MINUTES FROM THE CONTINUED YEAR END MEETING OF 12/26/07 ON 1/7/08

The continued year-end meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Tammy Wilkinson presiding. 

 Members Present - Tammy Wilkinson, Martha Bertolet, Dale Schlenker, Jeanette Heckman, Roger Stetzler, Elaine Swavely, Heather Berger                                                                                           

Members Absent –  None 

Also Present – Lynda G. Albright, Borough Manager, Kim Y. Berger, Recording Secretary, Mayor Del Rosario

Visitors – Chief Painter, Penny Hummel (Item), John Leonforte

 A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler to approve the amended agenda by adding a motion regarding the resolution for the “Homeowners and Bank Protection Act (HBPA and HR 418) under Old Business” to discuss.

 ROLL CALL:  AYES – T. Wilkinson, M. Bertolet, J. Heckman, D. Schlenker, R. Stetzler, H. Berger, E. Swavely          
                     NAYES – None

 COURTESY TO AUDIENCE  

A motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Heather Berger to approve the minutes of December 26, 2007 meeting as submitted.  

ROLL CALL:  AYES – T. Wilkinson, M. Bertolet, J. Heckman, D. Schlenker, R. Stetzler, H. Berger, E. Swavely           NAYES – None

 A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Jeanette Heckman to approve the following reports: Borough Manager’s Report, Public Works Supt. Report, Water/Sewer Supt. Report, Office Manager’s Report, Building Inspector’s report, Recreation Directors Report, Treasurer’s report and the Police report.

 ROLL CALL:  AYES – T. Wilkinson, M. Bertolet, J. Heckman, D. Schlenker, R. Stetzler, H. Berger, E. Swavely          
                      NAYES – None

 BOROUGH MANAGER’S REPORT
DECEMBER, 2007 

The Borough Manager’s report for the month of December, 2007 included the following: 

Held staff meetings with supervisors to discuss, provide and receive updates on various projects and issues taking place.

 Addressed complaints and other correspondence as needed. 

Met various times during the month with John Leonforte, Code Enforcement Officer, for updates on projects he is working on, primarily the Grand Street Extension, curbing work on Catherine, Arthur and Grandview, OTF projects, Exide demolition as well as various code violation issues and proposed ordinances.  John and I also met with representatives of Stackhouse Brensinger relative to the Reading Railroad Museum and their ongoing project on South 3^rd Street.  I also worked with Museum volunteers in an effort to submit a grant application.

 Met with representatives of the Little League regarding some changes they are interested in making, with borough approval, most importantly is replacing the fence in the outfield.

Attended the annual Breakfast provided by members of Council; as always, it was delicious.  Thanks Council members.

 Met with representatives of M & T Bank to review access to Borough banking through Web In Focus. 

Guy Ketch, Rec. Director and I conducted interviews for potential park and pool employees for the 2008 summer season. 

Met with representatives of BFI, new trash contractor for 2008 to review days of pick-ups and borough street layout.

 Completed work on the 2008 budget for final approval at the year-end meeting and am happy to report that no tax increase was needed.

 Worked on paperwork required for the solicitor to complete the tax anticipation note.

 Attended two Council meetings, Authority meeting, Finance, Safety, Personnel and Property Committee meetings. 

If anyone has any questions regarding my report, please feel free to ask. 

Attached with my report are the activities of my staff for the month of December, 2007.

                                                                                     Lynda G. Albright    

                                                                                    Borough Manager

 PUBLIC WORKS SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

DECEMBER 2007

 Signs at 4^th and 61 have been repaired. 

The crew is currently working on repainting the first floor hallway in the Municipal Center as time allows.

 During the ice storm the crew was cindering and plowing streets. 

The intersections were cleared of snow and ice. 

In the beginning of the month, leaves were collected at the parks. 

The crew has been trying to obtain parts to work on the pump at the pool filter room. 

The tractors were serviced. 

The backhoe door was in need of some repairs and these were accomplished

 Benches and picnic tables were received and we unloaded them.

 A leaking service line was repaired at 130 N. 5^th Street. 

A ¾” service line was repaired at 604 S. 7^th Street. 

A ½” service line was repaired on Raymond Avenue. 

Two fire hydrants were rebuilt – Poplar and Crescent and Chestnut and Wyndcliffe. 

The brush was cut at the reservoir around the dam.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

Richard L. Pickel 
            Public Works Supt.

Water/Wastewater Superintendent’s Report  

Water

            We are back on surface water. In the beginning of the month we were looking at well levels and trigger points for water conservation measures and the dam is now full and overflowing.  A few days of heavy rain completed a turnaround in the water supply and the springs and streams feeding the dam are running very strong.  We started the plant on the 17^th and 18^th.  There were a few glitches in the first 2 weeks but things have settled down and the plant is working well.

            We conducted a system wide leak survey locating several leaking services, 2 leaking mains, and 4 leaking hydrants.  All have been repaired and flows from the water plant have dropped accordingly. 

            We are now reporting Safe Drinking Water Act parameters to PaDEP electronically.  We have had problems in the past with reports not being recorded by PaDEP in a timely manner resulting in violations for our system.  This should solve that as they are posted as they are entered.

            PaDEP and USEPA are requiring extensive testing for disinfection by-products.  Based on past testing we have applied for a waiver of the tests.  I expect that to be granted without a problem.

 Wastewater

            The construction, for all intents and purposes, is complete. Final walk through was done on the 17^th with just a few issues to be resolved. All systems are up and running and the plant is performing well.    

            We still have issues with inflow and infiltration. Flows, due to above average rainfall, are also above normal and take longer than they should to drop off.  While this doesn’t cause problems as in the past it is still an expense to treat and may in the future limit available capacity.

                                                                                     Respectfully Submitted                               

                                                                                    Keith L. Brobst

                                                                                    Water/Wastewater Superintendent

OFFICE MANAGER’S REPORT - DECEMBER 2007

 Due to the significant upgrade to our software, everyone has been muddling through with the changes and there have been glitches.  We worked throughout the month on a daily basis working the bugs out and finding other issues that needed to be addressed.  I hope in the next month that everything will be ironed out.

 Quarter and year end reports have been completed and we are working on finishing up the processes to close out 2007. 

The office has been fielding calls regarding the new Local Services Tax or what used to be the Emergency Services Tax.  We have been directing them to Berks EIT, however, we have also answered some of their questions directly.

 The web site has been updated with the new hours for Council and the Committees.  Various other information was also updated.

 The municipal access channel also was updated with new information.

 Other information has been updated for 2008. 

Payroll quarterly reports, end of year information and new information for 2008 was entered into the computer.  Various memos and documentation was distributed to the employees. 

Attended two Council meetings and staff meetings as necessary.  Minutes were prepared for all the meetings.   

 Respectfully submitted,

Kim Y. Berger
Office Manager

Building, Zoning and Codes Report

December  2007           

  Six (6) construction permits and three (3) zoning permits and no (0) paving/sidewalk permits were issued in November.

Major projects ongoing or proposed are as follows: 

The Streetscape project.

The Issue at the curb and sidewalk at the north/west corner of Pine and South 4th St has been resolved.

The Issue at Saint Mary’s sewer vent problem on State St remains to be resolved.

The Street light at State St knocked down has not been replaced 

Work is progressing to reconstruct some curbing, sidewalks,  at Catherine, Grandview Terrace, and Arthur St. We  have sent letters to each affected property owner asking that curb and sidewalk repairs be made. All but one owner has responded to our letter. We hope to complete curb and sidewalk work this fall with paving work to be done this spring or summer.

  Final drawings for phase one of the Grand Street extension has been sent to

Penn Dot for their review. Penn Dot has returned our application with comments.

Our engineers will address the comments and resubmit our application.

DEP and Soil Conservation have reviewed our application and asked us to address

Comments. This is now being addressed by our engineer.  Additional soil testing has been requested by Penn Dot.

We hope to get through the permitting process by spring 2008 and build Phase

one 4 months after that, with a hoped for completion date of fall of 2008 or spring of 2009.

 Ryan Kern with Barry Issett associates and I have met with Met Ed regarding right of way andconstruction easements needed to place a traffic light at Hawk ridge and South 4th Street.  We were received positively at the local level, but approvals from higher authority at Met Ed is pending.

   Exide Corporation site .The demolition contractor and, EPA continue  the clean up and demolition of the battery plant, with expected completion in January 08. At this point approximately 95 % of the complex has been demolished.

  Demolition of the Curves property has been completed. Completion of exterior finish to the Driscoll building is pending.

  Work on the Peach Alley Apartments  project (former Wrights Building, at 239 Pine) is progressing.

 Inspections were completed for residential and light commercial previously permitted, work in the borough.

 Property Maintenance complaints of rubbish, snowy sidewalks and Occupancy inspections continue to be addressed. Note: From Dec 1 to date, approximately 19 new Property Maintenance complaints were filed with 21 resolved and still 41 pending.

  Fire Safety Inspections

Approximately 33 notices were sent to properties with cooking facilities for the public. No new fire safety Inspections were done this month.

   John Leonforte 

Codes Administrator