BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 5/9/22 The Regular Meeting of Council was held on Monday, May 9, 2022, at 7:00 PM, in the Council Room, 125 S. Walnut Street, First Floor, Slatington, PA 18080. Presiding: Thomas Bartholomew: President of Council Recording Secretary: Daniel Stevens, Borough Manager/Secretary The meeting was called to order by President Bartholomew at 7:00 PM with the following in attendance: ROLL CALL: PRESENT ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT VISITORS Thomas Bartholomew Mayor Schoch Dave Schnaars, Austin Berger Bryon Reed Sgt. Dorward Robert Herzog, Bruce Kern Joseph Wechsler-via phone Att. Lisa Young Robert Stettner, Phillips Armstrong Ronald Kratz Justin Gross Kevin Steckel Daniel Stevens Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 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 approved by the Board, at which time the recordings shall be erased. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to appoint Attorney Lisa Young as interim Slatington Borough solicitor at a rate of $105.00 per hour effective immediately. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING - Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve the following minutes: Council Meeting April 11, 2022; Committee Meetings = April 18, 2022 & April 25, 2022; Special Meeting April 18, 2022. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 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, you have yielded the floor, and any time you have remaining. President Bartholomew wanted to welcome, with gratitude, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, who comes to the borough every year without fail to address this Council. Mr. Armstrong attends to answer any questions the borough may have and to keep that connection between the county and local government. Mr. Armstrong informed the Council that they have just added a position to the county that 1 has never been there before, Community Liaison Yorman De La Rosa. Mr. De La Rosa will be the contact for municipalities for any questions or concerns. Mr. Armstrong added they have signed the architectural drawings for the addition to their office. They are doing new HVAC systems to meet the new COVID regulations. They are looking for people to work the polls on voting day. Mr. Armstrong stated that the Walnut Street bridge is in the capital plan for 2023. Mr. Armstrong was elected to represent New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware in Regional Planning. This Regional Planning may help with funding for completing the bike trail from Washington D.C. to New York City. President Bartholomew questioned Mr. Armstrong about obtaining more funding for roads in Slatington. Bruce Kern - 308 1st Street. Signed in and was recognized to speak. Bruce received a letter from the fire department. Bruce complained about his neighbor's lawn and the roof at 310 1st Street (which has been going on for several years). Manager Stevens informed Bruce that the Code Enforcement Officer has been unable to locate the owner because the property is in an estate. Tony Lopsonzski has issued citations on the property. Robert Stettner 44 So. Walnut Street. Signed in and was recognized to speak. Robert attended the meeting on behalf of the Slatington Parks and Recreation Commission. Robert provided a report on their 11th Annual Community Clean Up on April 23rd, 2022. There were 32 volunteers, which included members of the Women's Club, Giant Supermarket in Walnutport, Cub Pack 58, Cub Pack 66, and members of their own recreation commission. The cleaned the length of the Slatington Slate Heritage Trail, West End Playground, Memorial Park, Victory Park, Trailhead, the bedbug cave area, 2 waterways, the borough property along Trout Creek by the Trucker's Hill area, and also where the Trout Creek runs into the Lehigh River including the William's Island area. Robert wanted to publicly thank all the volunteers and groups that participated, Giant Supermarket for donating food and water, and the Slatington Fire Company for garbage pick-up and transporting some of the volunteers to some of the sites. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS, COMMUNICATIONS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 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. APPROVAL OF ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/TRANSFER Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to approve payment of the bills and transfers as presented by the Treasurer. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias MAYORS/POLICE REMARKS Mayor Jeralyn Schoch 2 Mayor Schoch questioned if they are planning to clean the flooring in the police station before they lay the new floor down. Manager Stevens stated the floor was still wet when they pulled up the old floor. It has since dried out, and he is waiting to get answers and quotes from the contractors. STANDING COMMITTEES A. Highway Councilor Jeffrey Hausman 1. Review letter from PennDOT concerning the 2022 Multimodal Transportation Fund Application Project for the North Slatington Drainage and Road Repair Project stating it was not selected for FY 2022-23 Multimodal Transportation Funding (informational only) 2. Councilor Hausman made motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to authorize Manager Stevens to sign concurrence form concerning proposed temporary occupancy of Slate Heritage Trail for S. Walnut Street bridge construction. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 3. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to authorize payment to Wyoming Electric and Signal for applications #2 for $14,836.49; application #3 - $7,261.00; application #4 $29,831.56 for a total of $51,929.05. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 4. Letter from PennDOT concerning final inspection of traffic signal at Main and Church Streets (informational only) 5. TASA (Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside) Funding Borough of Slatington will receive $400,000 of the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law money for the 100 Steps project. (informational only) 6. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Steckel, to amend the agenda and discuss and possibly take action on authorizing Manager Stevens to apply for a Chamber Foundation Grant for the "Welcome to Slatington" sign. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 7. Councilor Hausman made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to authorize Manager Stevens to apply for a Chamber Foundation Grant for the "Welcome to Slatington" sign. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. B. Public Safety Councilor Kevin Steckel 1. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to approve purchase of chip reader for pets not to exceed $400.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: 3 ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 2. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, Motion to approve Resolution R-02-22; A resolution adopting an Emergency Operations Plan for the Borough of Slatington and accompanying Proclamation. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 3. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to accept the resignation from Part Time Police Officer Kevin Torres, with regrets. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 4. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to authorize Manager Stevens to apply for a COVID19 grant for the fire company. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. C. Human/Community Services Councilor Zachari Halkias 1. Councilor Halkias made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Steckel, to approve request from Springside Sportsmen Club Inc. for permission to clean and repair fish hatchery walls. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. D. FimancPamming/oning Councilor Ronald Kratz 1. Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to authorize Borough Manager Stevens to approve Exemption Report from Statewide Tax Recovery Inc. for Delinquent Per Capita Tax for: Sandra Getz - Closed efforts exhausted - $5.50; Thomas Michael = Closed efforts exhausted - $5.50; Jacob Peters Closed efforts exhausted- $5.50; Sarah Elwert non- resident - $5.50; Total - $22.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 2. Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve having part of the Borough Hall roof replaced by A. J. Kerekes for $16,750. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to rescind the previous motion President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 4 Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to approve to having part of the Borough Hall roof repaired by contractor A.J. Kerekes for a total $16,750 to be paid for with COVID19 LFRF funds. President Bartholomew, declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias E. Sewer/Solid Waste Councilor Joseph Wechsler 1. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to transfer $1,000.00 to Slatington Borough Authority to pay stipulated fines for 2 violations. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 2. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to transfer funds to pay the following Authority bills: Tad Miller - $125.00 and Elizabeth Miller - $25.00 - total $150.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 3. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to hire Daniel T. Szczesny as a part time seasonal worker at a rate of $15.00 per hour. Hours to be determined by borough manager. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 4. LCA has resumed televising sewer lines (informational only) 5. Grease trap inspections have been completed (informational only) 5 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 Wechsler, to approve quote for $1,917.12 from Bachmans Small Backhoe Service for removal and disposal of existing block wall. Borough will do the excavation work. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 3. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Weschler, to use Water Service Professionals for the listed scope of chemical cleaning for the 2 clarifiers and other work for the amount of $15,460.00. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel Jeffrey Hausman Zachari Halkias 4. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Hausman, to possibly apply for the Watershed Restoration and Protection Program Grant (DCED) which has an application due date due May 31, 2022. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None NEW BUSINESS: None COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None Thomas Bartholomew COURTESY OF THE FLOOR = (Agenda Items Only - You will have two (2) minutes to address Council from the podium on Agenda Items Only.) None EXECUTIVE SESSION: President Bartholomew recessed to executive session at 7:53 PM. At 9:05 PM President Bartholomew reconvened the meeting. Matters of legal, real estate, and personnel were discussed in executive session. 6 ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Councilor Reed, made the motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to adjourn the meeting. President Bartholomew declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. President Bartholomew declared the meeting adjourned at 8:56 PM. Daniel L. Stevens Borough Secretary 7