17  City Council Meeting Minutes - June 26, 2023  City Council Chambers, City Building, 16 West Scribner Avenue, DuBois, Pennsylvania on Monday, Junez 26, 2023 @ 6p.m.; Council convened: att their regular City Council Meeting with Mayor Walshi in the Chair. Other Council Members present were: James Aughenbaugh, Diane Bernardo, Shane Dietz, Pat Reasinger, and City Treasurer, Lisal LaBrasca Becker. Also present were: City Solicitor, Toni Cherry; Acting City Manager/City Engineer/Public Works Director, Chris Nasuti; Redevelopment Authority Director/Assistant Public Works Superintendent, Joe Mitchell; Code Enforcement/Zoning Officer, Zacl Lawhead; Finance Officer, DeLean Shepherd; Sergeant, Shawn McCleary; Police Chief, The meeting was calledt to order at 6p p.m. andi the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Walsh. Ther motion was made by Bernardo ands seconded by Aughenbaugh that Council approve the City Council Meeting Minutes of June 12, 2023, as presented. Roll cally vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Dietz,) yea; Bernardo yea; Walsh,yea. Motionp passed 4-0.  Blaine Clark; and Administrative Secretary, Bobbie Shaffer.  Approval of Minutes  City Council Meeting Minutes -J June 12,2023  Work Session Meeting Minutes - June 22,2023  Ther motion was madel byA Aughenbaugh: and seconded by Bernardo that Council approve the Work Session Meeting Minutes ofJ June: 22, 2023, asp presented. Roll call vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,yea; Dietz, yea; Bernardo yea; Walsh,) yea. Motion passed 4-0.  Registry of Invoices  The motion was made! by Dietz and seconded by Aughenbaugh that Council approve the Purchase Order Listing by' Vendor Name dated) June: 22,2 2023, int the amount of $236,607.60; Auto Draft Check Register by Checkl ID dated. Junez 21, 2023, int the amount of $5,559.91;andi the PennVEST Check Register by Checkl ID dated. June: 22, 2023, int the amount of $130,464-50 as presented by the Finance Officer. Roll cally vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Dietz,) yea; Bernardo: yea; Walsh, yea. Ina accordance with Article V, Section 41506, oft the Optional Third-Class City Charter Law, Councilman Pat Reasinger was sworni in by Mayor Edward! L. Walsha and duly certified as a member of Council. Mr. Reasinger will! bes serving the remainder of Shannon Gabriel'st term ending December 31, 2023. To accept the proclamation: Captain, Nickl Laukitis; Oldest Member,- Jerry Mcintosh, Youngest Member, Kaitlin Korb. Also, I'dl like tor recognize Peg Stradofsky, wife oft former member. Jack.  Motion passed 4-0. Oath of Office Pat Reasinger  Proclamation Goodwilll Hose Company  PROCLAMATION 2023 FIREMEN'S COMPETITION WINNER GOODWILL HOSE COMPANY  WHEREAS, al basici ingredient int thet foundation oft this cityist the voluntary acceptance ofi initiative and responsibility by voluntary organizations, such ast the DuBois Volunteer Fire Department,' whicha arer responsible WHEREAS, the DuBois Volunteer Fire Department ini its attempt tol keepi it'si individual hose housesi int top WHEREAS, the Council oft the City of DuBois has beeni informedi that Goodwilll Hose Company after52yearshas  fort the progress ando development of our great city. training conditionl have af friendly competition eachy year. wont the: 2023 Firemen's Competition.    18  City Council Meeting Minutes - June 26, 2023 (Cont'd.)  Proclamation Goodwill Hose Company (Cont'd.) citizens toc congratulate its members onaj joby well done. Pegs Stradofsky-115 Rumbarger Ave  NOW, THEREFORE, BEI ITI RESOLVED, that the Mayor and City Council of the City of DuBois, Pennsylvania, do hereby proclaim Good Willl Hose Companyt the champions oft thez 2023 Firemen's Competition and urge all  Public Comments  Thanked Goodwill Hose Company for giving her husband, whol had beenar member for7 75 years,a wonderful: send off. She brought some pictures ofa allt the guys that weret theret to show Council. One It's been: 28 days since Memorial Day, 28 days; you're probably wondering why I'm saying that. The American Flagi is no wheret to! bet foundi flying! higha abovet the city. Wherei is it? Ist therear reason thatit isr not up? Nasutic clarifiedi ifity was the one ont thef fires school. Downer said yes. The American Flagis nov wheret to! bet found. As the wife ofac deceased veteran, my late husband, Christopher Downer, would ber rollingi ink his grave knowingt that this Cityt that he loved, DuBois, Pennsylvania, has disrespectedi the veterans! byr not flying the American Flagt thatr represents the freedom that they fought sol hardf for ande even lostt their lives fori ini the countryt they alll love sor much. I'm froma military family andI believe our vets needr recognitioni fort their service. Thank) you. Ifsomeone could please letr me know whent this willl bet taken care of, Iwould appreciate it. Nasutis stated we would Ilive on Sher de Lin Road outside oft thec city. Ithought with all thes stuff going onr right now, ins spite oft that, therei is al lot of positivei in DuBois. We have Community Daysi int thep park, our firemen, Reitz Theater, retails stores; we! have al lot of good to bel happy with int this town. The fields, the waterfall at thet top of boulevard, buti ins spite oft that therei isal lot ofr negative thati is going oni int these meetings, especially the last coupler months. Ido appreciate youk knowing, Council President, theg good things, becauselconsider this, even though we are not combined: yet, that all 15801 are community. Ido appreciate allt this areal has. Therei isaf family that is active att the Reitz Theater, the Allen family, two oft the sons and the mother werei involvedi int thet theater. Italkedi tot thef father and mother during the Lantern' Walka and asked them, he was wearinga ar military jacket, do they live! here. They confirmed. lasked whatb broughty you upt to Central Pennsylvania. He said, he has ak kid at Point Park anda al kida ata a college inl New York andH hes saidt that thisi isl kind of mid-range for us. Nowt the one: son has gone downt tol Lancaster, thec one that was upi in New' York, tos study architecture. But, for whatever reasoni they chose DuBois. Ithinkt that sayss something, because whent they were looking, they didn'tj justt throw a dart att the walla and pick this area. Ithinki it says something about us, that Withr respect tot thet topic that Mrs. Downer brought up, a few weeks agoy wel lost a State Trooper and the Governor calledi for ay week off flags at half-mast. In my travels aroundi town,! Ididi not see one includingt three oft thef five fires stations that Isee onar regular basis. Ididr not see a flaga at half-mast. The citys should ber respectful oft the courtesy and camaraderie and the respect that the/ American Flag! holds. Iwould! hopet that the city mighth help tor remindp people oft that whenever therei iss sucha First topic... the $93,000 that camei intot the City Building andt there was a videot tape ofit. Has that ever beent fullye explained andy whati is Council's position on the money that came in? How dot the Council, elected Council, members feel about the voice mailt that was left? Are we stills supporting the Solicitor: att this point? IguessI Iwouldj justl liket tol know. Imean, Inever really had an answer about the voicemail ort ther money. Ijust thoughti it would! be nicet tor maybe seei if there was an answer on it. How dot the elected Council members feela aboutt the Solicitor? III be! honest, didr not putr my name inf fort thep position on Council, even though Ihad gott the most votes. Knowing thati iflhad, know myf firstr motion would! have beent to ask for ther resignation oft the Solicitor. Knowing that she does nota act ont thel behalf oft the citizens. So, just wonderingi ifa anyone, any elected official, would liket tot talk abouti it. Also, the budget, thes 3.5 million loan, Irealizei itisf for other parks; but, now knowing that wea authorized the Solicitor to defend against Sandy Township, whichl Idon't! know understand. Therei is only $26,000 Iguess lefti int thel budget. Is that allt the more wel havet top pay her ora are we going to ber movingt funds around? Imean are we tapping thatf for what we: arei fighting or  was aj picture of. Jacki int the ashes, just where he would wantt tol be.  Stacy Downer-: 20 S.S State ST  looki intoi it.  David Rupprecht- 1 1882 Sher de LinJ Road  people actually chose tol bel here. That'sa all. William. Jones - Chestnut Avenue  need. Including Flag Day, whichl missed this year. Jennifer. Jackson- 42 N. Brady ST    19  City Council Meeting Minutes - June 26, 2023 (Cont'd.)  Jennifer Jackson-42 N. Brady ST( (Cont'd.) (Jennifer's3m minutes were up.) Are youg goingt to reply?  not? Imean $26,o00i isn't muchl lefti int the budget. Isit capping whats shei is allowed to charge the Mayor Walsh statedt the $93,000. Afterr research, wet found, Ms. Cherry please correctr mei if I'm wrong, was Community Fund money. Ity was placed backi int the Community Fund; don't have an explanation ast tov whyi itv was wherei it was at. Itist therer now, andi it's alll beent taken care of. That's Councilman. Aughenbaugh said concerning the budget, Chris wei talked about that Thursday. Actually, thel budget is supposed tol bea az zero! balance at the end oft they year. That is not all the money wel havei int the city. Nasuti said correct, thati is our money VS expenses balance. Mayor Walshs said thes 3-5-million-dollar loan was approved backi in. January for more upgrades ont the park, pool, basically thec city's facilities downt there. Ihadal little bit ofresearch done, we didn'tg geta complete financial analysis yet, wea are working oni it. Thet tournaments that we dol bringi int tot the Community, yest thati isa al lot of money granted. Butj justt the Small College World Series alone, according to Small College World Series as well as Clearfield County does at financiali impact statement after theset tournaments are done and they both came back with numbers relatively close to one another. Small College World Series estimated about $525,000 was brought ini in six days. Clearfield County was $475,000. Thata addsa al lot ofb boostt tot this little community. Youl know everyone that gets elected sayst they are going tol bring morer moneyi in, we'reg going tol bring more jobs in, andl here wea arel bringingi iti in, and we're being crucified for doingi it. Jackson said therei isr no crucifixion. Walshy went on,l just wantedt to givey youz an example, just onet tournament: and that ist the sixthi time theyl have! been! here. So, six times ats say $450,0001 that's $2,700,000 that has been brought int thel last six) years. The Statet tournaments that we have here, the. Jr. and Sr. League don't bring quite thata amount ofr money, butt they do bringi in ane excessive amount ofh hotel rooms, room nights, restaurant nights. Just talking witht ther manager of one of our local stores, they average during thes Small College World Series, their sales increase every year andt their bosses! have them do this, $100,000 that week. Ifyou'd likel Icouldg give youl his name and you can call himi ify you want. So, theset tournaments bringi inay vast amount ofr money. llookf for the Eastern Regional tol bring in closet to, ifr not more than, whatt the Small College World Series does. Wel have 12 states here plus the local team competing fort the Eastern Regional, they're! here for seven days. Again, room nights, restaurants, retails shopping, Icalli itt trickle downe economics. They may nots spend any moneyi in your business orr my business buts somebody whent they come inl leaves a tip, or someonel has aj job because oft theset tournaments. They do spend iti ini my business. Ijust wantedt to givey youal littlel bit ofinformation. I've talked with Chris again whent the season ends, we'llg get a complete report. PBRV wasi int the lastt two weeks, againr room nights, restaurants, and hotels. Just wanted to comment Solicitor Cherry said the question was why the city was defending the lawsuit filed byt thet township. Whatt the City did was ont the: 22nd of June, wast tot file preliminary objections tot the complaint because wei found the complaint tol bev without meriti inr many areas. Wer raised, number one that the court lacked subject matterj jurisdiction! because once thee electors have formulated the ballot question, put the! ballet question ont the! ballot, and ther referendum was approved and certified on November 18, 2021, moret than 18r months before the plaintiff filedi thei instant complaint askingt the courtt to act on the referendum. The court was without any authority under the Municipal Consolidation Merger Act. We also raised objections becausei the lawsuit asked the courtt to assume equity jurisdiction and alleged that the cases that were sitedi int the complaint supported that action ont their request. We respectfully contendi that none oft the cases siteds supportedt the court taking jurisdiction or acted uponr referendum as the Sandy Township alleged. We also filed preliminary objections ini thet form of motion tos strikep pursuant to PARCP 102882 Inclusion of Scandalous or Impertinent Matter. The Townshipr madea allegations that hadi not yet been proven, they have nothing to do with whether or not the court has thej power toa assume equityj jurisdiction: and nothing to do with whether Sandy Townshipl has ther right toa askt for delay of consolidation process whichi is regulated bys statue and provides al hearing for your schedule of when things may be accomplished. Fori that reason, we askedi itt tol be struck. Thirdly wef filedp preliminary objection based on what wel believet to bea violation of PARCP 102885 raising a lack of capacity tos sue us on Sandy Township's part; that the section? 733A1 oft the Municipal Consolidation Merger Act and section7 741 provides for courtr review if  where it came from Community Fundr money.  Aughenbaugh said moneyi inr money out.  Ithinkt that'si impressive.  ont that.    20  City Council Meeting Minutes - June: 26, 2023 (Cont'd.)  Jennifer Jackson- 42 N.Brady ST (Solicitor Cherry Response) Cont'd.  aresident ofe either municipality comes beforet the courta andt the actiont that the court can takei is to move thec case along, tor move consolidation along andt tot force thea acceptance oft thep plan. One thingi is, that wes sitedi int the preliminary objections was that the consolidation agreement was unanimously: approved! by both Sandy, by alli five members oft the old Supervisors of Sandy Township, anda allr members oft the Council oft the City of DuBois on November: 7, 2022, andt that we: also provided the court with a copy oft that consolidation agreement. Itis our position that once that has been done, Sandy Townshipi isv without: ability tor nominate itselfa as a designate ori individual resident who has spoken and who has declared that thisr matter should proceed forward. So, withr regard to why wet fighty what we fight, we doi itl because we wantt tor makes sure we do not engagei in lengthy litigation. Thati is why we didn'ta answeri it, wet filedf forap preliminary) judgment and myh hopei is that we willl be: ablet tos strikei it, att that point. Then we can allr move on. Ihave provided Council, all ofy youi in your packets, a copy oft the, certified copy oft thep preliminary objections that was filedo on. Junez 22nd. Wasi it common practice tol keep DuBois City funds att the United Way? Seems like that wouldr not be good practice. Iwasn't awaret that DuBois United Way! hada any banking services. Mayor Walsh said itwasr not. No. Gelfand continued, ist there ani investigation orf fact finding to see whyt that was occurring? Is that still continuing to occur? Mayor Walshs stated we: arel lookingi intoi it. Aughenbaugh statedt that therei is no money at the United wayr now it'si int theb bank; is that correct Second and Final Reading of Council Bill No.1 1973 - Street Excavations and Opening An Ordinance oft the City of DuBois amending Chapter 385, Article IV entitled" "Street Excavations and Openings", Section; 385-23 oft the Code of Ordinances oft the City of DuBois to exempt public utilities regulated! byt the Pennsylvanial Utility Commission from any degradation" fees which! have or will be adopted ori implemented by the City of DuBois before any permit shall bei issuedt to open ore excavate any streeti int the City of DuBois was presented, after beingr read ini its entirety atf first reading, for second andi finalr reading. Ther motion was made by Aughenbaugh: ands seconded by Bernardo that Council approve the second andf finalr reading of Council Bill No.1 1973 -Street Excavations and Opening andi itb become Ordinance No.1 1874 int the Code of Ordinance fort the City of DuBois. Roll call vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Dietz,) yea; Bernardo, yea; Reasinger,) yea; Walsh,yea.  Elliot Gelfand- -1S.H Highland ST  Chris? Nasuti confirmed.  Motion passed5 5-0.  Resolution! No. 2023-0366 - Change tol Designated Pension Plan Officials  CITYOF DUBOIS, PENNSYLVANIA POBOX40S 16W.SCRIBNERAVE. DUBOIS. RESOLUTIONY NO. 2023-0366 OFT THECITYO OFD DUBOIS, CLEARFEIDCOUNTA,: PENNSYLVANIA, OFFICIALS FORT THEN NATIONWIDER PENSIONG CASE 632-80039. WHEREAS, the City ofDuBoishasa relationshipw with NationwideT Trust Company FSB, Chereinafterreferred: toasN Nationwide)v whos serves ast thec custodiano ofo oneo ormoreo ofthe thereh has beenachangen inoned ormoreo oftheindividualsa atthe Cityv whohad originallys signedt the Program Agreementy withN Nationwide.and WHEREAStheC City desires tod designatet two newi individualsa associatedw witht the Citytobe conducta anyb businessa and signa anyn necessaryd documentsv with Nationwide, NOWT THEREFOREB BEITRESOLVED, that CHCISTLPNEA NASJTL ChristopherA M. Nasuti-Actingo Cityn Manager hemas xowak Thomas Nowak- DeputyT Treasurer besod incividuai(s)listede Adoptedt this2 26" dayo ofJunez 2023- ATHEST) Sd Bobbie Adminisifative  15801 TELEPHONE: 814:3712000 FAX: 814:371290  CHANGEST TOT THED DESIGNATED PENSIONP PLAN  City'spensionp plans, and  CRR Signature - E  designateda ando duly: authorizedtoc conducta any business: ande executea anyd documents necessaryf fort thec conducto ofthec City'sbusinessw with Nationwideu untilf further noticeis isg given. BEITFURTHER: RESOLVEDI that Nationwideb bed directedt tor removet thep previous thec City, ass submittedo orc confirmedb by ourP PPA, GirardB Benefits Group, LLC.  case(s) arenol longer  associatedy with    21  City Council Meeting Minutes - June 26, 2023 (Cont'd.)  Resolution No.: 2023-0366- - Change tol Designated Pension Plan Officials (Cont'd.) Ther motion was madel by Dietz ands seconded by Reasinger that Council approve Resolution No. 2023-0366 naming Nasuti and Nowak designated pension plan officials for the nationwide pension case 632-80039. Rollo call vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Dietz,) yea; Bernardo,) yea;  Reasinger,yea; Walsh, yea. Motion passed5-0.  Resolution No.: 2023-0367  CITY OF DUBOIS, PENNSYLVANIA  POBOX408  PENNSYLVANIA1S 15801 TELEPHONE: 814:5712000 FAX: 814-371290 ACCOUNTSA ASF FOLLOWS:  RESOLUTIONI NO. 2023-0367 OFT THECITYO OFD DUBOIS, CLEARFIELDC COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, ONALLS&TV WEALTHA  TWealth Management: Marchz 20,2 2023, to December; 31,2025 CHRISTOPHER H. WDKNLRE Davidy Volpe- Controller Ak Sabrhe LaBrasco- Becker- Tréasurer Thomas owal Thomas Nowak- Deputy Treasurer DeLeans Shepherd_ Name( (Please Print) POBox4 StreetA Address 408_ DuBois,P PA 15801 City, State,Zip 814-371-2000 ext2 eepgsPeN Telephonea and/orE Email Edwardl L.V Walsh- Mayor- Cityo ofD DuBois  Members ofthe Cityo ofD DuBois CityC Councilr meta ande elected Officers fort thef followingt term: Thef followingindividuals: ares Signatorsf fort thet termp period!i listeda above: Christopher) M.N Nasuti- Acting CityA Manager Sighature  RA PRR Signature gnature ignature varea  - erbal pove bove  Pleaser maila allcorrespondence;: statements, andd distributionc checkst to:  n  Ther motion was made! by Bernardo ands seconded! by Dietz that Council approve Resolution No. 2023- 0367 changing signators onS&TWealth! Management: Accounts tot the City's designated signators. Roll cally vote was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,yea; Dietz,) yea; Bernardo, yea; Reasinger,yea; Walsh, The Governor: and DEPI havei issued a drought watchf for all 67 counties; they are requesting to reduce voluntary water use by 5%. Our own drought situation is normal, wateri is at the elevation oft the spillway. We: arer noti inal low drought watch, but we: are going toi follow the drought watchi issued Joe Mitchell, Redevelopment Authority Director/Assistant: Public' Works Superintendent Only oner member int this roomy was a memberv when Goodwill won last time. Jerry Mcintosh. Mayor Walsht told a story. Goodwillt ties twice andi they! have ar runoff, ar member that will remain nameless, pulled up tot the hydrant 6"s shy ofv where he neededt tol be; tot this day Randy Schmidt still hasa broken backf fromt trying top pullt thati firet truck 6"t tot the! hydrant. Didn't lose, but we did come in second place; we'v vel heardt that storyr repeatedly att thel hosel houset for 36) years. Congratulations Goodwilla and congratulations to Pat. Just reminding everyone top pay your taxes; Citya and County are due now. School will be coming out August 1S. (Lisa's grandchildren werei in Chambers withl her Autumn and Heath Anderson) Therei is al lot ofp positive things going oni int the city; thank you Davef for pointing that out. Lots tol look forwardt to. Thanks again andg gety yourt taxes  yea. Motion passed5 5-0. Drought Watch  fori the entire: state, againr reduce voluntary use ofv water by 5%.  Lisal LaBrasca Becker Treasurer  paid.    22  City Council Meeting Minutes - June 26, 2023 (Cont'd.)  Shane Dietz- - Councilman  Congratulations Goodwill Hose Company for winning the championship. Walsh felt that hadt tol hurt Stated shey was born andi raisedi int the; 3d Warda andp proudly movedi intot thes 5th Ward; congratulations toa allo ofy you. Wantedi to comment: about. Jack Stradofsky ceremony, Pegi invited me, and Itookab box ofk Kleenex because it was very emotional. One oft the other things that was presented wasa surprise tor me andh brought manyt tears, Jack was thel lasts surviving member of the DuBois Rockettes. The articlet talks about Jack pitching and Jim Bernardo, my brother, hitting homer runs against Satchel Paige. Therei is ay whole newspaper: article, andI didn't! know, we were lookingi for ita and Peggy's grandson hadi it. So, we're going to get copies to give out to various people. Backi int the day Showers Field didn't even! have lights; Gamey Showers was out there with al lawnmower and my brother. Jimmy borrowed the Bell Telephonel bucket truck andi thet two oft them were out there putting thel lights up. Tos seet that parkt today, thanky youf for bringing it upa and thank) youf fort talking People ask me, why arey you putting moneyi into the park? They just don't understand the economic wealth thath has accrued. Not onlyj just herei in! DuBois but this whole region. We have teams coming inf from! Maine all thev way downt to Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, all over the place for these tournaments. Ibelieve wel have at five-year contract with Small College Work Series. Wel had thes girl's Olympic softball teams scheduled to comeH here,i ifity wasn'ti for COVIDt they would! haveb been here. Again, why DuBois? Because wherever youg goi int thes state of Pennsylvania they! know DuBois, Pennsylvania as the! biggest little city with baseball and our parks, the beauty, andh history ofit. So, again to all of you Ihave al lot of goodi memories herei int the city and the Fire Department has beena al big part ofi it. The fire department is al big part of our community: and lappreciate the volunteers that dot that. Thel ballfields, Iwant tor mention our kids int the areai that gett to play ont thet fields. Itgrew their interest top play ona ar nice field. Yout talka about Showers Field and whati ity was wheni it wast first built, theni it went downhill, then wet took it over andi it'sa ar nice complex. Al lot of people use it, the kids loveit. It's always a goodt thing, Iknow al lot ofk kids that play sports, tot try to dol better sot that's part oft the progression. Ithinki it's important. Congratulations Pat, look forward to working together.  coming out of Dietz' mouth. Dietz said al littleb bit. Diane Bernardo- - Councilwoman  abouti it.  that havel been part ofi it, congratulations. God! bless all ofy you.  Jim Aughenbaugh- Councilman Congratulations.  Toni Cherry- - City Solicitor Congratulations Mr. Reasinger and Goodwill Hose Co. Chris Nasuti- - Interim City Manager  Hada asuccessfull live stream on Facebook of our Work Session onl Thursday, wel have another one tonight. Joe gaver met thet thumbs upt that itis working. You willb be ablet to access that by our website live and wey willa also havet ther meetings archivedi for future viewing. Ifyour miss it,) you can always go on and watchi it, there willl bea al link andy you can go down the dates and pickt the one you  wantt tos see. Live and archived. Edward L. Walsh- - Mayor  The only thinglhavei is congratulations Pat; andt to my guys, it was al heck ofarun.  Adjourn  Thereb ber nof further business tot transact, ther motion was made! by Aughenbaughi ands seconded by Dietzt that Councila adjourn. Roll cally vote was as follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Dietz, yea; Bernardo,  yea; Reasinger, yea; Walsh, yea. Motion passed5-0.  ATTEST:  APPROVED:  14  Coul