1  1 2 3 4  OLD FORGE BOROUGH COUNCIL OLD FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA  5 IN RE: PUBLIC HEARING  6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21  DECEMBER 5, 2023 7:00 P.M.  OLD FORGE MUNICIPAL BUILDING 314 SOUTH MAIN STREET OLD FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA  COUNCIL MEMBERS:  RUSSELL RINALDI, PRESIDENT  RICK NOTARI LOUIS FEBBO MICHELLE AVVISATO 22 JAMES HOOVER ANDREW BUTLER  23 WILLIAM RINALDI, ESQUIRE, SOLICITOR MARYLYNN BARTOLETTI, BOROUGH MANAGER  24 ROBERT LEGG, MAYOR  25  Mark Wozniak Official Court Reporter    2  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Good evening,  ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to call the meeting to order with the Pledge of  Allegiance.  (The Pledge of Allegiance was  recited.)  MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Roll call,  please, Marylynn.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Here.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Here.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Febbo? MR. FEBBO: Short timer is here. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Present.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Lettieri  is absent. Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Present.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Here. Once  again, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 01d Forge Borough Council meeting. Tonight is Tuesday, December 5, 2023. Before we    3  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  begin our work session we had advertised a special meeting for our passage of our  tentative budget.  So to open up that meeting the chair  is going to entertain a motion to open up the special meeting for the budget.  MR. NOTARI: I'17 make that motion. MR. FEBBO: I'17 second it. MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Motion by  Councilman Notari, seconded by Councilman Febbo. On the question? Public input?  Roll call, please, Marylynn.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Febbo?  MR. FEBBO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Yes. The    4  special meeting for the budget is open. I'm going to turn it over to the borough manager, Marylynn, and then if any members of council have questions for her or for each other, anyone from the public has any questions we'11 give you a few minutes to  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  address us or Mare.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Thank you. So our  2024 budget includes -- I'71 just give you some of the highlights. Of course, it includes new hires that we hired this year for the police department and we have shared services with two officers in the school  every day.  It includes approximately $800,000  in road paving for this coming year.  It includes our usual $75,000  payment to the fire company for their services that they provide to our citizens.  It includes an increase this year of  $40,000 to hire a driver for the fire  companies.  It includes equipment for our police  department, more protective equipment.  It includes an additional vehicle    5  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  for the police department, an additional vehicle for our DPW department, and a vehicle for our zoning and code enforcement  officer.  To wrap things up, the total budget  for this year will be $12,882,412.  Does anyone have any questions for  me on it?  MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: No questions,  but it also has no tax increase. Right?  MS. BARTOLETTI: Correct. MS. AVVISATO: Good job, Mare. MR. NOTARI: Nice work, Marylynn. MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Before we get  into any questions, if any members of the public have any questions for Marylynn about the budget or council about the budget?  Any members have any questions for  Mare? I'd like to say, as always : and I know I speak for everyone at the table. I've been sitting here with you for a long time. You worked the budget really well, really tight. You're very close with everything. We have a lot of good things that we're able to purchase year in and year    6  out. A lot of good services, a lot of good for our parks, the kids, the community. You do a great job and I just wanted to let you  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  know that.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Thank you.  MR. FEBBO: In the budget about that  fire person that we have, Bill, is the public aware of that? Do you want to tell everybody what that's all about, the fireman  we hired?  MR. STULL: So the surrounding  communities, Moosic Hose Company : or Greenwood Hose Company, I should say, in Moosic, they've been doing this for about three years now. They put on a permanent driver Monday through Friday from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 at night. So that individual, when the pager goes off he's there, he gets the piece out the door pretty  quick.  So this year we came to our council  and asked them to do the same thing. Taylor, they just did the same thing. Two Luzerne companies, Hughstown and Dupont, went together and they did the same thing.    7  1 2 3 4 5 0 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  So what we're doing starting the 2nd  of January of '24 is we're putting on the same thing, a daytime driver from 8:00 in the morning until 5 p.m. It's per diem. It's $15 an hour. He's responsible for his own taxes and everything like that. But he's there, like I said, Monday through Friday, and he'17 be getting the vehicle out the door quicker. Right now we're waiting for volunteers. During the daytime, when everybody works, it's very hard to get volunteers out the door. So this way we know we're getting one piece on the road  pretty quick.  With Greenwood doing the same thing  we know that if we have a situation in 01d Forge you're getting two pieces of apparatus into town in a matter of a couple minutes with at least two guys to start something. Then with our mutual aid companies you'17 have Taylor coming in. They have one guy, too. So now you're up to three guys. It's  going to work out pretty well.  Hopefully - I hate to say it, but  this is the writing on the wall.    8  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  Volunteerism, as everybody knows, is going down the drain very fast. Back in the '70s, '80s, 300,000 across the state of  Pennsylvania. Right now it's about 32,000 volunteers across the whole state. More and more departments, you're going to see over the years, are going to be going through this. Eventually I can see the writing on the wall. Five to ten years you're going to have some kind of combination fire department. The municipalities themselves or countywide. But something's going to  happen.  So we just wanted to be pro-active,  let council know that this is what's going on, sO they took a pro-active approach and let us hire a fireman. That's where we  stand with it.  MR. FEBBO: I think it's an  excellent idea, council has agreed. Also  for the community.  MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Bill, thank  you for your information. Any other members have anything before we adjourn the special  meeting?    9  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  Any of the public, once again,  before we adjourn the special meeting?  At this time the chair is going to  entertain a motion for a resolution of the Borough of 01d Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, proposing a comprehensive budget for the calendar year 2024 for the Borough of 01d Forge, Lackawanna County,  Pennsylvania.  MR. NOTARI: I'17 make that motion. MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: By Councilman  Notari.  MR. HOOVER: I'17 second it. MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Seconded by  Councilman Hoover. On the question? Public  input? Roll call, please.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Febbo?  MR. FEBBO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.    10  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Yes. At this  time the chair is going to entertain a motion to adjourn the special meeting.  MS. AVVISATO: I'11 make that  motion.  MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: By  Councilwoman Avvisato.  MR. FEBBO: I'17 second it. MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Seconded by  Councilman Butler. On the question? Public  input? Roll call, please.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Febbo?  MR. FEBBO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.    11  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RUSSELL RINALDI: Yes. (Meeting adjourned.)    12  1 2 3 4 5  CERTIFICATE  I hereby certify that I attended the foregoing  proceeding, took stenographic notes of the same, that 6 the foregoing, consisting of 11 pages, is a true and correct copy, done to the best of my ability, of same  7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  and the whole thereof.  Mark  Official Court As  Reporter