BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON COUNCIL MEETING MINOTES 6/8/20 The Regular Meeting of Council was held on Monday, June 8, 2020 at 7:10 PM, at the Vigilant Fire Company, 110 S. Walnut Street, Slatington, PA 18080. Presiding: Bryon Reed: President of Council Recording Secretary: Daniel Stevens, Borough Manager/Secretary The meeting was called to order by President Reed at 7:10 pm following in attendance: ROLL CALL: PRESENT ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT VISITORS Bryon Reed Dave Rachman Crystal Hausmn, Jason Nicholas Jason Ruff Ed Healy Austin Berger Hunter Henritzy David Schnaars Daniel Stevens Robert Herzog, Jr., Jeff Hausman Thomas Bartholomew Mayor Niedermeyer Kathy Ziegler Joseph Wechsler Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel President Reed 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 approve the following minutes: Council Meeting May 11, 2020; Committee Meetings Finance Planning/Zoning, Public Safety and Human/Community Services - May 18, 2020 - canceled; Water/5ewer/ighway - May 26, 2020. President Reed 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. Ifyou exit the podium, you have yielded the floor, and any time you have remaining. Jeffrey Hausman - 46 Walnut Street - Signed in and was recognized to speak. Jeffrey wanted to thank the council for letting public works clean up the Trail Head, particularly the bathroom. The bathrooms have been closed due to the COVID virus. Councilor Ruff suggested placing a sign stating "Use at your own risk, this is not cleaned on a regular basis", > and also have no more than 1 person in at a time. Councilor Ruff suggested also doing this at Victory Park. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Ruff, to open the restrooms at the Trail Head while posting a sign, as suggested by Councilor Ruff, that they use them at their own risk because of the irregular cleaning. Councilor Schnaars modified his motion to add Victory Park. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. Kathy Ziegler 6374 Opossum Lane, Slatington, Washington Township - Signed in and was recognized to speak. Kathy wanted to apologize for the way her father (Ed Ziegler) had treated the Council. She told the Council of the things her father did for the Borough for free over many years. Kathy owns a property on Franklin Street for 4 years. She had requested to have just the garbage discontinued, but this can not be done due to health reasons. It is currently being billed as a 2 unit, and is currently up for sale. The unit is vacant and she is requesting to be charged for only 1 unit. President Reed informed her that the 1 - Borough would have to verify the unit is vacant at the beginning of the next billing quarter. Solicitor Healy recommended that she obtain a Zoning Permit to make it a single dwelling. 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 Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to approve payment of the bills and transfers as presented by the Treasurer. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel MAYORS/POLICE CHIEF'S REMARKS Mayor Walter H. Niedermeyer Mayor Niedermeyer stated there are no events due to the COVID virus. Chief Rachman Chief Rachman will address his issue under Public Safety discussion. Councilor Wechsler thanked Chief Rachman and the police force for the handling of the incident at 5th Street. STANDING COMMITTEES A. Highway Councilor David Schnaars 1. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to allow the Borough Manager to enter into a contract for skin patching and tar and chip, for a total price, not to exceed $18,000, that comes out of liquid fuels, provided we receive approval from PennDOT for the use of liquid fuels. Manager Stevens provided the breakdown which he said he calculated on the high end from AMS (approximately 10,000 square yards); truck rental - $3,500.00 (1 10 hr.-day); stone (5 triaxle loads) - $3,475.00; emulsion = (4,000 gallons at $2.50/gallon) $10,000.00. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 2 2. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to award a contract to AMS for crack sealing for the cost $6,474.50 (approximately 7,000 lineal feet), provided we received approval for the use ofliquid fuels. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 3. Councilor Schnaars stated to the Council that for several years they have been trying to upgrade the ordinance that concerns street cuts. We have some new specs for the street cuts which come from PennDOT. In order to do this, we would have to revise our current ordinance, but this would also allow us by resolution to set degradation fees. As an example, the Borough has paved a street and then UGI comes and decides their gas lines need to be fixed, SO the Borough could charge a fee to UGI. Solicitor Healy stated that the Borough has existing street excavation requirements, and these are not new in all respects. In other words, the materials from the engineer presupposed we did not have street excavating requirements. Solicitor Healy needed to incorporate the recommended improvements from the engineer into the existing ordinance. At this time, he has not heard anything from the engineer. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to authorize Solicitor Healy to meet with the engineers to review one more time and then be authorized to advertise the ordinance for adoption either at the July or August meetings. If the committee wishes to add any comments, they should be submitted to Solicitor Healy by the end of June. President Reed 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 Weschler, to approve conditional offer of employment to the position of full-time police officer Michael D. Concilio, effective June 21, 2020, contingent upon ratification by Borough Council. Chief Rachman expressed his gratitude to the Council for their support in this matter. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 3 2. The Council reviewed quotes from Frasier for $246.86 (before overages) per month and Davis for 191.93 (before overages) per month for lease of a new copier for the police department. Manager Stevens supplied more information concerning the 2 quotes. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Ruff, to award to Davis for the new copier for the police department and have Manager Stevens manage the timetable. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 3. The Office of State Fire Commissioner will be working to provide $50 million in grants to fire and emergency medical service (EMS) companies negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. (informational only). C. Human/Community Services Councilor Jason Ruff 1. Councilor Ruff made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars, to approve request to hold Class of 2020 graduation parade on July 24th, 2 2020, requesting assistance for road closures and fire personnel. Approval subject to proper approvals from PennDOT for closure of Route 873 and providing a Certificate of Liability. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 2. Thank you to Vigilant for their donation of $300.00 for American flags on Main Street. 3. Councilor Ruff reminded the Council about the Census. Manager Stevens informed the Council he was informed that they hope to be obtaining an extension until the end of October to complete the census. Manager Stevens and Councilor Ruff will conduct a SWIFT Reach call urging people to complete their census. President Reed suggested a handout when people come to pay their utility bill. Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Ruff, to authorize Manager Stevens to coordinate with the Census people in whichever way is practical to get the best results. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. Manager Stevens informed the Council of the Electronic Recycling Event. There were 66 units for which we paid a fee. The total cost was $2,766.00. The truck was not quite as full as in previous years. D. Finance Councilor Thomas Bartholomew 1. Councilor Bartholomew made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to authorize Solicitor Healy to draft changes to the Landlord/Tenant ordinance to institute a 90-day time frame to accomplish inspections (after fee is paid) and making landlords responsible for scheduling the inspection. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. 4 Councilor Bartholomew asked a legal question - if we could put a limit on those permits, which were taken out prior to passage of this ordinance. Councilor Bartholomew is requesting we authorize Solicitor Healy to include a retroactive modification. Councilor Bartholomew will work out the details with Solicitor Healy. 2. Councilor Bartholomew made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to authorize Daniel Stevens to approve Exemption Report from Statewide Tax Recovery Inc. for Delinquent Per Capita Tax for: Anthony McCoy non-resident - $5.50; Stacey Wise Woolson deceased -$5.50. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. E. Sewer/Solid Waste Councilor Joseph Wechsler 1. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars, to award the quote from Ebert Engineering for study concerning placing covers on trickling filters, estimated cost $3,690.00. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 2. Councilor Wechsler informed the council that the roof between digesters is completed. (informational only) 3. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Ruff, to approve June 8, 2020, Sewer Authority bills: Ed Healy - $519.20; Tad Miller - $175.00; Times News $307.20; Times News - $100.40; Total $1,101.80. A transfer to the Authority of $1,101.80 President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 4. Councilor Wechsler made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Schnaars to approve Authority Assistant Treasurer's time and travel report for the period from March 9, 2020, to June 8, 2020: Time - $181.25; Travel $63.83; Total $245.08. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Roll call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN Bryon Reed 5 Jason Ruff Joseph Wechsler Dave Schnaars Thomas Bartholomew Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel F. Water/Special Sewer Committee Councilor Ronald Kratz 1. Water Test Statement - Water was tested and found safe for human consumption 2. The Council discussed the possibility of a temporary hookup for Ken-Man Water Company for about a week. Ken-Man is a private water company and they have their own water system. They had a problem with their well, and couldn't generate enough water. They would need this hookup while the contractor flushes out their wells. At this time, they have not heard back from Ken-Man. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None NEW BUSINESS: None COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None Bryon Reed COURTESY OF THE FLOOR = (Agenda Items Only - You will have two (2) minutes to address Council from the podium on Agenda Items Only.) EXECUTIVE SESSION President Reed recessed to executive session at 8:23 PM. At 9:00 PM, President Reed reconvened the meeting. Matters of personnel issues were discussed in executive session. ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Councilor Schnaars made the motion, duly seconded by Councilor Wechsler, to adjourn the meeting. President Reed declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. President Reed declared the meeting adjourned at 9:01 PM. Daniel L. Stevens Borough Secretary