Borough Council

JANUARY 19, 2016 7888 COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLIN met in regular session in the Municipal Council Chambers on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. prevailing time with President Scott Stephenson presiding. ROLL CALL: Kushner Present Olack Present Marone Present Davis Present Stupar Present Kostelnik Present Stephenson Present Seven members present. Absent none. Mayor Kelly via phone. CITIZENS COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: Jim Jasinski 4100 Home Street asked if the vehicle listed in Item E will be for take-home use. Mr. Kamauf replied that the vehicle will be for Borough use only. Mr. Jasinski asked about the increase of salaries listed in Item B and if this included Public Works and the Police Department. Mr. Kamauf said Item B are the non-union administrative employees. He said the Public Works 4 year contract was approved and voted on last month and the Police Department contract runs through the end of this year. John Koczka 4333 Everlawn Street said the Borough should be more considerate of taxpayers when approving raises. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Olack, seconded by Marone that the Minutes of the December 15, 2015 and the January 4, 2016 Reorganization Meetings be approved. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. AGENDA ITEMS: A. ORDINANCE OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLINALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA AMENDING THE BOROUGH CODIFICATION OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO TOWING AND SALVAGING MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE BOROUGH. A MECHANISM WILL BE ESTABLISHED TO NAME AN OFFICIAL TOWER/SALVOR AND AN APPROVED FEE SCHEDULE, BOTH OF WHICH MAY BE CHANGED FROM TIME TO TIME BY RESOLUTION._____________________________________________________ Solicitor Greg Evashavik opened the Public Hearing. Mr. Evashavik read the summary of the Ordinance. He also explained the Ordinance has been advertised for the last two weeks in the Valley Mirror. A question was asked when the Borough will begin accepting applications. Mr. Evashavik said a Request for Proposal will be finalized as soon as possible. Mr. Keith Kovalsky of Division Street asked if there is an agreement on a fee schedule. Mr. Evashavik explained that Council will have to enact the Ordinance, then decide to advertise for a Request for Proposal. If this is not agreed upon by Council then there will be a requirement of the designated towers to submit the necessary information of what is now required. Joe Parkinson of Skylark Avenue commented he believes the towing companies should be located in the Borough. Mr. Evashavik  JANUARY 19, 2016 7889 replied no changes are being made with this Ordinance. This will give Council some control of regulations. Jim Jasinski of Home Street said he believes the Borough is being well served by both of the current towers. Hearing no further questions or comments, Solicitor Evashavik declared the Public Hearing closed. Motion by Marone, seconded by Kushner that the ordinance be enacted. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. Ordinance give No. 1201. B. RESOLUTION OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLIN, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, FIXING AND ESTABLISHING THE SALARIES AND WAGES OF THE BELOW LISTED AND VARIOUS EMPLOYEES OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLIN FOR THE PERIOD COMMENCING WITH THE FIRST PAY PERIOD IN JANUARY, 2016 AND CONTINUING FORWARD UNTIL OTHERWISE AMENDED BY BOROUGH COUNCIL._________________ Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Davis the resolution by adopted. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. Resolution given No. 1296. C. Motion by Olack, seconded by Marone to approve the appointment of Hosack, Specht, Muetzel & Wood LLP to conduct the financial statement audits for the Borough of West Mifflin year ending December 31, 2015 at a cost of Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($17,250.00). Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried D. Motion by Olack, seconded by Kostelnik to ratify and approve the insurance renewals for: Travelers including: Property, Inland Marine, General, Law Enforcement, Public entity, Employment, Auto and Cyber Liabilities, Auto Damage and Umbrella Coverage at an annual cost of $250,524.00. Excalibur Insurance Management Services, LLC-Workers Compensation and Employment Liability Insurance at an annual cost of $460,349.00 Roll Call: Six ayes, one nay. (Stupar). Motion carried. E. Motion by Olack, seconded by Marone to approve lease of 2016 GMC Terrain from Bowser at a cost of Three hundred Twenty-Two ($322.00) per month for the replacement of the Community Development Vehicle. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. F. Motion by Marone, seconded by Olack to approve lease of Kyocera Digital Copier/Scanner/Printer from CCA Solutions, 48 month lease at One Hundred Three Dollars and Forty Cents ($103.40). Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. G. Motion by Olack, seconded by Stupar to approve purchase of the following equipment from Mobile Radio Services a COSTAR Vendor for the Police Communication Tower: Description Total Cost Canopy unit modules 2400mhh (replace transmition lines) 3,712.80 Materials for satellite receivers & Install Emerson School 3,674.67 Materials for satellite receivers & Install Homeville School 2,714.67 Materials for satellite receivers & Install Old PD 2,714.67 Canopy Accessories-Multicoupler/mounts/cable/power supplies 2,250.75 Additional Materials for Receiver antennas @ NEW PD 1,514.67 Material for Equipment Racks Tower site 2,997.87 Material for Satellite receiver to be installed Walmart Site 1,514.67 Total 21,094.77  JANUARY 19, 2016 7890 Mr. Kostelnik asked if this was the final cost. Chief Davies replied this figure is more than the half way point. There will still be additional costs. Mr. Olack asked is this will come from the Federal Forfeiture Fund to which Chief Davies replied yes, along with the additional costs. Roll Call: Seven ayes no nays. Motion Carried. Before proceeding with Departmental Reports, Mr. Anthony asked if he could have a motion of approval for the Kascak Subdivision and Consolidation Plan. This was inadvertently left off the Agenda Items. It was agreed by Council to vote at this time. H. Motion by Olack, seconded by Marone to approve the Kascak Subdivision and Consolidation Plan. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS: Community Development……………………………………………….…..Walter B. Anthony Mr. Anthony read the Community Development Report for year ending 2015. Mr. Anthony also informed Council the Foreman issue is being pursued in Civil Court with our solicitors. Police……………………………………………………………………….....Chief Ken Davies Chief Davies read the Police Department Report for the month of December 2015 along with the yearend report. Chief Davies reported that all three candidates hired for the Police Department have passed both the West Mifflin and Pennsylvania physical and psychological testing and will begin working February 1, 2016. Public Works………………………………………………………………………..James Hess Mr. Hess read the Public Works Department Report for the month of December 2015. Recreation……………………………………………………………………...…….Steve Keron Mr. Keron reported the following: The Father/Daughter dance will be held on Saturday February 20th at Westwood Golf Club. Jump Start Sports will be hosting a basketball league on Friday evenings beginning February 12th and running through March 18th for children ages 4-6. The games will be held at Clara Barton Elementary. Walk America started their second session January 11 th. The 30 session class runs Mondays and Thursday nights from 6-7 p.m.  JANUARY 19, 2016 7891 EMS…...Chief Todd Plunkett Chief Plunkett read the EMS Report for year end 2015 along with the month of December 2015. REPORT OF THE MAYOR: Mayor Kelly reported that most of the calls that come through his office are complaints about the Borough not having FIOS service. Mayor Kelly asked Council if something can be placed on the website about this. Mr. Kamauf replied that not having FIOS in the Borough has nothing to do with the Borough of West Mifflin. Numerous meetings have been held with a representative of Verizon who said this is strictly Verizon’s business decision. REPORT OF THE SOLICITOR: Solicitor Evashavik reported he had the new lease for the West Mifflin Soccer Club. He read some of the changes that included visitor parking instructions and approval from the Borough for first time use for play or practice. Mr. Olack asked if Council should establish hours of use for the field. He suggested Council talk to the Soccer Club. Mr. Evashavik said he will wait for Council to instruct adding hours of use to the Soccer lease. REPORT OF THE ENGINEER: Mr. John Balewski of Chester Engineering reported he did not have a report but did meet with the Borough Manager and Community Development to review some of the ongoing issues. He said he will have a report for next month. REPORT OF THE BOROUGH MANAGER: Mr. Kamauf read the Finance Report for the month of December 2015. PAYMENT OF BILLS: Motion by Davis, seconded by Kushner that all bills properly approved by the Finance Committee be paid. Roll Call: Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Marone to hire Michael J. Ragan as a laborer in the Street Department at pay and benefits as per the collective bargaining agreement subject to passing physical and drug testing. Roll Call: Five ayes, two nays, (Stupar, Olack). Motion carried.  JANUARY 19, 2016 7892 Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Marone to hire Casey J. Mihalcin as a laborer in the Street Department at pay and benefits as per the collective bargaining agreement subject to passing physical and drug testing. Roll Call: Five ayes, two nays, (Stupar, Olack). Motion carried. CITIZENS COMMENTS: Harry Thompson 6679 Adams Avenue asked what kind of pension plan does the non-union employees of the Borough have. He said the school’s pension plan is in a deficient and wondered if the Borough’s is as well. Mr. Kamauf explained that non-union employees do have a pension. The Police Department and Public Works employees are in a separate pension plan. Mr. Kamauf further explained that going forward new hires and future hires will not be associated with any pension plan. Instead they will be in a 401K plan with some matching funds. Roberta Woods 722 Camp Hollow Road spoke about a problem she has with her property which adjoins with Borough and School District properties. There is a retaining wall that is deteriorating and is causing her land to shift. Her family was to repair the retaining wall but could not get access to it because of tall growth along with poison sumac. She tried contacting the School District with no avail. When she approached the Borough she was told to obtain a new survey which she paid $450.00 for but was told it is not the Borough’s problem. She said the survey clearly shows the retaining wall is on Borough property. Because of the deteriorating retaining wall, her property has washed away from rain. She went on to say that many years ago an error was discovered in regards to a road that used to be on one side of her house. This road, Linda Lane was then moved to the other side of her house. That is when this retaining wall was constructed by the Borough. This is the side of the house with the problem. Mr. Stephenson said a meeting will be arranged with the Borough Manager and the Engineer. The engineer will survey the property and the Solicitor will research the problem and make the determination. Mrs. Woods said the fence is now leaning and supported by a telephone pole. She provided pictures of all areas she discussed. Mr. Anthony added that Linda Lane is a private road and determination of ownership of the property needs to be made. Mrs. Woods said Linda Lane is a paper street to access a private road. Those residents who live there have a right of way to go through the Woods property if Linda Lane closes for any reason. If the wall and her shed washes away, this road will be completely blocked off. Mr. Hess and Mr. Kamauf said they will be out to view her property. John Koczka 4333 Everlawn Street asked Council what was the percentage of the increase in salaries of the nonunion employees. Mr. Stephenson said Mr. Kamauf received a 4% increase and the rest of the employees received a 2% increase. Mr. Koczka said Council should consider that there was no increase in Social Security this year. Mr. Stephenson said there was much consideration in negotiating the increase. Jim Jasinski 4100 Home Street commented on Century III Mall. He said the owners, Moonbeam, will no doubt want a reassessment which will result in costing the Borough more money. He went on to say that with the poverty rate in the United States increasing, we have to watch our money. He said the average senior citizen would withdraw a certain percentage of their investment to supplement their income. With the stock market on the decrease, this percentage will rise leaving the average senior citizen with a lot less in their investment. He stressed that the Borough needs to watch their spending. With that, he believed the two new hires in Public Works is illegal due to the fact there was no public notice of the job openings. Mr. Evashavik said the hiring was totallylegal and there were many applicants on file. Mr. Jasinski disagreed with his statement. Mr. Marone remarked that Mr. Jasinski was at last month’s meeting and didn’t comment on the new hires. Mr. Jasinski replied that was different  JANUARY 19, 2016 7893 because it was the Police Department new hires. Mr. Stephenson responded by saying Public Works is down seven employees and these new hires were budgeted. Mr. Kamauf said last year one employee quit and another passed away. He said Council waited for the new budget for the hiring which will be a bigger savings for the Borough. These new hires are not in the pension plan but will be in a 401K plan and the starting wage scale is lower. Mr. Marone said he went through 43 applications that were on file and these were the best two applicants. Mr. Stephenson explained that these two new hires still have to go through physical and drug testing along with training. They may not begin employment until the end of February. Mr. Jasinski still insisted these positions should be advertised. Mr. Stephenson said in accordance with our Solicitor, the Borough does not have to advertise for these positions. When asked what the starting salary for a general laborer in the Street Department will be, Mr. Stephenson said it will be $16.00, which in the old contract this wage was higher. Mr. Parkinson asked if Borough Employees will be forced to live in the Borough. Mr. Evashavik responded by saying this is done be collective bargaining and needs to be negotiated. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Marone, seconded by Olack that the Meeting be adjourned. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. prevailing time.