MINUTES OF THE JUNE 11, 2007 MEETING OF BOROUGH COUNCIL

The eleventh regular meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council for 2007 was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Tammy Wilkinson presiding. The meeting was opened with Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and a Prayer.

Members Present – Tammy Wilkinson, Roger Stetzler, Martha Bertolet, Elaine Swavely, Dale Schlenker, Jeanette Heckman

Members Absent – Roy Heffner

Also Present –Solicitor Mike Zubey, Kim Y. Berger, Office Manager/ Recording Secretary, Manager Lynda G. Albright

Visitors- Chief Painter, Gretchen Dietz (Reading Eagle), Alexa Antanavage (Masano Bradley), James Kissinger, Barbarann Matz, John Kurtz (Item)

NAYES – None

COURTESY TO AUDIENCE

Jim Kissinger, 121 State Street, presented the following proposal to Council regarding his property which will be affected by the Redevelopment Plan.

Agreement to be made between James F. Kissinger and the Borough of Hamburg, Berks County, PA.

Offered for sale to the Borough of Hamburg the property of James F. Kissinger, consisting of 3 story brick house with attached warehouse/garages, storefront and separate store known as 117 through 149 Sate Street in the Borough of Hamburg under the following conditions:

Offered this 11^th day of June 2007 for the sum of $600,000.

This agreement must be accepted in writing by July 23, 2007

The payment of $75,000 due on or before September 30, 2007

The payment of $75,000 due on or before December 31, 2007

The balance of $450,000 due on or before December 31, 2008

Transfer of title to be completed after final payment.

James F. Kissinger

Mr. Kissinger stated that if there is no response by July 31, 2007, the only way that the Borough would obtain his property was to go through eminent domain.

A motion was made by Martha Bertolet and seconded by Dale Schlenker to approve the minutes of the May 23, 2007 meeting.

NAYES – None

A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler 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 Report, Code Enforcement report and the Recreation Director’s Report.

NAYES – None

BOROUGH MANAGER’S REPORT
MAY, 2007

The Borough Manager’s activities for the month of MAY, 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 at various times of the month with John Leonforte to review various building projects and code enforcement issues he is working on, in particular, 4^th and Hawkridge, the proposed access to Route 61, new subdivisions, proposed senior housing at the old Wright’s building, the Grandview, Arthur, Catherine Street curbing project, Streetscape and the Exide Building.

Personnel Committee and I met with Marita Kelly of DCED. She reviewed the Administrative Study done with members and myself. There will be some changes in the office in the near future, but most importantly, cross training will be started. The multi-year budgeting plan should commence sometime in mid-June. Marita and another colleague will be contacting me to set up a time to get together.

Both Non-Uniformed and Uniformed Pension Boards and I met with Allen Englebert of Smith Barney to review the first quarter earnings/assets of the pension plans.

Met several times during the month with Guy Ketch, Recreation Director and Bill Nabozny, Asst. Rec. Director/Pool Manager to discuss the pool opening, procedures to be followed, Grand Opening and work yet to be completed.

Attended the monthly board meeting of the Our Town Foundation.

Spoke to Glenn Danenhower of Bernville Fuels about providing a propane tank for the newly installed heater at the pool. Borough crew did the necessary prep work and the tank was delivered within a couple of days.

Met with representatives from two different security firms to get quotes to provide security around the park and pool after closing. A recommendation will be made to Property Committee.

John Leonforte, Code Officer, Rick Pickel, Public Works Supt., Guy Ketch and I met with Jim of RJR and Wayne Wade of Wade Associates for a walk-thru of the pool to determine any work or corrections to be done prior to opening.

Kim Berger, Office Manager and I attended a seminar in Allentown on Privacy and Employee Record Keeping.

Members of the Safety Committee and I met with representatives from PennDOT to review their findings regarding the timing of the light at 4^th and State Streets.

Met with two members of one of the ball teams using the Little League field. They want to have some improvements made regarding drainage in the outfield. The majority of the work will be donated; there will be minimal cost to the borough. I have asked that they provide additional information and I will then discuss with Property Committee.

Met with Attorney Jim Gavin of Masano Bradley to discuss and review the pending litigation regarding the HVAC system.

Also met with Attorney Zubey to discuss and review pending police litigation.

The generator the borough is receiving from the Sewer Plant is currently being stored at KMX. It is hoped that the cement pad will be placed at the municipal center and the generator moved to this location within the next month or so. We will also have a gas line and electric line in place for its use, along with a housing unit for protection from the weather.

The ceiling tiles have been replaced on the first and second floors of the municipal building and the walls have been repainted, filters installed. Overall, the HVAC seems to be doing a much better job now and hopefully, all problems are resolved. We do, however, still have some problems with the boiler, which is being dealt with by Yoder’s Heating.

Took vacation Memorial Day week.

Attended the monthly board meeting of the Our Town Foundation.

During the month, attended two regular meetings of Council, Road, Finance, Property, Personnel, and Safety 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 May, 2007.

Lynda G. Albright, Borough Manager

The crew cut up trees along the canal that were either dead or fallen over.

Oil was changed in all police vehicles.

Stop signs at Front and Grand Street were repaired and the street sign at 4^th and Windsor was erected after being either knocked over or blown over.

Cold patching continues as the crew has time.

The majority of the month of May was spent working at the park and the pool getting ready for opening. A lot of time was spent working with the contractors, the Rec Director, Pool Manager and the chemical contractor.

The park bank was trimmed.

Work continues at the pool bathrooms making it handicap accessible.

The crew pressure washed and painted the bridge and bandstand. The paint we used this time was the new "anti-graffiti" paint.

Grass continues to be mowed. The weeds continue to be cut along the roads.

Both flood control dams were mowed as well as the weeds around the reservoir and dam. Weeds were cut in the streams.

A ½" service line was repaired at 318 N. 5^th Street.

The ½" service line from the pool house to the filter room was repaired.

The salt shed roof was removed.

Work has commenced on painting crosswalks and stop markers.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard L. Pickel Public Works Supt.

Water

We continue to operate the wells. Tony and I, along with the engineer, visited the contractor supplying the new control system, Optimum Control, for a "test drive" of the system. Tony followed that up with another visit to help adapt and customize the program to our system. Installation has started and we hope to be back on surface water soon.

Wastewater

The construction continues and we do see an end in sight. Most process units are on line and working well. Effluent quality is very good. We have a few issues with the performance of some units and are addressing them with the suppliers but over all performance is very good.

The SCADA system has been hooked up. A representative of Siemens was on site to set it up to our specifications. We have been running the ditch through the computer and effluent quality remains good.

On the 13^th , we either had a power spike or lost one leg of the electric service, It tripped the breakers on the digester blowers and allowed the diffusers to clog with sludge. We will have to empty the digester again to clean them out.

There was a clogged lateral on N 4^th Street which neither our people, nor a local plumber could open. I contracted with Captain Clog to open it and they brought out a wad of roots about 18 inches long and 8 inches wide. This is another issue associated with the I&I problems we have.

Respectfully Submitted

Keith L. Brobst

Water/Wastewater Superintendent

The beginning of the month continued with the absence of Lynn, and I continued with the duties of the accounting clerk. I am happy to say that Lynn has returned to work and is managing well.

Season tickets continued to come in to the office and they have been entered into our database and tickets have been written out. All tickets were taken to the pool for the opening day.

I have been meeting with the Rec Director and the Assistant Rec Director helping them resolve their questions and getting geared up for the opening of the pool. This was especially important the last two weeks of the month. I spent a lot of time working out the kinks and assisting them with all the issues that were unresolved. I am happy to say that the opening of the pool was a success and compliments of the pool are a plus.

We had a small issue on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 and could not open the pool that afternoon. The chemical contractor was contacted and by the next day the pool was open that afternoon. There are still some issues that are unresolved between the contractor and the Rec Director however; they are working on these issues.

Various letters and correspondence were completed.

Complaint letters and various ordinance violation letters were mailed.

Cross training has begun since Lynn has returned from her leave.

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

May 2007

Seven (7) construction permits and four (4) zoning permits and four (4) paving/sidewalk permits were issued in May.

Major projects ongoing or proposed are as follows:

The Streetscape project is in progress. Few problems have been encountered. Water, sewer

And gas fixtures are being replaced as required. Some finish work is not meeting standards and

will be addressed. Work is progressing at a good pace with few complaints.

Survey work is complete for required line and grades, to reconstruct some curbing, sidewalks, and the streets at Catherine, Grandview Terrace, and Arthur St. I have the linear amount of curb and or sidewalk required of each property owner and I hope to send letters to each affected property owner by June 15. We have some estimates and hope to ask for bids, for the paving, this fall with work to be done this spring. .

We have received final drawings for phase one of the Grand Street extension. Our engineer

Has met with DEP and it was determined a joint permit with DEP and Army Corp of Engineers

will be required. We hope to get through the permitting process in 12 months and build

Phase one 4 months after that, with a hoped for completion date of November 2008.   

Ryan Kern with Barry Issett associates and I have met with Met Ed regarding right of way and construction easements needed to place a traffic light at Hawk ridge and South 4^th Street.

We were received positively at the local level, but approvals from higher authority are pending.

Ricky, Keith and I met with Exide Corporation, their demolition contractor and, EPA regarding the clean up and demolition of buildings #1 and #2, and all the accessory structures of the battery plant. Mobilization by the demolition company has begun. A cleaning process (primarily pressure washing) will start this month and extend into July. Actual demolition is slated to begin at the end of July with completion in October of this year.

I have been in contact with the owner of the Curves property. He is having difficulties with the insurance company but assured me demolition of the build will begin by the end of June.

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

Codes Administrator

The month of May continued with meetings with Northern Berks Recreation, Reading Eagle, Voices, Mike Kershner, painters of the slide, Jim – contractor for the pool, Wade Associates, John Leonforte, Lynda Albright, Kim Berger and Ricky Pickel.

On May 23^rd, Tonya Dinatally certified the remaining lifeguards, bringing our staff to fifteen.

M. Ketch, J. Prutzman, and T. Adams and others were hired to work on various projects to ready the pool for the 2007 season. Included were the painting of the men’s and women’s rooms, painting of doors, cleaning of siding, waterproofing of benches, put dividing ropes in pool, cleaned rooms, set up concession stand, put sand in smoking buckets, learned how to work mechanical features, pumps and filters.

An orientation and cleaning day was held May 19^th to teach new employees and review new rules for experienced employees.

John Leonforte, Kim Berger, Ricky Pickel, Lynda Albright and myself met at the pool to develop a punch list of repairs needed to accept completion of the pool. Included were the replacement of some tiles, re-install stairs which were in upside down, repair water features and various other needs. The gas heater needed a hot/cold by pass before use. Several meetings with the contractor and Borough representatives were held.

The pool opened Memorial Day weekend with near perfect weather. I heard many compliments on the renovations of the pool and several compliments were paid to several of our experienced staff. Several guards indicated that they felt this was their best Memorial weekend since employed by the municipality.

I have spent many hours trying to communicate with children and young adults who "hang out" at the park. Borough workers have indicated that the basketball courts are a lot cleaner. In response to the clean up, a crack in the court was repaired.

I have spoken numerous times asking people playing basketball to refrain from improper language or the court would be closed "especially" during little league games. So far, it seems better but far from perfect.

We are off to a fabulous start – the slides and new features are a "Great Success.

Special thanks to Bill Nabozny, Jeff Adams, Vivian Schucker and all food stand staff and lifeguards for an excellent beginning.

Respectfully submitted,

Guy R. Ketch, Jr.

Recreation Director

William Nabozny

Assistant Recreation Director

Pool Manager

Nothing

NAYES – None

NAYES – None

On the recommendation of the Borough Manager and, as a result of the approval letter being received from the Berks County Conservation District for 239 Pine Street, a motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler to ratify and reaffirm approval of the final plan for the rehabilitation of the former "Wright’s" building to senior housing.

NAYES – None

NAYES – None

On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, a motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler to approve KRE Securities as the security firm for the park/pool.

NAYES – None

NAYES – None

AT & T 577.02

ALBERT’S WAREHOUSE 885.02

AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSN 175.00

BARKO CLEANING 120.00

COUNTY OF BERKS 2,367.36

BERNVILLE QUALITY FUELS 587.80

KIM CHERRY 200.00

EDENBURG WELDING 117.00

BETHANY EMES 25.00

LYNN ERNST 200.00

FIRST PRECINCT UNIFORMS 125.00

FORT DEARBORN 295.85

GREAT VALLEY CONSULTANTS 2,396.86

ROBERT GRUGAN 200.00

HARTMAN JANITORIAL 1,960.00

TERRY HECKMAN 200.00

HERR FOODS 117.66

J/M FENCE 2,197.00

KANTNER’S TIRE 15.00

KERMIT KISTLER 439.40

LOUEES 695.50

LOWES 298.00

PAUL MELNICZEK 115.00

MET-ED 5,989.16

MILLER MUNICIPAL 436.80

MILLER’S 5 & 10 22.95

CASEY MOSER 457.70

MOUNTAIN VIEW SUPPLY 280.01

MEIT 117.00

PA STATE ASSN BOROUGHS 9.00

PPL GAS UTILITIES 675.05

PENN PRIDE 1,605.54

PA CHIEFS OF POLICE 75.00

PEPSI BOTTLING GROUP 121.00

PRECISION DYNAMICS CORP 211.06

QUILL 240.29

RANDALL RENTSCHLER 26.84

SA-SO 53.05

STEREO HOSPITAL 65.50

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUND 212.639

THREN’S AUTO PARTS 166.27

THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR 187.06

UNIFIRST 285.84

VERIZON 444.30

WINDSOR PRESS 154.78

TOTAL 26,146.36

BILLS PAID DURING THE MONTH

DORIS YEAGER 30.00

DANNY WILLIAMS 30.00

LYNDA ALBRIGHT 300.00

KIM Y. BERGER 300.00

BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – GROSS 93,948.34

BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – EMP SHARE SS 5,939.29

PA CONSTRUCTION 95.00

PEPSI-COLA 938.37

SAM’S CLUB 1,137.34

DOLLAR GENERAL 62.00

BERKS CO. TREASURER 279.50

PETTY CASH 155.90

THOMAS ZELINSKY 38.32

DOLLAR GENERAL 20.00

HMA 550.00

TOTAL 104,724.06

TOTAL FOR APPROVAL $130,870.42

An executive session will be held after the meeting to discuss police personnel issues and pending litigation. No action will be taken.

June 12, 2007 – 6 p.m.- Library Board meeting – in the Library

June 19, 2007 - 3:30 p.m. – Safety Committee meeting

June 19, 2007 – 7 p.m. – Planning Commission

June 20, 2007 – 7 p.m. – Authority meeting

June 25, 2007 – 7 p.m. – Water/Sewer/Public Relations meeting

June 25, 2007 – 7:30 p.m. – Borough Council meeting

Attest:

Recording Secretary/Office Manager