? Mr. Nestico answered that it was submitted with the petition. He reached out to the individual that submitted the letter. The individual was unaware that the drilling was occurring outside of the park. His submission of the letter was predicated upon drilling within the park. Mr. Nestico asked the individual to provide any evidence or anything of substance to validate the concerns that Protect PT and others have presented on environmental concerns to the park itself, and he has not heard anything back. ENGINEERING: None COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None vmp -4- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Consideration in support/denial of the citizens petition from Protect PT Mr. Lemak made a motion for consideration to deny the citizens petition from Protect PT. Mrs. Lingg seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.B. Advertise to accept nominations for Murrysville Council Volunteer of the Year Mr. Lemak made a motion to approve advertising to accept nominations for Murrysville Council Volunteer of the Year. Mr. Olszewski seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.C. Advertise for various Board and Commission openings for the 2025 calendar year Mr. Olszewski made a motion to advertise for various Board and Commission openings for the 2025 calendar year. Mrs. Lingg seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.D. Adopt Resolution No. 792-24, a Resolution adopting the First Amendment to the 2019 Consent Order and Agreement contained in Resolution No. 705-19. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 792-24, a Resolution adopting the First Amendment to the 2019 Consent Order and Agreement contained in Resolution No. 705-19. Mr. Olszewski seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.E. Advertise for a Public Hearing to present proposed amendments to the 2024 Operating Budget to be held on November 6, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to advertise for a Public Hearing to present proposed amendments to the 2024 Operating Budget to be held on November 6, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.F. Advertise for a Public Hearing to present the 2025 Operating Budget to be held on November 6, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to advertise for a Public Hearing to present the 2025 Operating Budget to be held on November 6, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Lemak seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that at the next meeting on November 6th, there will be two public hearings: one for the amendments to this year’s budget and one for presentation of next year's budget. Information will be provided to Council in advance of the public hearings so you can review and be prepared. vmp -5- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Tuesday, October 15, 2024 There were some minor amendments to the 2024 budget relating to road and bridge repairs, police vehicle equipment, the HVAC system on the building which were in the Capital Reserve Budget. In the General Fund Budget administration salaries were modified because an employee was brought into the Finance Department, a minor adjustment to legal fees, and an adjustment to health insurance. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ENGINEERING: 15.A. Adopt Ordinance No. 1092-24, an Ordinance accepting streets located in the Hillstone Village Plan as part of the public municipal road system. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 1092-24, an Ordinance accepting streets located in the Hillstone Village Plan as part of the public municipal road system. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this is to accept the streets in the Hillstone Plan and bring them into the municipal roadway system. The five streets are North Valley Court, South Valley Court, Harrison Court, Hillstone Village Drive and Clubhouse Court. The construction of the streets was inspected by the Engineering Department. Everything passed inspection. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 15.B. Authorize final release of the sequestered funds being held for the Hillstone Village development in the amount of $90,090. Mrs. Lingg made a motion to authorize final release of the sequestered funds being held for the Hillstone Village development in the amount of $90,090. Mr. Stepanovich 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: Mrs. Lingg made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Olszewski seconded. All those present voted aye. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 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 -6-