This Meeting was recorded for Accuracy

Present: Ron Betts, Clark Baird, Sue Bartow, Beth Thompson, Jeffery Miller- Solicitor, Council President Aaron Bouch

Absent – Mayor Tom Pickup

Gen Public - Dan Short Jr, Ligonier Echo Representative- Alexander Ashcroft, Michele Bouch, Officer Salley, and Officer Chilcote

Meeting called to order 7PM by Aaron Bouch

Police Report for March was given by Officer Salley.
Total Incidents 1
Total Arrests 0
Total Accidents 1
Total Parking Tickets 0
Total Non-Traffic Citations 0
Total Traffic Citations 3
Total Written Warnings 4
Total Traffic Stops 6
Assists
PSP 0
St Clair TWP. 0
Seward Boro 0
Fire Dept 0
EMS 0
Ligonier TWP 0
Ligonier Boro 0
Sheriff Dept 0
Mileage
Beginning 11314 Ending 13701 Total 387
Fuel 46.1 gallons Hours 80

Officer Salley also spoke to Mayor Pickup – Police car needed inspection- Had it done. Had an issue with driver side turn signal bulb burned out – took care of it. Also no charge for inspection.
Ron motioned to approve Police Report, Clark 2nd. All approved. Motion Carried.

Clark, questioned the concern of the dog’s barking at the corner of 2nd & Shaffer St. Officer Chilcito sat by home for approx. ½ hour and heard the continuous barking of dogs. He will be stopping by the home to check on shots and license’s for the dogs and if need be issue citation.

Invoice for police services from last month was reviewed by council, 911 calls, hours, and services rendered. Motion to approve and pay invoice for services made by Sue, Ron 2nd. All approved. Motion carried.

Police contract for next 6 months. Changes were made as requested by New Florence. Aaron motioned to approve 2nd by Ron. All in favor. Motion carried.

Approval of March 1 Regular Meeting Minutes were made by Clark, Beth 2nd. All approved. Motion carried.

Approval of March 13 Special Meeting Minutes – Aaron Motions, Beth 2nd. All approved. Motion carried.

Approval of March treasurer report. Clark questioned the payment of Per Capita commission to Jessica. Pat stated that is the amount of commission on the funds she has collected so far. He wanted to know about reimbursement back to town if council decides to refund $5.00 back to residents. Pat said then we would get the difference back from Jessica on this also. Motion was made to approve Treasurer Report by Clark, Aaron 2nd motion. All approved. Motion carried.

Solicitor Report: Jeffery stated the Arbitration Hearing has been set up for April 23 at 9 AM at Courthouse in Greensburg. Need Representative from the Borough to attend. Jeffery already spoke to Arch Dodson on attending since he was a part of Council at the time. Jeffery does want to see if they will accept certified copies of our minutes and other documents to be admitted without having Pat’s attendance, if they will not accept that then Pat will need to attend. Aaron said he has every intention on being there even though he was not on council at the time. Clark wanted to know why Arch will be there. Jeff stated Arch had direct contact with MJ Construction and he has all the information on him. Jeff does not know if Arch will be good for the Borough or not. Sue may go or may not. She was on council in between that time period. Jeffery said it should be approx. an hour for the arbitration. In Jeffery’s opinion he seems to think we are going to win. Arch know's what the full story was and had direct communication with the people.

Public Comment: No public comment.
Next item. Boat dock grant paperwork. Pat stated we did receive our $15,000. For phase one of the project that included the expansion of the boat ramp making it longer and less steep and to bring the road way up closer to the ramp for easier access. Mr. Crounauer from Westmoreland County Conservation District came and met with Sue, Ron and myself. Did measurements and took notes on what we would like to see happen. He got the approval clearance from Game Commission, Fish & Boat Commission, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Conservation & Natural Resources. He also had the permit fees waived for us. He submitted a copy of the plans to improve the area. The documents are open for review for anyone who wishes to look at them. Phase two of the project has been submitted for a grant for the, fencing, lighting, restrooms, and expansion of the parking area as well as the directional sign for kayak boat rentals where the launch ramp is located. We will know by the end of April whether we will receive the additional funds for the project. Pat spoke to Joe LaMantia who owns the property at the corner of Market and 2nd street and got his permission to install the directional sign at that intersection. We also received a letter of support from Laurel Point Outfitters for the project and they in turn will be working with the authorities for the kayaking rentals. Mr. Dodson is in contact with his attorney to set up a waiver to not hold Laurel Point Archery nor the Borough for any lawsuit or damages resulting from an injury while they are on the river.

Next item, Drain issue at John Kovac property. Ron said he hasn’t been able to find the drain yet.
Aaron said he was talking to John Speidel at Fire Hall. He seems to think the drain comes out by DiRinaldo’s past the curve. He remembers as a child seeing it come out back that way. Ron said a 12 inch drain is supposed to go through the dyke behind Kovac’s. He to still keep looking. Jeffery questioned the problem. Aaron and Ron explained the flooding issue from the large hole that was blown in the ground where the drain came down from the graveyard and across to that area. Aaron to notify the engineer from LTAP to see what he thinks. Aaron said we may be able to get a Dirt & Gravel Grant to fix the problem now that he is certified. Table to next month for update.

Next Item. Nims training reminder for all council. Pat needs a copy of the certificates.

Next item. Street Commissioner – Brinton Scribe has quit. Still haven’t received a letter of resignation nor got the keys back from him. Aaron stated he has been in contact with him multiple times. Clark said he to make a verbal acceptance of his resignation. Sue 2nds. All in favor. Moption Carried. Aaron to attempt another try to get the keys back. Sue makes motion to appoint Ron for the position, Aaron 2nds. All in favor. Motion carried.

Next item: YMCA Summer Program. This year $950.00 for cost of program. Should we also send a letter for West Wheatfield and Fairfield TWP asking for $150.00 from each locality to help with the food and drinks since kids from both locations also attend. Bolivar Borough paid for this program last year for the kids to attend 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Clark agreed to send letters to both localities. Sign up for the program can be done on May 19th from the community day event. Aaron motioned to send the letters, Clark 2nd. All approved. Motion Carried.

Next item. Fairfield TWP still hasn’t paid for their portion of the W/C for 2018. A 2nd letter was sent out last month. Their meeting is upcoming next week. Pat stated the first letter to them FWF did make a mistake on the amount. The insurance company forgot to adjust with the discount. Pat said she did make the adjustment with the second letter to Fairfield. Pat also sent to West Wheatfield a refund of $400 from their adjusted amount already paid.

Next. Local businesses have not responded to the amusement license renewals as of yet. The current license expires on April 15th. Aaron said he to get with John and Brian for the fire department, Ron will get with the finance officer for the Legion. Sue to speak to Kathleen at Pizza Post.

Next. Bank account fee for Tax Collector with S & T Bank. The tax collector account has to be separate from the Borough account. It is registered under our Fed ID number. The only way to separate them is for that account to be on a separate system (BOB) Business on line banking so the Borough Treasurer cannot see or have access to the tax collector account. This will generate a $15.00 monthly charge. The bank will not waive the fee and it cannot come out of the tax collector account so it needs to come out of the Borough general account. Need approval for this to happen. At this time Jeffery ask to call an executive session for personnel matter. Time is 7:45 PM.

800 PM executive session came back. Aaron stated after the executive meeting we do not have a tax collector. There was a certification that needed to be completed when she was elected that was not done. There are 2 options. 1 is to ask the old tax collector if she would be willing to take back over temporary. 2nd option is to appoint someone into the position and then they would have 60 days to complete the certification for tax collector. Jeffery talked to county today regarding bonding. He stated Jessica is bonded and has been since January 1st. Council asked Pat to contact Jessica by phone to see if she still wants the role. A phone call was put in to Jessica. Aaron explained situation to her and ask if she wanted the job and informed her she has 60 days to complete the training certification. She stated yes she will get it done. Clark motions to appoint Jessica as tax collector, Beth 2nds. Sue opposes. Ron abstains. Aaron approves. Motion carried.

Back to monthly bank fee with S & T Bank. Aaron motions to pay the fee of $15.00 per month with S & T for 3 months until Somerset Banks opens in New Florence. At that time the Tax Collector needs to transfer the account over to Somerset Bank. Clark 2nds. All in favor. Ron abstains. Motion carried.

New Business:
Next meeting May 3, 7 PM
Yard sale days in June. Date set for June 16th and 23rd for Clean-up Day. Table a hopper for next meeting.

Porta-a john for parks. Pat got several prices. Rates were presented to council and was agreed to use L & J from Indiana. Their rates are $135.00 per month for handi-cap, and $85.00 per month for regular. They also service weekly. Hand sanitizer included. Council agreed on May through Sept. Pat asked if council is willing to pay for the porta-johns for this year for the parks. Clark asked why parks can’t pay for this. It was explained that parks cannot do fund raisers until January 2019. Sue motions to fund the port-a-johns from May through Sept for the year of 2018. Clark 2nds. All in favor. Motion carried.

Street sweeper costs. Pat found the papers from R & L Development Company who did the street sweeping for us in 2006. Their prices are $118.00 per hour regular time and $140.00 per hour over time. Based on their time from before it was 8.75 hours @ 118.00 per hour would cost us $1,032.50 to do the streets and if they did overtime 8.75 @ $140. Would cost us $1225.00 Pat also checked how long it would take our worker to do the same job. In 2015 Borough spent $4,402.00 for two workers. In 2016 it cost us $2,341.00 for 1 worker plus all summer to get the job done, and in 2017 it cost us $1269.00 for 1 worker for a month. The streets were never completed, worker quit. It would be cheaper for a street sweeper company to do the job.
Ron also received a call from a company from Erie PA. The gentlemen is setting up all the Municipalities in the area to do sweeping in all areas at one time. He has the cost down for approximately the same. Council decided to table until next month. Hold off until the streets are repaved by Peoples Gas.

Letter: from Peoples Gas requesting our 2018 road paving of streets in town so they can coordinate their jobs with ours. Aaron motions not to respond to them, Beth 2nds. All in favor, motion carried.

2nd Street worker. Aaron said none has come in. Only person who may be interested is Hunter McClellan, who won’t turn an application in until he hears from United School District on their job position. Ron said he still working on getting a person from Career Link. We need to go through Westmoreland County. They have not responded back to him yet.

Verizon small cell tower proposal. Council was each given a copy of a proposal from Verizon to install cell towers in town. Pat talked to Mr. Relihan from Verizon on this. It was explained that New Florence is on 2018 project. He did state that 2019 installs are being set up within the next two months. He needs to know whether any right of way permits need to be put in for with the town if poles are inside the right of way. Jeffery said no but if a pole is on private property then a permit needs to be gotten for access. Clark motions for support, Beth 2nds. All approved. Motion carried.

Ordinance update on Per Capita, Municipal Clearance and Real Estate Clearance Letters. Sue spoke up and wanted Jeffery to make an Ordinance update and have the millage and Resolution every year updated. We need a new one, also have it state that certain people over 18 be exempt. Jeffery stated an Ordinance cannot be done of this sort until Budget time for next year. Borough code requires that we attach an Ordinance change with the budget. Code states if we do nothing then the fees remain the same from the last Ordinance until we make a new Ordinance changing the fees. The fees for the budget in prior years were based on figures from the prior years. It was figured from both fees meaning some people were billed at higher rates than others. Clark says keep as is until next year. You can adjust the budget but not the revenues during the year. Jeffery recommends that when we do the budget we will do a new Ordinance based on what issues we have discovered.

Sewage Report – nothing.
Mayor Report – nothing

Pat had a question as a private citizen. Can anyone complain to police on Ordinance violation’s and have enforced? Jeffery said anyone can do this. Talk to police force, hand them a copy of Ordinance and ask them to follow up.

Street Commissioner Report.
Borough worker put 154 miles on truck, approximately 72 hours on skid steer. Cleaned catch basins, swept intersections, pulled maintenance on all equipment. Cleaned up Quonset hut. Brakes failed on skid steer, took to Charlie Boring to have fixed.
Ron asking $5,000 for gravel and streets tarred & chipped. Ron to select worst one’s for the project. Clark opinion was to wait to see what will happen with lawsuit. Aaron said he will check on the dirt and gravel grant for this project.

Parks & Recreation Report:
Request road closure for May 19th- all day. 3rd street from Market to Washington and alley from 4th to 2nd street for Community day event with petting zoo. Ron motions to approve, Aaron 2nds. All approved. Motion carried.

No other business: Clark motions to adjourn Aaron 2nd. All in favor. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned 9 PM.

Respectfully,

Patricia Betts
Secretary/Treasurer