Council of the Municipality of Murrysville

THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 Council of the Municipality of Murrysville held a Regular Voting Meeting on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. Present at the meeting were Council members Eli Diacopoulos, Jason Lemak, Jamie Lingg, Mac McKenna, Carl Stepanovich and Mayor Synan. Also, present were Chief Administrator Michael Nestico, Director of Public Works Bill Paiano, and Solicitor Wes Long. Council members Dayne Dice and Matthew Olszewski were absent. MARINER FINANCIAL PENSION UPDATE PRESENTATION Chris Brokaw, CFA, Senior Institutional Advisor with Mariner Financial, gave a brief update on the pension plan. Last year the fund met all of its long-term objectives within the investment policy. The investment objectives for the Plan’s assets are to: 1) Achieve a 7% long-term rate return on the portfolio actuarial rate, 2) Provide for the payment of benefit obligations and expenses in perpetuity in a secure and prudent fashion, 3) Achieve the rate of return after adjusting for inflation sufficient to preserve the purchasing power of the Plan assets, 4) Maintain a prudent level of risk that allows the balance growth with the need to preserve capital in the plan, and 5) Achieve long-term investment results that compare favorably with similar investment pension plans and appropriate market indices. The plan met those goals in 2024 and returned 11.47%. It is vested in a versified investment program of stocks, bonds, and other asset classes. Relative to market-based benchmark indices, it outperformed and outperformed a peer group of other public plans ranking in the top 10%. Mr. Brokaw stated that over the past five years, the fund returned 8.21%. The plan assets as of December 31st, 2024, were $31.8 million. Year 2024 for the plan was a good year with meeting its goals. REGULAR VOTING MEETING AGENDA PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council Vice President Mac McKenna led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL/VOTING ORDER: Jamie Lingg, Matthew Olszewski-absent, Dayne Dice-absent, Eli Diacopoulos, Mac McKenna, Carl Stepanovich, Jason Lemak, and Mayor Synan. UNISTED AMENDMENTS: None CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: A. Approval of January 21, 2025 Minutes 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. vmp -1- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 AARP Tax Prep Services: Appointments are required in advance. Call 724-374-8176. If there is no answer, leave a message. No walk-up service will be accepted. Will be held at the Murrysville Community Center, 3091 Carson Avenue. Dates are February 21 and 28, March 14 and 28, and April 11. Glass Recycling “Pop-Up” Collection Event will be Saturday, March 15th from 9 am - 2 pm at Veterans Field parking lot. Residents are encouraged to support the Loaves and Fishes Emergency Food Pantry by donating non-perishable food items. Sponsored by the Municipality of Murrysville and Republic Services. Blood Donations: “A Flurry of Hope” Red Cross Blood Drive will be held Wednesday, February 19, from 10 am – 3 pm at the Murrysville Community Center. Those who donate blood, platelets or AB Elite plasma January 27 - February 28 will receive a $15 e-gift card to a merchant of choice. The Municipality of Murrysville mourns the loss of dedicated fireman, volunteer and friend, Ronnie DeFalco. Ronnie served White Valley Volunteer Fire Department as a volunteer fireman for 55 years. We thank Ronnie and his family for his many years of service and sacrifice. He will be missed by all. The Franklin Regional Wrestling Team has moved forward to the PIAA Championship and the girls’ basketball team is 11-0 in conference play. CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS: Mr. Nestico stated that members of the community may be aware that there have been some issues with the traffic signals on Route 22 over the last couple of months and it is getting progressively worse. Our staff is working on a solution and PennDOT has also looked at it. It turns out that a part is needed to get the system back up and synchronized. We are aware that there are difficulties with the way they are timed right now. Once the part comes in and fixed, it should take care of that problem. We do not have an exact time frame for the repair right now. COMMUNITY INPUT: Mr. McKenna asked for any comments from the audience. Michele Kish, President of the Franklin Regional Athletic Association, 5149 Trillium Drive: Ms. Kish stated that she is here on behalf of the Franklin Regional Athletic Association regarding the potential fee increase for field reservations. She asks that Council table the discussion for the increase. They have already opened their registration for spring baseball and softball and would have no way of passing along a fee increase to their participants at this point. Registration is open from February 1st to March 1st and have already received a significant number of registrants who have paid. This also opens the door for discussion about renovation of the fields. Fields across Murrysville are in dire need of more significant maintenance and renovation. The Public Works Department does a phenomenal job on routine maintenance, but several of these fields have severe drainage issues. There are a lot of cancelled games and practices when it rains because of the drainage. This has a direct impact on the kids. The fields need to be dug up, new drainage pipes put in, over lament put in, and routine maintenance of clearing out the draining pipes. She understands that the fracking money from MCP was to be earmarked for investment in the parks. Where and when will that investment be made and asked that consideration be discussed for the fields and also having lights installed. vmp -2- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 LIAISON COMMENTS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Diacopoulos: The Pension Committee just went through an in-depth review of the annual report that Mr. Brokaw presented this evening. The Committee is satisfied with its performance. Mrs. Lingg: Planning Commission met last month, unfortunately she was not able to attend. The next Planning Commission meeting is February 11th. Mr. Stepanovich: Murrysville Parks and Recreation Foundation’s next meeting will be Monday, February 17th at 8:30 am. The next meeting of Medic One will be February 20th at 7:00 pm. Mr. Lemak: The Library will meet on February 20th. Congratulations and welcome to the new Director, Kat Neidig. Mr. McKenna: Parks and Recreation meets next Tuesday. WORKSHOP ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: None ENGINEERING: 10.A. FRSD Site Work and Post-Occupancy Traffic Study – Bond Release Mr. Nestico stated that on completion of the new school building, the Developers Agreement required a Post-Occupancy Traffic Study over concerns on Crowfoot Road or coming off of Sardis Road. The Municipality is holding financial security in the amount of $2,300,000. FRSD is requesting release of these funds following the result of the Post-Occupancy Traffic Study. The study was done in December 2023 and we just got the results of the study back. The study was done by Trans Associates Engineering Consultants and concluded that no traffic improvements are required outside of the site. The only on-site traffic improvements relating to queueing issues were able to be resolved by re-routing on-site vehicle traffic. He has been working with staff to see if there are any issues beyond what the study called for and make sure that we are confident that this item is ready for Council to make a decision on. This is a workshop item to make Council aware that the request did come in from the school district to release the bond and prepare any questions or concerns that Council may have for the school district. The study is in Council’s drop box. Mr. McKenna asked if there have been any community members contacting us on any concerns they may have. Mr. Nestico stated that we have had community members contact the Municipality over the last couple of years. They have contacted both the administrative side as well as the police department. Typically, the issues related to traffic backing onto the roadway on Crowfoot and Sardis. When those instances occurred, we contacted the school and worked through that. This will be a discussion item again in the near future and then when it’s ready for a Council decision, it will be put on the agenda as an action item to vote on. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: None vmp -3- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS ADMINISTRATION: 13.A. Authorize the Murrysville Police Department to advertise for the acceptance of applications to establish a police officer eligibility list Mrs. Lingg made a motion to authorize the Murrysville Police Department to advertise for the acceptance of applications to establish a police officer eligibility list. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that the current police officer eligibility list expires in June. We have hired several officers from that list. The police department would like to begin testing for a new round of applicants. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 13.B. Adopt Ordinance No. 1096-24, the Fee Ordinance Mr. Stepanovich made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 1096-24, the Fee Ordinance, Chapter 112-6, an ordinance amending existing Fee Ordinance No. 1089-24. Mr. Diacopoulos seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that this ordinance contains a number of fees that the Municipality charges. The ordinance was last updated in July 2024. The increased fees include fees for Zoning Hearing Board matters. A fee of $100 for Police Blood Draw testing would also be added. Also discussed at a previous meeting was the option to increase the park and facility rental fees, as well as the field usage fees. Park pavilion rental fees would increase from $50 to $75 for Residents and $100 to $150 for Non-Residents. The Alcohol Fee to increase from $50 to $100 for both the Community Center and the Clubhouse. The Clubhouse fee would increase from $25/hour to $50/hour for Residents and $40/hour to $75/hour for Non-Residents, which would match the rates at the Community Center and eliminate the 4-hour cap rate. Lastly, we would be adjusting the field fees by 20%. Right now, the Municipality generates around $38,000 annually on the field rental fees. The 20% increase takes that number to $45,000. Those rates have not been adjusted in nearly 15 years. Mrs. Lingg stated that she feels the $50 alcohol fee is substantial considering there is a $350 alcohol security deposit and an additional $200 security deposit for the facility on top of the hourly rate to just rent the facility. She opposes the rate increase for the alcohol permit. In regard to the field fees, she believes it is unfair to raise the fees right now since registration has already started. Also, she has had several residents come to her and said that there have been drainage issues with the fields. Would taking care of that help with any of the maintenance costs that are reoccurring every year? Mrs. Lingg stated that she would like to propose tabling the field fees until the fall so the organizations could put that in their registrations to help cover the increase. Mr. Lemak stated that he agrees with tabling the field fees since registration is already open. vmp -4- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 Mr. Nestico noted that tabling is an option for Council. He also added that it is difficult to do an apples-to- apples comparison with neighboring communities, because everyone does it a little differently. We haven’t been able to maintain the fields to the level that some would like. The $38,000 that we receive annually is only enough to do the bare minimum to get the fields ready for the spring. That doesn’t include any long- term improvements. Mr. Nestico stated that if Council wants to move forward with just the police fee and zoning hearing board fee which do need addressed, the other fess can be addressed at another time. Mr. Stepanovich suggested that since there is a spring session and fall session for the fields, can we time it so that the increase happens before the fall session? Put a time on when the rates would take effect. Mr. McKenna stated that he was comfortable with the discussion around the fees and understood why they are needed. The fees are long overdue to being raised a bit. The field maintenance is very important. Since the registration has already been open for the fields, he feels that it isn’t fair to raise those rates for the spring sports. He is comfortable in moving forward with the fee ordinance but not implement the field fees for the spring sports until they have the opportunity to pass that fee on to their participants. Mr. Stepanovich suggested that the alcohol permit be excluded from the increase and look at it again when the adjustment for the fields is made. Mr. Nestico explained that the alcohol permit fee right now is only $50 and the proposal is to raise the fee to $100. The security deposit fee is $350 which is returned if the facility is cleaned up after use and nothing is broken or damaged. Mrs. Lingg stated that she thinks the security deposits of $350 for alcohol and $200 for the rental equaling $550 is too much. Can that be lowered? Mr. Nestico stated that it is something that can be considered and maybe implement an overall security deposit that staff could look into. Have one single security deposit regardless of alcohol permit or not. All those present voted nay on adopting Ordinance No. 1096-24, the Fee Ordinance in its entirety as presented. Motion denied. Mr. Diacopoulos made a motion to approve Fee Ordinance No. 1096-24, the Fee Ordinance, Chapter 112-6, an ordinance amending existing Fee Ordinance No. 1089-24 as presented with the exception that implementation of the Field Fees increase be postponed until July 1st, 2025. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. All those present voted aye except Mrs. Lingg who voted nay. Motion approved 4-aye, 1-nay. 13.C. Advertise Ordinance No. 1098-25, increasing the Parks and Recreation Commission to nine (9) members Mr. Lemak made a motion to advertise Ordinance No. 1098-25, increasing the Parks and Recreation Commission to nine (9) members. Mrs. Lingg seconded. Mr. Nestico stated that currently the Recreation Commission has a 7-member board. They had several individuals that gave interest in serving on the board, but they have also had some difficulty in recent months getting a quorum. Increasing the number would be a benefit to the Commission. vmp -5- THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURRYSVILLE Regular Voting Meeting – Wednesday, February 5, 2025 All those present voted aye. Motion approved. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: None ENGINEERING: None PUBLIC WORKS AND PARKS: 16.A. Advertise for bids of mowing municipal greenspaces Mr. Lemak made a motion to advertise for bids of mowing municipal greenspaces. Mrs. Lingg seconded. Mr. Paiano stated that this is a 1-year contract with 3-year pricing. This would be for some of the properties that Public Works can’t get to with the mowing crew like Manorfield Court where the State took over to widen Route 22, a piece at Haymaker Park, and a piece at Summerhill. The price is usually around $6,000 to have those cut for the year. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. 16.B. Advertise for bid, Project No. DPW 4-25, landscaping at Administration Building, Community Center, Rt 22 Medians, Jug handles and Streetscape Mrs. Lingg made a motion to advertise for bid, Project No. DPW 4-25, landscaping at Administration Building, Community Center, Rt 22 Medians, Jug handles and Streetscape. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. Mr. Paiano stated that this is another 1-year contract with 3-year pricing. This one is a little more involved with a price last year of around $51,000. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: Mrs. Lingg stated that our community has no pavilion that accommodates sports organizations with their families. If we are looking in the future to put something in our parks, she would like Council to consider something like that with a kitchen facility attached. Right now, a lot of the Murrysville organizations go to Monroeville Community Park. EXECUTIVE SESSION: None ACTION ITEMS: None ADJOURNMENT: Mrs. Lingg made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Stepanovich seconded. All those present voted aye. Motion approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 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-