WILSON BOROUGH NORTHAMPTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NOVEMBER 12, 2007 The First Meeting of the Council of The Borough of Wilson was held in the Guy B. Tomaino Public Safety Building at 2040 Hay Terrace, Easton PA. President Feinberg called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call followed. PRESENT: Leonard Feinberg, President James Klass Joan Lilly Bob Reiss Louis Starniri David Williams ABSENT: James McGowan, Ronald Nixon, David Schug Also present were: Attorney Louis S. Minotti, Jr., Mayor David S. Perruso, Chief Richard Nace, Assistant Superintendent Ron Behler, Code Enforcement Officer Paul R. Corriere READING OF THE MINUTES: The Minutes of the October 22, 2007 Council Meeting were approved on a Motion by Ms. Lilly. Second by Mr. Williams. PRESENTATION OF MATTERS BY PERSONS PRESENT: 1. Daneen McGinley of 275 N. Greenwood Avenue appeared before Council on behalf of Weichart Realtors. Weichert has been renting the community center on Tuesdays for 1 hour and 45 minutes at a cost of $25.00 per meeting. The recent change in rate increases the Weichert rental fee to $100 per meeting. Ms. McGinley requested an exception be made as a Public Works employee is already on the premises to open up the facility. Weichert is also flexible and is willing to change the meeting if the center is needed for another purpose. Mr. Reiss corrected Ms. McGinley. The new fee for Weichert is $200.00. Ms. McGinley stated that someone else uses the facility and did not get an increase in rent fee even though he is profiting by using the center. Council did not take action on the request. COMMUNICATIONS AND PETITIONS: 1. Ms. Lohrman has received an email from Bob Bryant, PE requesting a time extension on the 24th Street Bridge project. The extension would extend the time to June 10, 2008. 2. Ms. Lohrman reminded the Police Pension Board that there is a meeting tomorrow, November 13, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. COMMUNICATIONS BY THE MAYOR: 1. Mayor Perruso informed Council that the total fines collected by Magistrate Koury were $8,627.80. 2. Mayor Perruso has received an Memorandum from the District Attorney’s Office thanking the Police Department and in particular Officer Meehan on their prompt and through investigative work assisting in the conviction of a perpetrator for Attempted Homicide. 3. Mayor Perruso thanked everyone for the Veteran’s Day parade. It was nice to have the kids and the band participate in the event. 4. Mayor Perruso has received a request for a Handicapped Parking Sign from LeRoy Williams of 2230 Forest Street. Chief Nace has approved the request. Motion to approve the handicapped sign by Mr. Klass. Second by Ms. Lilly. Mr. Feinberg inquired if anyone had seen the Q&A section in a recent PSAB magazine stating that a Borough cannot charge for handicapped spots as it could be in violation of ADA laws. Mr. Feinberg suggested sending the check back. Mr. Minotti responded that the Borough had never been challenged, but he would like into the matter. Funds could be refunded at a later time. COMMUNICATIONS BY THE BOROUGH MANAGER: 1. Ms. Lohrman hoped that Council had taken the opportunity to review the Fisk Field plans. Mr. Klass, Mr. Reiss, and Mayor Perruso had provided her with suggestions which were forwarded on to Ms. Montgomery. Her response to the inquiries are contained in Council packets. Mr. Reiss would like to have the water and electric run underground if possible. Ms. Lilly inquired whether the lighting would be done now or at a later date. Council responded that it depended on the price. Mr. Klass hopes to have a nature trail on the other side of the stream in the future. A question came up about someone outside the Borough receiving a copy of the plans for the field. If someone had the plans, it could give them an unfair advantage if they bid on the project in the future. Mr. Minotti will rule on the matter in the event that the company with the plans bid on the project and they were the only or lowest bidder. The company may be disqualified from doing the project. Mr. Minotti reminded Council that the plans should not have left the office. The person who had the plans stated that they received them from Ms. Lilly. She denied that she had given them to anyone to make copies of. She had reviewed the plans with Rec Board in the Caucus Room. Mr. Klass would like to have the following additions to the plans: the water and electric run to the stream, the foundation put in for the lights with conduits, the cost of the lighting if installed at the present time, the stands on the baseball field straightened out, additional stands on the football field, and stands on the other side of the baseball diamond. Motion to proceed with the plans by Ms. Lilly. Second by Mr. Klass. 2. Ms. Lohrman has received the agreements from Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority for the Wastewater Flow Monitoring and Inflow/Infiltration Study Agreement. The sewer authority is trying to get the DEP to fund 50% of the necessary funds to complete the study. If the grant were not funded, the Borough would have to pay 100% of the study. Motion by Mr. Reiss to execute the agreement upon favorable review by Mr. Minotti. Second by Mr. Starniri. 3. Ms. Lohrman requested Council’s permission to close the office on Black Friday, November 23, 2007 as the Borough has done in the past. Employees will use their Floating Holiday in compensation. Motion to approve request by Mr. Starniri. Second by Mr. Klass. 4. Ms. Lohrman informed Council that the final Council meeting is scheduled for Christmas Eve. Ms. Lohrman suggested changing the date of the meeting. Motion by Mr. Reiss to hold the Council meeting on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. Second by Mr. Starniri. 5. Ms. Lohrman received several questions concerning the 2008 budget from Mr. Starniri. Chief Nace explained that he doubled the budget for ammo as additional training is required and more ammo is needed and also the price has doubled since the war had begun. Mr. Behler stated that the Borough will complete the replacement of the old meters next year. Additional funding is still needed to complete the project. The meters were just inspected by the County and several meters were put out of service. Mr. Klass felt that additional funding may be needed for the swimming pool to fix leaks. Mr. Drake has worked hard to fix several leaks, but he is not certain that all of them have been found. Mr. Klass would like to keep the additional funds in Maintenance and Repairs to Pool and Pool Renovations. Ms. Lohrman will discuss the current funding of the Land Improvement line item. Additional funds had been put in this year to complete the project with the school district. The project is now complete. Ms. Lohrman hopes to decrease the amount in the line items. The Newport Alliance line item was increased because the Police Department now has random Drug and Alcohol testing. Prior to this year it had only been the Public Works Department. The Police Pension Expense line item was decreased as the 2008 MMO had come in much lower than it had been previously. Ms. Lilly inquired about the increase in salary for Chief Collins. Mr. Klass and Mr. Feinberg agreed that Chief Collins is doing extra inspections now and next year would be doing rental inspections. Ms. Lilly also inquired why the part time officers had only paid the Borough back $300.00 for this year in clothing allowance. Chief Nace responded that the only recently had received all the clothing in and they should be paying shortly. Ms. Lohrman will provide Council with a budget update for the next meeting. Ms. Lohrman was given permission to advertise the budget for passage. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES: GENERAL GOVERNMENT: None FIRE: None POLICE: 1. Mr. Starniri congratulated Officer Meehan on a job well done. 2. Chief Nace presented pictures to Council of a parking problem involving a truck parking near the intersection of Miller Street and Freemansburg Avenue. The driver is parking the truck in a way that people driving south on Miller Street are unable to see the stop sign. After discuss possible solutions to the problem, Mr. Reiss made a Motion to put a sign up on Miller Street near the driveway close to Freemansburg Avenue for “no truck parking here to corner”. Second by Mr. Williams. 3. Mr. Klass felt that the intersection at 22nd Street, Warrior Lane and Butler Street is difficult to navigate. The pizza stand blocks the line of vision on Butler Street and you cannot see traffic or pedestrians crossing Butler Street. The crosswalks don’t really help. It may be possible to make the traffic signals at the intersection all red at one time for people to cross or put in walking lights. Ms. Lohrman was asked to contact PennDot to see what they may be willing to approve for this dangerous intersection. 4. Chief Nace requested a short Caucus. PUBLIC WORKS: None PARKS AND RECREATION: 1. Ms. Lilly informed Council that 2 midget football teams were going on for championships. A short pep rally was held last Friday evening at Jeffery Field. The kids were thrilled. 2. Recreation Board has completed their revised By-Laws. Motion by Ms. Lilly to have Borough Council execute the document. Second by Mr. Klass. SOLICITOR: 1. In September, the Borough received a letter from the Recorder of Deeds regarding Realty Tranfer Tax the County collects for the Borough. Although the Borough does not have an interest provision, Mr. Minotti felt the Borough was in full compliance with the law. 2. Mr. Minotti has received a Model Flood Ordinance from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commision. The ordinance deals with flood management and an overlay district. The Borough does not have any property in the flood plain except for a small parcel on Lehigh Drive. Mr. Minotti’s only suggestion was to have the Planning Commission review the draft ordinance. 3. Ms. Lohrman has supplied Mr. Minotti with a draft of the LST Act. All the Borough will be doing is changing the method of payment. Mr. Minotti requested authorization to proceed. The old EMST must be replaced under Act 511 and the LST must be enacted by December 31, 2007 and be sent to the DCED for review. Motion by Mr. Starniri to authorize Mr. Minotti to perform all acts necessary to implement the LST. Second by Ms. Lilly. MECAB: None OLD BUSINESS: None DEFERRED BUSINESS: 1. Motion by Ms. Lilly to give P.L. Lehman an extension on the 24th Street Bridge project. Second by Mr. Klass. Mr. Reiss questioned about what was happening with the bridge repairs. Ms. Lohrman responded that PennDot still had not contacted her about the emergency meeting. 2. Mr. Starrniri hoped Borough Council had reviewed the information concerning SB777 from PSAB. The act would allow the Borough to have the same rights on tax liens as the federal government has. Motion to authorize Ms. Lohrman to send a letter to Senator Wonderling requesting that he act favorably on SB777 by Mr Starniri. Second by Mr. Reiss. 3. Motion by Mr. Starniri to authorize Mr. Minotti to investigate the Borough’s right to charge for handicapped parking signs. Second by Mr. Klass. 4. Mr. Starniri requested Council to pursue going forward on the model Flood Ordinance. Motion by Mr. Starniri to have the Planning Commission review and comment of the draft. Second by Mr. Klass. 5. Mr. Klass inquired whether it was legal for a person who serve on a Board to vote contrary to what the Council had voted. Mr. Klass felt that the person should vote Council’s position and not his own. Mr. Reiss inquired what could be done about it. Motion by Mr. Starniri to have Mr. Minotti check into the Municipal Authority Act to see what terms are applicable to the position and/or removal from said position. Second by Mr. Reiss. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Mr. Feinberg reminded everyone that there would be a Block Watch meeting at the Community Center tomorrow, November 13, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. A representative from the Sheriff’s Department will be the speaker. 2. Mr. Feinberg informed Council that the news of his demise were greatly exaggerated. A vote was miscounted and his vote should end in a tie. The County Election Board will be recounting the votes. 3. Ms. Lilly has read a recent article on computers from PSAB. The General Government Committee was asked to look into the matter. A policy had been written years ago, but most of the employees refused to sign the policy. Mr. Starniri stated that other methods can be used to address the situation. ORDINANCES: None . RESOLUTIONS: None BILLS AND ACCOUNTS: Bills of $75,860.46 were paid on a Motion by Mr. Starniri. Second by Mr. Reiss. ADJOURNMENT: Ms. Lilly made a Motion to adjourn at 8:44 p.m. Second by Mr. Starniri and Council concurred. Transcribed from a tape. _ __________________________________________ KAREN A. LOHRMAN, BOROUGH SECRETARY