TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HUNTINGDON, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION MEETING, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2025, 7:00 P.M. 11279 Center Highway, North Huntingdon, PA 15642 Presiding Officer - Zachary Haigis, President, Board of Commissioners CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Atwood called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Commissioner Hempel - Present Also Present: Commissioner Atwood - Present Manager Harry Faulk Commissioner Gray - Present Assistant Manager Ryan Fonzi Commissioner Zona - Present Solicitor Chelsea Dice Commissioner Bevan - Present Josh Andrykovitch Commissioner Gass - Present John Hochlinski Commissioner Haigis - Present Kody Grabiak PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ACKNOWIEDGEMENT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION **There was no Executive Session held prior to the Work Session' * * CITIZENS INPUT Missy Funyak - 260 Charles Drive - states she would like to discuss the rezoning on Clifton Drive for a dog kennel. She lives in that neighborhood that has a ton of kids and dogs and is really not a great place for a dog kennel that would bring lots of noise, complaints, safety concerns and traffic. She states she has dogs ofher own, but the kennel is not a good idea. Nicholas Carrozza = 2331 Guffey Road - states he is speaking as the founder of Accountability Now: Norwin, a civic initiative committed to government transparency, constitutional accountability and the protection of citizen rights in the community. First, he is formally requesting a meeting with the Board and Township solicitor as we have reached a point where a face to face discussion is no longer optional but necessary. He states this invitation remains open only until July 7, 2025, the one year anniversary ofthe car crash that changed his family's life and exposed deep rooted failures in the Township's government. Should the Board decline, he states he will move forward with litigation for constitutional violations and will explore civil action. He states this is not a threat but a formal and lawful notice. He states tonight's proposed ordinance is a dangerous overreach allowing the Township to revoke business licenses based on vague subjective claims and empowers a single designated officer to impose severe penalties and prohibit business operations. He states this proposed ordinance violates the First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment and if passed will be challenged in federal court. He May 15, 2025 states a Township employee came forward with a formal complaint after receiving repeated unsolicited sexually explicit images from a police officer and despite the severity of the misconduct and the knowledge ofthe department leadership, the officer was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He states this raises serious questions and is there a department policy prohibiting promotions under disciplinary review and was the disciplinary process deliberately paused or hidden to allow the promotion to go through. He states on April 16, 2025 after being forcibly removed from this meeting, Commissioner Zona publicly declared he be charged with disorderly conduct simply for using vulgar language. He states vulgarity is not obscenity and political speech is not a crime. His words were strong but political, focusing on exposing government misconduct. Finally, he addresses the malicious statement from Commissioner Atwood who publicly and falsely accused him of selling drugs to kids as a three-time felon. He states that was a lie made with reckless disregard for the truth and intending to destroy his credibility and reputation and he demands a formal retraction of the statement, a written apology and public condemnation from the Board. Greg & Kristie Smith - 1601 Craig Drive - states they would like to address concerns on driveway damage from the paving project in 2023. He states the staff and Board are aware and provided a solution. He states it happened on September 15, 2023 when the contractor was paving Hedy Lynn Drive and wheels came across on the two slabs ofthe driveway and in January 2025 the Township was notified about the cracking and expanding in the driveway. In April 2025, the Township performed a site visit and assessed structural damage and proposed a solution of a mortar mixture, but he feels there are some concerns first being the solution does not cover all the damage and also does not promote durability or longevity. He is asking to reassess the damage and provide a resolution. Dr. Kathy Elizeus -Nehrig Hill Road - states she would like to talk about the amount oft theft and criminal activities in the area. She states there were trucks and cars stolen and she would like to know what is being done to ensure safety of the residents. There was also a car that was stolen that had a gun in it that was stolen as well. She would like to know other than locking car doors and homes, what are the residents supposed to do. Don Brill - 3350 Old Spring Road - states a few weeks ago his car was stolen and as the police were there talking to him, his neighbor came over and stated his truck was stolen as well at 4am and was able to track it via OnStar, but nobody pulled the truck over. Ile states they told the police where the vehicles were and he went to the location himself, got video and turned it into police. He states the truck was found in the projects below. Easthills Shopping Center and his car was used in a drive by shooting in Wilkinsburg. After that, more vehicles were stolen in the weeks later and used in drive-by shootings. What is more frustrating than anything, wasthe lack ofcommunication and was never told what was going on, cost him three hundred seventy dollars to get his car out of impound and now the expenses to install cameras. He states he finally reccived a call last Saturday night saying they were arrested but was found with a pistol. He stats S hetter communication is needed from the police department for peace of mind. May 15, 2025 RESPONSE TO CITIZENS INPUT Clifton Drive Rezoning - Commissioner Haigis states this is on the agenda for next week for action. Carrozza - Commissioner Gray states one ofthe main things that Mr. Carrozza said that he agrees with was when he used the phrase "government overreach", regarding the proposed ordinance. He states he agrees completely. Commissioner Gass states what happen to Katie and Jordan was terrible and is happy it didn't turn out worse, but Katie is hurt and is really struggling. He looks to the Board to meet with Mr. Carrozza. He states government cannot criminalize the display of profane words in public places even if they are offensive. He again pleads with the Board to sit down with him. Property damage Commissioner Haigis asks Mr. Grabiak if we had a performance bond with the paving company who may be responsible for repairing the driveway. He states there was a bond and that was the proposed solution worked out with them. Commissioner Zona states he surveyed the damage and wouldn't mind if himself, Bob Robinson and Mr. Grabiak could revisit the site and talk with the property owners. Commissioner Gray states he also viewed the damage and agrees that more should be done to accommodate what the owners want. Car Thefts - Commissioner Haigis states unfortunately the police chiefis not here to speak on this, but understands the residents' concerns about better communication and will relay this back to the chief. He states the municipality too should have better communication and should have used other platforms other than the Nixle that was sent to better get information to the residents. Commissioner Gray states he did not know anything about the trend of stolen cars and was not notified either. He states after the fact, a Nixle was put out, but he was actually informed by one of] Mr. Brill's neighbors while working at his house. He states he has been saying for three years that better communication is needed even with the Board. Mr. Brill states in the two week period, there were seven vehicles stolen and probably at least twenty cars broken into. Commissioner Gass invites them to come back next week to address Chief Rizzo. He states his vehicles were broken into approximately twelve years ago as well as Commissioner Gray's, and does not want this in our community. Work Sessions Discussion Topics 1. Keystone Collection Current & Delinquent Business Privilege / Mercantile Tax Collection Proposal* Manager Faulk states our current tax collector collects this tax on behalf of the Township, however she is not running for re-election SO will be getting a new tax collector. Part oftheir duties are not only collecting real estate taxes but also issuing business licenses and current and delinquent business tax. Keystone currently collects our per capita tax and a few others and submitted a second proposal which is lower than the first. Manager Faulk states Keystone Collections have the resources to collect more taxes and do a better job. When the new tax collector comes on, if the Board decides to not go with Keystone, will have to negotiate with a new tax collector, their commission and agreement to collect the taxes. Commissioner Gray asks if we contract with Keystone, what happens to the tax collector and what impact would that have. Manager Faulk states the impact would be the new tax collector will not have to collect the current and delinquent business privilege tax and not issue the business permits. Mr. Winters from Keystone Collections discusses the proposal and states they have other / additional resources than the current tax collector has. Commissioner Gass clarifies that Keystone Collection will not collect property tax. Manager Faulk states Keystone will collect delinquent property tax and asks ift the Board is interested in moving forward with the Keysone proposal and will put together draft agreements and review at next month's Work Session. The Board agrees. 2. Establishing a "Nuisance" Ordinance* Manager Faulk states a majority of the Board was interested in a proposal establishing a business nuisance ordinance and viewed a couple different municipalities that have it and summed it up into one ordinance for the Township. This would give the ability to pull a business license or occupancy permit for a business for either fraud, illegal consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages, illegal drug activity, illegal game activities, litter, prostitution, owning or operating a vehicle chop shop, etc. giving some teeth to go after the business. Commissioner Gray states he agrees with Mr. Carrozza in that the ordinance reads that you can pretty much shut anybody down for any of those violations and his concern is that it actually addresses patrons of the establishment if they are conducting business and did something wrong. He feels it would duplicate charges and if a patron does something illegal in the business, the business license shouldn't be pulled but the patron addressed for the activity. He thinks there are enough laws that are enforced, don't need more. He asks if this was designed in response to the illegal vape shop. Manager Faulk states that is what brought this up. Commissioner Gray asks ift they were cited or arrested. Commissioner Zona states his reasoning behind it was when you have a business that is selling illegal material in their business is what he was looking at, not going after the patrons, and do we want a business in our Township that is violating the law, not. just an ordinance. Solicitor Dice states we could specify in more detail and modify exactly what the Township wants. She states what is presented tonight is all the nuisance ordinances from different municipalities throughout Pennsylvania. Commissioner Gray states he has concern about due process and is such a broad net that you could grab everybody for anything according to this. Manager Faulk states in his experience, it was only enforced once after police activity. Solicitor Dice states another way to monitor this, is to make a threshold that if there are a certain number oftimes the police have to go there then it's become a nuisance and therefore now will be cited or the business license pulled. Commissioner Gray states he would like it to be written similar to the liquor control board nuisance bar law with repeated offenses. Commissioner Zona states he agrees with all of what has been said and would only be in favor of going after a business not the patrons. Commissioner Gass feels the Township needs teeth to enforce this but have to have law and order to protect the community. Commissioner Haigis suggests for any ofthe Board members that have suggestions to email Solicitor Dice to clean it up. Commissioner Gray asks if the appeal process comes before the Commissioners. Commissioner Haigis states that is how it is written. Commissioner Gray states he is not sure he is in favor of that. Solicitor Dice states it reads Commissioners or your designee, SO you can designate who hears the appeal. Commissioner Gray states Item L says "unlicensed or unlawful firearms possession by a patron", SO if someone in Giant Eagle has an unlicensed gun, do you shut down Giant May 15, 2025 Eagle. He feels the actor should be punished, not the business. Solicitor Dice asks if there are multiple citations, does the Board want that left to the DA's office and/or police. Commissioner Gass feels this addresses both the businesses and individuals. Commissioner Zona feels both of what Commissioner Gray and Gass said could be in there. 3. PaDot Winter Maintenance Agreement* Manager Faulk states this was discussed last year and Engineer Tech Mr. Grabiak and Public Works Director John Hochlinski worked with PADot and came with better numbers and a better agreement to review with the Board. Commissioner Gray states the only number he was looking for was how much money are we losing per lane mile by doing what we want to do for safety verses how much we would lose per mile if we sign the agreement because his expectation would be PADot will ask for more and more road miles. Mr. Grabiak states that is something he and John spoke about today. Director Hochlinski states the road miles will vary but it is becoming routine that the police contact them on every call out and will go to the same spots. He feels it is a big misconception that it is losing money issue and would balance out between bad winters and mild winters. Commissioner Gass states according the agreement are looking at ten roads total, one way is 6.5 miles but would be doubled at 13.08 miles. Mr. Grabiak corrects and states the 6.54 miles is Turner Valley alone and what John suggests is starting slow and to start with the top four roads. Mr. Hochlinski states some of this is based on his own personal experience and knows exactly where the problems lie. As stated before when meeting with the school district, Hahntown Wendel Road is a nightmare for them and the school buses. He states they are treating the entire section on Hahntown Wendel Road between Main Street and Barnes Lake Road because it becomes impassable. He states he does want to accept the status quo anymore and his objective is to make things better in the Township. He states PADot services are abominable and have trouble even getting potholes filled by them and thisis a small difference we can make and be compensated for it. Commissioner Zona asks about the numbers on the chart and states a road would need to be run 41.4 times to break even and ifit is run less, would make money or run it more would be losing. Mr. Grabiak states he is still waiting the hear back from PADot regarding the check fort the additional winter maintenance, forty five treatments on each road due to the bad winter. Mr. Grabiak states the way they determine the extra money is based on County which puts us in a really good situation. Commissioner Haigis states he is open to the idea of starting with Director Hochlinski's recommendation and possibly expanding further if it works out ok. Commissioner Gass states this is a trial period and to not overextend our current resources, he feels is reasonable. Commissioner Zona verifies the contract would need to be signed for a five year period. Mr. Grabiak states that in the contract it states if we want to drop roads, a letter would need to be sent to PADot to reduce mileage. Commissioner Zona states Director Hochlinski has over twenty years in the road department and will lean on his experience and ability and will support this. Director Hochlinski states it is a five year agreement but PADot is more than willing to work with us and thrilled we are entertaining this idea. He states the next road he would like to take over would be Clay Pike from Route 30 and Main Street. Commissioner Zona suggests also reaching out to the State reps to give the complaints about PADot. Commissioner Gray emphasizes his concern is that the program is going to creep and expand because ofthe wonderful service the Township provides and then we are going to have to hire more people. Commissioner Haigis states a lot of the trucks are already driving these streets. Director Hochlinski states he is already planning on May 15,2 2025 asking the Board to hire more public works employees, not because of this reason, but because we need to keep up with infrastructure of the Township. He also states this agreement needs to be signed before the end ofJune and wanted to allow enough time for discussions. 4. MOU with AFSCME Council No. 13 regarding volunteers* Manager Faulk states he met with the Union and the volunteer group and the discussion was further understood the reasoning. The new wording states the volunteers will not create new paths, construct obstacles or perform any construction tasks without the approval of North Huntingdon Township because the trails need to be done appropriately and the Township would be liable ifthere was an accident. Commissioner Gray asks ift the trail committee could come back and state that they agree with this. 5. Act 49 - Amending Police Pension Plan* Manager Faulk states last year Senate Bill #464 was signed into law permitting the governing body oft the municipality and police departments to amend their police pension plan to allow officers who are vested in their current plan to go with the option to purchase prior part time or full time police service to be credited for pension services. Some municipalities have done this already in which he provided a copy of their ordinance. He states in order to do this, an actuary will need to be done and are in the process of doing that now and will determine how much that change will affect our pension contribution. Commissioner Gray states his issue with this is we have a Collective Bargaining process and this would be a benefit to certain people. He states he is in favor of that but he feels we subvert the Collective Bargaining process by doing things in the middle of a contract. He asks when the next contract is up. Manager Faulk states at the end of 2027. Commissioner Gray states they would be able to do that in 2027 but would cost more for two years SO he is not in favor of doing this at this time. Commissioner Haigis states there are currently no part time officers and would be giving some current officers that may have worked part time before coming into North Huntingdon a benefit and would be paying the bill for that benefit for services served in another community. Yes. He states he cannot currently support this. Commissioner Zona states one ofthe benefits that comes is if somebody buys five years of experience from another department that gets them to their retirement sooner and can hire someone at a lower salary. Manager Faulk clarifies that the Board wants to hold off until the next contract negotiations. Yes. May 15, 2025 PLANNING /1 ENGINEERING TOPICS: 1) RZ-01-2025: Bock Rezoning, Clifton Drive, R-1A Zoning (Current) *Proposed rezoning to be voted on at the Regular Meeting, May 215t Director Andrykovitch states there was a public hearing and the Planning Commission voted to deny this 7 -0 on May 5th citing the applicant's failure to appear at the Planning Commission meeting, increased traffic in a residential area and possible nuisance ofhaving a commercial property that close to Taylor Ridge neighborhood. He states this can be moved to a vote next week. 2) S-09-2025: Sumpman Subdivision, Guffey Rilllton Road, R-3 Zoning */ Proposed boundary line revision between two adjacent lots Director Andrykovitch states this is a boundary line revision between two adjacent lots located on Guffey Rillton Road. Joseph and Paula Sumpman of 11400 Guffey Rillton Road own Lot #1 and Martin and Marianne Sumpman of 11424 Guffey Rillton Road own Lot #2. The reason for the boundary line revision is to move the detached garage from Lot #1 to Lot #2. The Planning Commission recommended approval with no conditions 6 - 0 - 1 with Jim Flynn abstaining from the vote. OLD BUSINESS FURTHER BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Atwood states Representative Devanzo has set up a claim/complaint form for anyone that has issues with Berkheimer (repdevanzo.com). Commissioner Zona states today is May 15th and every year is celebrated National Peace Officers Memorial Day. It was signed into law in 1962 by President Kennedy and is a day to honor the officers who have given their life in the line of duty. He thanks all the officers everywhere especially here in our Townhip. May 15, 2025 ADJOURNMENT Motion: Commissioner Zona Motion to adjourn. Second: Commissioner Gray Motion carried 7 - 0 -0 (8:20PM) There will be an Executive Session following the meeting to discuss personnel matters. Special Meeting minutes ofMay 15, 2025, were approved by the Board of Commissioners on June 18, 2025. Zachary Haigis, President RLol Harry R. Faulk, Township Secretary Vijh