Borough Council

MINUTES Stroudsburg Borough Council Meeting Tuesday, December3, 2019 at 7:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call - Present were: Council Member Joanne Kochanski, Council Member Anthony Lanfrank, Council Vice President Boyd Weiss, Mayor Tarah Probst, Solicitor Joseph McDonald, Interim Borough Manager Quinn, Council Member Matt Abell, Council Member Mark Connors and Council Member Erica McCabe. Absent was Council President James Smith. A Quorum was present. 2. Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. Approval of Council Meeting Minutes for Regular Meeting, November 19, 2019. Motion by Mr. Weiss to Approve Council Meeting Minutes for Regular Meeting, November 19, 2019, second by Mr. Abell. All in favor Voting YES (Ms. Kochanski, Mr. Lanfrank, Mr. Weiss, Mr. Abell, Mr. Connors) with Ms. McCabe Abstaining. Motion Carries. Old Business 4. Status of remaining Municipal Building Renovation Project Loan balance, re: Fire Alarm System, Upgrade Reception Area. Ms. Quinn advises the countertop will be installed by the end of this week and Ms. Wall will move back next week on Friday the 13th. Ms. Quinn advises all bills have been submitted to Wayne Bank to draw down the last of the money. Ms. Quinn advises we are waiting for the permit for the Fire Alarm System; it should be another 20 days to begin. 5. Status of Bike Rack Project. Mr. Lanfrank advises MCTA is setting up. 6. Status of proposed LERTA Ordinance. Solicitor McDonald advises along with Mr. Abell, they spoke to the School Board today; the School Board would like any meetingsconcerning Lerta to include some members of the School Board as per the Sunshine Law.Solicitor McDonald advises the meeting scheduled can be held as proposed by the 2nd week in December. 7. Status of new fire truck.The following members of the Fire Department were in attendance, Charlie Frantz, Tink Lim, George Gass, Mike Jabbour and Scott Mathieson. Mr. Frantz advised Fire Department members went to Appleton, Wisconsin to inspect the new fire truck November 11th and stayed an extra day in Detroit; there were drastic changes which needed to be made. The total cost is now$812,534, an increase of $13,583 due to add-ons. Mr. Lim advises all the changes were engineering and due to the truck being too high to gain entry into the building. Motion by Mr. Abell to authorize the changes to the Fire Truck with an additional cost of $13,583, second by Ms. McCabe. All in favor Voting YES (Ms. Kochanski, Mr. Lanfrank, Mr. Weiss, Mr. Abell, Ms. McCabe), Voting NO (Mr. Connors). Mr. Frantz advises we will take delivery of the truck May 2020. Motion Carries. New Business 8. Consideration to Approve a proposal from Barry Isett and Associates in the amount of $3,950.00 for professional engineering services for the preparation of plans for the new dual EV Charging Station; the exhaust fan replacement and shower stall/sink for the maintenance building; and lighting and minor power modifications at the Municipal Building.  Motion by Mr. Weiss to Approve a proposal from Barry Isett and Associates in the amount of $3,950.00 for professional engineering services for the preparation of plans for the new dual EV Charging Station; the exhaust fan replacement and shower stall/sink for the maintenance building; and lighting and minor power modifications at the Municipal Building, second by Mr. Lanfrank. Ms. Quinn advises the Borough will do the electric work at the Municipal Building, Borough Shed and for the EV charging stations. Mr. Kimes advises SFM will handle the inspections. All in favor, Motion Carries. 9. Consideration to Adopt a Budget Transfer Resolution. Motion by Mr. Weiss to Adopt a Budget Transfer Resolution, second by Mr. Lanfrank. All in favor, Motion Carries. 10. Consideration of a Request from the Monroe Farmer’s Market to allow one vendor to set up a table on the sidewalk under the awning of Renegade Winery. Motion by Mr. Abell to Approve a Request from the Monroe Farmer’s Market to allow one vendor to set up a table on the sidewalk under the awning of Renegade Winery, second by Mr. Lanfrank. All in favor, Motion Carries. 11. Committee Reports. A. Codes Committee -Ms. Kochanski advises the next meeting is Monday December 9th at 9:30am. B. Budget Committee– Ms. Quinn advises the meeting was scheduled yesterday and needs to be re- scheduled. C. Parking Committee– Ms. McCabe advises there was no meeting. D. Recycling Committee– Mr. Weiss advises there was no meeting. E. Sewer Committee - Mr. Weiss advises there was no meeting. F. Street Committee– Mr. Lanfrank advises the Committee met earlier tonight; the conceptual plan for the traffic study from Mr. Ben Guthrie was emailed to Council prior to this meeting. The Committee is looking for Councils approval to move the information about the 2-way intersection at 5th and Main over to Penn Dot and to reach out to our local representatives for help with the approval process and possible funding. This was the best plan of all solutions originally presented.Mr. Lanfrank will go back to Mr. Ben Guthrie for a final report which can be forwarded to local representatives and Penn Dot. Lengthy discussion ensued. Motion by Mr. Lanfrank to seek support of local representatives and move the conceptual plan for the traffic study forward to Penn Dot with suggestions from the final report, second by Mr. Abell. All in favor, Motion Carries. Mr. Lanfrank advises he has reached out to the School District and the High School Art Teacher about the crosswalk design competition for the kids. This will give kids fill in work after the AP testing is completed in May. The kids will do the designing and stenciling. G. Personnel Committee– Mr. Connors advises he has spoken to Mr. Scott Fiore; 57 applications were received, 18 candidates have been phone screened, there may be a few more screenings. Mr. Scott Fiore feels there are 5-6 possible candidatesto narrow down for Council to interview 3-4 candidates.Mr. Connors advises we need to pick times for the interviews, possibly 3 evenings or weekends, 3 sessions, 1 ½ hours each per candidate to narrow down to 1 or 2 candidates; with the dates scheduled between December 10th through December 17th if possible. Mr. Scott Fiore will ask  the questions, then Council can ask individual questions. Mr. Scott Fiore is not available December 12th, December 19th or Fridays in December. Mr. Connors advises a Special meeting will need a Quorum and Solicitor McDonald confirmed a 24-hour noticeis needed. Mr. Connors advises once the meeting begins,we would adjourn to Executive Session for Personnel Matters. Mr. Connors and Mr. Scott Fiore spoke about inviting the 2 new Council members along with Ms. Quinn to sit in on the initial interviews with the final 2 candidates to meet the staff. Ms. Quinn will work with Council members to complete an online survey in order to schedule the interviews. The next Committee meeting is Thursday at 4:00pm. H. Public Relations/Media Committee– Mayor Probst advises the Committee is promoting Holidays, Small Business Saturday, Christmas Tree Lighting, The Snowmen of Stroudsburg. Local media has been covering all local events. We will be promoting events at the Sherman Theater, Art Gallery Openings and the Indoor Farmers Market. Ms. McCabe advises we will begin to book Concerts in the Park February 2020. I. Redevelopment Committee– Mr. Abell advises the next meeting is scheduled for the December 19th for the Height Ordinance. At the Streets Committee Meeting we spoke about how we need to change the scope of work for the Multi Modal Grant to reduce the Borough’s cost share of $500K. The grant was to install bike lanes, fix sidewalks and increase signage. The costs need to be cut in half as the grant received was $500K and not one million dollars. The Re-development Committee is available to discuss opposed to creating a new Committee. Mr. Abell has one item for Executive Session. J. I-80 Expansion Task Force Committee– Mr. Connors advises the Environmental Assessment Report was completed; there was a 30-day Public Comment period which ended November 30th.The information will be digested and they will decide it’s now in the final design stage, then they will begin engineering stage. We need to continue to write letters to state representatives. The meeting with the Task Force last week was under-attended. We will continue to follow up with other groups including the County Commissioners. K. Stroud Region Open Space and Recreation Commission - Mr. Weiss advises there was no meeting. 12. Mayor’s Report– Mayor Probst wishes everyone Happy Holidays. Mayor Probst advises the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau loves the idea of the skating rink and advised we should apply for a grant through them to cover the costs. Mr. Abell asked if the flowable fill was injected to the alleyway, Mr. Aceadvises there is a meeting with Mr. Oiler Thursday. Mr. Connors has a Real Estate item for Executive Session. 13. Council Member Reports – No Reports 14. Solicitor’s Report– Solicitor McDonald advises there was a productive meeting last week with Ms. Quinn and Mr. Kimes; we addressed follow up items andassisted Mr. Kimes with enforcement matters and information gathering. The suggestion is that we meetmonthlyto pick up on tasks from Council meetings and follow up on any citizen complaints and to help Mr. Kimes if he needs assistance in determining what enforcement actions have been used in the past.There was a hearing scheduled yesterday with Judge Zulick for Adams Outdoor signage validity challenge, it will be re-scheduled with the Court being closed. 15. Manager’s Report– Ms. Quinn advises she is seeking approval to submit the Room Tax Allocation Grant; it must be submitted by December 14th; awards are not published until February 2020. We are estimating $8,700 for the fence, ice rink and lighting and need to find the funds within the budget with re-imbursement from the Grant. RKR Hess will advise if soil is needed. Discussion about lights and a port-o potty.  Motion by Mr. Lanfrank to Apply for the Room Tax Allocation Grant, second by Mr. Connors. All in favor, MotionCarries. 16. Code Enforcement Officer’s Report– No Report. Mr. Connors asked Mr. Kimes about the Property Maintenance Code in effect and which part identifies penalties and enforcement? Mr. Kimes advised we follow IPNC 2012 Code, flexibility is up to the Municipality for penalties. Mr. Kimes advises we send a certified letter to the deeded owner and give them a timeframe for compliance; it not complied in that timeframe; we can cite with the Magistrate. Mr. Connors would like the Codes Committee to discuss Property Maintenance Code. 17. Street Superintendent’s Report - No Report 18. Approval of Bills on Warrants 191203 Motion by Mr. Weiss to Approve of Bills on Warrants 191203, second by Mr. Lanfrank. All in favor, Motion Carries. 19. Public Input for Non-Agenda Items. No Public Input 20. Executive Session. Motion by Mr. Abell to Adjourn to Executive Session at 8:03pm, second by Ms. McCabe. All in favor, Motion Carries. Motion by Mr. Abell to Re-convene the Regular Session at 8:54pm, second by Mr. Connors. All in favor, Motion Carries. 21. Adjournment Motion by Ms. McCabe to Adjourn at 8:54pm, second by Mr. Lanfrank. All in favor, Motion Carries.