WILSON BOROUGH NORTHAMPTON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA NOVEMBER 26, 2007 The Second 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 James McGowan Bob Reiss David Schug Louis Starniri David Williams ABSENT: Ronald Nixon Also present were: Attorney Louis S. Minotti, Jr., Mayor David S. Perruso, Chief Richard Nace, Chief Michael Collins, Superintendent Greg Drake, Code Enforcement Officer Paul R. Corriere READING OF THE MINUTES: The Minutes of the November 12, 2007 Council Meeting were approved on a Motion by Mr. Starniri. Second by Mr. Schug. PRESENTATION OF MATTERS BY PERSONS PRESENT: 1. Lisa Guth, Borough Clerk, appeared before Council to request a special price for the community center rental for the midget athletic associations. Heather Flank, a midget cheering coach, rented the center for a year end party for a cheering squad and paid full price. In the future, Ms. Guth is willing to open and close the center for the associations and not charge for her services. Mr. Reiss responded that the Borough had never charged the associations for the center and should continue not to charge the Borough’s athletic associations. Motion to allow the Wilson midget athletic associations to use the center without charge by Ms. Lilly. Second by Mr. Reiss. Ms. Lohrman will return the check for the center rental to Ms. Flank. COMMUNICATIONS AND PETITIONS: 1. Ms. Lohrman has received an email from Terry Kiefer of 512 South 23rd Street concerning Council’s discussion at the last meeting about the intersection at 22nd Street, Warrior Lane and Butler Street. Mr. Kiefer agreed that the intersection was difficult to navigate. Mr. Kiefer suggested that in addition to having the traffic signals all red at one time to also allow a green signal from only South 23rd Street and in turn only from Warrior Lane instead of both at the same time. COMMUNICATIONS BY THE MAYOR: 1. Mayor Perruso informed Council that the Borough Business Group was quite concerned about the graffiti on the Dixie building. The business group is willing to help get the graffiti off the building. The business group is trying to build businesses up and the graffiti makes the Borough look bad. Ms. Lilly stated that graffiti is throughout the Borough. Mr. Feinberg stated that the building is owned by Mr. Rosenthall and Mr. Reibman. Mr. Klass expressed his concern over the code violations and safety of the building. Chief Collins responded that the broken windows are a code violation alone. Mayor Perruso stated that the owners need to take care of the building. Chief Nace replied that the officers with dogs are in the building several times a week. The building has been booby trapped. Chief Nace recommended that the owners have security in the building to prevent damage to the building and trespassing. Mr. Corriere and Chief Collins will send out a letter discussing the code violations of the Dixie building with the current owners of the building. 2. Mayor Perruso informed Council that the total fines collected by Judge Koury was $10,079.97. 3. Chief Nace has requested Council to consider authorizing another towing service to be used in the Borough. Chief Nace supplied Council with information from East Lane Towing & Transport. Chief Nace can work out a schedule between East Lane and Easton Auto Body. Mr. Feinberg made a Motion to further consider the use of East Lane Towing & Transport. Second by Mr. Reiss. Ms. Lohrman was instructed to forward recent towing ordinances and resolutions to Mr. Minotti. COMMUNICATIONS BY THE BOROUGH MANAGER: 1. Ms. Lohrman presented Council with the latest update of the 2008 budget. The only line item change in what Council has in their possession is an increase in the Solicitors salary line. The land improvement line was lowered from $45,000.00 to $10,000.00. Mr. Drake still has some work to at the Fisk field parking lot. Barriers and poles need to be installed. The 2008 budget has been advertised and the budget and the salary resolution will be on the December 10, 2007 agenda. Updated copies of the budget will be in Council packets for the next meeting. 2. Ms. Lohrman discussed the changes Council has made to the Fisk Field plans with Engineer Amy Montgomery. The Borough will see the plans several more times prior to the project going out for bid. Permits will need to be acquired form PADEP, NCCD, and PADOT. The bid packets and specs will not be completed until after each permittee has reviewed the plans. Mr. Klass requested an estimated time line for the project. Ms. Lohrman will speak to Ms. Montgomery about the time line. Mr. Drake is still trying to speak to someone from Verizon about moving the pole at the Fisk Field parking lot. Met Ed has guide wires attached to the pole, but does not have any problems if Verizon moves the pole. 3. Ms. Lohrman has received a request from P.J. Lehman, Inc. requesting appointment as the Consulting Engineers for the 24th Street bridge project. Ms. Lohrman will need action on this item. 4. Ms. Lohrman presented information from PSAB concerning the Biennial Organization meeting. The meeting will be held on Monday, January 7, 2008. A sample agenda is contained with the information. 5. Ms. Lohrman has received notice from Senator Wonderling’s office that the Borough has been given a $10,000.00 grant. The Borough must decide what the project will be by December 5, 2007. Several projects mentioned were: Fisk Field, the 23rd St. intersection, and the bocce courts. The topic was deferred until later in the meeting. 6. Ms. Lohrman has spoken to PennDot about the 23rd Street, Warrior Lane, and Butler Street intersection. The Borough will need to decide how they would like to make the intersection safer and then approach PennDot for approval. Several ideas were discussed. Mr. Drake will contact Traffic Solutions see what they suggest to make the intersection safer. Mr. Drake will provide Council with the information and have Council make the final decision. Ms. Lohrman will then approach PennDot for final approval. 7. Ms. Lohrman has received the check from the bocce court grant. The Borough also has a $2,500.00 donation from Lafayette Ambassador Bank for the courts. Mr. Reiss would like to get the project moving. A question about fencing arose. The fence around the swimming pool will be moved. However, the courts will not be locked whether or not there is a fence around them. Mr. Reiss will supply Ms. Lohrman information concerning bocce court specs. Ms. Lohrman will forward the information on to Ms. Montgomery so she can prepare the plans and specs. The project must go out for bid as the preliminary estimates are well over $10,000.00. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES: GENERAL GOVERNMENT: None FIRE: 1. Chief Collins reported that the garage in the Fire Department did not leak during the last storm. Ms. Lohrman reported that Council Chambers did leak during the last storm in the usual area. POLICE: 1. Chief Nace informed Council that there were three accidents in one week in the area of the Wood Avenue and Hackett Avenue intersection. Chief Nace will be talking to PennDot to see what can be done about making the intersection safer. PUBLIC WORKS: 1. Mr. Drake reported that the work on the building is just about complete. New flooring has been installed in the upstairs and new lighting added. Mr. Drake will need to board or brick up the windows on the inside for security. Mr. Klass suggested that the Police move out of the building and give the space to the Fire Department. The Borough could build a new Police Station across the street. The move would alleviate numerous problems. Mr. Feinberg replied that this is one reason why the Borough is going through the accreditation process. A discussion was also held about the lack of parking and the need for more room for evidence. Ms. Lohrman had requested Mr. Drake to get prices for a burglar and fire alarm system for the building across the street. The storage of Police records will require additional security. Mr. Drake will get the information for the next meeting. PARKS AND RECREATION: None SOLICITOR: 1. Mr. Minotti has prepared the LST ordinance. It must be advertised three times prior to Council taking action. The ordinance will be up for adoption on December 19, 2007 and be effective on January 1, 2008. 2. Mr. Starniri inquired about the status of the Floodplain Ordinance. As per Council’s direction at the last meeting, Ms. Guth has sent copies of the ordinance to the Wilson Planning Commission for their review and comment. Ms. Lohrman has not received any comments as of yet. 3. Mr. Starniri also inquired about the status of the Handicapped Parking issue. It will take Mr. Minotti some time to investigate the matter. Mr. Minotti requested that Ms. Lohrman check with Shelley Houk to see if she has any authority on it. 4. Ms. Lilly inquired whether Mr. Minotti had investigated whether Mr. Williams could open and close the community center and be paid for it. Mr. Minotti could not answer as he did not have the information with him. Ms. Lohrman added that Mr. Williams is not on payroll, but is paid as a vendor. Mr. Minotti discuss the matter at the next meeting. 5. Mr. Minotti suggested that when Council takes a vote as a body and the vote is taken at an authority on the same matter, someone must reiterate what Council voted and not vote otherwise. MECAB: 1. Mr. McGowan informed Council that the next MECAB meeting would be held on November 28, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in Coopersburg. 2. Mr. McGowan stated that the Tri-COG has agreed to sponsor an electronic trash clean up day. It was requested that the Borough begin to advertise via the website or newsletter. Time and location will be announced at a later date. 3. The Tri-COG has requested confirmation on the Public Works Municipal Agreement that was discussed several meetings ago. The agreement is very similar to the one the Borough has with the City of Easton. Motion to approve the agreement by Mr. Starniri. Second by Mr. Reiss. Mr. McGowan will notify the Tri-COG of the Borough’s decision. OLD BUSINESS: None DEFERRED BUSINESS: 1. Ms. Lilly inquired about the status of the computer policy. Mr. Starniri would like to push the policy. Mr. Starniri felt that the Borough could put the agreement on the sign on screen. It could be incorporated into a screen saver prior to use. Ms. Lohrman will discuss the matter with our computer consultant. Several issues to be discussed are the price, the legality, and how the screen should read. 2. Mr. Starniri also would like to investigate the backing up of the office computers. Since the new server has been installed, the work is being backed up on a hard drive on site. The old tape backup is no longer operable. Mr. Starniri suggested using a tape backup with off site storage or internet storage which could cost between $150.00 and $250.00. Ms. Lohrman will discuss the matter with our computer consultant this week. 3. Motion by Mr. Starniri to approve P.J. Lehman, Inc. as the Consulting Engineer for the 24th Street Bridge project. Second by Mr. McGowan. 4. Ms. Lilly suggested using the $10,000.00 grant from Senator Wonderling to build new dugouts for the new field at the middle school. When the fields were redone, the dugouts were torn down and will not be rebuilt by WASD. Several Council people objected to building dugouts on property that was not owned by the Borough. Ms. Lilly made Motion to use the grant for the dugouts. No Second to the Motion was received. Mr. Reiss made a Motion to use the $10,000.00 grant for the bocce courts. Second by Mr. Starniri. Affirmative votes were cast by: Mr. Feinberg, Mr. Klass, Mr. Reiss, Mr. Schug, Mr. Starniri and Mr. Williams. Negative votes were cast by: Ms. Lilly and Mr. McGowan. Motion carried by a six to two vote. 5. Ms. Lilly inquired on the status of the unisex, handicapped bathroom for the municipal building. Mr. Drake will be doing the work next year. Ms. Lohrman has placed funds in the 2008 budget for the project. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Ms. Lilly felt that the Safety Committee was doing a good job, but felt they had overstepped their bounds by sending a memo out that tickets would be given out to employees who were parked illegally on Borough property. Mr. McGowan agreed with Ms. Lilly. Ms. Lohrman responded that the Risk Manager from our insurance company had requested that the memo be sent out. Employees are illegally parking in the lot when legal spots were available. Chief Nace has spoken to one of the offenders and they will not be parking illegally any longer. Ms. Lohrman stated that she cannot ticket the illegally parked vehicles only the Police could. ORDINANCES: None . RESOLUTIONS: None BILLS AND ACCOUNTS: Bills of $144,864.03 were paid on a Motion by Mr. Starniri. Second by Mr. Schug. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Starniri made a Motion to adjourn at 8:33 p.m. Second by Mr. Williams and Council concurred. Transcribed from a tape. _ __________________________________________ KAREN A. LOHRMAN, BOROUGH SECRETARY