BOROUGH OF TARENTUM ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA BOROUGH COUNCIL REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING 6:30 P.M. AUGUST 17,2 2015  S 587  1.C CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEIGANCE  2. ROLL CALL Joe Davidek Erika. Josefoski Tim Firko Pete Varos Eric Carter Mike Gutonski Raymond Kerr Mayor Magnetta Solicitor Clark Chief Vakulick  3. MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES FOR THE. JULY20, 2015 COUNCIL MEETING minutes of the. July 20, 2015 council meeting with unanimous votes by council.  Motion to approve by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilman Kerr, RESOLVED to approve the  4. CITIZEN'S COMMENTS REMARKS:  Jim Bowser, 103 West gth Avenue, Tarentum, to Mayor Magnetta, remarking that the news stated the Mayor has taken care of his taxes. If you have a point of business, state it. Ifnot, please sit down.  CHIEF VAKULICK PRESIDENT FIRKO  Please keep the meeting respectful.  1    REMARKS:  Gina Lambda, 512 East 6th Avenue. Last month's meeting brought up that a religious group wanted to hold an event every Fridayi in the park. Suggestion1 to pass the rule that only entities that are directly related to the Borough can hold an event in the parkt twice a month. Seems that you wouldn't be supporting any religion if you allow them to only hold itt twice a month.  35 585  SOLICITOR CLARK  Iresearched the issue and due to the Constitution, we cannot exclude them, nor can we give them anything carte blanche. The council can address your suggestion on whetheri to make it al blanket rule to limit events to 2-31 times per  month.  REMARKS:  Mary Jo Cansick, on behalf of her mother who is 91 and lives on 1315 Alter Avenue in Tarentum. I've been here many times to address the adjacent property, which is an eyesore, and lwould like to have it cleaned up. Was previously told that it was private property and nothing could be done, but now the property owner has passed. Iwork in Tarentum and see at least two properties, 204 Lock Street and 619 or 621 2"d Avenue where the Borough does the grass, and if the Borough could do the grass next to my mother's house, wouldn't that bet the same? Previously Ispoke with Mr. Rossey about the grass and also about at tree limb that felli in my mother'syard, but he said that since it was private property, it could not be removed by the Borough. Iwould also like to buy the property, which was assessed at $18,000, but it'snot that.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  Yes, it absolutely would be the same. If you call down here, Iwill be happy to speak to you about this. You would be able to purchase the property at $4- 5,000. It would bet through the adjacent edge program. The property would be condemned and go to the county. You would pay whatever the propertyi is worth plus whatever would go to us and to the school district, plus cost of  paperwork.  COUNCILMAN KERR  It'sal long process, but when you go through it, you will get a clean deed to the property. Right now we'rei int the process of hiring a new code enforcement officer, who will be onboard the process from the beginning.  2    bhas Sss  COUNCILWOMAN JOSEFOSKI  It would be easiest for your mother to purchase the property since it's adjacent  to her home.  REMARKS:  Murry, 1st Avenue, in defense oft the Mayor, all someone needs to doi is go to the Allegheny County' Web site to find out who actually owns a piece of property. Also, Ibelieve there is a mistake where it says the primary account balance of 12/31/11. Are those the water and electric accounts of 2011?  MANAGER GUTONSKI REMARKS  Yes, that was the water and electric accounts of 2011 and what was ini there.  Paul, 917 4th Street, al lot of changes. In the past there have been audits when there were personnel changes, which protects the person leaving and the person coming in. Iwant to know if that's what you've done.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  We just finished up the audit for 2014. 2015, I met with the accountant and with the ladies in our office. Ihave ai firm grasp of what'si in our accounts, and  I'II be giving a report here shortly.  3    5. PRESIDENT'S REPORT  30.530  PRESIDENT FIRKO  There are a lot of things going on in the Borough that the council is working on and making plans to move forward positively. One project the councili is working on is possible refurbishment oft the water tanks.  6. MAYORSREPORT MAYOR MAGNETTA  Calls for service for July 2015: Calls for service 472; action necessary 314; no action necessary 158; arrests 24; Citations issued 65; Total accidents 15; Accidents with injury is 6; Fines collected $2,617.33. Fines collected for the year  $29,770.71. Parking tickets issued 23.  The 100th Anniversary of the Grandview School will be on Saturday, August 29, 2015, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. One of the organizers, Cindy, is here, and It think it's going to be a very good event. Everyone in the Borough is invited to attend, especially ify you have attended and graduated from Grandview School.  ***NO POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT THIS MONTH***  8.N MANAGER'S REPORT REMARKS: MANAGER GUTONSKI  As of 8/11/15, our disbursement account contains $191,000. This account is from where we pay all of our bills for utilities and whatnot. For the Rec board, we have a little over a thousand. Our electric fund has $40,000. The water fund, has $48,000. The bond for upgrading the water plant and storage tanks has $833,257.75 Our EPA sewer account, which was mandated by the EPA to doi infrastructure work, such as separating storm water from sewage, was closed for a time, but we reopened it and we have $78,000 in there. We have the fire escrow account, which is for the volunteer fire departments, which has $30,000.  4    3 534  These are the essential accounts for the money, which totals a little over a In 2011, the water account had $261,000 in it and the electric account had $176,000 in it. So you know what we had and what we have now. Also, the Borough owns its own utilities and brings in an income from that, SO we are much better off than many areas. We don't just have to rely on real estate taxes; we have water and electric as well. It would be very difficult for the When I took over this position on the 3rd, I started getting together some paperwork, one of which is a list of projects that should have been started and bills that should have been paid. One is a sanitary sewer on 2nd & Wood Street. The price was $37,000, but that was a year and a half to two years ago, sO the price may have gone up since then. We tried to get this money through ag grant, but the grant failed, and we need to get this project done. We have a 12-inch water line that runs under West 7th Avenue that's in deplorable condition. We have been trying tot fix this for a while but have not had the money to do sO. It's about an $80,000 project that needs to be done, and I have received word from PennDOT that they are, essentially, tired of coming here to repair the bridge wheni it'sessentially: a problem with that water line that needs to be fixed. We have all new water meters and electric meters for our system that were installed about three years ago. The company never received their final pay and have been asking for it. We're at around $140,000 for fees and penalties because this bill was never paid. I'm in the process of negotiating with the president of the company to get this bill down to a workable amount. The area around the pump house for the Borough should be cleaned out and dredged every 5-8 years. We're at the point now where it hasn't been done for approximately 12 years, and it's critical that this be addressed. Jeff Adams at The street scape is in its final phase and looks beautiful, but final engineering fees were never included in the grants and that means the Borough will be responsible for these final engineering fees, which total about $10,000. Another project that will also be addressed later is the rain garden, and approximately $14, 579 worth of work has been done already to make the site Essentially, the Borough is in the hole for approximately $316, 579.40 for work that needs to be done and bills that need to be paid. There were a lot of overages in these projects that fell beyond the scope of the grants, and it was left to the Borough to pay for these overages from its reserves, and that's where this debt comes from. We on the board have spoken with the Mayor and we are working on where we are going to get this money and how we're going to pay these bills. We are going to try to borrow some money from other accounts that we have and try to amend some ordinances to redirect some money.  million dollars.  Borough to go broke.  the plant has asked for this to be done andi it wasn't.  ready for the rain garden.  5    9. SOLICITORSREPORT REMARKS: SOLICITOR CLARK  BGA 53  Was finally able to get the deed in proper to allt the parties for the parking lot on 6th Avenue. The deed was given to the manager, who will circulate it to all the Also, regarding the personnel issues mentioned earlier, I gave my opinion  parties for signature, and then it will be reported. regarding the audit to the auditor.  COMMITTEE REPORTS  A. ADMINISTRATIVE,EMPLOYEE RELATIONS, FINANCE COMMITTEE  Tim Firko, Eric Carter  1. RESOLUTION TOI PAYJ JULYBILLS.  Upon motion by Councilman Carter, seconded by Councilwoman Josefoski, RESOLVED, this Council approves the payment oft the. July 2015 bills. Upon roll call, the resolution was adopted with five (7) affirmative votes. 2. MOTION TO ADVERTISE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.  RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Carter, seconded by Councilman Kerr, to advertise for a code enforcement officer. Motion passed by a unanimous vote from all  Council present.  REMARKS: PRESIDENT FIRKO  Some ideas have been noted, one of which is to hire someone as a part-time code enforcement officer while they get their schooling and certifications, and then they will automatically move on to be at full-time employee ont the Borough's payroll when they obtain their certification. In the contract, we could note that ift they leave, they will need to pay us back for the schooling.  6    MAYOR MAGNETTA  aG 593  Ithink we need to have some kind of contract in place because we're going to be spending sO much money on schooling for this person, so ift they leave, we  will be right back to square one again.  COUNCILMAN KERR  Doy you know when the classes will be?  MANAGER GUTONSKI  Idid not look, but I know there are numerous times that classes will be held. By making this a part-time position and having the person attend the classes, that's going to show us that an individual is ini it fort the long-term and notj just for the pay. It would also give the Borough some breathing room financially because we would not have to pay all of the fringe benefits for at full-time position right  away.  PRESIDENT FIRKO  This is just a motion that lwould pass. We're not going to hire somebody tonight. In the meantime, we can look into classes and certifications.  COUNCILMAN KERR  When we advertise, do we have to state thati it'sa part-time position initially, or  will people assume it's for the full-time replacement?  SOLICITOR CLARK  Ithink the best policy is to state it, and lalso think that we: should state in the ad exactly what our ideal candidate is, that way we don'twaste our time or anyone  else'st time.  7    5  COUNCILMAN DAVIDEK  Could we advertise it as a part-time position with the possibility of leading toa  full-time position?  PRESIDENT FIRKO  Int the interim, if we find someone who is certified, we could hire them from  there, if the council chooses.  B.  WATER COMMITTEE Joe Davidek, Pete Varos  1. MOTION TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF REFURBISHING THE EXISTING WATER RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilwoman Josefoski, toe explore the possibility of refurbishing the existing water tanks. Motion passed bya  TANKS.  unanimous vote by all council present.  REMARKS: MANAGER GUTONSKI  Initially, this was not an option, but dealing with the lack ofi funds that we have runi into, this may bet the most cost-effective option to refurbish our existing tanks. We have reports on the three tanks, and all three are in poor condition. Compared to our initial plan, this may be a more viable option for the Borough. This is only to explore the project, not carryi it out at this time.  2. MOTION TO ADVERTISE AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 11-02 OF2011. RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilman Varos, to advertise an ordinance to amend the ordinance of 11-020 of2011. Motion passed bya  unanimous vote by all council present.  8    REMARKS: MAYOR MAGNETTA COUNCILMAN DAVIDEK   5o  What is ordinance 11-02?  It's dealing with the bond issue that we could use anywhere int the water department. It could be used for dredging of the intakes, water tanks, the previous unpaid bill mentioned for $140,000. Those water meters were put in for $70,000. Now the penalties and fees have pushed us past that up to  $140,000 and we need that money.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  We spoke with the bond counsel and wei found verbiage in that ordinance that states that we can use that money for projects that deal with water. Thiscould be used to repair that water line on7 7th Avenue. This is an option for us.  MAYOR MAGNETTA  Iwant to know where this money is going to come from. There's water meters that haven't been installed yet and electric meters that haven't been installed yet, and this isr running us into thousands of dollars. Idon't! know where you're  going to get $316,000 in this new budget.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  To explain, Ispoke with the representative from this company, and we do have acontract with them, although L personally, have never found one. He's going to provide me with the contract, and there's going tol be a 20-year guarantee on those meters. There'sw wording in there that notes the amount of meters to be Ithink: some oft the meters you're asking about are the ones that need to be replaced. There are some meters that are not working correctly and need to be  installed.  9    replaced, sO they are replacing them. We need to pay this bill. Idon'tknow We don't have the money right nowi int the reserves to take on this bill. The money that would have gone toward this is int the streets.  why this bill hasn't been paid; I wasn'there.  530  PRESIDENT FIRKO  Meeting with them, they seem receptive to knock some of the money offt the bill and are willing to work with us. We are being open with the Borough and being accountable about where this money is going to come from.  UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER  Where is this money? Ifthe original $70,000 had already been allocated for this, where isit? Why can't we get an answer as to where exactly this money is and why hasn'titg gone to this project, and now we're into it for double?  MANAGER GUTONSKI  All of my comments are based on facts and figures. When this project was originally started for the water tanks and watert treatment, we were already in the hole and did not have the money, but the project was started anyway. If you start out with not enough to complete the project, you're not going to have enough to finish it. We are trying to find a way to finish it.  COUNCILMAN KERR  Is it possible to amend this and put a cap oni it? We're talking about $833,000. What'sg going to stop future council from goingi in there and taking the money set aside for this project and paying for other things? Can we capi it?  MANAGER GUTONSKI  This gives you two things to use this for, one being this bill, the other being the  water line on 7th Avenue.  10    3 592  MAYOR MAGNETTA  It doesn't say that in the ordinance. And where did the money go? The water fund, as of12/31/11, was $261,499.17. It'sdown to $48,787 now. The electric fund was $176,000. Now it's down to $40,000. Where did this moneygo?  MANAGER GUTONSKI  That all went into the street scape, plain and simple, and - have thet figures here to show it. One thing to rememberi is that the bill from LB Water mayl be negotiable and we may be able to bringi it down to half of that.  COUNCILMAN KERR  That'sgoing to leave us witha approximately $600,000. We should look ata worst case scenario. Worst case is $170,000 plus $80,000.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  The cost to refurnish the large tank would be $400,000 and the smaller tank $300,000. My initial thought was to get these projects taken care of and refurbish the big tank and the small tank, get our act together over the next few years, get the money ini the reserves that's: supposed to bei in the reserves, and complete the third tank. We may be able to put in new tanks where the existing tanks are, after speaking with. Jeff Adams, but we will not know for sure until we  speak to our engineers.  MAYOR MAGNETTA  Ijust don't know where we'r re going to come up with another $400,000 and $300,000. This is a small town with a lot of older people in it. They can'tp pay that int taxes. When I came in, linherited al lot of problems. Everyone was asleep here when this was brought on, and nowi it's a problem. That land they were going to move the tanks to is probably going to cost another $100,000to  clean it up.  11    3S 598  MANAGER GUTONSKI  The site that was purchased to put the new tanks on is basically a garbage dump, with dozens of old tires, old boats, old cars, and septic tanks. It would definitely runi into between $50-100,000 to clean it up.  COUNCILMAN KERR  Ifv wet throw in the dredging, what we owe LB' Water, and the West 7th Avenue water line, we're looking at spending $275,000 out of the $833,000, which  leaves us roughly $558,275.82. That'sal big chunk.  SOLICITOR CLARK  Ithink we should pass this. Ifwe're going to have a cap on it, it'll give us more time to seei if the numbers are more or less accurate and to better inform the  citizens of what's going on.  3. MOTION TO ADVERTISE TO HAVE INTAKE AT PUMP HOUSE DREDGED. (pg 35) RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilman Varos, to advertise to have the intake at the pump house dredged. Motion passed by unanimous  votes by all council present.  4. MOTION TO ADVERTISE BIDS1 TO REPAIR SEWER LINE AT2ND & WOOD STREET RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilman Varos, motion to advertise bids to repair sewer line at 2"d and Wood Street after Gibson Thomas draws up: specifications. Motion passed by unanimous vote by all council  AFTER GIBSON THOMAS DRAWS UP SPECIFICATIONS.  present.  12    REMARKS: MANAGER GUTONSKI  30 533  According to the ordinance we have through the sewage authority, we can use that money to make repairs to the sewer: system, sO we can borrow money. Fortunately, we have money that was put into that account. We do have the  money under that account to pay for this project.  **NOELECTRICCOMMITTEE REPORT THIS MONTH*** D. PUBLICSAFETY AND CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE  Tim Firko, Erika. Josefoski  REMARKS: PRESIDENT FIRKO  InJ June, Highland Hose reported 131 fire calls, representing 261 man hours. 2  training sessions representing 52 man hours.  For Eureka Fire Rescue, 32 fire calls representing 85 personnel hours.  EMS, 250 calls representing 982 personnel hours. Total company training hours for the month are 22.  Being ai fireman myself, Iknow, and we all know that having a good emergency  response benefits us all.  **NOPROPERTY & ZONING, LIBRARY & HEALTH COMMITTEE REPORT THIS MONTH***  13    F. STREETS & SANITARY SEWERS COMMITTEE  610  Eric Carter, Tim Firko  1. MOTION TO AWARD THE HANDICAP RAMPS INSTALLATION TO RON GILLETTE INC. RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilman Carter, seconded by Councilman Kerr, to award the handicap ramps installation to Ron Gilette Inc. int the amount of $8,500. Motion  IN THE AMOUNT OF $8,500.00.  passed by unanimous vote by all council present.  G. PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE Erika Josefoski, Greg Schmitt  1. MOTION TO PAY STEEL CITY SCAPES $14,579.40 FOR COMPLETED RAIN RESOLVED, upon motion by Councilwoman Josefoski, seconded by Councilman Varos, to pay Steel City Scapes $14,579.40 for completed rain garden. Motion  GARDEN.  passed by unanimous vote by all council present.  REMARKS: MAYOR MAGNETTA  Ithink #2 should be #1. Iquestion the payment of$ $14,000.  COUNCILWOMAN JOSEFOSKI  We still have paperwork to get together. We are not moving ahead yet. It was supposed to be completed last year, but all that has been done sO fari is that a pipe has been puti in from the marina, and a grade put int to remove the curb around one island. The EPAI is coming back to do  another inspection, but they didn'tsay when.  COUNCILMAN DAVIDEK  I've been down there andi it looks like a garbage dump. Ifthisisr not something that's been mandated byt the EPA, thenls suggest putting black top around there, filli it in, and leti it go, abandon the project all  together.  14    31645  COUNCILWOMAN JOSEFOSKI  That is one way to go about it, to abandon it. Another would be to continue with the project. Plan CV would be to work with what we have and maybe filli it in with some rocks or something SO we'r 're using what we'v ve started. As to why we' ve started this, Istill don't know. lam new to this, sO lam still in the process of finding that out. We have to pay them for what we'v ve already done, and then we'llf figure out what we're going to do from there and keep everyone informed.  MAYOR MAGNETTA  We can't find any official documents on this to let the citizens know why  this started.  COUNCILWOMAN JOSEFOSKI  The Generations church group that asked for permission last month to use the park on Fridays, Imet with them and their leader said there are really no specific days, but any kind of Friday would be fine. In speaking with Solicitor Clark, Iknow that we cannot give that to them carte blanche, but because of the Constitution, we also can't not allow them.  SOLICITOR CLARK  It's the two parts of the Constitution dealing with religious freedom. We, as a council, cannot establish a religion, and we also cannot stop them, because we would bei infringing on their right to organize and practice their religion freely. They should request some specific dates on whent they want to use it, and we should possibly take the audience's advice on how many times a group may be allowed to use it and think  about putting al blanket policyi in place.  COUNCILWOMAN JOSEFOSKI  He said they would bei flexible if we can get back to him with a specific number of days and is appreciative of anything we can do for him. Itis  okay to discuss this next month.  15    36r ois  Also, Ihave a letter from the president of the Rec board. The Rec board's concert willl be Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and they would like everyone to go down as it'st the last one oft the season. They've hada a The 100th year celebration, as the Mayor already mentioned, will be on August 29th from 1:00 to 5:00 and is an open house. The Rec board is also busy planning thei fall festival, which will be held from September 24 through the 26" from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Thursday  good turnout sO far.  and Friday, and Saturday from 12:001 to 10:00.  ***NOAVN/COG COMMITTEE REPORT THIS MONTH*** ***NOK KOZ COMMITTEE REPORT THIS MONTH***  REMARKS: MANAGER GUTONSKI  Supposedly there is one individual who is interested in purchasing the land we mentioned previously and using it for a dirt bike trail. Just a  thought.  MAYOR MAGNETTA  Well, tell him no.  "NOREDEVELOPMENT & REVITILIZATION COMMITTEE THIS MONTH***  11. CITIZEN'S COMMENTS  REMARKS:  (p.4 44) 117 Garden Street, why didn't the zoning officer go after the property that you sayi is a dump that was to be used for the water tanks? If he had gone after that site with the same vigilance he had gone after and cited me, we wouldn'thave this issue. Does the Borough still have a clean & lien ordinance? Why wasn'tite enforced?  16    366 663  MANAGER GUTONSKI  Ican'tanswer that. He was cited many, many times and was also put in  jail.  COUNCILMAN DAVIDEK  Ithink the members oft the council may have taken too much of the information given by Mr. Tarentum for granted. Int the December meeting minutes, lasked about the purchase of the land up on the hill, and the minutes say it was ready for construction. Now we find out that  we can't.  CITIZEN  Another thing, with the fines that the zoning officer was writing up, did Also, there's such a thing as a cap 1 program line. Not this money or this money; you actually go borrow money from al bank, and it will be  it cover all of his wages?  there in! 5 years or 10 years.  It's my opinion that this Borough made a mistake.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  Idon'tthink we know that about the wages. situation we have been put in.  As to borrowing money, we cannot do that because oft the financial  REMARKS:  (pg 46) Mary. Jo. My address is Natrona Heights. When they put the black fence around Tarentum, why didn't they puti it around the playground like they did the water park? lalmost saw al little girl get hit byac car. Ihave my grandchildren down there and IV worry about them.  MANAGER GUTONSKI  I'm not sure why it wasn't done, but Ido know it needs to be done. I am looking into that and lam also looking into some equipment.  17    Bsn 65s  REMARKS:  Jeff Adams. llive in Fawn Township, but Iwork for the Borough. Please don'tmake the mistakes that have been made in the past, and start using the money to repair infrastructure int this town. You see ital bit now with the water line that needs to be replaced and the dredging that needs to be done. Please make wise decisions on where you're  spending the money.  PRESIDENT FIRKO  Absolutely. And our decision will be shared with all citizens.  REMARKS:  Citizen from earlier. The former Borough manager was elected to be Borough manager of another town. He was also elected to council. Does the Solicitor have an opinion as to whether he can be Borough manager in one town and be on council in this town? Also, there's never enough agendas, soi if you can print up an extra 10 once in a while, that would be helpful.  SOLICITOR CLARK  The general election is not until November, sO until then, Ithink your question is moot and Iwill answer after November.  REMARKS:  (p4 49) Gina, East 6th Avenue. The parking lot next to the stadium, near the Dumpsters, do the people that work at Community Life pay fort that  parking?  MAYOR MAGNETTA  Yes, they do. That is permit parking.  Just to say one thing to Mr. Troutman as the Solicitor mentioned to you, he's not been elected yet, and Ithink the people just need to stay  tuned.  PRESIDENT FIRKO  Just wanted to mention that the agenda committee meetings will start ont the second Monday. We will have a meeting on the 14", an agenda meeting to see and set the agenda for the council meeting. We don't  vote on anything andi it's open to the public.  18    REMARKS:  Unnamed female citizen. We're going to be decorating the showcases up at the high school for the anniversary party, and Ineed at football. If anyone has an old football they don't need, I'd appreciate it. Ihavea  basketball, but Ineed ai football.  3105605  ADIOURNMENT  Motion by Councilman Davidek, seconded by Councilman Carter to adjourn. There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting of August  17,2015 was unanimously adjourned at 7:46P PM.  Respectfully: submitted by:  -  Michael Gutonski Tarentum Borough Manager  19