This Meeting was recorded for Accuracy

Present: Ron Betts, Clark Baird, Sue Bartow, Jeffery Miller- Solicitor

Absent -Mayor Tom Pickup

Gen Public - Dan Short, Amy Lichtenfelt

Meeting called to order 10 AM by Clark Baird, Presiding President

Clark Baird started out by saying Council is here today because of the Mayor vetoing the Millage Ordinance #3 of 2018.

Clark asked if anyone in the general public had anything to say about it.

No- one did.

Jeffery stated he wanted the history of the Ordinance to be recorded in the minutes. He started out by saying the tax Ordinance was signed on December 6th by Presiding President, Clark Baird and witnessed by Patricia Betts Secretary. Council members, Sue Bartow, Ron Betts, and Clark Baird voted to approve the Ordinance with a millage increase from 10 mills to 14 mills. At that time the Mayor was present and handed the Ordinance to review and approve or not. On December 16th he provided Council with a Vetoed Ordinance along with his comments which is also provided at this time.

Mayor's own words
" Council, After careful consideration and the failure to give me the financial documents I wanted, I have no other choice but to Veto Ordinance number 3 of 2018. I am very concerned about the direction Council and their Solicitor are taking this magnificent town. I grew up in this town and moved back to watch it decay into a drug infested lawless town. I never used to have to worry about items being stolen from my home and property, and now I sleep with a loaded gun under my pillow. You want to have had working good people move into this town but, you do not want to provide the services that will allow that to happen. Watching Council operate over the years that I have been involved leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. You have a Solicitor that instead of only advising us on legal issues tries to force me as Mayor to not take the allotted time allowed by Borough Code to review this ordinance before my Veto. I am wondering how the Bar Association would handle that. We have Council members walking around town spreading rumors and manipulating our citizens into believing untruths about me and other members of council. We have another that sits in bars and motivates others into making threats towards myself and other council members. This is a small town, and everything said gets back to me. Yes, you can deny it ever happened, but the truth always come out in the end.
I feel Council should consider at least one community service along with this tax increase. We can't take money from the tax payers and not give them anything in return. You should also consider giving the Borough worker a raise. This town has never looked better and I appreciate his hard work. I still would like to see an estimate in writing on repairing the Quonset hut instead of building a garage. I know Council members have said it would cost more but have never brought any good hard estimates on the cost making me think there is a cover up. In the end you will get your tax increase but at least I can say I didn't go down without a fight.
You should have considered keeping the Per Capita tax at ten dollars. If you would have looked at the numbers five more dollars at four hundred tax payers would be two thousand dollars about what you are going to get for 1 mil in property tax increases. This thought process also makes me think there is some cover up in not being able to afford a police officer.
All I am asking is that you start thinking outside the box and commit to a community service for the people's money."
Thank you,
C. Tom Pickup
Mayor, Bolivar Borough

Ron said he did not understand what other service we could provide to the town. Jeffery said his best guess is that the Mayor is upset because we could not keep the police force. We also know that the Per Capita Tax according to the law states that we must split it with the school taxing district. We cannot keep it at $10.00 because they are also collecting the Per Capita tax. We cannot collect anymore than $5.00 Jeffery stated the motion must be done individually. Sue motion to pass the Tax Ordinance, Clark 2nd. Pat called out for individual answers to the motion. Clark, (yes) Sue (yes) Ron (Yes)
Motion passed. Jeffery then questioned about the resignation of the other two Council members, Aaron Bouch and Beth Thompson. Pat checked the resignation letters, both had resigned effective November 12th. Jeffery called for executive session. Time 10:08 AM Legal session.

Meeting restarted at 10:10AM. Jeffery stated the reason for executive session was a Legal matter. He stated that since Council has not accepted the resignation of the other 2 Council members, in order to override a Veto, the Borough code states we must have a Majority plus 1 - in a 5 member council that means 4 plus 1 votes. We cannot override the veto until they accept the resignations. Then we must vote again.
Motion made by Sue and 2nd by Clark to accept Beth Thompson resignation as of Dec 22, 2018 All in favor, Motion carried.
Clark motioned to accept Aaron Bouch resignation and 2nd by Ron effective Dec 22, 2018. All in favor, Motion carried.

Voting again on the tax Ordinance #3 of 2018 was presented:
Sue motioned to accept the tax Ordinance #3 of 2018 2nd by Ron. Pat re-asked the question to each Council person, Clark (yes), Sue (yes), Ron (yes). Motion carried.
Pat questioned because we do not have the Originals from Tom , Jeffery stated to type another page stating that the Veto was over ridden by Council on December 22, at a Special Meeting held at the Borough Building and open to the General Public along with each Council Members vote. He also said he could type something up. Pat asked if it could be handwritten on the page? The law does not state it needed to be handwritten or typed.

Amy Lichtenfelts asked how long can the open council seats be vacant? Jeffery stated 30 days from today's date, then if no one steps forward the Vacancy Board has to assign one within 15 days from then. If not the Vacancy Board has then to ask the Courts to assist in filling the positions.

The Per Capita Ordinance was not returned within the 15th Day so therefore it automatically passed on December 6th, 2018

Clark asked if anyone in the audience had any comments from the Mayors statement. Amy asked how could the council give the Boro Worker a raise if they needed to increase the millage? It was stated to her that we were not giving the Boro Worker a raise.

Next. Clark then presented a letter from the Fire Department concerning the coverage of the fire vehicles.
The Fire Company has made arrangements to move all of their vehicles owned and operated by the fire company to an insurance policy which they currently have coverage for through another insurance agency effective December 31, 2018. The difference with taking them off our policy is $2,264.00 The fire company is also asking the Council to help each year financially with the insurance on the same vehicles.

Pat said we already have budgeted $8,000 for 2019 budget. Taking them off lowers the cost of our insurance to $5,416.00 per year. The decision after discussion was to wait until April meeting when we have our funds come in to decide if and how much to give to Fire Department to help out. This should be done on a yearly basis while doing the annual budget. Jeffery as a citizen said Council should try to find in their budget at or about the amount we currently do pay to help them cover the insurance coverage needed. Sue motions to pay the Fire Dept their $1,700 needed for their insurance as of April meeting, Clark 2nd's All in favor, Motion carried.

No other comments. Clark makes motion to adjourn at 10:25 AM. All in favor, Motion carried.
Respectfully,

Patricia Betts
Secretary/Treasurer