BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 3/11/19 The Regular Meeting Minutes of Council was held on Monday, March 11, 2019 at 7:00 pm., in Council Chambers, 125 S. Walnut Street, Slatington, PA 18080. Presiding: Daniel Stevens: President of Council Recording Secretary: Bryon Reed, President Pro Tem The meeting was called to order by President Stevens at 7:00 pm following in attendance: ROLL CALL: PRESENT ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT VISITORS Daniel Stevens Chief Rachman Jeffrey Hausman William W. Hoch Jason Ruff Ed Healy Kris M. Hoch Robert Herzog, Jr. Bryon Reed Mayor Niedermeyer Robert Stettner Mel Gildner Ronald Kratz David Lear Ed Ziegler Joseph Wechsler David Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew President Stevens requested that, as a courtesy, everyone turn offtheir cell phones, iPhone, and electronic devises off, or on vibrate. Ify you must take a call, please exit the council chambers SO as not to disrupt the meeting. President Stevens 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. EXECUTIVE SESSION None MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler to accept the following minutes with corrections: Council Minutes of 2/11/19, 1st page under William Eade after October there should be an "and"; the 2nd sentence from the bottom remove the words "to know'; page 2 - under Mike Myers instead of "he had", it should be "it had"; Committee Meetings February 18, 2019, and February 25, 2019. President Stevens declared the motion passed with 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. If you exit the podium, you have yielded the floor, and any time you have remaining. Ed Ziegler - Signed in and was recognized to speak. For the 3rd quarter water/sewer/trash billing (due in October), his daughter was charged for 20,000 gallons of water. The borough tested the meter found it to be accurate and in good working order. He said the usage for the new bill was only 4,000 gallons of water. Ed feels he is entitled to a refund for the previous quarter. Ed mentioned how people are moving into/out of Slatington without a moving permit. He also feels it is important to know who is living at an address in case of a fire. Mel Gildner - Signed in and was recognized to speak. Mel provided information concerning Watetr/sewet/garbage billing. Councilor Kratz suggested Mel Gildner attend the next committee meeting. William Hoch - 431 W. Washington Street. Signed in and was recognized to speak. William provided the council with a diagram oft the fence between 538 and 542 W. Franklin. He is at the meeting on behalf of Mr. Richard Kresh and Ms. Karen Witucki. They are the owners of the property located at 538 1 Franklin Street. In 2010 a fence was erected between the properties. He believes the fence in the front is non-conforming - it is 6 feet high and non-see through. This type of fence requires a variance and therefore, should have been remanded to the Zoning Hearing Board. Duane Dellecker has addressed this issue stating Mr. Kresh and Ms. Witucki can appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board. This is a burden for them due to the cost of a hearing. Councilor Ruff asked why William was advocating for Mr. Kresh and Ms. Witucki. William stated he became friends with Mr. Kresh, who is not in good health. This issue has been going on for years. President Stevens suggested this issue go to a committee meeting agenda for 3/25/19. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENIS, COMMUNICATIONS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Chief Rachman congratulated Detective Timothy Wagner of the Slatington Police Department and Patrolman Dean Heffelfinger, Jr., ofthe Walnutport Police Department for receiving the Outstanding Law Enforcement Award from The Allen O. Delke Post 16 American Legion of Slatington. This award recognizes law enforcement officers for an outstandingjob, going above and beyond the call of duty. 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 Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to approve payment of the bills and transfers as presented by the Treasurer. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor MAYORS/POLICE CHIEF'S REMARKS Mayor Walter H. Niedermeyer Mayor Niedermeyer expressed his concern on the condition ofthe floor in the police station. The entrance floor is also in need of cleaning. President Stevens suggested this to be place on the committee meeting agenda for March. He is asking for volunteers to help with Meals On Wheels on March 27th, 2019. Chief Rachman None SLATINGTON REVITALIZATION PARTNERSHIP - None STANDING COMMITTEES A. Highway Councilor Bryon Reed 1. Councilor Reed informed the council that one of the requirements for the MS4 permit is to inspect a portion of our storm sewer outflows over a 5-year period. We will have the foreman inspect the outflows for each annual reporting period required by the MS4 permit. 2. Councilor Reed stated the borough will perform smoke testing for the continuing sanitary sewer I&I Inspections. 3. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars, to adopt Resolution R- 03-19, a resolution authorizing submission of federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 community development block grant subgrant application to the County of Lehigh for East Franklin Street. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor 2 4. Councilor Reed made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars, to adopt Resolution R- 04-19, resolution authorizing submission of federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 community development block grant subgrant application to the County of Lehigh, Kuntz Street from Second Street to Chestnut Alley. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. President Stevens added there was always a plan to put slant parking on both sides of the park, but didn't have the money, but this would be an ideal time to finish the slant parking on Kuntz Street. Dave Lear stated that the Community Development Block grants have been extended in the past year to include park areas. This falls under that category to provide additional side street parking along the upper part of the park, basically along Kuntz Street, and it will also provide sidewalks and ADA ramps. Councilor Reed informed the council that the road crew got to use the new dump truck for snow removal. The crew is still using the old truck. He also added the compressor that is used for the jackhammer was broken. He wanted to thank Robert Hertzog, Jr., and Walnutport for their work in getting the compressor fixed. B. Public Safety Councilor David Schnaars 1. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to approve the purchase of police computers from Brite for $3,924.98. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Daniel Stevens Jason Ruff Ronald Kratz Joseph Wechsler David Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed 2. Action concerning CSC ruling on Officer Taibi. Councilor Schnaars stated this will be addressed after executive session. C.) Human/Community Services Councilor Jason Ruff 1. Councilor Ruff made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to approve the request from Tiffany Rehrig, dated 2/19/19, for the 2019 Halloween Parade. President Stevens declared the motion passed with following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 2. Councilor Ruff made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to approve The American Legion request for the Annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 27, 2019. President Stevens declared the motion passed with following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 3. Councilor Ruff made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to approve a borough employee work the Electronic Recycling Day on Saturday, April 20, 2019, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. President Stevens declared the motion passed with following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. Councilor Ruff is looking for one more volunteer. A second electronic recycling day is tentatively planned for October. 3 4. Invitation to attend a LVPC meeting on March 14th, at 12:00 pm. Informational only 5. The community yard sales will be: Friday, May 17h, Saturday, May 18th, Sunday, May 19th, and Friday, September 13th, Saturday, September 14H, Sunday, September 15th, 2019. Informational only. Second announcement 6. Thank you letter from the Northern Lehigh Swimming Pool Association for the donation of $1,000.00. Informational only D. Finance Councilor Thomas Bartholomew 1. Councilor Bartholomew made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to authorize President Stevens to approve Exemption request from Statewide Tax Recovery Inc. for Delinquent Per Capita Tax for: Isabel Surano - non-resident - $5.50; Donna Raatzs paid prior $5.50; Todd Sauerwine - SSI - $5.50. President Stevens declared the motion passed with following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. E. Sewer/Solid Waste Councilor Joseph Wechsler 1. Councilor Wechsler informed the council that Hayden Electric was in and did some preliminary work for the digester project. We are still waiting for PSI, the construction company, to come on site. Councilor Wechsler gave kudos to Duane Szczesny and Robert Herzog for removing all of the old piping from the digester building. This will help us keep in-line with the budget. F. Water/Special Sewer Committee Councilor Ronald Kratz 1. Water Test Statement - Water was tested and found safe for human consumption 2. Councilor Reed informed the council the lines have been marked up at Shadow Oaks. Dave Lear added that they are in the process of generating plans and/or bid specs for the projects, which will be available for advertising in the next 2 weeks. This will incur, basically, the entrance to the school all the way back to the school. Councilor Reed said it will go from the intersection of Shadow Oaks and Oakhurst to the intersection of Maple Spring and Shadow Oaks. Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars, to authorize LEA to advertise for CDBG 2018 electronic bidding process for the 4th Street improvements and Shadow Oaks Lane construction. President Stevens declared the motion passed with following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. Councilor Ruff is concerned about the data Mel Gildner presents to the council about the water/sewer/trash billing. This has been an on-going issue. President Stevens asked the council if it is worth perusing this issue at all. President Stevens clarified to the council, the 8,000- gallon minimum payment is not just for the water, but for the service, which include the plants, lines in the ground, infrastructure, etc. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to not commit borough resources to work on changing the water/sewer billing and rate structure. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Daniel Stevens Jason Ruff 4 Ronald Kratz Joseph Wechsler David Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None NEW BUSINESS: Councilor Ruff has requested that in the next couple of weeks that somebody drive around some of the neighborhoods looking at all the streets. He said there are some signs that are extremely faded. Councilor Ruff was informed the borough has just purchased some new signs. COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None Daniel Stevens 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 Stevens recessed to executive session at 8:00 pm. At 9:02 pm, President Stevens reconvened the meeting. Matters of personnel, real-estate and legal were discussed in executive session. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to honorable discharge Salvatore Taibi in accordance with determination of the Civil Service Commission on account of his permanent disability, and that the borough send him a thank you letter for his years of service as a police officer. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Daniel Stevens Jason Ruff Ronald Kratz Joseph Wechsler David Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Bryon Reed ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Councilor Schnaars made the motion, duly seconded by Councilor Reed, to adjourn the meeting. President Stevens declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. President Stevens declared the meeting adjourned at 9:02 pm. Colleen Bresnak Assistant Borough Secretary 5