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MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 8, 2001 COUNCIL MEETING The first regular meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Richard Boyd presiding. The meeting was opened with Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and a Prayer. Members Present - Richard W. Boyd, Roy Heffner, Leon Balthaser, Scott Kreider, Jeanette Heckman, Charles Figard, Diana Edwards Members Absent – None Also Present – Lynda G. Albright, Borough Manager, Kim Y. Berger, Recording Secretary Visitors – Thomas Zelinsky, Jr. (Chief of Police,) Carla Hess, Hamburg Jaycees, Diane Cox, Allison Huyett, Reading Eagle Times, Dennis Stojanovic A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Leon Balthaser to approve the amended agenda by adding a motion to enact an ordinance in reference to the tax anticipation loan ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, S. Kreider, D. Edwards NAYES – None COURTESY TO AUDIENCE Diane Cox and Dennis Stojanovic were present to discuss their water/sewer bill. They were told to call into the Borough Office and speak with Lynda Albright, the Borough Manager. Carla Hess from the Hamburg Jaycees was present because Mayor Del Rosario asked her to be there to discuss the Hamburg Jaycee week. A motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the minutes of the December 27, 2000 meeting as submitted. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, C. Figard, L. Balthaser,S. Kreider, D. Edwards NAYES - None A motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Roy Heffner to approve the following reports: Borough Manager's Report, Public Works Supt. Report, Water/Sewer Supt. Report, Office Manager's Report, Treasurer's Report, Police/ Mayor Report. (Councilman Figard questioned the Public Works report – what is new with the cinder issue. Manager Albright stated that the stock pile of cinders is starting to run out and the Hamburg Center, which is where the cinders have come from in the past, is not using coal as much and what cinders they do have are being distributed to other places. The need will arise to order more salt. Councilman Balthaser questioned the issue with the parking tickets which were issued during the snow emergency and the fact that we didn’t get the snow, the tickets should be voided. Chief Zelinsky stated that rather than towing the vehicles, it was his decision to put parking tickets on the 20 or 25 cars that did not move off the snow emergency route when asked it was going to happen was great and if the tickets were voided now, those individuals ticketed may feel that they can park there and if they complain enough the tickets will be voided. Councilman Balthaser disagreed and stated that it leaves a "bad taste" in his mouth that these people will be upset about these tickets. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, S. Kreider, D. Edwards NAYES – None BOROUGH MANAGER'S REPORT The Borough Manager's activities during the month of DECEMBER, 2000 included the following: December was an extremely busy month. A lot of time was spent revamping the budget and preparing for year-end, trying to clear up outstanding issues, etc. The second quarterly meeting of the Berks County Municipal Health Insurance Purchasing group was held this month at the Muhlenberg Township Municipal building. While we still appear to have a credit with the group, rates will be increasing more than anticipated. Prescription drug costs alone have skyrocketed causing somewhere around a 40% increase. A meeting was also held with the Berks County Purchasing Group on Monday, December 11 at the Rockland Center at Albright College. Discussion was held regarding winter salt purchases, fuel purchases as well as other commodities. On Friday, December 15, members of borough council prepared a great breakfast. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! On Monday, December 18, Greg Unger of SDE and I met with representatives from the Hamburg center. The center is again requesting to come online to the authority’s water system. Several options were discussed and a decision will be made in the future. Kim and I interviewed perspective candidates for the Accounts Payable position on two different occasions during the month. Hopefully a decision will be forthcoming. On Tuesday, December 19 at 9:00 a.m., met with Bob Schumo, former owner of Penn Steel. We discussed his and the borough’s concerns relative to the closing of this plant. On this same day, Sandy Christman held her annual luncheon for borough employees and officials. As usual, Sandy provided a great meal! On Friday, December 22, Joe wertz and I met with contractor, Mike Adams to discuss a building issue on a property Mike is currently working on. Held two staff meetings during the month to discuss various issues. Office was closed for Christmas and New Years’ Holidays. Met with Doug Kramer and Landon of Stirling Engineering regarding the section of floor, which has recently been replaced on the first floor. I expressed our concerns on its appearance and whether more of the floor needed to be replaced. We will be waxing the floor and taking a second look at it once that is completed before any further decisions are made to go further. On Thursday, December 28, Lewis Shollenberger, Tonya Gerner and I interviewed several applicants for the park and pool. Recommendations will be made to the Personnel committee in January. Held a special finance committee meeting on Thursday, December 21, to take a final look at the budget to determine if any changes could be made, and expenses cut in an effort to forego the proposed tax increase. In addition to the two regular meetings of Borough Council, I attended Authority Meeting, Recreation Board meeting, Finance Committee, Personnel Committee, Road Committee, Safety Committee and Property Committee meetings. If anyone has any questions concerning my report, please feel free to ask. Following are the reports of my staff for the month of December. LYNDA G. ALBRIGHT BOROUGH MANAGER PUBLIC WORKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT FOR DECEMBER During the month of December, the Borough Crew completed the following: AUTHORITY PROJECTS The crew rebuilt several fire hydrants around the Borough. The trees along the road to the Wastewater Treatment Plant were trimmed. Various meters were checked for leaks. GENERAL WORK The crew cut brush along the roads and changed street signs. The crew worked on preparing some equipment for the spring. There were several snow/ice events and the crew plowed and cindered the streets. We are running into a shortage of cinders. We have a supply of the "salt", however, we are not receiving the cinders from the Hamburg Center as we have in years past. There may be a need in the very near future to build another salt shed and purchase more "de-icing" substance in order to keep up with the snow/ice events. A lot of time was spent working on the plows and the 1989 Dump truck. PARK/POOL Some of the park benches were in desperate need of repair, so we started repairing them. In the beginning of the month, the leaves were collected at the park. Richard L. Pickel, Public Works Superintendent Water & Wastewater Superintendent’s Report December 2000 Wastewater Sunday the 17th was pretty exciting. Sunday early morning gave us a bit more than 2" of rain necessitating a pumping station by-pass. Later that morning we got another inch and a half of rain in an hour and a half and the pumps were overwhelmed. The by-pass continued till 1:30 A.M. The newly acquired pumping stations in Windsor Twp. Were both surcharged on overflowing till Monday night. Flows fell off fairly quickly after the rain and things are pretty much back to normal. Sludge removal is becoming a bit of a problem due to the extreme temperatures. The filamentous issue is well under control. The water pump on the emergency generator was leaking and has been replaced. In the process of replacing it we found a leak on the radiator. That repair should be made the first week of January. Water Production for the month was almost entirely from the wells. A technician from Roberts Filter was here and installed the new and repaired parts to the water plant. However the next day the plant was infested with "gremlins". Valves opened and closed on their own, indicator lights came on when there was nothing happening. At one point one of the clarifiers started to drain and we have no idea where the water went. All vales were showing closed and there was a standing head from the dam which should have made that impossible. Tony worked with the technician by telephone to try to resolve the problems but they were unable to fix it. Roberts will get someone here as soon as possible. We believe there is a leak in the system and have hired David Bonkovich to try to locate it. OFFICE MANAGER’S REPORT FOR DECEMBER The month of December has come to a close, the following information has been completed for the month. Software Systems "walked" me through updating our accounting/payroll package. Everything went smoothly. Letters were sent to the individuals to be interviewed for both park/pool positions as well as the accounts payable position. Various other items were taken care of: Payroll quarterly reports, grease trap letters, list of staff meeting dates, list of payroll dates, list of Council meeting dates, list of Committee meeting dates, list of Board meeting dates, year end letters and a letter to Berks Envirotech. Lynda and I held interviews for the accounts payable position. We will be getting together in early January to finalize the decision so that the recommendation may be made to the Personnel Committee. I am currently working on finalizing the year end for both accounting and payroll. I am going to be completing the year end process and W-2 process shortly. I will be working on updating the Web page in the very near future. I wish to change the meeting dates for 2001 as well as update some other information. I am looking forward to 2001 being a better year!! Happy New Year!!! I attended two staff meetings, two Borough Council meeting, one Rec Board meeting and one EMA meeting. Minutes and/or notes were typed for all meetings. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Submitted by, Kim Y. Berger Office Manager
THE FOLLOWING IS A REPORT OF ACTIVITY OF THE HAMBURG BOROUGH POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER: INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED COUNT/ DESCRIPTION 1 Burglary Attempted forcible entry1 Burglary Forcible entry 1 Robbery Firearm 7 Theft By Unlawful Taking or Disposition 1 Motor V Theft Autos, Unauthorized use of 1 Criminal Trespass 3 Disorderly conduct 2 False Reports to Law Enforcement Authorities 1 Intimidation of witnesses or victims 6 Offenses against family or children, domestic disp 1 Drug Possession Other 1 Assault Strong arm (hands, feet, etc.) 10 Assist ambulance 7 Assist Other Departments 3 Assisted disabled motorist 6 EMS Advisory 47 Miscellaneous calls/complaints 2 Miscellaneous incidents 1 Missing/wanted persons/attempt to locate persons 8 Suspicious persons 8 Property Alarms calls 6 Property False Alarms 2 Found/recovered property 1 Property Security checks (found open windows, 1 Property Suspicious fire CRIMINAL ARRESTS 1 Drug Possession - Other 2 Driving Under the Influence 4 Parking complaints 2 Parking prohibited-street sweeping 42 Parking tickets issued 1 Parking violations 2 Driving under the influence of alcohol/substance 1 Careless driving 3 Funeral Escort 2 Vehicle Escorts 3 Hit & run-damage to unattended vehicle 5 Maximum speed limits 1 Stop sign violation 12 Traffic accidents (non-reportable) 9 Traffic accidents (reportable) 1 Traffic control signal-red light violation 8 Traffic stops 1 Unlawful activities MILES DRIVEN – 1997 FORD – CROWN VICTORIA – WHITE 1094 1995 FORD – CROWN VICTORIA – WHITE 1164 1993 FORD – CROWN VICTORIA – WHITE 1048 _____ TOTAL MILES DRIVEN 3306
FINES COLLECTED DISTRICT COURT 23-03-06 $ 706.16 BOROUGH PARKING TICKET FINES 440.50 COMMON PLEAS COURT 400.00 _________ TOTAL $ 1546.66 Respectfully Submitted,Thomas J. Zelinsky, Jr. Chief of Police MAYOR’S REPORT December was quite the busy month for me. Unfortunately, I had to work most of the month. I don’t think I had a day off since October. I did attend the Hamburg Greater Business Associations annual Christmas Parade. I would like to formerly thank them for allowing me to serve as the guest speaker. For those who missed it, it was a very nice parade and it was a bit cold but approximately 100 children came tout to visit Santa. I do have to apologize for not attending the monthly Council meetings or the Safety Committee meetings, again due to work. I will endeavor to try harder to attend. I received several complaints regarding the last snow emergency that was declared. There were business owners who called first thing in the morning requesting the emergency to be lifted to allow customers areas to park. Also received were many complaints about the parking citations issued during the emergency. The concern was how a snow emergency could be called, "without" snow. I have discussed this situation with Chief Zelinsky and Council President Boyd. The matter has been resolved. Respectfully submitted, Roy C. Del Rosario OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS On the recommendation of the Personnel Committee, a motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Scott Kreider to appoint Diana Edwards and Roy Heffner as the Borough Representatives for the regional planning committee with the County. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, S. Kreider NAYES - None Mayor Del Rosario will be making the following Proclamations:
Mayor Del Rosario made a special presentation to Chief Zelinsky for his dedication to the Borough of Hamburg as a patrolman for 21 years and for his serving the Borough as Chief. On the recommendation of Mayor DelRosario, a motion was made by Charles Figard and seconded by Scott Kreider to permit Chief Zelinsky to attend school for the following courses – Field Training Officer – April 2 – April 15, 2001; Police Supervisor In-service training from February 26- March 2, 2001; and Police Executive Training February 5 – February 15, 2001. Costs for all three schools are being covered by the Municipal Police Officer Education and Training Commission. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, S. Kreider NAYES – None On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, a motion was made by Scott Kreider and seconded by Roy Heffner to take action to prepare and enact ordinance/resolution and any other necessary paperwork to accept the lowest rate received for a tax anticipation loan for the 2001 fiscal year for an amount not to exceed $200,000. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner,
J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard NAYES - None A motion was made by Scott Kreider and seconded by Leon Balthaser to approve payment of invoices totaling $139,920.56. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner,
J. Heckman, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, NAYES - None LIST OF BILLS Animal Rescue League 300.00 Albright Insurance 50.00 Barko Cleaning 493.00 County of Berks 1,654.51 Keith Brobst 100.00 BFI 9,604.84 David Dengler 100.00 First Union 935.56 GPU 340.99 Gall’s 55.98 Richard Hart 16,744.00 MP Uniform 373.91 Penn Pride 649.79 Pitney Bowes 7.99 Quill 373.61 Dennis Schwoyer 895.95 Smith Barney 728.90 Software System 4.62 Telco 552.00 Thyssen Security Elevator 135.00 Voicestream Wireless 20.78 Hamburg, Pa January 8, 2001 7:30 p.m. Verizon 443.12 Weis Markets 186.94 Western Auto 156.73 Total 34,908.22 Bills paid during the month: GPU 5,103.04 Metrocall 10.94 Kistler Farm Machinery 138.50 GP Fasteners & Supply 12.32 Petty Cash 28.23 Postmaster of Hamburg 96.24 First Union 935.56 Sam’s Club 169.31 Borough of Hamburg payroll account 98,061.11 HMA 198.10 Richard Boyd 77.49 Berks County 181.50 GRAND TOTAL $105,012.34 GRAND TOTAL FOR APPROVAL $139,920.56
An executive session was called at 8 p.m. to discuss possible litigation on property values. The meeting reconvened at 8:28 p.m.
UPCOMING MEETINGS/INFORMATION
Councilman Balthaser asked why only 13 businesses were listed on the web page. President Boyd along with Manager Albright stated that letters were sent to all the businesses asking for information to post onto the web page or to supply a link to their web page from ours. The businesses listed on the web page are the only ones that responded. Councilman Balthaser stated that these other businesses should be contacted to submit information. President Boyd stated that they were and if he wanted to get the information from the businesses he was welcome to do that and we would post it on the web page. President Boyd stated that the information needed to be no more than ¾ of a page. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m. on motion of Charles Figard and seconded by Jeanette Heckman.
Attest:
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