City Council

AGENDA BOROUGH OF STEELTON August 6, 2012 CALL MEETING TO ORDER: President Wright with the Pledge of Allegiance MOMENT OF SILENCE: Thomas F. Acri, Mayor APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING AS PRESENTED: EXECUTIVE SESSION HELD BETWEEN MEETINGS: PUBLIC COMMENT: Agenda items only PRESENTATIONS: Roy Christ Grant Presentation Trish Abbatello Parking Concerns/Issues Susan Winblood Parking Concerns/Issues COMMUNICATION: Londonderry Township Fire Company Letter of appreciation for our assistance with their annual Stars and Stripes Event held in June. Andy Hartwick Letter announcing golf outing to support Steel High Rollers Football and Basketball Programs on August 11. Federal Emergency Management Agency Letter informing the Borough of the National Flood Insurance Program map changes for 325 North Front Street and 117 North Front Street. Department of Auditor General Information from the 2011 Liquid Fuels Audit conducted July 18. No findings or comments issued. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Steve Shaver Adams Street Update  AGENDA BOROUGH OF STEELTON August 6, 2012 Page 2 NEW BUSINESS: Sara Gellatly Approval of HRG to provide the engineering services for Permit Year #10, not to exceed the cost of $6,000. Sara Gellatly Ratification of the Borough being the co-applicant for the Firehouse Gaming Grant. Mr. David Wion Ordinance No. 2012-8 Sara Gellatly Mt. Zion Church Annual Picnic OTHER BUSINESS: Sara Gellatly Executive Session (if necessary) AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: COUNCIL’S CONCERNS: ADJOURNMENT:  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 6:30p.m. by President, Jeffery Wright, with the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. In Attendance: Absent: Stephen Shaver Michael Albert Jeffery Wright Denae House Maria Marcinko MaryJo Szada Raymond Spencer Mayor Thomas Acri David A. Wion, Solicitor Sara Gellatly, Borough Manager Kathy I. Sosnowski, Executive Assistant APPROVAL OF MINUTES: On a motion made by Mr. Shaver, seconded by Ms. Marcinko, Council Members present voted unanimously to approve the minutes from July 16, 2012, as presented. PUBLIC COMMENT: Agenda Items Only None. PRESENTATIONS: Trish Abbatello, owner of 55 N. Front St. spoke on behalf of Susan and Marty Winblood of 14 Pine St. She indicated that there are two garages in River Alley for them, but other people are parking, making access to them unavailable. She requested that a “No Parking Here to Corner” sign be placed in the alley heading toward Pine St. Mr. Wright referred the issue to the Police Committee. Roy Christ, Midtown Square Action Council distributed copies of the letter that the group sent to the Dauphin County Gaming Advisory Board. This letter requests that the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners sponsor the Local Share Municipal Grant Application that they intend to submit for the 2012-2013 grant cycle. Dr. Szada asked if the County would sponsor; Mr. Musser said they probably would not because the project is neighborhood specific, not county-wide. Mr. Musser also stated that nobody is sure who in the City of Harrisburg would be willing to send such a letter. A motion was made by Mr. Shaver to approve sending a letter of support, seconded by Ms. Marcinko and approved by all present. -1-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 Dennis Heefner, Steelton representative to the Council of Governments (COG) – reported that one of the items discussed at the recent meeting was standing water and the possible outbreak of West Nile disease due to large numbers of mosquitoes. He advised the Codes Department to be on the lookout for standing water in the Borough. Another issue they discussed was the adoption of a resolution to create an appeals board for code violations. He then gave council a sample resolution to review. When asked if he wanted to elaborate on the matter, Mr. Wion stated that the West Shore COG was established as our appeals board when other ordinances have been adopted. Mr. Heefner stated that the COG is asking each municipality to adopt their own resolution; Lower Paxton adopted theirs last month. Mr. Wion confirmed that this means that Steelton is, in fact, creating our own appeals board. Mr. Heefner stated that the Borough would pick 5 newly appointed members from the updated list (since we joined the West Shore COG) to make up the appeals board. Mr. Shaver said that since Highspire and Swatara Township are listed as newly appointed members, he feels we are represented adequately. Mr. Heefner wasn’t able to attend the meeting when they appointed new members, so he asked if we could assign an alternate to attend COG meetings; it was decided that someone from the Codes Department would be appropriate. He also recommended some kind of monetary charge by the Storm Water Authority to be able to afford repairs to the catch basins in the Borough. If every property owner was charged $20, with 2,400 properties in the Borough we would have $48,000 in the General Fund to do the repairs (each catch basin costs approximately $2,400 to repair). Mr. Shaver also suggested that Swatara Township be included in payments since their water runs down into our catch basins. COMMUNICATION: Londonderry Township Fire Company sent a letter of appreciation for our assistance with their annual Stars and Stripes Event held on June 30, 2012. Andy Hartwick sent a letter inviting everyone to the “Steelton Hair Open” golf outing on Saturday, August 11 to support Rollers football and basketball programs. FEMA sent a letter revalidating map changes for 325 N. Front St. and 117 N. Front St. Department of the Auditor General sent letters with information from the 2011 Liquid Fuels Audit conference held at the Borough building on July 18, 2012. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Mr. Wion updated Council on the Adams Street Project. The county has been unable to secure developers because the restriction on occupancy are too limiting; a “rent-to-own” -2-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 (R-T-O) clause is preferred. The following is the response from Bruce Foreman, the solicitor for the County: The county suggests we would need to allow developers to market for R-T-O and would need at least two year R-T-O deals but that if a contract was entered into as a lease with a purchase right, if the tenant could not qualify the developer would want the right to continue with that tenancy. To do this, they suggest we remove the note from the approved plan and move forward with no owner or equitable owner restriction. They would consider R-T-O with a tenant commencing as a potential buyer allowed to continue for a substantial time to work with the owner toward ownership. Mr. Shaver said we should make a decision on removing the R-T-O prohibition and send the matter back to the Planning Commission. He also stated that people don’t make enough money to afford a mortgage, and with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, we’ll be in the same position if we purchase more property. The Adams Street Committee should make changes so that someone will develop these tracts. Ms. Marcinko asked if these properties could be built and be outright rentals forever or if they would just be R-T-O. Mr. Wion said that if we take the note off, buyers could do whatever they want as long as they meet all the requirements of our plan, such as the format of how many buildings, zoning specifics, etc. Mr. Shaver suggested that we move forward with the recommendation for R-T-O, with purchase after 2 to 4 years. Mr. Acri was also concerned that if R-T-O doesn’t work for the developer, could the developer end up being a low-income landlord? Mr. Wion said the developer could purchase, and then sell the property to someone who could then turn it into rentals. He advised that this is a whole different area in which we should not venture at this time. Mr. Spencer added that the only subsidy we have is CDBG. Eligible buyers should have income of $40,000 for a family of 2; mortgage qualifying is extremely difficult as sub prime mortgages no longer exist and the process also involves some risk. Most banks require a credit score of 720 to 730. Mr. Shaver stated that the County still may not approve; developers also have to borrow money. Ms. Marcinko made a motion to recommend that the Committee remove the restrictions, seconded by Mr. Spencer and approved by all present. NEW BUSINESS: Ms. Gellatly sought approval of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic’s (HRG) request to provide engineering services for Permit Year #10, not to exceed the cost of $6,000 unless approved by the Borough. A motion was made by Mr. Shaver to approve HRG engineering services for Permit Year #10, not to exceed $6,000. The motion was seconded by Ms. Marcinko and approved by all present. Mr. Shaver added that the terms and conditions are the standard ones we use. -3-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 Ms. Gellatly requested ratification for the Borough being the co-applicant for the Firehouse Gaming Grant. Mr. Wion clarified that the application has already been made; we only need a ratification of that action. A motion was made by Mr. Shaver to approve ratification, seconded by Mr. Spencer and approved by all present. Mr. Wion presented Ordinance 2012-8 to establish additional special purpose parking zones, to eliminate special purpose parking zones and to establish a no parking zone. A motion was made by Mr. Spencer to approve Ordinance 2012-8, seconded by Ms. Marcinko and approved by all present. Ms. Gellatly presented a request on behalf of Mt. Zion Church to block off River Alley on August 19th for their annual picnic. A motion was made by Mr. Spencer to approve the request, seconded by Ms. Marcinko. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms. Gellatly informed Council that an Executive Session is needed to discuss personnel matters and pending Harrisburg sewer litigation. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: Alexsandria Motter, 23 Walnut St. – cited a concern about skunks in her neighborhood and the risk that they could have rabies. Dr. Szada mentioned that the County had a phone number to call for problem animals; Mr. Spencer said they no longer take care of this. Ms. Sosnowski offered to send Ms. Motter a wildlife brochure with numbers to call. Dennis Heefner, 337 Swatara St. – stated that he has noticed that many trash cans in the Borough are --not covered, even though residents are constantly reminded of this law. Also, he indicated that the Swatara St. wall is not being cleaned regularly and nobody has followed up on needed repairs to the cracks that were photographed earlier. He asked that the Public Works Department power spray the wall. Ms. Marcinko will check with the Public Works Committee on scheduling the cleaning. Regarding Adams Street, he reminded Council that the Borough never wanted to enter into sales agreements for rentals. Finally, he questioned whether we could capsulate the water near Adams Street. Emuel Powell, 321 Lebanon St. is concerned that Adams Street will become another slum area. Mr. Shaver stated that developers don’t want to do mortgaging because people can’t get loans. That’s why the County is willing to try rent-to-own. Mr. Wright asked Mr. Spencer to elaborate regarding rent-to-own agreements. He stated that developers make sure people qualify for these mortgages. There is also an escrow account for retainers, etc. Not just anyone can get a mortgage for $130,000-$150,000. -4-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 Markis Milberry, 349 Spruce St. is concerned about the height of the basketball poles at Bailey Street Park. There are no adjustment bolts to lower the pole, so the backboard needs to be lowered. Mr. Wright asked Ms. Marcinko to check on the situation; the Neighborhood & Economic Development Committee was to measure the poles. Ms. Marcinko will talk to Mr. Conjar and Ms. House about the issue. Mr. Milberry bought new nets for the basketball courts and gave them to the staff so that Borough employees can install them. COUNCIL’S CONCERNS: Ms. Marcinko stated that she contacted Mr. Heefner about Mr. Atwell’s issue on Adams St. and it will be discussed in executive session as a litigation issue; she told him that he will receive written notification of the results of the meeting. She also said that the deed to 518 N. Front St. was found to be in another person’s name other than the women who brought their issue to Council; now that we know this, the bills will be sent to the insurance company to take care of this. Finally, the Steelton Borough Community Cats is awaiting a $5,000 check and a mentor from The Feral Cat Community Assistance and Training Network. Mr. Shaver reported that Life Team attended the Fire, Ambulance & EMA meeting on Sunday to report on their response times, which have been good. Mr. Spencer had no comments. Dr. Szada had no comments. Mayor Acri reminded everyone of the National Night Out activities tomorrow evening at the firehouse. Over 25 vendors will be present. The event has gotten so large that he recommends shutting off a portion of Front Street next year. On motion by Mr. Shaver, seconded by Dr. Szada, the Council meeting recessed into executive session at 7:36p.m. to discuss a personnel matter, and potential Harrisburg sewer litigation. The Council meeting reconvened at 8:28p.m. Mr. Spencer recommended that Council write an apology letter on behalf of the Borough to Kristen Tate. Mr. Wright made the recommendation to copy Mr. & Mrs. Tate on the letter. Dr. Szada stated that she could not vote on the issue until she sees what the letter says. Mr. Shaver stated that the real problem was how Council handled the sign issue from the start and that the letter should state that. Mr. Spencer stated that the sign issue has been -5-  Steelton Borough Council Meeting August 6, 2012 resolved with the Tate family, but how staff handled the resident’s complaint has not been dealt with. Mr. Spencer volunteered to draft the letter of apology. Mr. Wion suggested that Council review and comment on the draft prior to consideration of adoption. Mr. Wright said no action would be taken on the letter until Mr. Spencer drafts the letter. ADJOURNMENT: There being no other business before Council, on a motion by Dr. Szada, seconded by Mr. Shaver, the meeting adjourned at 8:40p.m. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ _______________________________ Sara Gellatly Kathy I. Sosnowski Borough Manager Executive Assistant -6-