BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 4/8/24 The Regular Meeting of Council was held on Monday, April 8, 2024, at 7:00 PM, to be held in the Council Room, 125 S. Walnut Street, First Floor, Slatington, PA 18080. Presiding: David Schnaars: President of Council Recording Secretary: Daniel Stevens, Borough Manager/Secretary The meeting was called to order by President Schnaars at 7:00 PM with the following in attendance: ROLL CALL: PRESENT ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT VISITORS David Schnaars Walter Niedermeyer Lisa Young Krystall Borman, Kevin Borman Zachari Halkias Jeralyn Schoch Drew Snowberger, Ron Hausman Ryan Mayberry Greg Winokur Josh Henry, Aaron Schoch Ronald Kratz Justin Gross Eric King, Bryon Reed Kevin Steckel Daniel Stevens Salvo Adragna, Robert Stettner Ashley King, Kyle Adams Weiss Bill Grim, Reta Grim Council acknowledged the passing of Joan Cheesbrough who served as assistant treasurer for the Borough for 12 years. EXECUTIVE SESSION: None NOTIFICATION: President Schnaars 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. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING - Councilor Mayberry made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to approve the following minutes with one correction: President Schnaars pointed out on the Council Minutes of3/11/24, C.1 - it should be noted that the request for use of space/site is from the NLRA; Council Meeting - March 11, 2024; Special Meeting March 18, 2024; Committee Meetings - March 18, 2024, and March 25, 2024. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Chamber of Commerce Road Show Kylie Adams Weiss is the. Assistant Vice President for. Affiliated Chambers of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and assigned to the Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce. The goal of the chamber is to stimulate the economy as well as improve the quality of life for the people living here in the Lehigh Valley. They partner with other municipalities with things like music, festivals, tree lighting, 4th of July Hertiage celebration, etc. The membership is open to each council member and the mayor, as well as all the Borough staff and employees. As a chamber member you have access to several different benefits. Kylie thanked Manager Stevens for sitting on their local government committee. Councilor Mayberry asked if the Chamber would be able to assist with our local Committee on Economic Development. Kylie would be interested in helping. Mayor Schoch stated that the Borough is starting a Hometown Heros Banner project and will be partnering with Walnutport, Lehigh Township and Washington Township and asked if there was anything the Chamber could do to help with this. Kylie stated that there is a grant appliçation coming from the Lehigh Valley Chamber Foundation. 1 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. Bryon Reed = 405 Diamond Street and Salvo Adragna - 653 Main Street, both signed in were recognized to speak. Bryon and Salvo spoke about the proposed handicap parking spot for the Slatington Library. Bryon had gone to St. John's Lutheran Church and they agreed to give the Borough parking at no charge. Bryon and Salvo have marked 14 spaces and will issue parking permits to the business owners/employees from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Salvo stated that having a handicap space on Main Street could be very dangerous and it would be empty much of the time. Bryon also stated that there are cars parked in the lots that stay there all day and it is necessary that they get ticketed. INTERVIEWS: Interview of candidates to fill open seat on Slatington Borough Council Eric King - 336 jst Street. President Schnaars asked Eric why he would be a good council member. Eric stated that he has lived in Slatington for almost 14 years and has been active attending the council meetings. He understandings how the council works and has had experience in that. Eric feels having a younger generation would be beneficial. Councilor Kratz asked what volunteer positions he has been involved in and specific examples where he had to get a committee to agree on an issue. Eric stated that he has not volunteered, but has worked in retail and getting a group of employees to agree with each other. Councilor Kratz clarified that he was not asking about a managerial position, but about a same level team. He understands that his opinion will not always agree with others, but understands that the team does have to work together. Councilor Kratz asked Eric what his proudest achievement is. Eric stated that he has won multiple leadership awards in the retail business. Eric has mentored employees to grow in their positions. Councilor Halkias asked what specific skill, or perspective, can you apply to a borough council seat to be effective. Eric stated that he has not been on the council for 20 or 30 years, but brings a lot of the residents' main concerns i.e., roads, trash, etc. Eric feels that he has a pulse on what people are concerned about, and will not be not sweeping issues under the rug. President Schnaars asked Eric what issues this Council has swept under the rug. Eric stated that the road conditions, and he does understand the cost to fix them. However, the longer we wait, the more costly it becomes. President Schnaars asked Eric what is the one issue he would like to see solved around the community. Eric stated that he would like to see how we could bring new business into the community without scaring some businesses out. He stated that the Borough did this with the Vape Shop Ordinance. Aaron Schoch = 301 E. Church St. President Schnaars asked Aaron why he would be a good council member. Aaron stated that he was born and raised in Slatington and is passionate about the community and the residents. Councilor Kratz asked if Aaron had any volunteer experience. Aaron stated that he did not. Counçilor Kratz asked if he had any opportunity to work with a group where you had to get consensus to get something done opposed to giving an order. Aaron has experience in public works. Councilor Kratz asked what Aaron's objectives would be for the Borough. Aaron stated he would like to get the roads fixed and see brighter street lights. Councilor Kratz asked what are the Borough strengths that Aaron would like to accent. Aaron stated that Main Street could look more appealing. He would like to see the traffic slow down. Councilor Halkias asked what specific skill, or perspective can you bring to effectively get things done on Council. Aaron stated that he feels he can talk to people, and really know what they want. He will help people try to see both sides ofthe story. President Schnaars called a recess at 7:30 PM. President Schnaars reconvened the meeting at 7:52. 2 D.2 Counçilor Mayberry made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to adopt Resolution R-05- 24, a resolution filling the current open seat on Borough Council. The Resolution states, in accordance with the specific powers of borough Council to appoint a registered elector to fill a vacant seat on Council, 8 Pa.C.S. Section 901, Slatington Borough Council desires to appoint Aaron Schoch to fill the vacancy on Council, which appointment is being made within 30-days of the acceptance of the resignation of Jeffrey Hausman. Said individual has resided within the Borough for more than I-year continuously, prior to this appointment. This individual will serve until the first Monday of January 2026. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN David Schnaars Zachari Halkias Ryan Mayberry Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENIS, COMMUNICATIONS: Executive session was held on Monday, March 18, 2024, 7:16 PM, discussed matters of legal and real estate APPROVAL OF ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/TRANSFER Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Mayberry, to approve payment of the bills and transfers as presented by the Treasurer. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN David Schnaars Zachari Halkias Ryan Mayberry Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 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. MAYORS/POLICE REMARKS Mayor Jeralyn Schoch Mayor Schoch informed the Council that they had a meeting last week regarding the Hometown Heros banners at the Legion with the representative that will be working with us. Mayor Schoch stated that if we can obtain at least 100 or more orders the price will go down significantly. They are waiting to hear back from Washington Township and Walnutport and then try to do some fund raisers to offset the cost for the residents. Ifa anyone is interested in joining, you may contact the committee members which are: Mayor Schoch, Ron Humanick, and Alice Wanamaker. ChiefGreg Winokur Chief Winokur provided totals for March 2023 to March 2024: incidents: 2023 - 289, 2024 - 324; reports filed 2023 = 201, 2024 - 212; criminal arrests 2023 - 11, 2024 - 3; traffic citations - 2023 - 29, 2024 - 17; parking tickets 2023 = 42, 2024 - 40. Notable incidents for the month: several arrests; multiple mental health calls-subjects were armed with weapons; shots fired call; cardiac arrest; DUI arrests; simple 3 assault arrests; domestic arrests. These occurred from March 12th, through April 7th. The department has been able to properly cover all of the shifts. They are finishing up the training process with Officer Radtke and hopefully he should be on the streets in the next week. Part Time Officer Bernhard is in the FTO program now. Chief Winokur informed the Council that the department has completed their testing process with the Lehigh County Consortium on March 23. The department had 8 total applicants available for Slatington. After the interviews and after reviewing their applications, only 3 were eligible. The number of potential police officers is lower than in the past. Chief Winokur stated that police car 606 is out of service and is being repaired at Buzzy's. The old Crown Vic (602) is back in service. STANDING COMMITTEES A. Highway Councilor Walter Niedermeyer 1. Received reimbursement for 2 South Street CDBG grants (submitted by manager) of $192,586.40. Project approved for liquid fuels match (informational only) 2. Discussion and possible motion concerning letter from Susan Layland requesting handicap parking for the Slatington Library. Councilor Mayberry stated that he counted 18 spots on Main Street and 14 in the lot next to it - total 32 total and only 1 handicap parking spot. Chief Winokur stated that it would be more practical to place the handicap parking spot at the corner. There is a concern about the size of the parking space due to ADA accessibility. The consensus is that it would not be a safe to have a handicap space on Main Street. 3. Update on CDBG projects and motion to authorize Lehigh Engineering to make adjustments to plans for 5th Street CDBG. Justin Gross stated that the 2024 CDBG (for next year), has been submitted to Lehigh County. He added that Willow Ave from Dowell to North Streets is the priority. The second one is Cherry Street from Race Street to Yenser Alley, and the third one is Hill Street from E. Church Street to E. Washington Street. Justin stated there were some storm water issues on 5th Street and with doing the handicapped ramps at that intersection, this would cause the water to pond. This would be extremely unsafe, especially in the winter. Justin reached out to Laurie to add this and do an environmental review on their end. Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to authorize Lehigh Engineering to adjust the plans for the 5th Street CDBG. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. B. Public Safety Councilor Ronald Kratz 1. Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Mayberry, to proceed with CDBG project for fire department air packs and cylinders. Manager Stevens talked to Laurie Moyer (Lehigh County), and the project does not need to be bid, it can be done through Costars. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. Fire Chief Reph discussed the automatic alarms at the high rises. The fire department has been getting a lot of calls for 550 Main Street. He spoke to the company that services their alarm and the high rise were told multiple times that they must upgrade their system because their detection is more than 40-years old. They claim they do not have the money to do it. President Schnaars asked ifthe borough can charge for the calls. Fire Chief Reph requested that business send a copy oftheir inspection report to the fire companies to keep track of what is being inspected. 2. Councilor Kratz made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Mayberry, to adopt Resolution R- 06-24, a resolution establishing new Right to Know procedures and fees for the Slatington Police Department. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. C. Human/Community Services Councilor Zachari Halkias 4 1. Received reimbursement for Slate Heritage Trail GTRP Grant (submitted by manager) of $105,488.00 (informational only) 2. Slatington Borough Electronics Recycling Day Saturday, April 13th, 2024 from 9 AM to 11:00 AM at the Borough Garage. (informational only) 3. Thank you to Allen O. Delke American Legion Post 16 for the donation of$500.00 toward flags and poles on Main Street. 4. Thank you to the American Legion Auxiliary for the donation of $500.00 toward flags and poles on Main Street. D. mmncelPhammingoning Councilor Ryan Mayberry 1. Councilor Mayberry made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to authorize Borough Manager Stevens to approve Exemption Report from Statewide Tax Recovery Inc. for Delinquent Per Capita Tax for: Susan J. Davis - Closed - 4 @ $5.50 total $22.00; Kenneth Rabenold = Closed - $5.50; Judith Hughes Closed 4 @ $5.50 = total $22.00; Brian Perry - Closed - $5.50; Douglas Messinger - Closed - 3 @ $5.50 - $16.50, total $71.50. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN David Schnaars Zachari Halkias Ryan Mayberry Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 2. Motion to adopt Resolution R-05-24, a resolution filling the current open seat on Borough Council. This was passed at the beginning of the meeting. 3. Councilor Mayberry made a motion, duly seconded by Councilor Kratz, to adopt Resolution R- 07-24, a resolution amending the Lease Agreement regarding 526 W. Franklin Street for the Masoniç Community Center Foundation. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN David Schnaars Zachari Halkias Ryan Mayberry Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 4. Discussion and possible motion concerning hiring temp. President Schnaars would like this discussed in executive session. E. Sewer/Solid Waste Councilor Steckel 1. Update concerning repairs to primary clarifier drive unit. Manager Stevens informed the council that all the repairs are complete and everything is running well since the transformer was fixed. 5 2. Invoices from Lehigh County for $9,665.00 and $5,410.00 totaling $15,075.00 for cleanup of leaking chlorine tank in August 2023. Manager Stevens went directly to tank owner's insurance company after continued delays in response from owner of tank. Insurance company has agreed to pay invoices. (informational only) F. Water/Special Sewer Committee Councilor Kevin Steckel 1. Water Test Statement - Water was tested and found safe for human consumption 2. There were 2 quotes for the effluent valve upgrade, and we have given the third vendor a month and a half (with no quote). Councilor Steckel made a motion, duly seconded by councilor Kratz, to accept the quote from Martz for $19,507.37 concerning filter bed effluent valve control upgrade. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Roll Call, voting as follows: ROLL CALL AYES NAYS ABSTAIN David Schnaars Zachari Halkias Ryan Mayberry Ronald Kratz Kevin Steckel 3. Update on control panel and SCADA system project. Manager Stevens informed the Council that the work is done, there is fine some tuning to be finished. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None NEW BUSINESS: None COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT: None David Schnaars 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 Schnaars recessed to executive session at 8:31 PM. At 9:09 PM President Schnaars reconvened the meeting. Matters of legal and personnel were discussed in executive session. ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Councilor Kratz made the motion, duly seconded by Councilor Mayberry, to adjourn the meeting. President Schnaars declared the motion passed following a Voice Vote, All in Favor. President Schnaars declared the meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM. Daniel L. Stevens Borough Secretary 6