1  1 2  OLD FORGE BOROUGH COUNCIL  3 IN RE: REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL  4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  HELD:  Tuesday; December 19, 2023  TIME: 7:00 P.M.  LOCATION:  OLD FORGE MUNICIPAL BUILDING 310 South Main Street 01d Forge, Pennsylvania  COUNCIL  MEMBERS:  ORIGINAL  RUSSELL RINALDI, President  RICK NOTARI MICHELE AVVISATO MICHAEL LETTIERI-absent LOUIS FEBBO-absent ANDREW BUTLER  MARYLYNN BARTOLETTI, Borough Manager  ROBERT LEGG, Mayor  WILLIAM RINALDI, Esquire, Solicitor  MICHELLE SMOLSKIS 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  (Pledge of allegiance.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please,  Marylynn.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Here.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Present.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Febbo is  absent. Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Present. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman  Lettieri? He's absent. Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Present.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Here. Once again,  ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the regular meeting of the 01d Forge Borough. Tonight is  Tuesday, December 19, 2023.  The purpose of our meeting will be  to go through a few housekeeping motions. We'11 hear from our Council members, our department heads, our mayor, borough manager  and solicitor.    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  The public sign-in sheet I have. If  anybody else who didn't sign in would like to, we'17 give you a few minutes at the end of the  meeting to address us.  With that said, we're going to move  into our first housekeeping motion, and that's going to be a motion to approve the prior  minutes.  MS. AVVISATO: I'11 make that  motion, Mr. Chairman.  MR. RINALDI: Motion on the floor by  Councilwoman Avvisato.  MR. BUTLER: I'17 second it. MR. RINALDI: Second by Councilman  Butler. On the question?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Public input?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?    4  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. HOOVER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Yes. The second item  is motion to approve treasurer report. Please note this doesn't include the sewer account.  MR. BUTLER: I'11 make the motion. MR. RINALDI: Motion on the floor by  Councilman Butler.  MS. AVVISATO: I'17 second that  motion.  MR. RINALDI: Second by Councilwoman  Avvisato. On the question?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Public input?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.    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  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Yes. The third item  is motion to approve invoices for payment. Once again, please note this doesn't include  the sewer account.  MS. AVVISATO: I'11 make that  motion, Mr. Chairman.  MR. RINALDI: Motion on the floor by  Councilwoman Avvisato.  MR. NOTARI: I'11 second it. MR. RINALDI: Second by Councilman  Notari. On the question?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Public input?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.    6  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  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. NOTARI: Yes.  MS.  BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Yes. The fourth item  is a motion to approve treasurer report from  the sewer department.  MR. NOTARI: I'11 make that motion,  Mr. Chairman.  MR. RINALDI: Motion on the floor by  Councilman Notari.  MR. HOOVER: I'17 second it. MR. RINALDI: Second by Councilman  Hoover. On the question?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Public input?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?    7  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. NOTARI: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Yes. Last item under  housekeeping is a motion to approve sewer department invoices for payment.  MR. NOTARI: I'11 make that motion,  Mr. Chairman.  MR. RINALDI: Motion on the floor by  Councilman Notari.  MR. BUTLER: I'17 second it. MR. RINALDI: Second by Councilman  Butler. On the question?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Public input?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Roll call, please. MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilwoman  Avvisato?  MS. AVVISATO: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Hoover?  MR. HOOVER: Yes.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Notari?  MR. NOTARI: Yes.    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  MS. BARTOLETTI: Councilman Rinaldi? MR. RINALDI: Yes. We'1l move into  our first department head, DPW manager Joseph  Lenceski. Good evening, Joe.  MR. LENCESKI: Good evening. MR. RINALDI: Anything for the  meeting?  MR. LENCESKI: Nothing for the  meeting.  MR. RINALDI: Any members have any  questions for Joe?  MR. HOOVER: No.  MR. LENCESKI: Thank you.  MR. RINALDI: Thanks, Joe. Second  department head is Mike Sokolowski, code enforcement/zoning officer. Mike, anything for  the meeting?  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: I have nothing  right now.  MR. RINALDI: Any members have any  questions for Mike?  MR. NOTARI: I have nothing for  Mike.  MR. BUTLER: I have a couple  things :    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  MR. RINALDI: Sure.  MR. BUTLER: : that I got called  on. Mike, they called me again about that 602 Maple Street that the guy is back in the house.  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: He's supposed to be  out of there. I'17 go back.  MR. BUTLER: The relative called me,  said he's back in there :-  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Yeah.  MR. BUTLER: : that he was gone. MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Yeah, he was  supposedly gone. Actually, we were over there, I'm going to say three, four weeks ago, I'm not sure, and he was supposed to be gone.  MS. AVVISATO: Yeah, he was gone.  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Yeah.  MR. BUTLER: Yeah, he was. I know  he was out of the house and now all of a sudden now she says he's back in the house. She's related, sO she probably should know.  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: A1l right. We'17  go back over again.  MR. BUTLER: Just double check on  it, make sure he's not in it.  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: A11 right.    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  MR. BUTLER: And the other thing  would be down at the Gerara (phonetic) property down there, those RVs, I mean, is that guy going to be get them out of there?  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Shuback (phonetic)  is supposed to be taking over. With football and everything, he said he got tied up and  then :  MR. BUTLER: Okay. A1l right.  Thank you.  MR. NOTARI: What property is that,  Mr. Butler?  MR. BUTLER: Gerara's, Louie  Gerara's.  MR. NOTARI: What's the address? MR. BUTLER: Main Street. I'm not  sure.  (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. BUTLER: Where the pond reader  (phonetic) was.  MR. NOTARI: Oh, okay. Oh, right. MR. RINALDI: The yard behind the  pond reader.  MR. NOTARI: Right. Okay. A17  right.    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  MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Yeah, there's two  pieces left that he hasn't been out of there.  MR. RINALDI: Any other questions  for Mike?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Thank you, Mike. MR. SOKOLOWSKI: Thanks.  :  MR. RINALDI: You're welcome. Dave  Lopatka, engineer, anything for the meeting?  MR. LOPATKA: I believe it might  already be on there, the Josephine Street, you guys have to vote to put it out to bid, the  sewer.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. Bill, we'17  have to add that to the agenda this evening?  ATTY. RINALDI: Yep. It's not here.  Yep.  MR. RINALDI: Anything else, Dave?  (No audible response.)  MR. RINALDI: Any members have any  questions for Dave?  MR. HOOVER: Dave, Louie Mancusso's  going to go look at that driveway tomorrow.  MR. LOPATKA: Okay.  MR. HOOVER: That we were there    12  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  today. See what he thinks.  MR. LOPATKA: Yeah.  MR. HOOVER: The driveway being cut  is out of the question. You knew that.  MR. LOPATKA: I know, but that's  probably the, I mean, that's probably the long  term fix.  MR. HOOVER: Yeah.  MR. LOPATKA: But a short term fix  is probably putting in a small area drain.  MR. HOOVER: So, he's going to look  at it tomorrow. Give your price to Marylynn  and we'17 find out.  MR. LOPATKA: Yeah. And, Marylynn,  if she just wants to send it to me once you guys get it, I'11 just take a peek.  MR. HOOVER: Yeah. Okay.  MR. RINALDI: Any other questions  for Dave?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Thanks, David. MR. LOPATKA: Yep.  MR. RINALDI: Chief Dubernas,  anything for the meeting?  CHIEF DUBERNAS: No. The only thing    13  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  I had was it's on the agenda, sO :-  MR. RINALDI: About the no parking? CHIEF DUBERNAS: Correct.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. Anybody have  any questions for the Chief?  MR. NOTARI: I have two things.  MR. RINALDI: Sure.  MR. NOTARI: Chief, on Marion Street  between Sussex and Railroad, there's a dumpster on the right side of the road closer to  Railroad Street :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. It's right  at the :  MR. NOTARI: : on the no parking  side of the street. It's really a hazard, don't you think, it's a safety hazard?  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. I'm not sure  whose dumpster. There's no markings on it. I saw it today when I was going over to the  school.  MR. NOTARI: Maybe it's the property  owner's then, and it needs to be moved.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: A17 right. I'11  take care of that.  MR. NOTARI: I mean, when there's    14  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  traffic there at night when Romar's going on :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: There was a cone in  the back of it, but now everything's gone. Like, there's no cone, no tape, no nothing there. That's a Novak's house. I'11 call  them. I have the phone number.  MR. NOTARI: I mean, irregardless,  if it's coned off or anything, it's still in the way of traffic on a no parking side of the street. So, I mean, I would think that it should be moved. It's empty. I mean, I'm sure it's going to be filled. It looks like they're  gonna :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah, I think  they're at Novak's.  MR. NOTARI: Those apartments are  empty there, sO something's gonna happen.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Oh, they're empty?  I didn't know that.  MR. NOTARI: I saw somebody moving  out a week or two ago.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: A17 right.  MR. NOTARI: And the other thing is  the Romar parking situation. I had a resident tell me that a little girl had her foot run    15  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  over.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. That was two  weeks ago.  MR. NOTARI: Last week when I was  leaving the school, cars were double parked, cars were parked on the wrong side of the road, they're parked in the no parking zone, they're parked from the stop sign to the corner, illegally parked, and I understand there's not  a parking lot there.  U understand it's probably for 20  minutes that they're there to pick up their child; however, it's a safety hazard and whether we have to put a cop there to direct traffic, especially now at night --  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. Do we know  their schedule? Maybe we can get in touch.  Who do :  MR. NOTARI: I don't know. MS. AVVISATO: Call Marylou. MR. NOTARI: Marylou? MS. AVVISATO: Yeah.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Okay. Yeah. MR. BUTLER: Rick, I think part of  the problem is is that people are bringing    16  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  their kids there to the studio and sitting in  the car waiting for them.  MR. NOTARI: I understand that. MR. BUTLER: You know what I'm  saying? So, there's really no drop off spot.  MR. NOTARI: I get that. Again : MR. BUTLER: There should be maybe a  drop off zone where people could actually pull up to the building and let their kids off and  stuff like that.  MR. NOTARI: And then leave. MR. BUTLER: Right. And leave.  Right.  MR. NOTARI: I mean, there were  actually cars double parked.  MR. BUTLER: Yeah. They were. I  agree with you.  MR. NOTARI: So, I mean, even if we  just have a cop there to direct traffic just to  help a little bit.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Even if they  dropped them off and go up to the parking  lot :  MR. NOTARI: The school parking lot  and park. Right.    17  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  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Okay.  MR. NOTARI: Right. Or park in the  parking lot and then walk the kids down to the place, but I just don't want to see something serious happen there. That's all I have.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: I'17 take care of  that tomorrow.  MR. NOTARI: Thank you.  MR. HOOVER: Chief, did we ever do a  study at Oak and Marion? I know we did that  once. I - think we did it once.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Oak and Marion?  Yeah, that's up to us because when I contacted PennDOT, they told us it was us and then we're  responsible :  MR. HOOVER: For everything. CHIEF DUBERNAS: Dave, if I'm  correct, right, we were responsible to put the  traffic light in, all the :  MR. LOPATKA: A17 the  infrastructure.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah.  MR. HOOVER: That's another thing I  think we should bite the bullet and :  MS. BARTOLETTI: I think we need to    18  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  do that :  (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. NOTARI: Why don't we do an  updated study, at least for line of sight.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yeah. It's very  dangerous:  MR. NOTARI: It's tough pulling out  of there at all times of the day.  MR. LOPATKA: That's a fully : it  has to get approved, the traffic signal plan has to get approved by PennDOT and you have  to :-  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah, PennDOT does  everything, and once they do the approval :  MR. LOPATKA: They don't design  anything. PennDOT just reviews it. The borough's responsible to get it designed.  MR. BUTLER: They do the study,  though, right?  CHIEF DUBERNAS: No. We do the  study.  MR. LOPATKA: The study has to be : MR. RINALDI: Real quick. Not to  interrupt anybody, but just to update them, a few months back we spoke to the state    19  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  representative's office of Jim Haddock, and his  chief of staff Ron Rilstein :  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yes.  MR. RINALDI: :- they told us that  we have to get the study like you were saying.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Same exact  information.  MR. RINALDI: And we wanted to do  the study during the school hours when most of the traffic :- during the school months when most of the traffic was taking place to show  them that :  MS. BARTOLETTI: Correct.  MR. RINALDI: : it's in dire need  of a street light.  MR. LOPATKA: Right. You want to do  the traffic study when school's in session.  MR. RINALDI: Right. So, it's up to  us to do the study and they get it back, the state rep's office, and they're going to get it  to PennDOT for us.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yeah. And then  they would try to help us out to try to see if there's any grant information or anything.  MR. RINALDI: And then the Chief is    20  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  right, we have to pay :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: For everything. MR. RINALDI: : we have to pay  for everything. We have to pay for the study,  the :  MR. LOPATKA: The traffic study  dictates :  (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. RINALDI: : which I'm sure  we're fine doing, but there's steps we have to  take.  MR. LOPATKA: The steps dictate  whether or not the signal is warranted, because PennDOT has requirements. You have to meet  certain warrants.  MR. RINALDI: That's why we have to  do it during school hours.  MR. LOPATKA: Right. But then you  have to design the intersection :  MR. RINALDI: The nine months that  school is in, that's the busiest.  (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. LOPATKA: - all that gets  submitted to PennDOT, they review it, approve it, and then you could do the work.    21  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. RINALDI: Correct.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah, I know they  just put up a brand new flashing light and everything there with the speed limit sign in  the last three weeks.  MR. RINALDI: They just put it up  about a week ago. I saw them installing it.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. It's up and  running. It's all LED.  MR. RINALDI: That's for the  pedestrian crosswalk. We put that up?  MS. BARTOLETTI: We put that in.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. MS. BARTOLETTI: Yeah. MR. RINALDI: I saw someone  installing it one week ago, right, Joe, maybe  two weeks?  MR. LENCESKI: Well, they had the  base in for a little bit and then the top  portion came.  CHIEF DUBERNAS: That was the one  they ripped out on us when they redid the  sidewalk.  MR. NOTARI: Dave, correct me if I'm  wrong, it's not just a traffic study that the    22  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  Chief would do, it's a professional traffic  study by an engineer :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Yeah. They would  have a counter and everything for it.  MR. NOTARI: Do you do that? Does  your firm do that?  MR. LOPATKA: No. But we have  multiple traffic engineers that we sub to a  lot.  MR. NOTARI: Okay.  MR. LOPATKA: So, we could get that  set up. And they do, they do the traffic counts, they'11 do a whole report and detail  exactly what needs to be done.  MR. RINALDI: Could you start that  for us, Dave?  MR. LOPATKA: I could. MR. RINALDI: Thank you. MR. NOTARI: Yeah. That's it. MR. BUTLER: I just have one other  thing.  MR. RINALDI: Sure.  MR. BUTLER: I got a call, too, that  people are speeding up the alley, the one way alley by my house where the day care center is,    23  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  and they're kind of, I don't know, somebody that lives in one of those houses was actually backing out, because it's a one way alley, they're zipping up that way, but she has all those shrubs and stuff on the side of her :  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Ann Street? MR. BUTLER: It's that little  alleyway that's in :  (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. NOTARI: There's a day care by  your house?  MR. BUTLER: Yeah. Across the  street.  MS. AVVISATO: Yeah. It's approved. MR. BUTLER: And she has all  arborvitaes going down there. If somebody comes out of her driveway and stuff like that, I mean, if somebody's coming up there, somebody's going to get hit. I mean, if it  wasn't a day care -  MR. NOTARI: Is it her clientele  speeding?  MR. BUTLER: No. It's somebody  that's in the - I think it's the house that had the school bus in the back yard.    24  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  CHIEF DUBERNAS: Oh. I know what  house it is.  MR. BUTLER: So, yeah, they're  coming up the street and, I mean, they asked for a speed bump and I said I don't think we could put a speed bump there, but   CHIEF DUBERNAS: I'17 go down and  look at it. I know exactly what you're talking  about.  MR. BUTLER: Maybe a sign, slow.  Kids zone or something.  MR. RINALDI: Any other questions  for the Chief?  MR. BUTLER: No, I don't. MR. RINALDI: Thank you, Chief. CHIEF DUBERNAS: You're welcome. MR. RINALDI: Bill Stull, assistant  fire chief, anything for the meeting?  MR. STULL: Yeah, actually I do.  So, back in April of '04, Pennsylvania adopted the uniform construction code, all right? In July of '04, the Council at that time adopted the code, the uniform construction code.  Under that code we have a third  party inspector, which now we have two, okay,    25  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  BIU and NEIC, right?  MR. RINALDI: NEIC. MR. STULL: So, under the  International Fire Code that the fire  department uses and a bunch of other codes that BIU uses, I'd like to introduce to Council to consider at their work session to update yourselves to the International Property Management Code, edition 2018, and do away with our BOCA code that is dated back in 1996, I  believe.  So, this book references everything  of the International Fire Code that we use, everything that BIU uses. It's just that our property maintenance code is not updated, and I'd like just for the borough to consider  updating to this edition.  This is the current edition that we  use now in the state, the 2018. So, this is my copy. I would like to leave it with you, take  a look at it.  MR. RINALDI: Sure.  MR. STULL: I think you'11 see what  it's all about. I think that might solve a lot of our problems with property maintenance code    26  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  in the municipality. So just something for you  guys to consider.  MR. RINALDI: Quick question, Bill,  we'd have to adopt a resolution?  ATTY. RINALDI: You'd have to just  amend your ordinance.  MR. RINALDI: Just amend? ATTY. RINALDI: I think BOCA was  bought out and they merged and :  MR. STULL: Yeah. They formed the  International.  ATTY. RINALDI: It's an easy  amendment.  MR. RINALDI: Okay.  MR. STULL: If you actually look at  the BOCA book and the International, it's almost identical. These codes are just updated. I mean, ours is 22 years old that we  use.  MR. RINALDI: So, just to amend it.  We could add it to our January regular meeting?  ATTY. RINALDI: And I'd have to  double check, because I think our ordinance says as amended. So, we might already : I'11  double check, we might already    27  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. STULL: Yeah, I didn't see  anything, even when I looked, when I was doing the research on it, but if somebody ever has questions or anything like that, they could say, Oh, you're using the BOCA book from 1996. At least we're current with the codes that are  out there.  But I think the State of  Pennsylvania every six years or so they update their codes, sO I think the 2018 should be up for, I think it's up to maybe 2021, but I believe the 2024's are coming out now, but Pennsylvania's a couple years behind.  MR. NOTARI: If we need to, we'11  get it on the agenda for January, right?  ATTY. RINALDI: Yeah.  MR. NOTARI: Yeah. If we need to.  You said it might already be included.  ATTY. RINALDI: Yeah. So, that  would be a January regular meeting.  MR. RINALDI: Regular meeting. MR. STULL: And that's all I have.  Thank you.  MR. RINALDI: Anybody have any  questions for Bill?    28  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  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Thank you, Bill.  Attorney Rinaldi, solicitor's report for the  meeting?  ATTY. RINALDI: You have three  ordinances in front of you for consideration. One is adopting the 2024 budget as amended, the second one is levying the taxes for fiscal year 2024, and the third is no parking on the west side of the 400 block of George Street.  MS. AVVISATO: And then we have to  put Josephine Street on?  MR. RINALDI: And we're going to add  the Josephine sewer project.  ATTY. RINALDI: We're going to add  that to approve :  MR. RINALDI: And put it out to bid.  Okay. Any questions for the solicitor?  MR. NOTARI: I have a question.  MR. RINALDI: Sure.  MR. NOTARI: Did we ever finish the  lease with the Sons of Italy and St. Lawrence?  ATTY. RINALDI: I didn't get  anything back. So right now they have the main floor for the term of the lease, and there was    29  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  no expenses, sO they didn't have any expenses because they were all paid by the ground floor. So, we're just waiting to hear what you guys want to do. They want the whole building.  MR. NOTARI: But have they returned  to you what their plan is or no?  ATTY. RINALDI: I gave it to : MS. BARTOLETTI: I thought he was  going to be discussing it tonight, but I think he -- obviously there's a reason why he's not here tonight, but there was some things that he wanted to discuss with the whole Council about possibly the Sons of Italy running the entire building and then opening it up to the public, and they would maintain it and keep track of everything, instead of the borough having to do that. So, we'11 probably be having a meeting  sometime.  MS. AVVISATO: So they would pay  MR. RINALDI: They were looking to  lease it off us, correct?  MS. BARTOLETTI: Leasing it probably  by paying the utilities, but them being sort of like the administrators sO that other groups  would be able to use it.    30  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  Ik know the boy scouts are in there  right now, the ladies who play Mahjohn, there's a bunch of other groups, and then possibly opening it up to other people as needed.  MR. HOOVER: That's a significant  utility expense there to give them that, if they're going to pay the utilities, isn't it?  ATTY. RINALDI: It didn't matter  before because it was all paid by -  MS. BARTOLETTI: We had an income  coming in.  MR. NOTARI: Yes.  MR. HOOVER: Right, we had money  coming in.  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yes.  ATTY. RINALDI: They paid income and  they paid all the utilities.  MS. BARTOLETTI: They paid income,  we paid utilities.  MR. RINALDI: When the school was  there?  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yeah.  MR. NOTARI: On the same note, on  the sale agreement with the diocese, the building's ours free and clear, right?    31  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  ATTY. RINALDI: Yeah.  MR. NOTARI: It's not like we have  to return it to them if we don't use it, we could sell it for whatever we wanted to, the  property?  ATTY. RINALDI: Our option is only  to buy the church if they ever decide to sell  it. So, it's yours.  MR. RINALDI: Both buildings are  ours?  ATTY. RINALDI: Both buildings. MR. NOTARI: Okay. Thank you. MR. RINALDI: Any other questions  for the solicitor?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Thank you, Bill.  Borough manager, Marylynn Bartoletti, anything  for the meeting?  MS. BARTOLETTI: No. Well, we'11  talk about the budget a little bit later, and then just does anyone have any questions on any  of my financial reports?  (No response.)  MS. BARTOLETTI: No. Okay. Just if  you want to make note that the reorganization    32  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  meeting is going to be on the 2nd of January at  5:00.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. Anything else,  Marylynn?  MS. BARTOLETTI: Nope. That's it. MR. RINALDI: Anybody have any  questions for the borough manager?  (No response.)  MR. RINALDI: Thank you, Marylynn.  Marylynn, Tuesday, January 2nd, 5 p.m.?  MS. BARTOLETTI: Yes.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. Before we move  into new ousiness, we'17 go into public comment first. Marissa Becker. Hi, Marissa. Good  evening.  MS. BECKER: Good evening, Council.  I'm here tonight along with this group of parents who would Tike to ask if Council has any plans to bring a community center to our  town.  It's needed for many reasons and  would benefit all residents but especially our youth. We are a community that thrives on unity, health and the wellbeing of our  residents.    33  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  Just some examples of other  communities that have centers and what they provide, Dickson City, Dunmore, Taylor, Throop. Some offerings are before and after school programs, summer camps, basketball leagues, senior aerobics, toddler time; dances, Zumba class, open gym, gym rentals, community rooms that are used for bingo and other type of  fundraisers.  Imagine a place where families  gather to cheer on their loved ones, where seniors engage in activities and where newcomers find a welcoming community. This center isn't just about recreation, it's about fostering a sense of belonging and community  pride.  IU urge you to consider the profound  impact a community center for sports and recreation would have on our borough. It's an investment in our people, our values and our shared future. Let's come together to create a space where our community can thrive, grow and  unite. That's all.  MR. RINALDI: To give you a couple  comments on it, Council has discussed a    34  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  community center for the past few years. Most recently we discussed it back in June, and we were not final on it, but our area of where we were looking to put it would be next to the high school in either the front portion, if we move some of the stuff back, we decided, the kids, like, slides and playground and the pavilion to put in back, put the community center in front, but we were going to put it in the back a little bit behind Mr. Notari's father's golf park, because we figured there's  adequate parking there.  We're getting grants for lights over  there, the school's right next to it, very accessible and, you know, very easy for  everyone to get to.  We also had to discuss many ways,  and we're still in the process of it, we have the engineer looking into it, cost-wise of constructing it, cost-wise of maintaining it, cost-wise of staffing it, cost-wise of paying the utilities, cost of what's going to go in it as far as basketball courts, batting cages, some of the rooms and some of the uses you named for it, maybe a computer room for kids    35  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  who don't play sports, maybe a library, things  of that nature.  At this time I could only speak for  myself, but I think everybody sitting here would love a community center for the kids, for all different types of kids; not just kids who play sports, for the seniors, although we have a center under construction for them, but whoever in the community could use it, I know  I'ma all for it.  How are we going to pay for it and  how are we going to maintain it, I think that's  where we're at right now.  MR. HOOVER: There's a company  that's out in Ohio that I've been on the internet with that you can start with a basic pole barn, if you want to say with two basketball courts in it, attachment locker rooms, and then you could add onto that afterwards whatever you wanted to do. That's  their basic format.  He's going to send me information on  it, how much it would cost, you know, just for  the basic two basketball court one.  There's sO many different things you    36  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  could do. This one shows where you could add meeting rooms onto it if you had to additional  to the pole barn itself.  So, we are kicking it around, but  it's going to take a while. It's something that it's going to take a while to do.  MS. BECKER: Thank you. MR. RINALDI: Anything else,  Marissa?  MS. BECKER: That's it. Thank you. MR. RINALDI: You're welcome. Gina  Dominick. Hi, Gina. Good evening.  MS. DOMINICK: I've had the pleasure  of helping out with the 01d Forge summer program for the past many years, I see how excited students get being able to play with their friends outside of school. A community  center would add to this joy.  Children would be able to play with  their friends that they would not normally play or - see outside of the school day, which will aid with their social skills and self esteem. A community center is a wonderful environment  for all ages.  My son just recently, and his    37  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  friends, pay money for the Moosic Center and the Taylor Community Center to play basketball when it rains, snows in the winter, at night. It'd be wonderful if we had one right here in  our town.  I've also been to basketball games  and birthday parties at the Throop and Dickson City Community Center over the years. There is always a cost to get into these games. These type of programs could help pay for bills  associated with the center.  V would personally volunteer my time  to help run the center any way I could. I think others in our community would do, as well. Our town and especially our children  deserve a community center.  MR. RINALDI: Like I said to  Marissa  MS. DOMINICK: And I love what you  said.  MR. RINALDI: I mean, unless I'm not  speaking for everybody up here, I think I am, and I think I speak for everybody in the audience and in the town, I mean, we would love to put in a community center for the kids and    38  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 anyone in the community who would like to  use it.  MS. DOMINICK: Right.  MR. RINALDI: And, again, we are in  the early, early stages of it. As you know, I know we mentioned the church before, we discussed putting a community center down the church years ago, Councilman Febbo had it in the works with us and the plans, the building was just too small to put in basketball courts, bleachers. There wouldn't be any room. That's why that was never turned into it, I think. That's why I would never want the community  center down there, I should say.  So, I don't know why it wasn't  turned into it. I - didn't think it was a good spot for the center. I don't know if any other  members did.  We thought a bigger building, like  Councilman Hoover said, a pole barn type with a concrete pad, a good size structure, and then if we have, which we do have room down there where we were thinking about putting it next to the school, in the future if more money was raised or more money was generated or revenued,    39  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  however we did it through some of the services you said, I don't want to use this term, but if taxes had to be raised, however the money was accumulated, we could add onto it, but I don't think anybody sitting here does not want to put some type of facility, a community center, up  for the borough.  MS. DOMINICK: Wonderful. Thank  you.  MR. RINALDI: You're welcome. Ray  Wascavage. Hi, Ray. Good evening.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Good evening,  gentlemen and gentlewoman of Council. I'm here speaking on behalf of the 01d Forge basketball league, and as Gina and Marissa had stated before, one of our biggest frustrations is the lack of court time, and we've been at the mercy of other leagues in order to get our children to play in what we've considered a borough-type  rec league.  We made the decision this year to  put our boys and girls in the Holy Cross league up in Scranton. One of the things that occurred, or reasoning for this, was because they provided an hour practice time associated    40  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  with the registration fee, which was a huge bonus for us because it provided a schedule for parents for both practice and game times to  provide more structure.  Previously, we were practicing and  utilizing rental gym time, and sometimes it was on a weekly basis or a daily basis where we were able to obtain gym time. This was very difficult on both administrators, coaches and parents as there was lack of notification  sometimes with scheduling.  This year we made that decision and  it was balanced by competitive balance and the time, but unfortunately one of the things, too, with putting this group of kids, Holy Cross doesn't necessarily function as a pure borough or rec basketball league. Highly competitive, always has been. Going to go back to Gerry McNamara, one of the guys that played up there.  We were notified three days before  the start of the season that they were  canceling our girls' division, and we were now at a situation where we had to struggle to find  a league and now practice time.  And one of the things with the lack    41  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  of a community center or place to have permanent gym time is our average league cost is 45 to $50 more than most of the other leagues that run in the area, which also throws  a financial burden onto the parents.  So, I'm just speaking here on behalf  of the basketball community that we are looking and are in desperate need of having some sort  of facility to house our children.  MR. RINALDI: Ray, quick question  for you.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Sure.  MR. RINALDI: Maybe some of the  other members who already spoke or some of the members just in the audience in general, when you go to those type of facilities out of town, you mentioned that you have to pay, you get an hour of court time or an hour of practice time, where is the, just because I'm not familiar, where's the last place you went, you said?  MR. WASCAVAGE: Holy Cross hall.  Just off of Luzerne Street up in Scranton.  MR. RINALDI: So, it's not a  community center?  MR. WASCAVAGE: No.    42  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. RINALDI: It's just a basketball  court?  MR. WASCAVAGE: It's one of the  leagues that it functions in the area, but what they do is when you enter into the league, you get one game a week, ten game season, plus playoffs, but they provided you a week of one  hour practice time.  We decided to move all of our  divisions up there this year. Now, last year, as an example, we had our girls' division at the Taylor Community Center. We paid $350 last year to enter into the league versus $450 up in Holy Cross, only $100 difference, but TCC did not provide any practice time for our children.  So, that was one of the reasons we  made the decision because we couldn't get concrete practice time for our kids. And,  again, this is an hour a week.  Two of the facilities that we're  using this year are Moosic Community Center for practice and also St. Stanislaus Polish National Church up in South Scranton. We pay $30 an hour down at the Moosic Youth Center, we  pay $50 an hour up at St. Stanislaus.    43  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  If you were to, let's say, use  Riverfront in season, they charge $195 an hour for one hour of the full court basketball rental, and this is on top of the drive. I mean, there's a financial burden that goes onto the league. And this isn't just from the perspective of sports, it's just community  youth involvement.  You know, I would sit there and say  I've been involved in various capacities of youth sports on and off for about 20 years, and the other night I saw one of the greatest things in the world, I have a player who scored, we'11 call it his first legitimate basket, who last year didn't know where he should be on the court, what he should be doing, what end of the court he should be on, and he actually caught a rebound, scored a  basket.  If anybody's ever seen the movie  Parenthood, I looked like Steve Martin running up and down the sidelines when I saw this, and the joy that I experienced from this kid was absolutely incredible, because it's not necessarily just about the kids that are going    44  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  to go out and play in high school or even college, it's about being able to put  together a proper league where just as we had at St. Mary's many years ago, then when it converted over into the league at the elementary gym, to be able to have more inclusive players within the league.  MR. RINALDI: Well, the reason my  question was, again, like I said, I'm not familiar with it, but if you went to other community centers in the area, not per se the Holy Cross building, but other community centers, do they charge you to use it in the  community centers?  MR. WASCAVAGE: Yes.  MR. RINALDI: Oh, wait. Gina. MS. DOMINICK: I was trying to get  our junior cheerleaders into a community center last year because it was raining, and Taylor Community Center told me $90 for an hour for  their court.  MR. RINALDI: Well, then my question  would be do they charge everybody that, even if  it's Taylor residents?  MR. NOTARI: No.    45  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. DOMINICK: It was just -- MR. NOTARI: They don't charge  Taylor residents.  MR. RINALDI: So, they don't charge  their own residents, they charge outside  residents?  MS. DOMINICK: Probably not, but  outside residents, I know that.  MR. RINALDI: Okay. That was my  question, because, again, that's another way. V wouldn't look to charge our residents, sO that's why I was saying look for a way, like, how do they fund it? Like, maybe that's one of their obviously one of their avenues that they  use to fund it.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Russ, I'11 give you  an example, I believe Marissa or Gina mentioned the Throop Civic Center, now I've been at multiple basketball games up there, youth basketball that, again, typically what they do, they have a charge at the door, very minimal, a dollar for students, I think two or three for adults, sO that's nominal, but, you know, that  does bring in revenue.  But my daughter was up there for a    46  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  birthday party. Now, their gym is large enough where, very similar to our high school gym probably in size, where they had a full size bounce house in there and they rent it out for parties. I'm just using it as an example of how some of these centers generate revenue.  But, again, look, I'm just kind of  talking from the basketball perspective and the youth sports perspective is we have, through obvious reasons, we : back in the day when I was in high school, we had three teams that ran  in winter, now we have five, six.  MR. NOTARI: Five and then plus :-  well, I mean, if you count seventh and eighth as one team, we have five programs.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Right. So, the gym  time available over there is a lot less. Now, we secured minimal amount over the weekends but, again, a lot of times games are on the weekends. We don't have the numbers, per se, to run something completely internal and, you know, we are going to these leagues, but with the lack of not having gym time or even be able to run something internally, it throws a lot of  burden on both players and parents.    47  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. HOOVER: I know there's an  answer to this, but I'm going to ask the question anyway, what's the matter with the gym over at St. Mary's church, they won't let you  use it?  MR. WASCAVAGE: No: (Inaudible crosstalk.)  MR. NOTARI: It's been buckled for  at least five years.  MR. BUTLER: Yeah, they got water  damage. And it's not full court.  MS. AVVISATO: No, it's bad in  there.  MR. BUTLER: It would need to be  repaired. Ray, I have one question.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Sure.  MR. BUTLER: And I've been out of  the circulation with biddy basketball and stuff like that forever, but we have two gyms, I mean, we can't get any - I mean, my son Billy, that's where we played, we played in that  second gym.  MR. NOTARI: Mr. Butler, the varsity  teams can't get time.  MR. BUTLER: Well, how do we do it    48  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  with one gym, Rick?  MR. NOTARI: It's because we have a  boys team, a girls team and a freshman basketball team. Seventh and eighth grade girls used to play in the fall. The popularity of soccer, I believe, has moved seventh and eighth grade girls to now the winter.  So, now seventh and eighth grade  girls, seventh and eighth grade boys, freshman boys, varsity girls and varsity boys now playing. Plus cheerleading. Cheerleading also  uses both gyms to practice.  MR. WASCAVAGE: And, Mr. Butler, I  mean, I've had this conversation with our parents over and over again, like, we get a copy of the calendar right from the school and you look at this and it looks like a Jenga  puzzle, and that's what it is.  And it's like, okay, we could carve  an inch here, we could carve an inch there. Again, and that's also assuming that another organization within the school who takes priority of us, because we're an outside organization, you know, sO if there's a school dance, whatever the organization it may be,    49  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  there was a kickball tournament up there a  couple weeks back.  And it's one of the things it's  very, very difficult. We are right now supporting eleven teams between : I'm sorry, twelve teams counting kindergarten, K through six, and fighting for gym time is insane, and we have to outsource. It's the only way to sit  there and get some practice time in.  And, like I said, we found a couple  places but we're still paying a fee, which adds into our average operating cost per team or per player, depending on how you want to break it  down.  MR. NOTARI: Ray, how many kids on  the team, ten?  MR. BUTLER: Other than soccer, I  mean, we still had girls basketball in one gym  at one time, did we not?  MR. NOTARI: Girls and boys  basketball.  MR. BUTLER: Yeah. In one gym. MR. NOTARI: And freshman  basketball.  MR. BUTLER: Yeah. Now we got two    50  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  gyms and we can't get any playing time for  kids?  MR. NOTARI: No, we can't. I'11  show you the schedule. I'm not lying to you.  MR. BUTLER: I know you're not  Tying, but I'm just saying, like :  MR. NOTARI: I mean, think about it,  when I was in school our freshman team used to practice before school because there was no gym  time.  MR. BUTLER: What do the other  schools do that don't have two gyms?  MR. NOTARI: They all have two gyms. MR. WASCAVAGE: If not more. MR. NOTARI: Right. MR. WASCAVAGE: Rick, we  MR. NOTARI: Forest City has two  full court gyms.  MR. WASCAVAGE: So, the highest  number of players we have on one team is twelve. The lowest we have is nine.  MR. NOTARI: So, you have roughly  over 100 kids participating in the program.  MR. WASCAVAGE: We have 136. 136  over twelve teams, yeah.    51  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. RINALDI: Let me ask you a  question.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Sure.  MR. RINALDI: Don't take this the  wrong way.  MR. WASCAVAGE: Absolutely not. MR. RINALDI: And no one in the  audience take this the wrong way. It sounds like we just need another gym. The school has a Tot of land, can't they build another gym? Or do we need a community center? That's what I'm asking. It just sounds like we need another gym, or do we need a community center?  UNKNOWN SPEAKER: Yes, we need a  community center.  MR. RINALDI: Okay.  MR. WASCAVAGE: This is a part of  it, and unlike Marissa and Gina up here, they're speaking globally, I'm speaking about one particular niche. I'm talking about one particular problem that we have on the  basketball side.  can get into twenty other things  that I'm in all agreeance with what they're saying, I'm just here to talk about some    52  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  specific numbers associated with 01d Forge's  basketball.  So, I mean, yes, it's a question of  how do we get more courts, how do we get more indoor courts? I mean, the unfortunate thing is we're the one sport that you can't go in a yard, you can't go, you know, you can't ride down, go down the park and play because it's a  little nippy out.  And it's not football, it's not  baseball. You know, you can count out 60 square feet and all of a sudden you have a baseball diamond and you could put that just about anywhere and have baseball practice. You  could run football drills anywhere. Basketball's obviously a different story.  And the other inclusions that would  come along with a community center are just  golden for the whole thing.  If you've ever been up in Throop,  I'd advise you to take a drive up there and take a look at what it looks like, they have a nice little library, they have a computer room, they have a gaming room, and I think they have, like, maybe eight or nine games they set up,    53  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  and it's fairly high tech. It's well above my pay grade of playing regular Nintendo, but it's a pretty cool, pretty neat environment that  would benefit the community.  But, like I said, I'm just here to  talk about specifically one little niche. You know, if anybody else has any further questions, I'd be happy to answer them.  MR. NOTARI: Thanks, Ray.  MR. RINALDI: No. Thank you, Ray.  a appreciate it.  MS. AVVISATO: Thanks, Ray. MR. WASCAVAGE: Thank you for your  time, gentlemen.  MR. RINALDI: You're welcome. MR. WASCAVAGE: And Michele. MS. AVVISATO: Thanks buddy. MR. RINALDI: Michelle Bilski. MS. BILSKI: Hi everyone. Thank you  for your time. I just wanted to highlight some points why I believe a community youth center, or a community center also focused on the youth may impact mental health-wise our youth.  Social connection and healthy habits  are two of the main pillars I would say are    54  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  used in recovering from mental health  disorders, structured activities being one of them, and like we talked about before, sports, of course, but things like arts and crafts, games, educational workshops, volunteerism, these are all things that can boost self-esteem at a young_age. This helps to foster a sense of accomplishment and provide healthy outlet  for stress for a lot of our kids.  Regular physical exercise has been  linked to improving mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, stress, as well as promoting better sleep, which our kids, I think, really could benefit from, and an overall sense of wellbeing again.  Being part of a community center can  give children a sense of belonging and connection to their community. Feeling connected is crucial for mental health. A sense of belonging provides a support system and helps children to develop positive  identity.  And that brings me to role models  and mentorship. Community support introduces children to positive role models and mentors.    55  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  Having individuals to look up to, whether it's older peers, community leaders, volunteers, this can inspire young minds to guide children in fostering a sense of purpose and belonging.  Skill development, leadership  programs, teamwork all support healthy mindset and wellbeing. Community centers can help children establish routines, learn time  management skills. Having a structured routine contributes to a sense of stability and predictability positively impacting mental  health.  A : safe environment, a well  maintained and supervised community center provides a safe and secure environment for children when they're outside of school. Feeling safe is fundamental for mental  wellbeing allowing children to explore, learn,  play without undue stress or fear.  Having a community center with a  focus on youth programs for our small town not only gives us an obvious space for things to do, but it has the potential to impact our  children in the long term.  As I said before, it provides a