Borough Council

OCTOBER 20, 2020 8159 COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLIN met in regular session in the Municipal Building Council Chambers on October 20, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. prevailing time with President Steve Marone presiding. ROLL CALL: Moses Present Kushner Present Santoro Present Inglis Present Kostelnik Present Stephenson Present Marone Present Seven members present. Mayor Kelly present. CITIZEN COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: No citizen comments. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Inglis, seconded by Moses that the minutes of the September 15, 2020 Council Meeting be approved. Roll Call Seven ayes, no nays. Motion carried. AGENDA ITEMS: A. RESOLUTION OF COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF WEST MIFFLIN APRROVING THAT THE ACQUISITION AND SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION OF A PARCEL OF VACANT PROPERTY KNOWN AS LOT AND BLOCK NUMBER 385-H-00034 WOULD BE IN ACCORD WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF THE MUNICIPALITY (Property is located on McGowan Avenue, West Mifflin). Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Santoro. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. B. Motion by Moses, seconded by Inglis to approve hiring of Steven Fenus as substitute School Crossing Guard, pending the successful completion of background check and clearances. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. C. Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Santoro to approve advertising for substitute Crossing Guards. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays Motion carried. D. Motion by Kostelnik, seconded by Moses to approve the hiring of Luke Miller as Mechanic in the Public Works Department. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS: Community Development…………………………………………………...Walter B. Anthony Mr. Anthony read the Community Development Report for the Month of September 2020. Police………………………………………………………………...…Chief Anthony Topolnak Chief Anthony Topolnak read the Police Report for the Month of September 2020. Mr. Marone asked if everything is going smooth regarding the witnesses coming to the building and waiting in their cars. Chief Topolnak replied yes everything is going smooth and all protocols are being followed.  OCTOBER 20, 2020 8160 Public Works…………………………………………………………………………James Hess Mr. Hess read the Public Works Report for the Month of September 2020. Mayor Kelly said residents received a recording from Pennsylvania American Water regarding flushing out the lines. Mayor Kelly questioned Mr. Hess if it would be done in the 13 days the recording said. Mr. Hess replied yes that is what the memo said. Mr. Kamauf reached out to the water company and stated this is an annual flushing they need to do, and it includes the entire borough. EMS…………………………………………………………………………Chief Todd Plunkett Chief Plunkett read the EMS Report for the month of September 2020. REPORT OF THE MAYOR: Mayor Kelly reported he had sent a letter to District Attorney asking for assistance in purchasing Police body cameras, and also combining it with 2 grants that are available. Mayor Kelly explained why the cameras are needed. Mr. Marone commented regarding the Mayors request last month for the money in the budget. They have looked at it and we are still at a large short fall due to Covid. Mr. Marone commented we shouldn’t dip into the savings any more than needed. There are other avenues that can be looked into for the cameras. Mayor Kelly replied there is $150,000 in the federal forfeiture account that could be used to purchase the cameras. Mayor Kelly said there isn’t any better way to spend the money than to safeguard the Borough. Mr. Marone replied to if we took out the money for the cameras that would leave $60,000 which isn’t even enough buy a car. Mr. Marone commented this would have to be discussed further with Chief Topolnak before spending the money. Mayor Kelly commented this has already been discussed with the Chief and he wants the cameras. Mr. Marone replied the Chief has never stated at a meeting that he is in need of these cameras, and he was looking at different avenues for purchasing the cameras. Mayor Kelly asked the Chief if he disagreed with anything he was saying. Chief Topolnak replied he agrees, but if the money from the federal forfeiture is used then the grant will not reimburse us. Mayor Kelly commented if we got the process started hopefully the grant would then be available. Mayor Kelly commented a value can’t be put on the safety of an officer. REPORT OF THE SOLICITOR: Solicitor DiLucente reported Chief Topolnak requested him to review a request for a voluntary system put in place to the citizens of the Borough. The citizens would be able to share video from their cameras with the Police Department. Solicitor DiLucente reported the UPMC amended lease is starting to be looked at for the time of renewal. Solicitor DiLucente informed the Borough a praecipe for writ summons was served upon the Borough through Council.  OCTOBER 20, 2020 8161 REPORT OF THE ENGINEER: Matt from KLH Engineering filled in for Veronica Bennett. Matt said Ms. Bennett sent her report the week before for the caucus meeting. Matt asked if anyone had any questions regarding her report. REPORT OF THE BOROUGH MANAGER: Mr. Kamauf read the Finance Report for the month of September 2020. PAYMENT OF BILLS: Motion by Kushner, seconded by Inglis that all bills properly approved by the Finance Committee be paid. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: Motion by Moses, seconded by Santoro to reapprove the Sheetz consolidation plan. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. Motion by Moses, seconded by Kushner to approve waiving the vendor permit fees for the School District fundraiser being held on October 24, 2020. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. Motion by Moses, seconded by Kushner to disband the current Recreation Committee with plans to reorganize and reform this Committee in January 2021. Roll Call: Six ayes, no nays. Motion carried. Mayor Kelly said he is opposed to disbanding the Committee. The volunteers have done a lot to make the events successful for the community. Mr. Marone replied he has worked with these people for years and is not asking them to go away, but is encouraging them to apply again. Mr. Inglis replied if a new part time employee is hired for the Recreation position, they should take part in who is on the Recreation Committee. CITIZENS COMMENTS: Jim Jasinski 4100 Home Street asked with the loss of revenue due to 225 properties to PA turnpike. Loss of earned income revenue from business’s such as Kennywood Park, Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, the Casinos, Real Estate Transfer Fees and all the businesses forced to close due to Corona Virus. Also the upcoming Property Reassessment hearings. What is Council doing to offset these shortfalls? In the past 2 years the Borough has overspent 2 million dollars. What is being done toward Borough’s Deferred Outflows and Inflows? What is being done toward the net borough position of negative $16,924,462.00? Mr. Kamauf replied we knew the properties were coming so we made the adjustments. Some of the taking of properties are not taxable right now. Of course any revenue short fall is not a good thing, however revenue wise it’s about $80,000.00. There are some offsets. We have received money from the turnpike. The goal of this project is to spread the growth in the community, and the turnpike. Some statistics pertaining to the question are, a tax comparison with last year shows this year’s Real Estate taxes are the same as last years. Real Estate Deed transfer tax is up $15,000.00 from last year. EIT tax is down but only by 2%, and that could be a fluctuation of collection at this point. The largest loss was from Kennywood closing. We do have a large revenue source from Kennywood, hopefully they have a successful year next year. Mercantile, restaurant and everything else is trending very closely with last year.  OCTOBER 20, 2020 8162 Mr. Moses commented property reassessments won’t have any effect until next year in 2021. We understand that and will budget accordingly. Regarding Mr. Jasinski’s question of what will Council do to offset the short falls. Mr. Kamauf replied we have been very diligent looking at the budget, and have made a lot of cost cuts this year. We do have to wait until the end of the year to see where we finish at, but we did tighten the belts for all the departments. Regarding Mr. Jasinski’s comment to overspending 2 Million dollars in the last 2 years. Mr. Kamauf replied he is not sure what Mr. Jasinski is referring to, but Council has received copied of the Audit every year. A budget is a moving number, you come up with your best guess, but things can change. Looking at the General Fund balance there was a short fall both years, but there are 2 major projects that have not been put into it because we have not been reimbursed yet. You do have to look at the totality of all the funds, not just the General Funds. Regarding the net Borough position of $16,924,462.00. Mr. Kamauf replied Mr. Jasinski can call and ask exactly what he is looking for. Mr. Moses commented future debts, and pension liabilities is to be expected. It is a huge number, but the payments are made over the next 20 years. Mr. Moses reinforced Mr. Kamauf saying a budget is a moving number. A budget is not a spending limit, it is a spending guide. If we are still within our total revenue, then it’s not an operating deficiency. You have to look at all governmental accounts not just the General Fund. Mayor Kelly commented Mr. Kamauf should explain that the audit was completed. Mr. Kamauf replied only ¾ of the budget is released to the public. You have to read all 52 pages to understand the budget. We also have to submit these to our bonding agencies for our bond rating. The last 2 times our bond rating was raised which indicates the bonding agency thinks we are financially stable. Operating funds are still well over $4,000,000.00 (Four Million Dollars). There is very much uncertainty in our next year, but we will continue to be diligent with our money. Mr. Kamauf encouraged Mr. Jasinski to contact him if he has any other questions that weren’t answered. Mayor Kelly personally thanked Mr. Kamauf for the way he runs the Borough. Mr. Kamauf replied we have looked over everything and have a very good team. We don’t waste tax payer’s money. Mr. Kamauf knows there will be challenges and looks forward to working with everyone in the future. Mr. Moses compared his agreeance with purchasing Police body cameras with having to spend the money wisely. We have the responsibility to protect these citizens, but we also have the stewardship of their money. It is a very tough balance. Mayor Kelly replied he has been asking for the cameras for 7 years. Now that there are liability issues, riots fights and Police Officers getting injured, we need the cameras. We don’t have to buy them all at once, we could break it down into pieces. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Kushner, seconded by Stephenson that the Meeting be adjourned. Meeting adjourned at 7:12 pm prevailing time.