145 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 22, 2024 City Council Chambers, City Building, 161 West Scribner Avenue, DuBois, Pennsylvania on! Monday, January 22, 2024,at6p.m.; Council convened att theirr regular City Council Meeting with Mayor Pat Reasinger int the Chair. Other Council Members present were. JamesA Aughenbaugh, Shane Dietz, Elliot Gelfand and Jennifer. Jackson. Aso present were: Interim City! Manager/City! Engineer/Public Works Director, Chris Nasuti; Interim Solicitor Associate, Josh Brown; Financel Director, DeLean Shepherd; City Controller, David Volpe; Redevelopment. Authority Director, Joel Mitchell; Code Enforcement Officer, Zac Lawhead; Public Works Superintendent, Scott Farrell; Police Chief Blaine Clark; Officer Zayne Rhed; and Administrative Ther meeting was calledi to order at6 61 p.m. andt the Pledge ofA Allegiance wasl led! by Reasinger. Secretary, Korbi Slocum. Public Comments onA Agendal Items Oniy Lindal London-527F BumbargerAvenue Regarding Item #16 (Elected Officials Healthcare) "My questions and concers arer relatedi to: #16 ont tonight'sa agenda. First, has itb been determined whether or not providing! healthcare toe elected officials isl legal orr not? Ifitisr notl legal, what actions are plannedf for pasti illegalr misusage as wella asf futurei implementation:. Next, what year did providing elected officials whichy willi include but mayr not! bel limitedt tot the Councila andi Mayor begin? And, by what recommendation: andy vote didt this happen? Next, whent this practice wast to bei implemented, was therea public votei fort this benefitt tol bey providedto electedo officials and wast therea a date when coverage would cease, sucha as whent thep person'st term ended, orv was this benefit tol be provided forevert tot those elected officials? Inc otherv words, are any paste elected officials currently receiving! healthcare! benefits? Ifeel quite certaint that most taxpayers inc our city are unaware oft thel healthcare benefits and perhaps other bonuses that elected officials may have received. Healthcare! isa' 'bigt ticket'i item. Many people don't! have heaithcarel benefits ata alla and, perhapsi if they knewt that up untili this point, they could have received healthcarei ina additiont tot the monetarys stipend perhaps there wouldh have been more candidates int the (It wast notedt that Agendal Item questions willl be addressedo as each Agenda item is discussed.) "I'm not quites sure what thep procedure, howi it all goes. Some ofn my questions are: Who is present duringt the! Executive Sessions? Are minutes ofthe Executive! Sessions recorded?) Were minutes ofp past Executive! Sessions recorded? And, area allt topicst thata are discussed during Executive Sessions presented "lfi it's deemedt that thel healthi insurancei isi illegal, shouldn'thave been, willt the taxpayersb ber reimbursed pastr runt for elected officesi in! DuBois." Debl Mechling -Monroe Street Regarding Item #20 (Executive Session) att the Council meetings?" Kathleen Clement- - Chestnut Avenue Regarding! Item #16 (Elected Officials Healthcare) fort thosef fees!" Approval of Minutes City Council Reorganizational Minutes- L January2,2024 City Council Meeting Minutes- January8,2024 Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,) yea. Motion passed5 5-0. The motion wasi made! by Aughenbaugh: ands secondedb by. Jackson that Council: approve the Reorganizational. Minutes ofJ January: 2, 2024, as presented. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,yea; Jackson,! yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz, yea; Reasinger, yea. Motion passeds 5-0. The motion wasr made! by. Jackson ands seconded by Gelfand that Council approve the City Council Meeting Minutes ofJ January 8, 2024, as presented. Roll call was as follows: Aughenbaugn, yea;. Jackson,yea; The motion wasr made! by Aughenbaugh: and seconded by Dietz top pay the Auto Draft Check Register by Checkl ID dated. January 18, 2024, in the: amount off $17,850.75. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, The motion wasr made! by. Jackson ands seconded: by Gelfandt to pay the General Fund Purchase Order Listing! by Vendor Name dated] January 18, 2024, int the amount of$308,464.69. Roll call was as follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Jackson, yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger, yea. Motion passed5 5-0. Registry ofl Invoices yea;. Jackson,yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,yea. Motion passed 5-0. 146 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 22,2024 (continued) Ther motiony wast made! by. Jackson ands seconded by Gelfandt to payt the PennVEST Check Register by Check ID dated. January 17,2 2024, int thea amount of$ $3,448,271.81. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,yes; President Scott Frano and! boardr members Amandal Rosman and Angela Stewart represented the DuBois Little League. Thet threer representatives, gave an update on! DuBois Little League, specifically the T-ball division, whichi iss seeinga ani increasei inj participation. TheT-ballt field needs maintenance. Little League wants to! know what thef future plans aref fort the T-ball fieldh before committing monies tor rehabilitate the DuBoisl Littlel Leaguei is also celebratingt their 75th anniversary this summer. It's goingt to bea community event. Theyi invited DuBois to bei involvedi int the celebration. They appreciate anything ande everything. DuBoisl Little Leaguel has averyb busy summer comingu up and we're reallye excited abouti it. Angela Stewarti inviteda and encouraged everyone from the community tos support the Challenger League, whichi isac division ofL Little League. Games are Tuesday and" Thursday evenings during the summer Jeff Garrigan statedh he willl bea at Council meetings ona at monthly basis to address any project-related Jackson, yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,) yea. Motionp passed5 5-0. DuBois Littlel League- -2024 Update field. months. Water and Sewer Projects Update- -HRG questions. Heg gave an update ons several projects: year2 2024 completion date and work tos starti in/ April Wastewater Treatment Plant - construction worki is about5 50% complete; shootingt for ane end of Washington/ Avenue Waterline - lookingf fori itt to go out tob bidi in February, a Marchb bid opening Water Treatment Plant Flocculator Replacement -1 that construction" was completed last week. The: second: flocculator wasi installed and1 things were going well, butig gota ane email from Scott todayt thats something' happenedt toi it. The contractor has been notified and will! be coming back Officer Rhedt thanked everyone who has ever donated tot the Canine Fundt to keep the program up: and running. Mike and! Hayes Weberf from Auto Undertaker Towing8 & Repair presenteda ac checkf forthe Canine Fundt to Officer Rheda and went ont tot thankt thel Departmenti fort their professionalism: and protection of Skrabal headed Musicfesti inz 2023 andi isv willingt tol headi it againi in2 2024 if Council isi interested. Heis also looking fora ani indoor venuet tou usei in case ofi inclement weather. Nasutic confirmed that the MusicFest ChiefFedericil informed Councilt thel Reynoldsville! Fire Chiefr reached out to aski ifDuBois wouldl lendt them ther reservet fire engine (oldE Engine from Department; 75)while their main enginei is out ofs service being refurbished. Ther motion was made! by. Jackson: and secondedb by Aughenbaugh to approvel lendingo our reserve engine1 to Reynoldsville. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea; Jackson, yea; Gelfand,) yea; Jackson apologized tot the Fire Department. "j just wantt to clarify. Ifsomethingi is ont the: agenda, it doesn'tr mean we'rer makinga decision. There'sj just new procedures: and processes startingt this) year wheret thingsr mayk have! been done ac certain wayi int the past ort things were done in Executive Session and decisions werer made. It'sr not goingt tol bet that way any longer. We needt to make sure we are dotting our I'sa ando crossing our T's, especiallyl legally. Thei factt thaty you're ont the agenda doesn't mean we'rer making ac decision. Wej just needt tot talk publicly aboutit. Wel have al Iot tol learn. There was noi illi intent ata all Reasinger added, "lf we! have somethingt that's ofi importance, we'reg goingt tol bringit up, we're goingto putit it ont the website. Everybody can readi it and come back att the next meeting and ask allt the questions they want. Wer mightr not vote oni itt then; wer might wait again. We might ber movinga! littlel bits slower, bute everybodys should! have a chancet tol Iooka att things and ask questions. Ifyou'venoticed, there'salot of tofixit. Donationi to Canine Fund our community. Dennis Skraba- Musicfest budgeti ist the amount requested ($8,000). Approval for Firel Department tol Lendi Reservel Engine tol Reynoldsville Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,) yea. Motion passed5-0. meant with them being ont the agenda." stuffo ont the websiter now. IfanybodyH hasa any questions, call me anda ask me." 147 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 22, 2024 (continued) Reappointment of. Jean Cole and! Danielle Bojaladt tot thel Library Board The motion was made! by Aughenbaugh: ands seconded! by Gelfandt tor reappoint. Jean Colet tot thel Library Board. Rollo cally was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,) yea;. Jackson, yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,) yea. Ther motion wasi madeb by. Jackson ands seconded by! Dietz toi reappoint Danielle Bojaladt toi the Library Board. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea;. Jackson, yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger, yea. Recommendation: toa appoint Erici McCoy, Robert Iddings and" Teddy! Klark toi the Watershed Committee Thei topic wast tabledu until the openings area advertised tos seei ifa any other residents arei interestedi in Nasuti notedt thata a draft ofthe Compensation Ordinance for: 20241 isi in Council members' packets and Nasutie explainedi that the RFP1 fort the solicitoris isr readyt to be advertised withi responses due backr no later The recommendation was top purchase nine Cub Cadetr mowers throughs Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract: #031121-MTD. The mowers maintain the park, the water plant, the sewer plant, and The motion wasr madeb by Aughenbaugh: ands seconded by. Jacksont to approve the purchase ofthe mowers. Roll cally was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea;. Jackson,) yea; Gelfand,) yea; Dietz,yea; Reasinger, Councilr received and opinion on Elected Officials Healthcare from Interim Solicitor. Breth. Nasuti explained, Thel healthcare was noti instituted! by an Ordinance priort tot the election ofthe officials. Therefore,itv was his recommendation: that wet terminatel healthcare insurancet to elected officialsi immediately. Ifv we want top proceed with healthcarei fore elected officialsi int thet futurei itv would! be! by Ordinance priort tot ther next Toa answerl London's questions asked earlierint ther meeting: The coverage startedi in2 2015. There wereno votes onit it. Coverage for previous elected officials terminated whent theyl left office. Attorney. Josh Browne explainedt that their office! hasr noti investigated whether the! healthcare costsf for The motion wasr madeb by. Jackson and seconded by Gelfandt tot terminate thel healthcare: for Elected Officials. Roll callv was asf follows: Aughenbaugn, abstain; Jackson, yea; Gelfand, yea; Dietz, yea; Ther motion was madeb by. Jackson: ands seconded by Gelfandi tol havei thel Interim: Solicitor looki into reimbursement: for the! healthcare. Roll call was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, abstain;. Jackson, yea; Gelfand, Reasinger stated,i itwas determinedi thatl hec cannot bel Mayor and on Redevelopment, sol hei isr resigning from Redevelopment. Letters ofinterestt toi fillt the vacancy oft the authority should bes submittedt to Kristen Vida asked," "Who purchased the cosmetology building? Cany yous say?" Redevelopment Director Mitchell replied," "The sale isr not complete sO we cannot say." When asked tor report ont the sale of Tommy D's, Mitchell said, "Thei individuals who purchased the Tommy D's! building did pay us what we hadi intot the! building. They plan onr renovatingi it andt turningiti into either storefronts or offices space. They: arel landowners within DuBois. They! havea a goodr reputation. We work closely with our Code Enforcement tor make sure the people we'res sellingt thesel buildings tol have the ability and means tof fix thema and! keept them up." Reasinger added,* "Redevelopment, givest them sixr monthsi tos start and, Motion passed5 5-0. Motion passed5 5-0. serving ont the committee. Letters ofi interests should! bes sent to Chris Nasuti. askedi ford comments priort top preparingt thet first reading oft the ordinance. Compensation Ordinance RFPf for City Solicitor thanA April1,2024. thev walkway. Request Authorization to Purchase Equipment yea. Motion passed5-0. Elected Officials Healthcare primary vote. elected officials wouldr need tob ber reimbursed. Reasinger,yea. Motion passed4 4-0. yea; Dietz, abstain; Reasinger, yea. Motionp passed3-0. Redevelopment. Authority- - Resignation ofF Pat Reasinger Interim Manager Chris Nasuti. 148 City Council Meeting Minutes : January: 22,2024( (continued) Redevelopment. Authority- continued depending on thep project, two yearstof finish. Ifthey don't, wet taket thel building! back. So, wer monitor Then motion wasr madeb by. Jackson and seconded! by Gelfand toa acceptt thei resignation of Pat Reasinger from the! Redevelopment. Authority. Roll cally was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,yea;. Jackson, yea; Gelfand, Pert ther recommendation: of! Interim Manager Nasuti, ther motion was madel by Aughenbaugh: and secondedb by Dietzt tor modifyt the Ordinance Iiftingt the parking restriction on Robinson Street between Westl Long/ Avenue and! Howard! Street. Roll cally was asf follows: Aughenbaugh, yea;. Jackson, yea; Before openingt thei floor, Reasinger made astatement aboutt terminating Mr. Suplizio. "It'sap process." Mr. Brown was askedt to explaint the process. "As far ast terminating, l'vet talked with Mr. Bretha about that. Wer needt top perform some additional research before we canr make ai firmi recommendation: on1 that "We've listenedi to allt these issues wel have had overt the last year. Somethingt thatI feel I've come across, and other peoplel l'ms sure have realizedi it. The optional Third Class City Codei isp part ofthe! big culpritin thisi issue. Unrestricted changes andr modifications in Ordinances: andp payoffs and sof forth. Idon'tk know who mayb be ony your committee tor mergey withi the Township butp perhaps this committee can consider or geti intot thist moret that we eliminate the optional Third Class code ands go witht the Third Class City Code which provides penalties for malfeasance and provides options for givinge elected officials! benefits. It's spelled outi inr muchg greater detail. It'sa difference! betweena a1 14-page document: anda 600-page document, probably written byl lawyers. Thist might help solve some thingsi int the future. Itr might prevent some thingsi int thet future. Sitting! herel listeningt to allt this stufff fort thel last couple ofy yearsIr makei that suggestion. Iknow there'sa couple ofTownship supervisors here. They might have a different outlook ont that. Ifeelt the optional Third Class code isar noosej just waitingt fors someone to walki into andi feeli the future City areas should consider not usingit but go witht thel Third Class City Code: as amended in1 1951,1 Nasutir replied, "This was discussed when wei first startedi the Consolidation: aftert the vote. Theb ballot initiative wass specifically fort the optional Third Class City Code. So, Consolidation willl bet fort the optional Third Class City Code. Ther new Council cant then decidei ifthey want to dot thel home ruie or changei itto "IV was curious. Whatv would the cost have been per personr monthly fort thet termination oft the healthcare fort the Council members?" Reasinger replied, "fv we wouldh have itthes samet this year as last year,we saved $62,000.00. That wasi fori five people." Mechling clarified," "Andt that was forthey year?" Reasinger Everyt time we come tot these meetings wet talk aboutt the Auto Draft, General Fund and PennVEST. AIlI knowi ist those words. Canl gets some examples ofv whatt those are paying sol Ican understand where that moneyi is going," Shepherdr replied, Autol Drafti ist billst for services already used. They are normal monthly paymentst that we cannot control." Per Nasuti, The Generall Fundi isf for allo operational and construction costs, witht the exception of PennVEST which ist the Sewage" Treatment Plant. Alit the bills arer now online. Youv wills seet the Agenda, Registry of Invoices and Minutes alli inc one place ont the website. Jackson: said, "Andt tol lety youk know,l Igot throught these and highlight andl leither ask DeLean, Italk to Pat andi Elliota and Chris. Chris answers any question. Idot this sol lami informed: ast to what I'm voting on." Reasinger saidh he does thes samet thing. Volpe said,* "lask DeLean, too, ifll have any questions on "TH have a questiona abouts snow removali int the City. Onl Long Avenue wel lost four parkings spaces this whole weekb becausei thes snow was plowedi int the ends oft the parking spots. So, no one couldp parkt there. Doest thes snow havet tob bet threef feet high,f four feet! high,t five feet high fort the Cityt tor remove it? You can'ts get fromy your car;you can't get close tot the curb becauset there's: 5o muchs snow. Ist therea! height that." yea; Dietz, yea; Reasinger, abstain. Motion passed 4-0. Robinson! Street Parking Gelfand,) yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,yea. Motionp passeds 5-0. Public Comments matter." Bill Jones - Chestnut Avenue believe. It'sj justr my opinion." Third Class, butt thei initialf formation has tol bet the optional Third Class City Code." Deb Mechling- - Monroe Street confirmed. Nasutisaid, "lt was about $670.00 monthly fort the premium." Charlie Meahing-Memrestet: anything." Kathleen Clement- Chestnut Avenue 149 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 22, 2024 (continued) Kathleen Clement- - ChestnutAvenue- - (continued) whent the City's goingt tor removei the snow? Parkingisa atap premium anyhow, but wel lost four parking spaçes onl LongA Avenue. Thes snowi is still there." Nasutie explained, "The emergency: routes we do asit snows andt theny wes go! back as wel have: availability. We gett them ass soon as we can, but itis difficult to keep up. Ifits snows overt the weekend, we dot the emergency routes. Next, we go througha ands get all of the alleys. Andt then we got through and cleanu upa allt the piles ofs snow ast best as we can." Clement responded, "t'sl like downtown we were abandoned. It looks terrible. We wantp people to come down andi tos spendi money, buty you can't geti into town." Nasutis said, "We'llg gett them ass soon as we can." "IV woulda appreciate itify youv woulds send out ai friendly reminder. Just coming down Scribner tonighta woman was walking! her dogo on Scribner Avenuer right down! here! because the! business int the ten blockof East Scribner doesn't! havet theirs sidewalk shoveled. Idon't knowi ifthe gas station business realizes, but that'st theirs sidewalk. It'st their parking andt their sidewalk right there. Andi that poor lady was walking on thes street, ands she didn'th havea ar reflective collar on! her dog. Imight) have nailed her..s .sorry." Reasinger asked Lawhead! howr many! letters hes sent outt today?" Lawhead replied, "Forty-seven."F Reasingersaid, *Mayor,l Ijusty wantt tos say" 'thanky you'f fory yourr resignation. Iknow that yous servedf forz 24) years. We do appreciate: yours service. Itfeels therev was al lot of conflicts ofi interest, and youy were willingto step up Mollica remindede everyone ofthe Consolidation Reorganizational: meeting on Wednesday to gett the process going. "We'ree excitedt to gett thisf finishedi int time for nexty year's election. Also,! lapologize thatl putt thev wrongt thing ont the! ballot." [referringt to the optional Third Class City Code.] Ar member oft thea audience askedt thel location ofther meeting. Reasinger replied, "lty willb ber right! here at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night. It'sa publicr meeting." Mrs. Clementa asked," "Willi thereb ber more chairs available?" Nasuti replied,* "We'llseei ifv we cang get some." Deb Mechling asked, "Ist there a possibility of movingthe meeting" Nasutir replied, "Id don'tt think fort this meeting. Maybe next time." "Justa a quick question. Doy yout thinki it's possible... Iknow people who arej joiningi inr remotely viewing the meetings online. Ist there awayt they can participate, thatt they can ask questions remotely? I'mj just puttingito out there." Dave Rupprecht said," "The Township uses a phone that people can calli in ona and comment. I'm sure Mark and Sam cant telly youa aboutt that." Reasinger said, "We'llt taik to our IT/computer To answer Mechling's questions about! Executive Sessions, Brown explained, "An Executive! Session isa session with ana attorney, soi itiss subjectto attorney-client privilege. As fara as decisions beingr made, those decisions shouldh ber made out! here. The purpose oft the Executive! Session isto discuss, tos geta advice,so that would: allb bep protected! by attorney-client; privilege. That wouldr not only bet the caseh herel buti in cities across the United States." Mechling asked," "So, aret there minutest taken?" Brownr replied, "No. And eveni ifthere were,t they would be protected! by attorney-client privilege, butlc dor not believe there are." Jackson: added," "In ourf first Executive! Session, we were asking some questions and Tomy was like, That wouldb bep perfectf forap public meeting. So, it's running! byt thel book now." Nasuti used Elected Officials Healthcare as ane example. "We were givena al legal opinion. No decisions were made. We! broughti ith here tol havet the discussion: andt the decisioni madei inp public." Mrs. Clement asked, "Elected Officials. Does that meant the Treasurer? Isitr notj just City Council?" Reasinger replied," 1.. There are seven elected officials... " Nasutil listedt the seven, "Five Council, the Controller andi the Treasurer." Deb Mechling asked,' "Andp pasto officials arer notr recehingheathcare." Reasinger replied, "No." Mechlingt then said, "Alongk Kristen'st thought, Ihaveh hads some complaints fromi friends whol have stopped me ands saidt they wishy we coulds speakl louder." Jackson: said, "Wet talked: aboutt that. A microphone." Mechlingr replied,' "Eithert that ort tryingt to elevate ourv voices al littlel bitr more." Reasinger announced, "We'reg goingt to goi into Executive Session to discuss legal and personnel issues." Bill Jones - Chestnut Avenue "Zac was outs seeingv who didn'ts shovel their walk and sent out reminder letters." Michael Clement- - 17 N.Bradys Street ande endi it, SOV wea appreciate it." Sam Mollica- Sandy Township Supervisor Kristen Vida- Chestnut Avenue guya ands seev what we can do." Executive! Session (legal: andi personnel issues) 150 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 22,2024 (continued) Adjourn Therel beingr nof further businessi tot transact, ther motion was made! by. Jackson and secondedh by Gelfand that Councila adjourn. Roll call was asf follows: Roll callv was asf follows: Aughenbaugh,; yea; Jackson,yea; Gelfand,) yea; Dietz,) yea; Reasinger,yea. Motion passed5 5-0. ATTEST Yorbi Slocum APPROVED: aoosh