This Meeting was recorded for Accuracy
Present: Amy Lickenfelt, Ron Betts, Sue Bartow, Solicitor Jeff Miller, Mayor Tom Pickup, Clark Baird
Public Attendance: Everett Saxton, Carol Sisitki, Darlene Gregorich, Arch Dodson, Mark Scribe, Dan Short JR, Rachel Jones- Ligonier Echo
Meeting called to order 7 PM by Amy Lichenfelt. Pledge of Allegiance was done.
June meeting minutes was looked over. Motion to approve was done by Ron, 2nd by Sue. All approved.
June 9th special meeting minutes was looked over. Motion to approve was done by Sue, 2nd by Clark. All approved.
Treasurer report was reviewed. Motion to approve Treasurer Report was Sue, Clark 2nd motion. All approved.
Solicitor Report. - None at this time
Public comment: Everett Saxton requesting a copy of fireworks liability insurance policy. Amy said she had not seen a copy of the policy yet. Jeffery stated to Mr. Saxton that the policy was a condition of the fireworks permit being issued. He stated he had not seen the policy as of yet either. Pat spoke up and said the policy was not received in office. Pat to contact Gary Baird at Fire station to get a copy before the carnival starts, and to also get a copy to Mr. Saxton.
Next Public comment. Mark Scribe, Rachel Jones, Arch Dodson, Dan Short, Carol Sisitki, Darlene Gregorich all said no comment.
Appointment of Council Person to replace Dan Short Resignation. Mark Scribe was only letter of interest. Clark made motion to approve appointment Sue 2nd. All in favor and approved for Mark Scribe to replace Dan Short's seat. Mr. Scribe will be issued all documents for appointment and he to be sworn in by either the Mayor or the county.
Early intervention seats. No one applied for positions'. Amy requested to have signs posted again for this month.
Parks & Rec. Usage of Borough tax id number. Carol spoke up as president of parks and recreation committee. They do not use the tax exemption very often. They normally pay taxes for everything they purchase unless it is for large purchases.
Jeffery spoke up and tried to explain to Carol that since Parks and Rec wants to operate on their own without help from the Boro, they are opening themselves up to potential lawsuit. Any contracts they sign and are not approved through the council first any liability issues are going against the Parks and Rec if something happens. The Parks and Rec committee is not an LLC, or Corporation so therefore each individual on the board can be held liable in a lawsuit. They would have to get their own liability insurance. The Borough insurance will not cover them. You cannot sign contracts on behalf of the Borough, or make decisions on behalf of the Borough. If you need to make a large purchase then you need to do it through the Borough and then reimburse the Borough. You can do it that way. Jeffery had brought up an issue from New Florence approx five years ago as an example. Jeffery also used Laurel Mountain Borough as another example. They were unable to get a 501C exemption because they were not a charitable organization. Parks and Rec are the same way. All the activities you hold in the park are not covered by the Borough insurance because the events were not approved by the Council nor a permit issued for the use of the park. Jeffery again used an example, if you were cooking at the park and someone got burned, the lawsuit is on you and not the Borough. The Borough has the insurance on the ground, buildings, and playground equipment but not on your activities. You would have to get your own insurance for that.
Amy asked if they had anything coming up to report on. She also asked to send something monthly to report.
Storage garage facility update. Sue. Last month the decision was made to move the facility down next to Borough building. Sue had asked Mr. Robson for a cost analysis to have this done. Mr. Robson just sent the documents this morning. Sue was questioning if we want to still keep Mr. Robson or to change to a new engineer. Sue stated, Mr. Robson is asking for additional $2,000 to make the changes and to go forward with the project. Arch spoke up and tried to explain why we needed a taller garage door for the garage. He explained with the plow on truck it measures almost 12 feet. Sue stated her garage door is only 10 feet and said the plow fits through her garage door. The other two doors are just standard doors. Sue and Ron when meeting with Mr. Robson questioned why we needed hand dryers, windows on the garage doors, and so forth and he still put those items in the plans. Amy didn't like the car coming between the two buildings when looking at the plans. Sue questioned the concerns she and Ron had and asked Mr. Robson to make the changes, however when he sent the corrections he did not change anything. Council to make a decision on what changes they would like to see done. Jeffery wanted to know why council wanted to change engineers. He was told Mr. Robson did not want to seem to make changes the council wants. Jeffery says we currently have 5-6 thousand already invested and if we change engineers we will probably end up spending an additional 5-6 thousand on fees. Sue says she is currently aware of this.
Clark said the first thing we all need to do is decide whether we want the building here. Sue said that was already done at the special meeting that you were not able to attend.
Amy ask Sue if she could get prices before a workshop so council knows what to expect before a Special Meeting.
Advertise for Special Meeting Tuesday July 26, 6 PM. Sue motions to advertise, Clark 2nds.
All approved.
Arch - CDBG grant. Arch spoke to Shawn Ivanchan, and Terry Antonnici - funds are now available to the Borough. McCormick Taylor already went around the areas, took measurements and photos. A Copy of the advertisement for bids needs to be in paper no later than July 21. McCormick Taylor would like to have the bid openings prior to the next meeting so a bid can be approved at the meeting.
Boro to do the bid opening August 1, 7 PM and at regular meeting August 4 7PM award bid.
Clark made motion to advertise for CDBG bids. Ron 2nds. All approved. Bids must be received in person by 2PM July 28th. By mail received by noon July 30th.
Pat questioned who was to do advertising. Arch stated McCormick and Taylor was to do the bid advertising.
Sue stated to Arch she would like to be notified on anything going on with the grants. Ron had resigned from that committee project and Sue was next in line for it.
Widow grant, Sue. She has not received anything additional on the windows.
Clean up day’s results, Pat. Brought in $145.00 and $19.00 spent on food. Received also $44.00 from scrap metal.
New Business: Amy said we need street commissioner. Mark said he will give it a try. Sue said Charlie will help on this. Amy said if Charlie not around, Mark can go to Ron, he knows the ins- and outs.
Next Borough meeting August 4th 7 PM
Next items. Need approval for additional $99.33 for items spent at Lowes. Pat explained with all the tools, paint, and supplies, filters, lights needed we went over budget to get items. Sue motioned, and Cark 2nd for the additional expenses.
Accent Fuels was called to purchase 275 gallons of gas. Payment $463.90 total cost. Last time ordered was last year. Sue motioned, Clark 2nd. All approved.
Letters sent out for high grass. Tom asked how much lawyer fees cost for filing. Jeffery said not sure, but is in the ordinance. Amy wanted the have a copy for next meeting. Jeffery to bring.
Need approval for Borough Worker for another work shop coming up. Amy wanted to know if he attended any. Pat said, first workshop he was told because he was not registered he could not attend. Pat had to register him for class. 2nd meeting he claimed he had in his phone for Wednesday and in fact it was Tuesday. This 3rd class he was set up temporarily until final approval by council. It benefits the council on workers comp fees when Ron attends and completes the classes. The workshops are free and let's make it a requirement. Jeffery says since the classes are free, they also benefit the employee and teaches him some of the problems we currently have. He also uses the Borough truck so he is not spending his own money for gas or usage of a vehicle. Council will make it mandatory for Ron to attend classes. Classes are during business hours and he will do it as part of his job requirement.
Update on Code Enforcement Officer. Pat. Spoke to Verna Spina, Westmoreland County Commissioner Office. She stated county has no Code Enforcement Officer. She spoke to Chief of Park Police who will get back after he talks to any of his officers. County solicitor suggests running an ad through "Westmoreland County Legal Journal" asking for a Code Enforcement Officer. Courthouse and Park Police are always looking for part-time work.
Amy asked if there was a cost. Jeffery said yes. Sue asked to get a cost for next month's meeting.
Next letter. Mullen's sent a $25.00 gift card to purchase supplies for the borough as a thank you. Clark suggested anything needed for Borough.
Next letter. Co-stars has added 84 Lumber to their buyers list.
Any other new business.
Sewage committee. Next meeting next week
Street Commissioners report. Ron is ready to purchase hot asphalt. Spoke to Quaker sales and we can purchase 1 ton at a time @ $58.00 per ton.
He needs weed eater string. Have the type of string needed.
Also the Borough truck is in need of a possible new door lock on driver door. Someone tried to break in and now he has to use passenger door to get in.
He needs weed killer from Lamantias' for the roads. He usually gets 5-6 gallons of weed killer and 5 gallon bucket of tar. Sue motions to get from Lamantias'. Clark 2nds all approved. Page 5 of 5
Mayors report. Mayor states he has one complaint. His neighbor complained of water going into his basement when it rains. He says every time it rains it goes right down in his basement. He says he has been complaining for years on this problem. He also said there is supposed to be a drain in front of Becky's house. Lane does not want a curb because the water will only be worse.
Sue called an executive meeting for personnel matters. 8:22 PM
Returned 8:26 PM Sue discussed a possible raise for Borough worker at $1.00 extra per hour.
Ron 2nd, Amy and Clark opposed. Tie breaker, Mayor said no at this time. Table until next month.
Motion to adjourn 8:30 PM.
Respectfully,
Patricia Betts
Secretary/Treasurer