Borough Council

Sharon Hill Borough Legislative Meeting Minutes Thursday, June 18, 2025 Quote of the Meeting "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt • Call To Order at 7:00 p.m. • Pledge of Allegiance • Roll Call – President Tanya Allen (P) Vice President Edward Booker (P) Councilor Sharon Booker (P) Councilor William Felder (P) Councilor Rodney Hill (P) Councilor Sandra Holcombe (P) Councilor James Patrick III (P) Mayor Hykeem Green (P) Borough Solicitor Kyle Miller (P) Borough Engineer Susan Lynch (P) Police Chief Richard Herron (P) Code Building Official Anthony Tartaglia (E) Borough Treasurer Will Morgan (P) Borough Manager Ieasa Nichols (P) Committee Updates: President Tanya Allen: Library, CPCIP o Library Report: Mr. Ashby o Thanks to the Borough for last Saturday’s Juneteenth program. It was a lot of fun. o Reported library statistics. o CPCIP: President Allen o We are applying for available monies to be used for the 2026 America 250 celebrations. Council President Allen also commented that she requested the need for Project Engineers to be assigned to each of the projects. o Bike the Pike will be launching in 2026, and President Allen will be promoting them more in the coming months. She also advised Chief Herron that she has invited some of them to join us for the National Night Out event on August 5, 2025, as an opportunity for introductions. o We will have our Town Hall meeting on Saturday 6/21/25 at 1:00 p.m. to share info and to dialog with the Community. o The Juneteenth Celebration was great despite the rain this year. We took the opportunity to honor Mallory T. Jones from Collingdale. Ms. Jones was the young lady who reached out to us last year to bring us a Health and Wellness event which we called Wellness on the Block. o We had a community planning meeting on June 11, in Borough Hall so that the community could partner with the Borough and participate in planning events for the Independence Day celebrations. We plan to continue this effort and plan for the 2026 parade and other events. o On June 28 we will have our Independence Day celebrations. It will start with the parade on Garvin Blvd and afterwards we will have a carnival and celebration, culminating with our fireworks in the evening. Page | 1 Vice President Edward Booker: Public Safety/DCJA o The monthly Fire Chief Report was read and submitted. o The Police Monthly Report was read and submitted. o V.P. Booker reported he attended the DCJA meeting this month and can now report that we were able to close our deal and are locked in thanks to the diligence of our Borough Manager. o V.P. Booker spoke with the Engineer regarding activity on Elmwood Ave. He reported there was an excavator riding down the street which prompted him to follow up with the Engineer. She did not know but said she would investigate and get back to us. The Borough Manager added that there are several projects going on right now e.g., Delcora, Amtrak, and Darby Creek all have projects. President Allen asked who is working on Coates and the Borough Manager informed it is Peco. There was also a question regarding whether residents have been sent any type of notice of these projects. The Borough Manager responded yes, if they are in direct purview and will be impacted, they should receive a letter. Junior Council Report – No report o President Allen announced that Moses Molley graduated from Academy Park High School last evening and we will be sure to celebrate and congratulate both of our junior council members who graduated this year. Councilor Sharon Booker: SHACC o On June 27, 2025, we will have our Summer Paint Night event from 7-9 p.m. Registration is required and flyers are on the back table as well as posted on our website. o As a reminder we continue to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of SHACC. o SHACC will present Jazz and Arts in the Park on October 4, 2025. o SHACC will be celebrating Juneteenth tomorrow 6/19 due to the SHB proclamation. Councilor William Felder: Public Works o The Code reports were read and submitted. Councilor Rodney Hill: Recreation o The basketball Skills & Drills Camp and Clinic is coming soon. All of the skills and drills activities and the games will be played on Sundays from 11:00-2:00 p.m. except for the last day which will be Jalen Duren Day on Saturday August 23, 2025, from 12-7 p.m., at the Ramblers field. Registration is open now for boys and girls ages 6-13. The fees are affordable in comparison to other camps in Delaware County. Also, Councilor Hill took the opportunity to thank the Grocery Outlet and the Sharon Hill Borough for their support and announced that Councilor Felder will sponsor 2 children (1 boy and 1 girl), Council President Allen will sponsor a child, Councilor Patrick to sponsor 2 children and VP Booker will sponsor 4 children for the clinic. In addition, Councilor Patrick is working on a Home Depot donation where they will be giving gift baskets to the children on Jalen Deren Day. o June 28 will be our Independence Day celebration. The parade will start on Garvin Blvd at 12:00 p.m. We are asking for anyone to let us know if you have a bike and can decorate the bike to join us in the parade. Please contact the borough or Councilor Hill if you would like to be a part of the parade; it is for children and adults. We will also have games, a pie eating contest, a 3-legged race, and other activities after the parade at the Ramblers Field and at Page | 2  9:15 p.m. at Academy Park High School, we will have the fireworks. Councilor Hill also thanked the Ramblers football team for stepping in to walk in the parade. o Councilor Hill would like to do something for SHACC for their 10-year anniversary and personally thanked the whole team for all they have done in the community. Councilor Sandra Holcombe: Public Health o June is Men’s Health Month and Councilor Holcombe urged all men to take care of themselves. o On June 27 there is a Health and Job fair at Academy Park High School, hosted by Delaware County Vice Chair Richard Womack from 11:00-3:00 p.m. The Job Fair flyer is on the back and SHB is partnering with them for this event. o DCHD has been continuing to navigate programs to help everyone, especially senior citizens, since the closing of Crozer facilities. On July 11, they will be at Friendship Circle in Darby. Please visit the Delcopa.gov website for additional information and other locations if interested. Councilor James Patrick, III: Personnel o Home Depot will be donating to the Jalen Duren Day event. The goal is to supply 200 children with gift bags. o Personnel Matters – Solicitor Miller said they have reviewed a revised draft of the Employee Handbook with Councilor Patrick and have sent it to the Borough Manager for review. • Officials’ Updates: Mayor, Hykeem Green - The Police monthly report for May statistics was read and submitted. - This Friday, at 6:00 p.m., at the Ramblers Field, the 7U Flag Championship will be played. The game is from 6:00-7:00 p.m. - President Allen thanked the police department for their quick responses to the reports of abandoned cars from the community. Residents can report abandoned cars on our website or call the borough office. Borough Solicitor, Kyle Miller, Kilkenny Law - The Solicitor reports that he continues to work on the Employee Handbook with Councilor Patrick and they have passed on to the Borough Manager for review as previously mentioned. - They are working with borough representatives and school representatives to schedule a meeting to discuss the MoU and the shared use of the Rambler’s field. President Allen and the Borough Manager said we need to have a meeting with them to find out what they are specifically requesting. Mayor Green added that he had a brief meeting with them on a different topic and one of the things was regarding caring for the field e.g. cutting the grass, etc. and who is responsible for the upkeep. They are waiting for a response from the Borough. Mayor Green will facilitate a meeting on this subject. Page | 3  - The Solicitor has done some preliminary research on the legality and requirements regarding cameras and basketball courts. In reviewing the subject, the Solicitor said it might make sense to discuss strategies with them because although the initial question was around the field, the cameras subject might be something that can be built into the agreement. - The Solicitor reports he is reviewing the existing fencing requirements in the zoning code for consistency to see if there are any areas that can be improved. - Memos for both the cameras and for fencing/zoning ordinances will be provided if necessary. - The Solicitor is working with Council on a couple of matters on 1100 Chester Pike. He noted that he needs to touch base with them to ensure the agreements are still on schedule. Borough Engineer, Susan Lynch, Lighthouse Engineering - The Engineer continues working with grants for projects; either for grants awarded or applications for grants. She commented that the auditor has removed the flags from the general audit and we can proceed. - The Engineer is reviewing and will look into the traffic concerns on the project on Poplar and answer any questions the Borough Manager has around the subject. - Councilor Hill asked if there is any way to put up walls behind the homes so it will pad the sound and protect from the noise coming from the trains. The Engineer said they would reach out regarding the subject, although she said it is hard to get someone to take responsibility for this area but she will reach out. Councilor Felder mentioned that we need to be clear about which company we are referring to. The Engineer said she would look into it. We need to see what is possible and be clear on who is running at that time of night. Building Official Code, Anthony Tartaglia – No report Police Chief, Richard Herron - Reported details regarding the 3 traffic sites so far this year and is working with Engineering to see if we can get the stretch of Woodland to 15 mph from 25 mph. President Allen asked are officers able to enforce the speed and Chief Herron said yes. - Councilor Booker asked where the bikes were and if there was an uptick in domestic violence. Chief Herron said the bikes will be coming out soon and that we are actually down for the month for domestic violence cases. - There will be parking restrictions in the borough on June 28 for the Independence Day festivities. - There was a question regarding Garvin and Chester Pike if we need some type of arrow or light there. The Borough Manager will review and get back to Council with any recommendations. Treasurer, Will Morgan - The Treasurers Report for April 2025 was read and submitted. The Bills and Applied Payments report was reviewed, and the Treasurer highlighted a few unusual payments for Council. There were no questions from Council or any adjustments requested from the Caucus Meeting. Borough Manager, Ieasa A. Nichols Page | 4  - There is a Motion on the agenda for the request to advertise for trash vendors. This will allow us the opportunity to explore our options and see what else is out there. The Borough Manager mentioned some general information from other municipalities for context but agreed that we should see what else is out there. - The Borough Manager reported on the progress of upgrades to Weiderwax Park. We ordered lights for the Pavilion and other amenities. We are also having some electrical work done. The contractor had to cut the electricity, but we are trying to get it back up as soon as we can. The contractor should be back on-site next week. - We will have our pension audit, and the auditor will be back next week. Also, the Actuary advised they have several items that Council needs to address as we prepare for our next FOP contract negotiations. Public Comment – Pat Ruemaker, Bishop, Yvonne Taylor, Ieasha Moore - Pat Ruemaker 325 Greenwood Road. - I sent an email to councilors but it did not go through to some of them. I sent one to one councilor and asked if they sent it to the others and I was told they would review and get back to me regarding flags on Chester Pike. - I would like to thank the young man who came on Monday and took the trash I collected. That was very nice. - The mirrors that were purchased for the bottom of the 200 block of Laurel Rd are turned and the one for Greenwood Rd has not been put back up. - When will the minutes go up on the website. - Are we going to have trash tomorrow on Juneteenth. - President Allen addressed the trash and holiday trash collection and advised that there would be trash collected tomorrow. - President Allen addressed the mirror on Poplar and Laurel. She said we will need to look into this. Also, the 200 block of Greenwood where they took the mirror down but did not put back in the right place. - Flag day was on Saturday when we celebrated Juneteenth and as we go on to July 4th, you will see flags. The Borough Manager mentioned that if Council would like the flags up, we will need to engage a vendor because of manpower. And, one other issue we faced last year is we will need a full agreement with Peco to put them on the poles. Peco were requiring us to have pole agreements and we will need to work with them to know what poles are safe to put up the flags with the understanding that Peco will not have any responsibility for them. President Allen added that if it is reasonable to bring a vendor in, we can look into that. - Regarding emails to council members, President Allen said the e-mail addresses you had are correct. She noted the email, but said she did share your concerns with other members. The e-mail was asking where the Memorial Day event would be observed. Vice President Booker advised that Memorial Day was observed in Memorial Park and apologized to everyone for any miscommunication. He also wanted to let everyone know that for every Memorial Day there will be an event whether in the Park or at Borough Hall going forward. - Bishop – Are we working on the issue with potholes in the alleyways so that we can help the community with the potholes. I was going to address it at a social meeting, but I did not want to get ahead of myself. I wanted to make sure it was put out publicly so that the community would know through meetings that this has been brought to your attention and it is something you are going to address. - President Allen responded yes, and we are working on it. In fact, Susan Lynch, our Engineer, is working on the grant that would be able to address the alleyways. However, it cannot cover all of our alleyways, and The Borough is not financially equipped to do that. It is the private property of the owners. We will have to do a prioritization when we get the grant. Page | 5 - V.P. Booker responded there are efforts that are being made. This has been ongoing for quite a while now. It is interesting because it is illegal for the borough to make any modifications to your property. Therefore, everyone will need to become part of the solution. We need to have 100% buy-ins to make it work. That is how we can solve this concern. We will need your help to make it happen. - Councilor Felder suggested a homeowner organization. As a group you could look at it, assess it and take the initiative on the concern. Councilor Felder also suggested residents speak with the Commonwealth Code Official to ask questions for understanding and assistance. - Yvonne Taylor - 305 Poplar – On the corner of Laurel Road and Poplar there are signs that say you cannot park past the sign, but they are always parking past the signs and drivers need to go too far out into the street to turn left, right or to go straight. - President Allen suggested the Police Department ticket vehicles and use enforcement to prevent these types of concerns which cause safety hazards. - Ieasha Moore 207 High Street – - I have the same complaint about potholes and trash. People put their trash out without lids, and it has been causing concerns for at least the past 2 years. - On the 200 block of High Street cars are flying up the street towards Chester Pike. - The Code Dept. goes to the front of the homes, and I would like to know if they can go to the back also. - I do not know about the front of the street, but can there be lines on how you can park. Can we make lines for each car. - Handicapped parking spots that are not being used. - President Allen - regarding the trash we have not sent a mailer out to people, and I believe giving or sending a mailer on ways to properly put your trash out could be beneficial. - The code enforcer can go to the back as well as the front of the homes and she asked that we enforce the code without exception. - Parking Lines – The Engineer suggested that there should be an ordinance and perhaps we couldl have the contractor come out. It is worth exploring so we will ask for solutions while reporting the issues. The Borough Manager was asked if she has any insight. She responded that she had seen it in commercial districts but never seen it in a municipality, but she would look into it. Also, she mentioned the cost should be considered. - President Allen - Regarding parking and not stopping at the stop sign on High Street, she asked Chief Herron if he can put it on his radar. - She asked Chief Herron about patrolling the 7-11. - What can be done regarding the handicapped spots if the residents are no longer there, we can remove them if they are not being utilized by the persons who requested them. Page | 6 New Business • Motion to approve the Treasurers Report as presented which details General Fund Balance of $1,989,436.30 as of 04/30/25. Moved S.B. Seconded R.H. Motion Passed • Motion to approve Bills and Invoices Report totaling $242,595.55. Moved S.B. Seconded E.B. Motion Passed • Motion to Approve Legislative Meeting Minutes from January 2025 and May 2025. – Moved R.H. Seconded R.H. Motion Passed • Motion to approve Advertisement of RFP for Collection Services for FY 2026 Moved W.F. Seconded R.H. Motion Passed Old Business - Councilor Felder brought up the request to have Self Inc. present their program which deals with homeless individuals from Philadelphia. The presenter would like to reschedule. Councilor Felder will let us know when we can have the presentation by Self Inc in July or August. - Councilor Hill asked where we are with the update on the Chester Pike project. Council President Allen responded nothing new has come up. Adjournment – 9:38 p.m. Upcoming Meeting: Legislative, Thursday, July 17, 2025 "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Page | 7