Wy EST. 1901 Borough of West Homestead Council Meeting Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Minutes Council President Ashley Cain called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance: Roll Call: Present: Ms. Cain, Ms. Ferson, Mr. Fonos, Mr. Karafa, Ms. Nikolas. Absent: Mr. Harhai and Mr. McLaughlin Also in attendance: Mayor Joseph Baran, Engineer Mark Brashear, Solicitors Stanley Lederman and Michael Lederman, Secretary Donna McMichael. President Cain asked anyone in the audience if they had any questions on Public Comment on Agenda Items agenda items. No comments. REPORTS Engineer: Mark Brashear The pavilion is in and will be installed on Monday. Meeting on Friday with Public Works to discuss location of Pavilion. Meeting with Pashek next week to close out the grant. There are many year-end Resolutions tonight. Solicitor: Stanley Lederman We will continue the meeting for the Budget and Sewer Rates next Tuesday. Mayor Joseph Baran There were two candidates selected from the Civil Service test, and There were over 100 participating in the Christmas parade. Moving the parade to 7th Avenue was a good idea. There were a few glitches. these two will start in January. Manager: : Russell Combs Absent Police Chief Charles Rozzo A new formatted reported has been given to Council. Ithas been a busy month, South Hills DUI, Toys for Tots, and Christmas parade. Next year we will shut down 7th Avenue sooner. Room for We will work with everyone prior to the races in April and May. improvement. Public Safety Report: Presented By Chief Rozzo Barricades have been put in place to shut down Evans Street and Parry Street for the winter. Work in progress on parking issues. Knox Box letters to go out in January. Fire Chief John Dindak Santa will be out delivering toys in the Borough. We will leave the station at 10am. The Santa tracker is on Facebook. Baldwin EMS: ChiefTodd Plunkett (Dan Churma reported) Report for the month of November: 46 calls with a response time of6 6.2 minutes; 496 calls year to date. Happy Holidays! EMC: Dan Churma We will be getting a new ambulance in 2-3 weeks. The last quarterly training was held for 2024. Races are coming up in April and May. Steel Rivers Council of Governments: Barb Ferson The parade went well. Annual Christmas Dinner. Nor report. Absent. COMMITTEE REPORTS Steel Valley Enterprise Zone: Dave Harhai Capital Improvement: Ray Fonos, Chair We met on November 19th. We will focus on plans to redo the borough building. Space is not being utilized for today's needs. We need to engage an architect. Communications: Lynn Nikolas, Chair We will vote tonight on using Savvy Citizen. Kevin will be working on all -gov emails. Community Affairs: John Karafa, Chair Thanks to Donna, Robin, and Lisa for Light-Up night. There was not a hitch. The "best lighted house" contest winner will be announced in January. Public Works did a great job with the Christmas Lights. Personnel: Ashley Cain, Chair Russell will be working from home. Interviews will be conducted soon for Public Works. Properties: Dave Harhai, Chair Absent. Absent. Public Safety: Bill McLaughlin, Chair Sewer Management: Barb Ferson Sewer rates are going to increase. Legislation 1. Acceptminutes from the Council meetings, as written, for November 4, 2024, and November 12, 2024. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 2. Approve and ratify all bills paid and to be paid for the month of December 2024. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 3. Approve Resolution 24.021: Setting the 2025 Pay Deduction Rate for the Police Pension. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. Service Employees Pension. Stanley summarized the Resolution. The rate will be 2.5%. 4. Approve Resolution24.022: Setting the 2025 Pay Deduction Rate for the Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. Stanley summarized the Resolution. The rate will be 4%. 5. Approve Resolution 24-023: Entering into a contract with the Police Officers of the Borough of West Homestead for the period January 1, 2024, The Resolution has been tabled until further review of the Solicitor. 6. Approve Resolution 24.024: To participate in the South Hills Regional DUI through December 31, 2029. Task Force. Stanley summarized. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 7. Approve Resolution 24.025: Entering into an updated agreement with Pennsylvania Soil & Rock, Inc. for professional engineering and land surveying services. Stanley summarized. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 8. Approve Resolution 24.026: Entering into an agreement with Management Science Associates (Savvy Citizen) to provide an Emergency Notification System. Stanley summarized. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. Drive from Mason's Tree Service. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa 9. Approve Resolution 24.027: Accepting the bid for tree removal on Cascade Ms. Ferson (yes), Mr. Fonos (yes), Mr. Karafa (yes), Ms. Nikolas (yes), Ms. Cain (yes) 10. To advertise all Borough Meetings for the year 2025. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 11. Accept, with regret, the resignation of Police Officer Matthew Titmus effective November 24, 2024. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 12. To hire a Temp for Office Assistance. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa All voted in favor of the motion. 13. To approve a Certificate of Appropriateness for the issuance ofa Demolition Permit for Passages for Recovery. Motion: Mr. Fonos Second: Mr. Karafa Stanley explained. All voted in favor of the motion. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items President Cain asked anyone in the audience if they had any questions on non- agenda items. Joe Deasy: Asked where the Borough is on the lease agreement. Stanley stated some changes need to be made to the barge project. He will rewrite it. Itv will take at least a month. When complete, Stanley will send it via email. Adiournment To adjourn to the call of the chair for a continuation meeting on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 6:15 pm.