City Council

Steelton Borough Council Meeting June 20, 2005 The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 6:32 p.m. by President, Michael Kovach, with the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. In Attendance Absent: Michael Kovach Mayor Acri MaryJo Szada Stephen Shaver Jeffrey Wright Michael Albert Lisa Wiedeman-Krosnar Dennis Heefner Michael G. Musser, II, Secretary Kathleen D. Handley, Assistant Secretary David A. Wion, Solicitor APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the May 16, 2005 and June 6, 2005 Council meetings were presented for Council’s consideration. On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Albert, Council Members voted unanimously to approve the minutes as presented. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS HELD BETWEEN MEETINGS: Mr. Musser said he had nothing to report other than what is stated in the minutes. APPROVAL OF SCHEDULES OF BILLS REQUISITIONS AND CHANGE ORDERS AS PRESENTED; On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mr. Wright, Council Members voted unanimously to approve the schedules of bills, requisitions and change orders as presented. APPROVAL OF DEPARTMENT REPORTS; Reports for Community Development, Main Street, Finance, Fire and Ambulance, Personnel, Police, Public Works, and Code Enforcement for April were presented for Council’s approval. On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to approve the Department Reports for May as presented. On a motion by Mr. Shaver, seconded by Mr. Albert, Council Members voted unanimously to have the letter of thanks from Mr. Christopher D. Eaton, Ball State University to Ms. Sviben, placed in Ms. Sviben’s personnel file. Borough of Steelton Page (2) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 MAYOR’S REPORT: There was no report due to Mayor Acri’s absence. PUBLIC COMMENT: Agenda Items Only There were no comments. COMMUNICATIONS: Bishop McDevitt Varsity Cheerleading and Cheerleading Parents Association – Soliciting Borough Council and the Mayor to Sponsor a Banner to be displayed at the McDevitt Football field Mr. Kovach reminded Council Members that this cannot be done with public funds, but they can participate with their personal contributions. Dauphin County Commissioners – Letter of thanks to Mr. Musser for his participation in Dauphin County’s first-ever Economic Development Summit. On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to place the letter in Mr. Musser’s personnel file. Sheila Naplitonia, Lenker Manor, 200 Luther Place, Harrisburg, PA – Letter informing the Borough of a good Samaritan act by James Alton of Capital City Cabs. There were no comments. Sister Frances and the Prince of Peace 5th Grade – Letter of Thanks to the Borough for the Pizza and the opportunity to hear Ms. Barbara Barksdale during Black History Month. There were no comments. American Water Works Association – Certificate of Recognition to Paul Wintergrass for satisfactorily completing “Lab and On-Line Turbidity Monitoring”. On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to place the certificate in Mr. Wintergrass’ personnel file. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Mr. Heefner – Requesting Council to amend the Rental Inspection Fee Ordinance. On a motion by Mr. Heefner, seconded by Mr. Albert, Council Members voted unanimously to authorize Mr. Wion to prepare the amended Rental Inspection Ordinance changing the fee from $125.00 to $70.00 Steelton Borough Page (3) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar asked when those changes would go into effect. Mr. Wion said that would be when Council formally adopts the amended Ordinance at the July 5, 2005 meeting. Mr. Musser – Additions to the Agenda: Mr. Musser informed Council that there were two additions: 1) Dauphin-Lebanon County Boroughs Association – Hosting the July 26th meeting. 2) Daniel R. Soulier, Deputy Chief, Harrisburg Bureau of Fire – Informing the Borough that the S.A.F.E.R. meeting, postponed from May 24th is rescheduled for June 29, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Albert – Recommending Council approve the hiring of Charles E. Berry, Jr., as a Water Filtration Plant Operator at a rate of $13.88 an hour, effective Tuesday, June 21, 2005. On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to hire Charles E. Berry, Jr., at the rate of $13.88 per hour, effective Tuesday, June 21, 2005, per Mr. Shaver and Mr. Albert’s recommendation. Mr. Musser informed Council that Mr. Berry did go through a successful background check. Mayor Acri – Requesting Council to accept the Resignation of Robert Houser as Emergency Management Coordinator for the Borough and appoint Tim Lehman Emergency Management Coordinator for the Borough of Steelton. Mr. Musser requested Council to table this matter since there are some issues with Mr. Lehman’s employment with the State, that may prevent Mr. Lehman from filling the position. ORDINANCE 2005-6, AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF STEELTON TO ESTABLISH ADDITIONAL SPECIAL PURPOSE PARKING ZONES AND TO ELIMINATE SPECIAL PURPOSE PARKING ZONES. was presented for Council’s consideration. On a motion by Mr. Shaver, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to adopt ORDINANCE 2005-6, as presented. RESOLUTION 2005-R-18, A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL PURPOSE PARKING ZONE ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF LOCUST STREET IN FRONT OF 340 LOCUST STREET, was presented for Council’s consideration. On a motion by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Shaver, Council Members voted unanimously to adopt RESOLUTION 2005-R-18, as presented. RESOLUTION 2005-R-19, A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL PURPOSE PARKING ZONE IN FRONT OF 326 LINCOLN STREET was presented for Council’s Steelton Borough Page (4) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 consideration. On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members voted unanimously to adopt RESOLUTION 2005-R-19 as presented. Mr. Musser – Providing Council with Copies of Minutes and an Update on the Hometown Streets Project. There were no comments. Mr. Musser – Providing Council with an Update on the Firehouse Repair Project. Mr. Musser said the Engineers presented two (2) concepts: 1) Excavate the back wall and replace the drainage line, plus engineering fees would cost about $450,000. 2) Coat the exterior wall, fix the drainage problem, repair walls and all damage inside the building at a cost of $103,000, most of which will come from the grants we applied for and the bond proceeds. Mr. Musser added that the engineers have prepared the specifications to go out on bid. Mr. Wright asked if any of the expense will come from the General Fund. Mr. Musser said he does not expect that, but if that should become necessary, he would bring that to Council. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Musser – Providing Council with proposals for Engineering services for the Pine and Jefferson Streets Storm Sewer Line Replacements and a Proposal to Assist with the PennVest Application. Mr. Musser said if it is Council’s wishes to replace the storm sewer lines on both Pine and Jefferson Streets, he believes the Borough could get low interest loans from PennVest. Mr. Musser noted that Council has the Agreements before them. Mr. Kovach asked what the PennVest rate was. Mr. Musser said it is 3.85% and can go as low as 2%. After additional discussion, on a motion by Mr. Shaver seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar Council Members voted unanimously to authorize execution of the Agreement with HRG, Inc., for Professional Services for the Storm Sewer Replacement on Pine Street and on Jefferson Street approve the proposal submitted by HRG, Inc., for Professional Services related to PennVest funding assistance, as presented. Mr. Musser – Informing Council that Special Purpose Parking Applications have been submitted for Doreen W. Fry of 217 ‘D’ Avenue and Raymond A. Pugliese of 31 Chestnut Street, Steelton, PA. Mr. Shaver noted that Ms. Fry’s license number is incorrect on the application and Mr. Pugliese did not enter his license number on the application. RESOLUTION 2005-R-20, A RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE 2005 SUBSTANTIAL Steelton Borough Page (5) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 REVISION OF DAUPHIN COUNTY’S MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN was presented for Council’s consideration. On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mr. Shaver, Council Members voted unanimously to adopt RESOLUTION 2005-R-20 as presented. Mr. Musser – Reminding Council of the vacancy on the Borough Planning Commission, two (2) vacancies for the Alternates on the Zoning Hearing Board and the vacancy on the Vacancy Board and Civil Service Commission that will be created by Mr. Stone’s resignation. Mr. Kovach said that anyone who is interested should contact Mr. Musser. OTHER BUSINESS: Mr. Musser – Requesting an Executive Session to discuss land acquisition issues. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: Chief Lenker – informed Council that Project Child Safe has set a tentative date of July 29th to set their truck up in the back lot to distribute the gun locks and they will do their own press release. Paula Sviben – Informed Council that a press release will be sent out for the cleaning of the Locust Street steps on Saturday from 9:00 a.m., to 1:00 p.m. Ms. Sviben also reminded Council that the next intergovernmental meeting will be at Highspire at 7:00 p.m. She gave Council Members copies of the parks report and said that it wasn’t ready to go out with the packets on Friday. Ms. Sviben said that there are only three (3) participants at the Highspire park and two (2) are in the same family, so they will not be running the program at Highspire and the three children will still participate at one of the Steelton’s Parks. Ms. Sviben said that Jordan Krovic has been hired as an on-call park assistant, noting that Council had given her permission to add another on-call person if needed. Jeanne Barr, 349 Poplar Street – told Chief Lenker that there were some bags of rags and a mechanics manual left behind her neighbor’s house and asked if there had been a robbery that these things might have been from. Chief Lenker said he was not aware of that and suggested that she report the trash being left to the Code Office. Ms. Barr then asked Chief Lenker if they ever found who committed the robberies on South Fourth Street and Chief Lenker responded no. Ms. Barr asked if they could patrol her neighborhood more frequently. Dr. Szada – asked Chief Lenker if he was aware that someone is removing the registration stickers form license plates. Chief Lenker said he was not aware of that but that should be reported to PennDOT, to get another one for free. Dr. Szada said it happened to one of her employees and one other car in that area that she is aware of. COUNCIL’S CONCERNS Mr. Heefner – asked Mr. Albert to speak to Mr. Conjar about cross-training employees to run the Street Sweeper when Mr. Oxenford is off work. Mr. Heefner informed Council that to date 192 Steelton Borough Page (6) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 properties, 322 units have been inspected and only eleven (11) of those passed the inspection Dr. Szada – said that she is noticing a lot of trash over-flowing bags and cans and that there are still a lot of trash bags that aren’t in cans. Mr. Heefner said that the part-time Code Officer is working on the trash, grass and weed and property maintenance inspections. Dr. Szada asked Chief Lenker to have the officers tighten curfew patrols, since it is summer time. She said she sees younger children out late. Chief Lenker said they ran a curfew detail and they will run another one next month. He said that the 11:00 to 7:00 officers continue to stop them, but some are eighteen (18) years old but look younger. Mr. Wright – asked about the time frame on the Bailey Street Playground. Mr. Musser said the contractor is working on the Boat Dock since the water level is low and therefore conducive to the type of work they must do there. He said the same contractor was awarded both contracts and he is trying to work on both jobs. Mr. Wright said that he met with Derrick Lewis to get information on the status of the elementary school. Mr. Wright said he would like the Borough to keep the gym for the Boys & Girls Club. He said he will bring the subject up at the intergovernmental meeting and will keep everyone informed. Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar – commended everone who was involved with the Elm Street meeting and commended Ms. Stoner and Mr. Brady for their quick response to a sewer problem. Mr. Albert – said he also met with Derrick Lewis and they discussed having the highschool put in Steelton Police jurisdiction and asked how to go about doing that. Mr. Musser said it is something Mr. Wion would have to research if that is Council’s wishes. Mr. Kovach said that if there is an interest by the School Board, they should take the initiative to determine the process and follow up on it. Mr. Wright said it can be discussed at the intergovernmental meeting. Mr. Musser suggested that the school’s attorney should research how it was done in Lower Dauphin and then pursue it. Mr. Shaver – commended Sgt. Crawford for his work on the 4.0 Program. He also noted that recently there have been numerous interviews for various positions and he thanked the members of the Personnel Committee for their time. Mr. Kovach – thanked all the people involved with the Elm Street meeting. He said he was really impressed with the presentation and the number of people who attended the meeting. Mr. Kovach noted that it is a lot of work and extra meetings and he really appreciates the efforts of those involved in all of the Borough projects. Mr. Musser – requested Council to ratify the hiring of Mr. Kenneth Brady as part-time Code Enforcement Officer at the rate of $10.00 an hour for a maximum of thirty (30) hours per week. On a motion by Mr. Heefner, seconded by Mr. Albert, Council Members (with the exception of Mr. Shaver) voted unanimously to ratify the hiring of Mr. Kenneth Brady. Mr. Shaver abstained from the vote due to conflict of interest. Mr. Musser – informed Council Members that there will only be one meeting in July and that Steelton Borough Page (7) Council Meeting June 20, 2005 will be held on July 5, 2005, and asked them to inform their department heads so they can get reports turned in. On a motion by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, the Council meeting recessed into executive session at 7:20 p.m., to discuss land acquisitions. The meeting reconvened at 7:30 p.m. There was a brief discussion on the number of Special Purpose Parking applications that Council receives and the guidelines for the parking spaces. Mr. Wion explained the laws and criteria regarding the parking requests. ADJOURNMENT: There being no other business before Council, on motion by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, seconded by Mr. Albert, the Council meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________________ ______________________________ Michael G. Musser, II Kathleen D. Handley Borough Secretary Assistant Borough Secretary