Penbrook Borough Caucus Meeting Minutes April 21, 2025 6:30 PM 1. Call to order and roll call: President Deardorf called the public meeting to order at 6:30 pm, The Mayor was absent. Present were Deardorff, Newcomer, Dry, Stokes (virtual), Shaw, Burdine and Armbruster. Moore arrived at 6:43 pm. Kern and Hogarth were also present. 2. Citizen Comments on Agenda Items = N/A 3. Discussion and Action tems A. Representatives of the applicant for the SALDO of 650 S 28th were in attendance. They had agreed to have Solicitor Kern draft the developer's agreement which she did and presented to Council. There were discussions and agreement from Council to remove the entirety of the Maintenance Security section 15, limit the amount of time for retention of ten percent of costs to six months under section five, allow for costs to be drawn down or reimbursed under section four (b), and correct a typo in section 9 of the Development and Financial Security Agreement. Newcomer made a motion to amend the conditions of the September 3, 2024 conditional approval as follows: the prior condition that the applicant must satisfy any and all financial security requirements and pay all fees as provided under Penbrook Code related to the required street cut permits necessary for the plan improvements, shall be amended to require that the applicant must: (1) enter into a Development and Financial Security Agreement with the Borough for the plan improvements and pay all fees as provided under Penbrook Code related to the required street cut permits necessary for the plan improvements; all other conditions shall remain as provided for in the September 3, 2024 conditional approval. Burdine seconded. The motion passed with a vote of 7-1. Armbruster no. Burdine made a motion to approve the Development and Financial Security Agreement with the agreed upon discussed revisions, and Shaw seconded. The motion passed with a vote of 7-1. Armbruster no. B. Newcomer and Hogarth briefed Council on a request from JT Dorsey to explore the possibility of installing a mini-pitch" where the basketball court is at Community Park. A mini-pitch is a less than full size soccer field and the Dorsey Foundation believes funding could be secured to finance the project. The first step is to get a company to come in and evaluate the area. Council was in agreement to move forward with the evaluation. C. Hogarth explained that there is a small window of opportunity to apply for a grant that would help subsidize the Ferndale sanitary and storm sewer project. If Council is interested they would have to vote on Resolution 2025-10 which is needed for the application. The idea is for this grant as well as the CDBG grant to pay for 100% of the project. Armbruster made a motion to approve the Resolution and Moore seconded. Carried unanimously. D. Solicitor Kern provided the draft of the MOU between the Borough and the SWA. She pointed out that the document hasn't changed since January other than further defining the manager's salary reimbursement percentage of the gross salary. Armbruster made a motion to approve the MOU as drafted. Dry seconded. Carried unanimously. E. Newcomer lead a discussion regarding property maintenance enforcement activities after meeting with Jim Crum and Dorothy Hamilton of 2400 Walnut. They were also in attendance and participated in the discussion. They are frustrated with violations of properties across 24th St from their property. Among the complaints included exterior damage from the August 2024 tornado, trash and what they believe is over- occupancy of 9 N 24th. Crum believes the borough needs to reinstate the rental inspection program. Not all council members agree with the effectiveness of an inspection program. Shaw voiced his opinion against, stating it won't have the impact some think it will. There have been inspections done in the past several years based on complaints from tenants. Newcomer asked for data to be provided regarding those inspections. Kern suggested that an RFP could be done to see if a 3rd party would do them, but both third parties the borough has worked with in the past will not do them. Newcomer believes that enforcement activities should focus on the worst of the worst until property owners either comply or sell the property to someone who will. He also asked if there was a current list of condemned properties. Hogarth said he will provide one. F. Brew pub ordinances and zoning ordinances continued from previous meetings. Armbruster asked about barrels and gallons as it relates to production minimums and definitions of brew pub, micro brewery and brewery, each with their own standard. The solicitor suggested relying on the language of the PLCB. Regarding zoning, Newcomer would allow a brewpub in the Village and Commercial districts but the micro and brewery only in the Commercial. Stokes would like to include micros in the Village as well. Hours of operation: It was offered to require M-Th closing at 10pm, Fri/Sat closing at 11pm and Sundays closing at 9pm Delete from the draft 88.6(D)(3) and 88.8(F) Regarding insurance requirements, follow Commonwealth's requirements for each establishment as defined. The same for training requirements of employees. Parking requirements: Most were in agreement that there should be no parking requirements for these establishments. Shaw commented that he's ok with no parking requirements if parking requirements for all borough properties are rescinded. G. Hogarth asked if there was any feedback about the proposed web page. Shaw commented that it wasn't much different from the existing page but it has a refreshed look. Newcomer asked about the picture at the top of the page. Hogarth said Levandusky would need a photo to replace the stock photo holding the space. It was suggested that the Historical Society may have something. Newcomer asked if three pics could take the place of one. Hogarth will ask. Shaw believes there should be an emphasis on making the page mobile friendly since many people now access the web on their phones or smaller devices. H. Hogarth provided Council with an update on the STMP process. Keystone Municipal Solutions did not get the financial review done for tonight's meeting but will hopefully be in attendance at the May 19 meeting. I. Hogarth provided Council with an email from Andrew Bomberger from Tri County Planning regarding a grant opportunity coming up that would fund a portion of a project they have listed as a priority at Walnut28"Penbrook Av. Hogarth said Bomberger will be at the May 19 meeting to discuss in detail but wanted to gauge Council's willingness to keep moving forward. Preliminarily all are willing to hear more before making a decision to commit to a project and possible funding. J. Burdine made a motion, seconded by Newcomer, to amend the agenda to discuss the recent findings about the publishing of the newsletter. Motion carried unanimously. a. Hogarth provided Council with information he had just received that the publisher has not been able to secure any paid advertising from area businesses therefore the newsletter cannot be published as planned. Moore said she would be willing to reach out to Get It Now and get pricing for them to publish and mail. All agreed. 4. Citizen Comments - N/A 5. Council Comments A. Moore inquired about getting equipment to hold doors open in the Community Room. B. Newcomer inquired about the camera at Little Valley and the possibility of coordinating with St. Mags and their security measures. He also asked about changing the table configuration for Caucus meetings. C. Budine would like the Council meeting minutes to be updated to reflect the codes reports was sent to all elected officials. 6. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joseph Hogarth Borough Secretary