BALLY BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MAY 6, 2025 MEETING The regular scheduled meeting oft the Bally Borough Council was held on the above date at the Borough Hall. President, Glenn Mutter called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Council Members present: Glenn Mutter, Michael Bauman, Michael Moll, Matthew Gehman, Joshua Sloan and Paul Gehringer. Council Member Joel Pilgert was absent. Also present: Mayor, David Schott; Solicitor, R. Tim Curley; Borough Manager, Wendy Mutter; PW Superintendent, Nathan Heffner. There were 3 residents in attendance. The agenda for this meeting had been posted on the door and the website, at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. President Mutter announced the meeting is being recorded for minute taking purposes. An Executive session was held on May 5, 2025 for an employee issue and a potential litigation issue. COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS: Tyler Richards addressed council concerning a special event in the park. Scout Troop 586 would like to hold a Water Fun Day in the park on August 23, 2025. The event will be open and free to the public and will feature water slides/games and will be geared to introduce children to scouting. All volunteers will be part ofthe Scouts. The Scouts will provide a Certificate ofInsurance and the permit fee will be waived. Michael Moll made a motion to approve the event, Paul Gehringer seconded the motion. All Ayes. The scouts would also like to contribute a "bat box"to the park and possibly the waste water treatment plant. The boxes are perched on tall poles and serve as a daytime roosting place for bats. Joshua Sloan made a motion to accept the bat boxes installation, and Matthew Gehman seconded the motion. All Ayes. CONSENT AGENDA a. Minutes of April 1, 2025 Council Meeting - A motion was made by Michael Moll, seconded by Michael Bauman to approve the minutes. Paul Gehringer and Joshua Sloan abstained. All others Ayes. b. Approval & Affirmation oft the April bills presented. A motion was made by Matthew Gehman, seconded by Michael Bauman to approve the bills. AIl Ayes. PRESIDING OFFICER REPORT - No report COMMITTEE REPORTS: Health, Safety, & Welfare: Police report - The Chiefand Corporal completed their annual update training. The police would like permission to hire a new part time officer. Matthew Gehman made a motion to authorize the hiring of a new part-time police officer, seconded by Paul Gehringer. All Ayes. Fire report EBFD reported 49 calls in the month of April and a total of 196 calls year to date. The Chicken BBQ fundraiser at Bechtelsville Fire Co on April 26th was a sell out. The 2nd annual Basket & Gift Card raffle on May 3rd was a huge suçcess. A 5 year ISO insurance audit went very well and we are currently having the fireman's s relief fund audited. An audit of our annual 990 is scheduled for later this month. Copies of all audits will be forwarded once received. We also received our annual PA State Grants funds which will be used for debt reduction toward our new "attack" 9 truck scheduled to be delivered later this year. Bally Ambulance = Bally had 5 calls with a total of 124 calls for the month of April. Bally has had 40 calls year to date, and a total of480 calls for the current year. Bally Ambulance received $15,000 grant funds from the State fire commissioner's office. The money will be spent on 2 stair chairs, 2 infusion pumps. The Solicitor asked if Douglas Montgomery has made a decision on distribution of tax revenue. Mike Groff responded that the decision was delayed and should be given later this month. Planning Commission - Did not meet. Municipal Authority- Did not meet. Next meeting May 20, 2025 Zoning Hearing Board -Did not meet BARDS Committee: Joshua Sloan reported they have started advertising for the Bake Sale and Car Wash on Saturday, May 17th. They have also starting advertising the Borough Community Yard Sale days on May 16, 17, 18. They donated some solar street lights and a shade pergola for the pool. BARDS approved the expense for installation oft the water fountain for the park, which includes a cement pad, extension of the water line and a meter pit. The Lions Club is also contributing to the purchase oft the water fountain. BARDS would like to contribute another dog waste station to the park. They will be adding signs in the park to pick up your dog waste. BARDS would like to replace the tether ball in the playground but are concerned with the vandalism that happens with the tether ball. The vandals can be seen on security camera review but cannot be identified. They would like to place an announcement on their page to remind people to pick up their dog waste. BARDS would like to reintroduce the Story Walk in the park. They have found a way to more securely attach the boards. They would like to have permission to start up the program for the summer. BARDS would like to give some "hands on help" by way of putting non-slip sealant on the two larger bridges in the park. Council approved the project in conjunction with public works. Glenn Mutter mentioned that there are some repairs required on the upper bridge before it can be stained or sealed. Public Works will do the repair and let Joshua know when it is ready for staining. WWTP Report: The Digester issue has been determined to be a wiring issue to the controller and some 6 inch pipes leading to the diffusers. A trench will need to be dug to bury the new wiring and the tank is refilling with the removal of the 6 inch pipes. Currently, the changes seem to be working. We budgeted to clean the two inner ditches on the oxidation ditches. We will need to divert those funds to repair a gate between the second and third ditch. A repair was made to the gate by putting a metal plate on top of the valve years ago. That plate is now leaking into the outer (third) ditch. This valve will need to be repaired. The leak detection people were here today. They have found a leak that may make up the unreported water loss. They are not yet done. Public works has been busy and is on the verge of falling behind being short handed in the public works department. The rental ofthe street sweeper did not go well. The concept was good, but the equipment broke down and created extra work. Nate would like to put together some numbers for next year street sweeping with some different options. The playground storm water has been a challenge due to the previous storm water set up with the old tennis court. NEW BUSINESS: Payment Application #2 to Performance Pipeling, Inc. for $114,930.90 - The Borough Manager explained that this is the bulk of the charges for the sewer lateral lining project with the exception of the retainage. There were no issues and we have had a very good experience with this contractor. Matthew Gehman made a motion to approve the payment, seconded by Joshua Sloan. All Ayes. Accept the resignation of part time police officer James Mains A motion was made by Matthew Gehman, seconded by Paul Gehringer to accept the resignation of James Mains. All Ayes. Increase the hourly rate of public works employee Chris Spotts to $22 per hour - The Borough Manager requested an increase to current public works employee Chris Spotts due to his exceptional work and the fact that the Borough has been unable to hire a second public works employee at the current rate offered. We have offered the position to 2 applicants who turned it down due to the wage. Paul Gehringer made a motion to give Chris Spotts the increased rate of $22 per hour, Michael Moll seconded that motion. All Ayes. Offer candidate Joshua Moyer the full time public works position at $19.75 per hour with a .25/hr increase after completion of a 90 day probationary period. Michael Moll made a motion to offer the position to Joshua Moyer at $19.75 per hour, and if not accepted, personnel committee still has the authority to hire a replacement employee. Michael Bauman seconded the motion. All Ayes. Paving of N & S 7th Street and 600 block of Elm St - The Manager explained that the estimate for the paving of all three sections has come in $110,000 over budget which cannot be absorbed by the current budget amount. Council was questioned on whether to send the job out to bid, delay the project to next year or increase the budget by Ordinance. Council decided to send the project to bid in three sections (by street) and ifthe bids come back too far out of budget the N 7th St portion would be dropped and added to the next paving project. Joshua Sloan made a motion to put the project out to bid by street. Paul Gehringer seconded the motion. All Ayes. Purchase of used trailler to haul skid loader and rented equipment - The Borough Manager announced the purchase ofa used 2018 trailer at a cost of $4900 dollars to haul the skid loader and other rented equipment. We budgeted $7000 for the purchase. The trailer did not have ramps, SO we will need to purchase those, a hitch and tie downs for hauling. Approval for the sale of the back hoe attachment to the skid loader - The attachment has not been used since 2022 and since we now have a back hoe we do not anticipate needing to use the attachment in the future. Matthew Gehman made a motion to list the attachment on Municibid for sale, Michael Bauman seconded the motion. All Ayes. The Borough Manager noted that the unused pool slide was listed for sale on Municibid and sold for $1000. The Lions contacted the Borough office and asked ifthey could hire a contractor to fix the cracks in the walking trail. Michael Moll made a motion to allow the Lions club to hire a contractor to do the work, Paul Gehringer seconded the motion. Josua Sloan abstained all others Ayes. Stray Dog policy - The Borough Manager spoke to council concerning a policy on stray dogs being brought to the Borough office and the ability to contract with a shelter for a place to go with strays found in the Borough. Costs to contract for stray animal shelter from ARL Berks is per dog at $200 per dog but does not include pickup or 24/7 service. Safety Net Sanctuary does have a contracted service at $1.50 per capita for the year ($1842) and does have 24/7 service and will pick up the animal. After discussion, council decided that the Borough cannot take in stray dogs at the office, but will make every attempt to advertise a lost or found pet and get the lost animal home to its owner, but we cannot house an animal. They would also like to pursue an agreement or contract with a shelter to take stray animals found in the Borough. OLD BUSINESS: Shane Kline missing water/sewer payment - Shane Kline approached council at the April meeting concerning a water/sewer payment that was not posted to his account. The Borough office could not find any record of the payment. A motion was made by Paul Gehringer, seconded by Michael Bauman to write off the amount claimed to be paid including the late fee, Glenn Mutter abstained the vote, all other Ayes. For security and control reasons the Solicitor recommends not taking cash payments at the Borough Office - The council agreed to NOT take cash payments at the Borough office after September 30, 2025. This gives two billing periods to provide notice to residents ofthe "No Cash" policy. The policy does not pertain to the pool. Also, the Borough Manager is to look into a credit card payment option at the Borough office. Well 6 update The Borough Manager reported that we have finally heard back from DEP/PES concerning the test well drilling for a redundant water source. They have stated they will allow us one more test well site at one of the two proven sites listed as Melcher Low, off Old Route 100, or Barto Mall location located off Barto Road. They do not want to rebuild the current well, but would like the test well to be drilled 20 feet from the proven sites. A motion was made by Joshua Sloan, seconded by Michael Moll to have the area oft the Melcher Low location test well drilled, and test the monitoring well located at the end of the driveway ofthe previous Bally Case & Cooler near Old Route 100, to provide a base line of contamination prior to disturbing any land at the Melcher Low location. All Ayes. SOLICITOR'S REPORT: No Report MAYOR'S REPORT: The Mayor reported there were 46 calls for the month, 131 for the year. There were 32 traffic citation and 3 parking tickets. ENGINEER'S STATUS OF PROJECTS: The engineers examined the impact of the extension of the sewer outfall pipe. The engineers are recommending we do not move forward with this project until DEP makes it a requirement, as it will be an extremely costly project. OFFICE REPORT The Borough Manager reported that she met with Washington Township concerning the payoff of the 1996 sewer plant expansion loan and the Borough turning over the billing of Washington Township sewer customers back to Washington Township. It was determined that the Borough will bill those customers for Washington Township sewer for February and March as a last bill from the Borough in May. Those customers will be able to pay on their account at the Borough Office until June 30, 2025. After that date the Borough will no longer be able to take sewer payments from these customers. June 30 is the end of the second quarter and at that time the collected sewer fees will be transferred to the WTMA escrow account. All remaining amounts due will be transferred to Washington Township and there will be no reason to keep a WTMA Escrow account in Bally Borough's name. A motion was made by Michael Moll, seconded by Michael Bauman to close the WTMA Escrow account after the second quarter transfer of funds and return all monies held in the account to Washington Township in early July. All Ayes. The Borough Manager provided information and pictures for playground equipment to be purchased as part of the playground grant. Council agreed with all ofthe purchases. The sand diggers arrived on Monday and the large embankment slide is due to be delivered the end of1 the month. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS - No questions or comments. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS - No questions or comments. ADJOURNMENT - A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Michael Moll, seconded by Joshua Sloan at 9:14 pm. All Ayes. Hns - 1/ // President - Glenn Mutter h Asst Secrétary Wendy Mutter