BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 11/13/23  The Regular Meeting of Council was held on Monday, November 13, 2023, at 7:00 PM, to be held in the The meeting was called to order by President Bartholomew at 7:00 PM with the following in attendance:  Council Room, 125 S. Walnut Street, First Floor, Slatington, PA 18080. Presiding: Thomas Bartholomew: President of Council Recording Secretary: Daniel Stevens, Borough Manager/Secretary  ROLL CALL: PRESENT Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  ABSENT Joseph Wechsler Lisa Young Ronald Kratz  OTHERS PRESENT Jeralyn Schoch Deron Dorward Justin Gross Daniel Stevens  VISITORS Zoe Moyer, Nichole Frable Josh Henry, Amanda Henry Lance Strohl, Luis Sosa Ryan Mayberry, Brooke Sosa Kevin Borman, Krystall Borman Anthony Lenhart, Eric King Annmarie Tomaino, Kris Porter Hunter Henritzy, David Schnaars Robert Herzog, Robert Stettner Samuel Ray, Dylan McDevitt  EXECUTIVE SESSION: None NOTIFICATION:  President Bartholomew announced that all public sessions of Borough Council are electronically recorded and such recordings are maintained as part of the meeting record until the minutes are transcribed and MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve the following: Council Meetings October 9, 2023; Committee Meetings = October 16, 2023, (cancelled due to lack of a quorum) & October 23, 2023. President Bartholomew  approved by the Board, at which time the recordings shall be erased.  declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor.  SPECIAL PRESENTATION:  Fire Chief Ronald Hausman informed the Council that a lot of their firefighters have been taking exams. They have spent 220 hours of their own time to better educate themselves in the fire service. Chief Hausman stated there at 2 different kinds of certifications. The following firefighters have completed the Firefighter Pro-board Certification - Kevin Borman, Krystall Borman, Robert Reph, Hunter Henritzy, Dylan McDevitt, Zoe Moyer, Jarett Berger, and Lance Strohl. Luis Sosa passed the Bucks County Fire Academy in light burn. Chief Hausman congratulated all them for their efforts. Chief Hausman added that at this time we have 13 certified Firefighter Ones, and 16 SEBA certified firefighters. In addition, the fire department now has 8 women firefighters. Hej pointed out that Krystall Borman is the first female fire line officer in the department. Operation Santa will be coming up and Chief Hausman gave kudos to Dylan McDevitt for the work he does for this project. He met with the Neff's Fire Department Chief James Steward to discuss the county plans on going to digital radios. He said we need to prepare ourselves for the changeover. We need to be looking at the future for replacing trucks because repairs are becoming a challenge every year. He is requesting a .25% increase in the fire  tax. 1    PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (Agenda and Non-Agenda items) You will have three minutes to address Council from the podium. The three minutes applies to your time at the podium. Ifyou exit the podium, PUBLIC. ANNOUNCEMENI, COMMUNICATIONS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS: None  you have yielded the floor, and any time you have remaining. None  APPROVAL OF ACCOUNTSPAYABLE/TRANSFER  Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve payment of the bills and transfers as presented by the Treasurer. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following  al Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  REPORTS  The reports of various committees, officials and officers were provided to Council and are on file in  Borough Hall and are available for public inspection. MAYORS/POLICE REMARKS  MayorJeralyn Schoch  Mayor Schoch read a letter submitted to the Borough Council on behalf of the Slatington Police Department regarding the status of the police department. The challenges we have incurred and the steps which we believe will help to alleviate current and future concerns, while they are working to reduce and deter crime through the pro-active policing efforts of our officers. Currently, and for over 2 years, the officers of Slatington have been unable to pro-actively patrol the streets of the borough. This is due to several factors. The main factor being staffing levels, and added responsibilities the officers endure to assist and ensure that standards and requirements for the continued operation of the department are met. These officers have taken that responsibility with the utmost professionalism. Year-to-date, the officers have handled 2,919 incident reports and a total of 88 arrests for various criminal violations. Each arrest removes a patrol officer from the road, which could last several hours and requires transport of the offender to the Lehigh County Jail for processing and arraignment. The current manpower of the department consists of 1 chief, 1 sergeant, and 4 officers. The sergeant and officers are tasked with ensuring public safety to the community through visibility, pro-activity, enforcing criminal and traffic violations and responding to calls for assistance from the public. The staff of the police department handled these responsibilities with pride and work diligently to complete their assignments promptly and professionally. Due to the below minimum staffing of the police department, there many open shifts, which need to be covered by those scheduled to be off duty. This means our officers are working longer than 12-hours per shift and are working continuous days to prevent the borough from having no police coverage, and relying on the PA State Police for services. Mayor Schoch provided al list ofwhen the state police were on duty. There was a total of7 times they were on duty for 4 hours or more, the most being 12 hours at a time. The borough was in luck during the armed person call due to the fact they were already in the borough. In October an officer reported he sustained an off-duty injury and would be unable to work for an unknown period. This officer works the night shift as well as being assigned to cover numerous open shifts. Upon notification the chiefbegan to contact 3 officers not scheduled to work and who could be available to volunteer to cover. All of them were unable to do sO. The chief was also unavailable that weekend, sO we were forced to contact the state police to provide these services for over 24 hours straight. PSP covers numerous municipalities within Lehigh County, and this causes a delay in response time. Officers are consistently working alone for large portions oft their shift and they must rely on ncighboringjunsalictions, or the state police, to assist. Sometimes Walnutport has no officers on their  2    schedule either, which causes even a longer response time for backup to arrive. Critical incidences can and do occur in every size borough and are more frequent than most residents realize in Slatington Borough. The mayor documented several recent incidents in the Borough and the challenges in responding to them. The Slatington Police force worked with the Lehigh County Narcotic Task Force to serve a warrant at the Smoke it Up on Main Street, based off a community complaint regarding vape shops. Hazardous material incidence assisting in recovering of over 81 Ibs of crystal methamfetamine and 14 illegal firearms and conducted a time-consuming investigation to a missing person incident with suspicious circumstances. There are numerous other examples which can be provided to display the importance of having multiple officers working during a shift to protect and improve our police department, the officers, the community, and the quality of life within. Our recommendations are hiring additional police officers, promoting a detective, having supervisors over see the daily control functions and possibly hiring a part-time secretary. Mayor Schoch gave the following statistic: Overtime  manpower hours from June 201 tol November 3 was 198.00 hrs overtime.  Sgt. Dorward  Sgt. Dorward stated that the police department is once again is participating in the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign this year. There are several boxes at the police station in case anyone wishes to donate till the middle of November at which time they will deliver the toys to the Marines. Sgt Dorward added that this November they started their No Shave November. This is where officers are allowed to grow facial hair and make donations at the end ofDecember or early January. That money is collected and donated to someone in Slatington or Walnutport. Sgt. Dorward stated that every other year the money is donated to Councilor Hausman asked where we were with the interviews for a full-time police officer. Mayor Schoch stated we are interviewing one candidate. The candidate has completed everything. We are waiting for the reports. It is anticipated that at the next regular council meeting the new officer will be  either community.  sworn in.  STANDING COMMITTEES A. Highway  Councilor. Jeffrey Hausman  1. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to transfer $6,599.00 from liquid fuels account to fund the balance of the E. Franklin Street CDBG project ($101,668.00 bid amount less $95,069.00 CDBG award). This motion is contingent on approval from PennDOT to use liquid fuels funds. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed  following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLLO CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  2. Thank you note from Alice Nissen from 1267 Oakhurst Drive. She is thanking Slatington Council and all those involved for the repair work on W. Oakhurst Drive. (informational only) 3. Update on South Street CDBG project and Chestnut Alley paving. Councilor Hausman stated that South Street is completed. Manager Stevens met with S&G and explained how we wanted to pave right through the intersection at Center Ave. S&G was supposed to start today, but the  gas company was doing work in that area.  3    4. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve Resolution R-13-23 accepting a license agreement between St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Borough of Slatington for parking lot use by businesses on weekdays. (Vice President Reed stated that there will be stickers for the cars and each will be given a specific parking spot. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed  following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  5. Penn State Extension has released a series of webinars for the month of November related to residential stormwater. Registration is required for these MS4 webinars. . Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to amend the agenda to discuss and possibly authorize payment to S&G Asphalt for the South Street CDBG projects and to authorize transfer of funds from Liquid Fuels for this project. This is necessary to meet the CDBG time frame for completion. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to authorize payment to S&G Asphalt in the amount of $215,900.00 for the South St. CDBG projects. This payment is contingent on approvals from the Borough Engineers, Borough Solicitor, and Lehigh County. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following al Roll Call, voting as follows:  (informational only)  aVoice Vote, Alli in) Favor.  ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  7. Councilor Hausman made a motion duly seconded by Councilor Halkias, to transfer $23,313.58 from the liquid fuels account to fund the balance of the two South St. CDBG Projects ($215,900.00 bid amount less $192,586.42 CDBG award). This motion is contingent on approval from PennDOT to use liquid fuels funds. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed  following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLLCALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  B. Public Safety  Councilor Kevin Steckel  4    1. Update and possible motion concerning MID ATLANTIC order for air pack cylinders and Lehigh County CDBG grant for air packs and cylinders. Manager Stevens stated there is no new  information at this time. C. Human/Community Services  Councilor Zachari Halkias  1. Councilor Halkias made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor) Reed, to approve final payment to Bruce George Paving and Excavating, Inc. for Slate Heritage Trail project in the amount of $24,507.54. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as  follows: ROLLCALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  D. manclammingy/oning  Councilor Ronald Kratz  1. Two of our second-floor leases will be terminating at the end of December: 1)retiring, 2) cutting costs. The New Enterprise lease is being taken over by Grace in December. Grace is working on the PennDOT project on Route 248. (informational only) 2. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to authorize Borough Manager Stevens to approve Exemption Report from Statewide Tax Recovery Inc. for Delinquent Per Capita Tax for: Heather Vogel - Closed exonerated - 2 X $5.50 total $11.00; Robert Beers - Closed bankruptcy - $5.50; Ethel Berg - Closed efforts exhausted - $5.50; total $22.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following  aF Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLLCALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  3. Letters from Brownie Troop 6365 to Mayor Schoch and Borough Council supporting vape shop 4. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to authorize advertisement an ordinance for the Borough of Slatington, Lehigh County amending the Codified Ordinances with additional zoning provisions regarding the use of tobacco stores/smoke shop/vape shop as an industrial district use and otherwise, provide definitions of regular use for the tobacco store/smoke shop/vape use. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed  ordinance. Mayor Schoch read the letters to the public.  following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman  NAYS  ABSTAIN  5    Zachari Halkias  5. Discussion and possible motion concerning manager's PTO and comp time (executive session  discussion) E. Sewer/Solid Waste  Councilor Joseph Wechsler  1. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to approve quote from Parkson for brush subassembly and screen basket in the amount of$11,331.00 (less 10% discount ifordered before Thanksgiving) This will be billed in 2024. President Bartholomew declared the  motion passed following al Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLLCALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  2. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to authorize Manager Stevens to reinvest two CD's. One for $250,000.00 maturing November 21, 2023 and second one for $250,000.00 maturing December 29, 2023. President Bartholomew declared the motion  passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  3. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to approve holding 2 electronics recycling events on April 13th and November 9th, 2024. President Bartholomew  declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor.  F. Water/Special Sewer Committee  Councilor Bryon Reed  1. Water Test Statement - Water was tested and found safe for human consumption  2. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to approve a quote from BEI Electrical for water tank lighting for $1,959.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion  passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLL CALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  3. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to authorize Manager Stevens toi reinvest two CD's. One for $250,000.001 maturing November 28, 2023 and second one for $60,000.00 maturing January 3rd, 2024. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed  following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  6    ROLLCALL  AYES Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  4. Comprehensive controls upgrade - Martz status update. Councilor Reed informed the Council that they are still waiting on parts for thej panel. This is the Autocon and Roberts panels. The  current time line for completion is in) December or early next year.  UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None NEW BUSINESS: None  COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None Council from the podium on Agenda Items Only.)  Thomas Bartholomew  COURTESY OF THE FLOOR - (Agenda Items Only - You will have two (2) minutes to address Douglas Bennet - 103 E. Church St. Was recognized to speak. Douglas is supporting the mayor and the police chief initiative toi increase the number of police in Slatington. Douglas gave statistics of Allentown having 124,000 int their population and have 245 police officers, which breaks down to 1 police officer for every 500 residents. Bethlehem has 75,000 residents and they have 165 police officer, and that breaks down to 500 residents for every police officer. Emmaus 11,600 residents and 23 officers and, which broken down is 1 police officer per 500 residents and Slatington 4260 residents, 5 officers which is 1 EXECUTIVE SESSION: President Bartholomew recessed to executive session at 8:00 PM. President Bartholomew left the meeting at the recess (8:001 PM). At 9:28 VPI Reed reconvened the meeting. Matters  police per 800 residents. Douglas stated that it would help to hire a detective.  ofpersonnel and legal were discussed in executive session.  D.5  Councilor Hausman made ai motion to allow Manager Stevens to carry over to 2024 all unused comp time Councilor Hausman made ai motion, duly seconded by Councilor Halkias, to allow Manager Stevens to be paid for all unused comp time and unused paid time off for this year (2023). VPI Reed declared the motion  and PTO time. Councilor Hausman revised his motion. passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows:  ROLL CALL  AYES Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias  NAYS  ABSTAIN  ADJOURNMENT  Being no further business, Councilor Hausman made the motion, duly seconded by Councilor Halkias, to adjourn the meeting. VP Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor.  1    VP Reed declared the meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM.  Daniel L. Stevens Borough Secretary  2