Penbrook Borough Caucus Meeting Minutes December 16, 2024 6:30 PM 1. Call to order and roll call: President Deardorff called the public meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Moore and Stokes were absent. Kern attended via phone. 2. Citizen Comments on Agenda Items - N/A 3. Discussion and Action Items A. Armbruster made a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-05. Amending Chapter 135 of the Code of the Borough of Penbrook, Imposing Interest Assessment, Attorney's Fees and Collection Fees on Unpaid Real Estate Taxes and Municipal Claims Delinquent Accounts. Dry seconded the motion which passed unanimously. B. Hogarth made a correction to the document listed on the agenda which should have been the County's Emergency Operations Plan. EMC Bloss is asking Council to formally adopt, at the January 6 meeting, by Resolution, the Dauphin County Emergency Operations Plan as the Borough's Plan. No comments or further Hogarth advised Council that the County Elections Officials need a response from the Borough, no later than January 10, regarding the 2025 elected official seats. Those that would need to run for re-election are: The Mayor, Newcomer, Deardorff, Shaw, Armbruster and Fred Pace as the Tax Collector. Armbruster does not intend tos seek re-election nor will Pace. Deardorff said there have been previous discussions about moving to an At-Large Council and this would be the time to move in one direction or another. Solicitor Kern advised that there is not much time to advertise the proposed Ordinance change which requires the abolishment of the Wards Ordinance if Council wanted to move to an At-Large Board. Armbruster made amotion to have the Solicitor advertise the proposed change. Burdine seconded. The motion carried unanimously and an action item will be on the January 6 agenda. D. Hogarth provided a list of appointed officials to Council and highlighted several appointments that would need to bet filled in 2025. They include: James Crum on the Zoning Hearing Board, Ben Stokes on the Storm Water Authority and Casey Mutzabaugh on the Planning Commission. Stokes is not interested in another term on the Authority and Mutzabaugh will need replaced ont the Planning Commission. Hogarth said he will reach out to Crum regarding his interest but currently there are E. Further discussion regarding proposed ordinances surrounding the Brew Pub licensing. Armbruster commented that there are ordinances that need to be considered specifically for Brew Pubs such as hours of operation but there are also Zoning issues that need addressed, specifically parking. Shaw said he believes discussions. no names for consideration for the other two positions. reasonable parking restrictions are necessary because it's a problem throughout the Borough. Deardorff believes that if pubs are limited to the Commercial or Village districts then parking should not be regulated because doing sO limits applicants. F. Further discussion regarding the future of the Borough Newsletter. Hogarth asked if Council wanted al biannual or quarterly publication. The consensus seemed to be quarterly but no official decision was made. Shaw is concerned that Council still hasn't established a policy that determines the content and asked who is responsible for approving specific content. Newcomer suggested that all content be sent to the manager and the manager would be responsible for screening and flagging Newcomer and Shaw are suggesting a spreadsheet that lists content topics and categories that should bei included in each edition which would help facilitate the submission of content. Hogarth reminded Council that the publisher would provide a draft copy for Council to approve before publishing. Kern suggested the newsletter 3. 2025 Calendar of Events. Moore was absent sO not much was discussed regarding these events. Deardorff showed Council al letter he received as a business owner in the Borough, from Moore, asking for donations and sponsorship for events she has planned. Deardorff was concerned that it suggests that monies be sent to Moore directly and not the Borough office. He is also concerned that Council has not approved events that are being advertised. Hogarth also brought to Council's attention that the Lion's are asking for consideration for their March Pancake Breakfast. There is a particular Saturday that the Lion's traditionally schedule the event but that is now booked for an event by Moore. Council agreed to allow the Lion's to have their event on their first day of choice and to remove the scheduled Kern suggested that this procedure is covered in the Council By-laws but Moore and Burdine may not have been provided with that document. Burdine confirmed he is not aware of the bylaws document. Deardorff said he would send it out to everyone. Kern pointed out that the procedure is that issues or, in this case, events, can be discussed at the Committee level but then those ideas should be brought before Council for final approval. Deardorff would like the bylaws document on the January H. Hogarth presented Council with the 2025 Human Society service agreement which includes a substantial increase. He said the CapCOG, at a member's request, sent out a survey to see if any municipality has an alternative. There are no other resources att this time. Newcomer made a motion to approve the agreement and Dry seconded. Burdine also disagrees with imposing parking restrictions. questionable content for Council to consider. policy be on the January 6 agenda for consideration. Borough event. Caucus agenda fori further discussion. Armbruster was the only no vote. 4. Citizen Comments - N/A 5. Council Comments = Newcomer thanked all of Council fort their work in 2024. 6. The public meeting was adjourned at 8:29 pm to enter into an Executive Session to discuss a personnel issue which adjourned at 8:44 pm. Council did not reconvene the public meeting. Respectfully submitted, Joseph Hogarth MAh Borough Secretary