BOROUGH OF SLATINGION The Finance Planning/Zoning, Public Safety and Human/Community Services Committee Workshop Meetings were held on March 25, 2019 in Council Room, 125 South Walnut Street, Slatington, PA 18080. The meeting was called to order by President Stevens at 6:30 PM with the following in attendance: PRESENT ABSENT OTHERS PRESENT VISITORS Daniel Stevens Joseph Wechsler Ed Ziegler Jason Ruff Connie Check Jason Check David Schnaars William Hoch Ms. Witucki Thomas Bartholomew PUBLIC COMMENT: Jason Check - Signed in and was recognized to speak. Jason had spoken at the last committee meeting about installing GaGa pits. He spoke with the Parks and Recreation Committee with a different idea. The committee has a D&L project scheduled in May. Jason would like to repaint the gates and bike rack yellow and stain all ofthe fencing on the bridge. Councilor Schnaars suggested Jason include the bike repair stand for painting. Councilor Ruff is concerned on how Jason would stain the fencing, because it is very aged and dirty. It was suggested to power wash it, or use a deck cleaner. Councilor Bartholomew offered to donate 5-gallons of deck cleaner. President Stevens stated that Alan Boyer, from Boyer Hardware, has donated supplies previously for Eagle Projects. The council has already approved the paint up to $900.00; however, Robert Stettner is checking to see if Boyer's will donate the paint before the money is spent. Jason was informed by the Parks and Recreation Committee will be installing a pad, and Jason would be able to build 2 more picnic tables. Councilor Schnaars suggested Jason get in touch with the Venture group concerning the welcome center projects. Mike Kukitz will be leaving the NRLA and Councilor Schnaars will be acting as liaison for the NRLA until he can be replaced. This will be placed on the next regular council agenda for approval. This project will replace the GaGa pits, but President Stevens stated there is land the borough owns behind the water tank near the scout house and suggested that property could be used for the GaGa pits. Councilor Schnaars mentioned to Jason that on April 20th, the borough will be having an electronics recycling day, which is also our town and community clean up day for anyone in his troop that would be interested in volunteering. FINANCE/PLANNINGIZONING Thomas Bartholomew - Chairman; Members: David Schnaars, Jason Ruff 1. Committee Member Discussion: a. Duane Dellecker had provided the committee with a proposed fee schedule for 2019 for Zoning. The proposed fee schedule did not have the previous fee schedule attached for comparison. The fee schedule is basically similar prior to CodeMaster, but Councilor Bartholomew pointed out there is a flat zoning - fee of $35.00 for everything, i.e., sheds and decks, pools, etc. The committee discussed the schedule of changes that were noted on the report. Councilor Schnaars said but the Act 247 states that it allows communities to set reasonable fees to help support to help the building code office. Although a fee schedule can not be designed to fully support the code office. A fee schedule can be designed to non-reasonable fees to supplement the cost of operating. This will be tabled to the next committee agenda. b. The committee discussed the fence - William Hoch and Ms. Witucki speaking for Mr. Kresh at 542 W. Franklin Street. The issue had gone to Duane Dellecker who feels the fence is a side yard fence, and not a front yard fence. The problem is, a zoning hearing appeal must be done within 60 days, but this issue goes back 9 years. Councilor Bartholomew stated the issue is closed and that they must go to the Zoning Board. Mr. Hoch spoke about the fence and how the height in the front is over 4 feet, not an open fence, or a hedge. Ms. Witucki provided the committee with a photo of the fence. The fence goes all the way to the sidewalk. The disagreement is, is the fence considered a front or side yard fence. President Stevens informed Mr. Hoch that this committee is not the Zoning Hearing Board, which would render a decision on the dispute, if the board accepts the appeal. Councilor Ruff informed Ms. Witucki that if she has obtained new information on the fence, she could then go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Ms. Witucki gave the history of the dispute between Mr. Kresh and Mr. Meckes. President Stevens reiterated that this is a zoning matter and the committee cannot be involved. C. The committee discussed the existing Blue Ridge Communications' franchise agreement that expired on December 12, 2018. President Stevens stated that he has gotten information from Ed Healy. Ed verified that we are charging the full 5% now, which is the maximum we are allowed to charge. This is strictly on the cable portion, not on the high-speed internet. An agreement must be drawn up before it can be put on the regular council agenda. Blue Ridge had requested from the borough that Blue Ridge attorney would draw up the agreement; the only question President Stevens had, is how long we would like the agreement. Councilor Schnaars suggested 2 5-year optional renewals after the first 5 years. President Stevens will contact Blue Ridge to confirm an agreement. There were no questions from the committee members; the Human/Community Services Committee Meeting was adjourned. PUBLICSAFETY David Schnaars-Chairman; Members: Thomas Bartholomew, Jason Ruff 1. Committee Member Discussion a. Councilor Schnaars needs to talk with Chief Rachman about cleaning the police floor, and if he has received any estimates. President Stevens stated that the mayor was talking about a new floor. Councilor Schnaars added that he needs to go to the fire station and double check on the doors. 2 b. President Stevens said we need a Slatington resident to be on the police pension fund, but they cannot be a council member or on the police department. Councilor Schnaars informed Councilor Ruff, the committee usually meets once a year to review the status of the pension fund. Once we obtain a report from CRY, then there is a meeting with the manager of the fund to discuss the status of the fund. Councilor Ruff said he would post this position on Face Book. Councilor Schnaars informed the committee that the Safety Committee will be changing their meeting date from Wednesday, April 3rd, to Monday, April 1st, at 10 am. This will be their webinar safety committee training. Councilor Schnaars will make sure everyone on the committee is registered. There were no questions from the committee members; the Public Safety Committee Meeting was adjourned. HUMAN/COMMUNITY SERVICES Jason Ruff - Chairman; Members: David Schnaars, Thomas Bartholomew 1. Committee Member Discussion a. The committee discussed the quote from Pain in The Grass for $233.00 to trim shrub and rose bushes; apply pre- and post- weed control to mulched area for Memorial Park. Council had approved a maximum of $2,000 for this work last year and not all of this money had been used. Councilor Ruff asked what could be done with the shrubbery along the sidewalk (street?) (where the old high school was). He asked if Pain in The Grass could take care of these. Councilor Schnaars and President Stevens suggested the plants could be torn out and replaced with new shrubs. The committee will look at them to make a decision. The committee agreed to have Pain in The Grass trim the shrubs, rose bushes, and apply pre- and post-weed control to mulched area. b. Councilor Ruff discussed part-time summer employee for landscaping projects. President Stevens informed Councilor Ruff the grass cutting had been discussed at the Highway Committee meeting last week. President Stevens said they have the quotes from last year. Councilor Reed is going to call the low-bid and see ifthey would be agreeable to cut on a per diem basis. C. The committee discussed ways to improve policies and relationship with NRLA. Councilor Ruff said there is frustration on behalf of NRLA not working smoothly with the borough office. Councilor Schnaars informed the committee of the change for the NRLA director position. They had been looking at someone to hire for bookkeeping. They have now redefined, slightly, the position of the executive director to take out some of the capital campaign experience, because they figure you can hire companies to do capital campaigns. They are waiting for support from the 3 municipalities for this change. Mike Kukitz has started many programs and the association is concerned that they would suddenly fail because there is no director. The 3 emphasis will be on the program director position. Mike Kukitz was given kudos for his work. Councilor Schnaars stated he has been asked to temporarily coordinate the bidding for the amphitheater. There were no questions from the committee members; the Finance Committee Meeting was adjourned. PUBLIC COMMENT: None INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: None Councilor Schnaars made a motion, duly seconded by, Councilor Ruff to adjourn. Being no further business, President Stevens declared the meeting adjourned at 7:47 PM. Colleen Bresnak Assistant Borough Secretary 4