Borough Council

MINUTES Stroudsburg Borough Council Meeting Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 7 p.m. 1. Call Meeting to Order/Roll Call: Council President Weiss called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Borough Manager Cathryn Thomas called roll. Present were President Weiss, Vice-President James Smith, Council Members Joanne Kochanski, Ken Lang, Patrick Maurath, Matt Abell and Mark Connors. Also present were Mayor Tarah Probst and Solicitor Ralph Matergia. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Public Hearing A. Consideration of an Ordinance directing issuance of a General Obligation Note, Series of 2016 in the aggregate principal amount of $490,379.03, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Local Government Unit Debt Act, for the purpose of reimbursing Borough funds advanced to purchase a new pumper fire truck: Bernadette Barratini, the Borough’s Bond Counsel, was present and gave a brief summary of the loan. The public hearing was opened at 7:08 p.m. Fireman Mehmet Barzev asked what the savings is to the Borough by financing the truck through ESSA Bank. Borough Manager Ms. Thomas stated she has not done any calculation to be able to answer the question. Mayor Probst stated the savings is approximately $17,000 while Mr. Smith feels the savings is more like $10,000. 846 Scott Street resident Suzanne McCool feels the borrowing is for a very good cause and trusts Gary Olsen at ESSA. Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Abell, to close the public hearing at 7:10 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. B. Consideration to approve an Ordinance directing issuance of a General Obligation Note, Series of 2016 in the aggregate principal amount of $490,379.03, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Local Government Unit Debt Act, for the purpose of reimbursing Borough funds advanced to purchase a new pumper fire truck: Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Smith, to approve an Ordinance directing issuance of a General Obligation Note, Series of 2016 in the aggregate principal amount of $490,379.03, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Local Government Unit Debt Act, for the purpose of reimbursing Borough funds advanced to purchase a new pumper fire truck. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Public Input: Suzanne McCool reported that she and Maria Gefferts are co-chairs of the newly formed Monroe County Women’s Commission and that March is Women’s History Month. The County Commissioners will be honoring women at their March 16th meeting and at 2:00 p.m. that same day the movie Iron Jawed Angels regarding women’s right to vote will be playing in Beer’s Hall at ESU. Also on May 4th there is a women’s career fair at the Monroe Campus of Northampton Community College. Police Chief Bill Parrish announced his resignation from the Stroud Area Regional Police Department effective March 18th and has accepted a positon at ESU which will be less stressful and will give him more time to spend with his growing family. He voiced his appreciation in working with Council all these years and will still be around to assist anyway he can. The Chief received a standing ovation from the Council and the public. 5. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes from February 16, 2016: Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Smith, to approve the Council Meeting Minutes from February 16, 2016. Motion passed unanimously. Old Business 6. Consideration to enter into an agreement with Monroe County for administration of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for fiscal year 2015 (this agreement is revised from the version provided to the Borough and approved by Council on January 19, 2016): Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Abell, to enter into the revised agreement with Monroe County for administration of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for fiscal year 2015. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Discussion of a proposal to situate one or more new signs along Interstate 80 to promote the Borough, including making a request to Brodhead Creek Regional Authority (BCRA) to possibly have a sign on property owned by the Stroudsburg Municipal Authority (aka BCRA): Mayor Probst reported that much of the property along Route 80 where she originally wanted to place signs is not owned by the Borough. It is either owned privately or through the Commonwealth. The Borough can apply for PennDOT’s Tourist Oriented Directional Sign (TODS) program for signage to be placed at borough exits at a one- time cost of $675 per location which covers the application fees and placement of the signs. The Borough will check with PennDOT to see if we can make the signs ourselves to save money. If that doesn’t work out, there is a piece of property owned by the Stroudsburg Municipal Authority off the Main Street exit that the borough may consider. Motion by Mr. Abell, second by Mr. Lang, to make application to PennDOT TODS program with the application fee not to exceed $375 for 5 signs. Motion passed unanimously. Suzanne McCool suggested the borough request the County free up some Hotel Tax money for this project as it is for tourism promotion and development. Mr. Connors would like the borough to make the most of the PennDOT application fee by trying to get all the locations on one application and exploring all the options. New Business 8. Consideration of a request from Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health and Developmental Services for 9th Street to be closed between Ann and Main Streets from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 20th for the Annual Mental Health Awareness Walk: The request is actually to close 8th Street between Ann and Main not 9th Street as indicated. Program Coordinator Norma Swint was present and stated this will be their 16th walk. The goal is to fight the mental illness stigma and encourage people to come forward. About 100 people are expected to participate in the walk and 700 to attend the picnic at East Stroudsburg’s Dansbury Park. Public Works Director Brian Bond stated this event only requires assistance from one department employee and four barricades. Motion by Mr. Lang, second by Mrs. Kochanski, to approve the request from Carbon-Monroe-Pike Mental Health and Developmental Services for 8th Street to be closed between Ann and Main Streets from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 20th for the Annual Mental Health Awareness Walk. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Consideration to approve a request from the American Cancer Society for purple flags to be hung along Main Street supporting the “Paint the Town Purple” promotion and the Relay for Life event, from May 23 through June 12: American Cancer Society representative Lisa Hoey was present to answer Council’s questions. Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Abell, to allow the purple flags to be hung along Main Street with the help of the Street Department. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Consideration to approve Borough officials and employees to attend training: Inflow & Infiltration Toolbox, on April 21st in Clarks Summit: two public works employees, one Council member and the Borough Manager: Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Lang, to approve Borough officials and employees to attend the Inflow & Infiltration Toolbox training on April 21st in Clarks Summit. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Consideration of a request from the BCRA for contractors performing water line replacement work on Sarah Street, from 5th to 8th Streets, to work on Saturdays with the project spanning May through July: Mr. Bond explained that BCRA would only need to work on Saturday if they fell behind due to weather. Council felt the area was too congested on Saturdays due to the Farmers’ Market to make that commitment. Mr. Bond suggested BCRA give the Borough one week notice in case of an upcoming holiday or scheduled event in town. Motion by Mr. Lang, second by Mr. Connors, to deny the request from the BCRA to allow work on Saturdays with the project spanning May through July. Motion passed; 5-2-0 with Mr. Maurath and Mr. Abell voting no. 12. Solicitor’s Report: None. 13. Mayor’s Report: a. Ms. Probst reported that the Farmers’ Market has not had time to discuss the particulars of their request to hang flags downtown yet. They will get back to her in a few weeks. b. A request was received from the Administrator of the Pocono Ambulatory Surgical Center for a Storm Street street sign on the corner of Storm Street and Broad Street to help guide patients to their location. The Street Department will take care of replacing the sign.  c. Mayor Probst reported she already has six family-friendly bands lined up for the summer Thursday night concerts in the park. Origins Gallery is requesting free sidewalk chalk events during the Thursday night concerts. Council consensus was yes that would be permissible. Sound Mind Recording Studios is also offering four free recording hours to one of the bands. The Mayor has also received inquiries asking if permits are needed to set up tables on the grass with brochures and business cards. Codes Officer Jeff Wilkins stated there is no permit required. The Mayor is going to ask Café Duet to stay open later on the concert nights. The County has approved the event including the electricity. 14. Council Member Reports: Mr. Lang invited Council to attend any of the HARB meetings which take place the first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Abell was pleasantly surprised to see the new water bottles at Council’s chairs after he voiced his displeasure of supporting Deer Park and Nestle. Ms. Thomas also suggested using water pitchers and cups. Mr. Connors hopes everyone received the email notes from the first Personnel Committee meeting. In regards to the search for a new solicitor, he asked for authorization to contact the Monroe County Bar Association to advertise through email at no cost and through a print mailing at a cost of $30 to $40 an issue per week. Motion by Mr. Lang, second by Mr. Maurath, to support the Personnel Committee’s request of mailing and reaching out to the Monroe County Bar Association for a cost not to exceed $100. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Connors attended an SROSRC meeting where the grant recently received that was intended to look at gaps in the Levee Loop Trail Greenway, specifically in Stroud Township on Stokes Mill Road was discussed. He also learned that they are trying to move forward with the greenway proposal for the creekside walkway behind ESSA. Mr. Connors also attended the PennDOT meeting where the Borough was asked to identify intersections we feel will be impacted by the closing of Shafers School House Road. He encourages our Street Department and Council to forward their comments to Mr. Reber at PennDOT. Ms. Thomas added that it’s not only impacted intersections but also intersections not currently signalized that may have to be. Mr. Connors added PennDOT is moving forward with plans to close the Shafers Schoolhouse Road intersection by November and encouraged Council to voice their opinions to PennDOT to explore other measures besides rumble strips.  15. Manager’s Report: a. Ms. Thomas, Mr. Cramer and Mr. McKeown will be attending the continued hearing with the County Commissioners regarding 701 Main Street tomorrow at 1:30 but doesn’t feel there is a huge possibility of being successful. She did spend time at the County reviewing the leases in the building and gave that information to our professionals. There are two new issues with the fire department renovation project. The first is as a result of last week’s heavy rain, there was a significant amount of water downstairs in the front of the building and in the kitchen. Water is also coming up through seams in the basement floor as that slab is directly on top of dirt from when the floor was originally poured. Rather, a proper design would have been to have stone on top of the dirt and directly under the floor. Dave McGarry will put together a detailed list of costs to fix the issue which Ms. Thomas will forward to Council before the next meeting. The second issue is that once the epoxy floor sealant was removed on the first floor in the equipment bays, it was realized that the concrete floor is not one piece. It is made up of 10-foot by 10-foot slabs with one inch gaps filled with caulk in between them. The original new replacement epoxy surface will not work properly with the gaps and therefore we have to come up with a different product and process to replace the flooring. 16. Approval of Bills on Warrant 160301: Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Abell, to approve the bills on Warrant 160301. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Executive Session: None. 18. Adjournment: Motion by Mr. Smith, second by Mr. Abell, to adjourn at 8:12 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Approved: ________________________________ Boyd Weiss, President of Council Attest: ______________________________________ Cathryn Thomas, Borough Manager/Secretary