City Council

Steelton Borough Council Meeting October 6, 2008 The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 6:33 p.m. by President, Michael Kovach, with the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. In Attendance: Absent: Dennis Heefner Stephen Shaver Jeffery Wright Lisa Wiedeman-Krosnar Stephen Shaver Michael Kovach Michael Albert MaryJo Szada Mayor Thomas Acri David A. Wion, Solicitor Patrick Gehrlein, Secretary Kathleen D. Handley, Assistant Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES: There were no minutes presented. EXECUTIVE SESSIONS HELD BETWEEN MEETINGS: (Secretary Gehrlein): Mr. Gehrlein said he had nothing to report at this time. APPROVAL OF SCHEDULES OF BILLINGS, REQUISTIONS AND CHANGE ORDERS AS PRESENTED: Mr. Gehrlein said he had nothing to report at this time. PUBLIC COMMENT: Agenda Items Only There were no comments. PRESENTATIONS: Mayor Thomas Acri & Chief Kenneth Lenker; Steelton Police Department – Presenting members for Petroleum Products Corp., Arney Brothers and Hempt Bros. with Plaques acknowledging their companies’ contributions towards the creation of the new police training facility. Mr. Kovach thanked all of the representatives for their participation. -1-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting October 6, 2008 Lisa Myers, CPA; Boyer & Ritter CPAs – Presenting Borough Council the results of the 2007 Audited Financials for the General and Sewer Funds along with recommendations for 2009. Mrs. Myers introduced Dave Manbeck as the new manager. Mr. Manbeck did the DCED Grant and Financial Statement Audits. Mrs. Myers stated that the fourth paragraph of the packet is the most important. The Borough has received an unqualified opinion, or in laymen's terms a “Clean Opinion”. She indicated that the Borough's Governmental-type Activities net assets, as stated on the government-wide statements, are approximately $27,000. The Business-type Activities, Sewer/Water account, are doing well at approximately $6.5 million. Mrs. Myers noted that the fund level statements, or budgetary basis statements, indicate the General Fund fund balance is $634,000. There is approximately $187,000 remaining in the Capital Projects fund and $136,000 remaining in the Construction fund. Mrs. Myers indicated the Sewer fund had a profit of $261,000 as of December 31, 2007 and the Water fund had a loss of $165,000. The question was posed to Council as to the reasoning behind a profit in the sewer account but, not in the water account. Mr. Kovach noted that the Borough does not own the Sewer plant. Therefore, if the City of Harrisburg raises sewer rates, the Borough does not pass that rate increase along to residents. Ms. Myers commended Council for treating residents of the Borough well but, reminded them the Borough is incurring that cost. Mrs. Myers informed Borough Council that Boyer & Ritter had performed an audit for one of their DCED grants. She said that the audit needed to be filed with DCED immediately. In addition, DCED had informed Boyer & Ritter that two other grants remained outstanding and must be closed out before additional DCED funding would be approved for the Borough of Steelton. Mrs. Myers recommended that Borough Council monitor the close out of these reports. Mrs. Myers stated that personnel has changed recently and will do so with some employees retiring soon. She urged Council to consider re-structuring the Accounting Department in anticipation of these changes. Mrs. Myers indicated she had held a meeting with the Borough Treasurer/Secretary and the Assistant Borough Treasurer/Secretary to discuss options for this restructuring. She strongly recommended these changes be made sooner rather than later. Lastly, Mrs. Myers asked Borough Council Members to be more involved with looking at reconciliations and to more closely monitor the books. She suggested the Finance Committee spend additional time reviewing monthly statements, reconciliations, grant reconciliations, and entries to the books of record. -2-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting October 6, 2008 COMMUNICATION: Joseph Pilsitz, Steelton Midget Baseball Association; 2483 South Fourth Street; Steelton, PA -Letter requesting the use of Council Chambers for conducting business meetings of the Steelton Midget Baseball Association between November 2008 and August 2009. Mr. Heefner voiced concerns that Council Chambers is not a community room and if it is opened up to one organization to use, all organizations will request to use it. Mr. Albert disagreed, stating that this is a community room, especially for community kids. Mr. Gehrlein said that he will check the schedule to see if the Steelton Senior Center is available for use. Mr. Kovach asked if it will be feasible to utilize the Steelton Senior Center when Council Chambers are occupied. After much discussion about insurance and liability, the discussion was tabled until October 20th. Mary E. Miller; 549 North 2nd Street; Steelton, PA – Letter to Chief Lenker praising the police work of Officer John Fry that took place in the 500 Block of North Front Street; Steelton, PA. On a motion made by Mr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Albert, Council Members present voted unanimously to place this letter into Officer Fry’s personnel file. Patrolman Nicholas J. Zarra; Steelton Police Department – Letter officially resigning his position as a part-time officer with the Steelton Police Department effective September 23, 2008 to meet the demands of his full-time position with the Department of Defense. On a motion made by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mr. Heefner, Council Members present voted unanimously to accept Mr. Zarra’s resignation. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Mr. Gehrlein – Submitting a letter of completion for the work performed at the Steelton-Highspire football field house in 2005/2006. The letter recommends the release of the improvement guarantee fund to the school district in the amount of $5,522.00 On a motion made by Mr. Heefner, seconded by Mr. Wright, Council Members present voted unanimously to release the funds. -3-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting October 6, 2008 Resolution 2008-R-23 – 1968 Act 428 passed creating a manual for the proper disposal of local government records within a certain time frame. On a motion made by Mr. Albert, seconded by Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar, Council Members present voted unanimously to accept the manual as policy of the Borough to make sure all processes of that manual are being followed. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Gehrlein – Presenting a letter (dated September 24, 2008) sent by RIZKCOzann Foods Updating Council on the progress made to date on the conditional approval issued by Council on the Land Development/Sub Division Plan for the proposed Steelton Shur-Fine Store. Mr. Kovach asked if the atmosphere of the economy could delay Mr. Rizk’s ability to obtain funding. Mr. Gehrlein replied that he could not answer that with certainty. He could not confirm or deny that. Mr. Wion stated that this is just to update Council on the status of the project. Mr. Heefner expressed his displeasure with some of the items that have yet to be taken care of. Mr. Kovach stated that a meeting would be scheduled to discuss the project with Mr. Rizk. OTHER BUSINESS: Mr. Gehrlein – Informing Council that an Executive Session is needed to discuss Personnel Matters, Pending Litigation and Land Acquisition Matters. There were no comments. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: Paul Wintergrass; Washington Street; Steelton, PA – Spoke regarding the juvenile setting fires in the neighborhood. Mr. Wintergrass stated that he was burned and $2,500 worth of damage was done to his car. His neighbor has 2 butane gas tanks and they could have blown up, causing much more damage. Chief Lenker stated that he could not speak on this due to pending litigation. COUNCIL’S CONCERNS: Dr. Szada: Had no comment. Mr. Albert: Had no comment. -4-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting October 6, 2008 Mrs. Wiedeman-Krosnar: Had no comment. Mr. Wright: Reminded Council that there is a budget meeting on Thursday and encouraged those available to attend. Mr. Heefner: Had no comment. Mayor Acri: Met with Chief Vance and Mr. Heefner on October 5th. Chief Vance expressed concerns about smoking in Borough buildings. Mayor Acri asked Mr. Gehrlein to send an email to all staff to notify them that smoking is prohibited in any Borough building. Mayor Acri also thanked everyone in the office that decorated for Halloween. Mr. Wion: Had no comment. Mr. Gehrlein: Notified Council that a dedication ceremony would take place on October 28, 2008 at 10:30 AM at the Steelton Boat Launch for a deed transfer of land from the PA Turnpike. There will also be a pledge for paving, walkway upgrades, and overall beautification of the area. All Council Members interested in attending should contact Mr. Gehrlein. On a motion made by Dr. Wright, seconded by Mr. Albert, the Council meeting recessed into executive session at 7:38 pm to discuss personnel matters, land acquisition and potential litigation. The Council meeting reconvened at 8:48 PM. ADJOURNMENT: There being no other business before Council, on a motion by Dr. Szada, seconded by Mr. Wright, the meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ _______________________________ Kathleen D. Handley Dennise Hill Assistant Secretary Executive Administrative Assistant -5-