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MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 24, 2008 MEETING OF BOROUGH COUNCIL The twenty-first meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council for 2008 was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Martha Bertolet presiding. The meeting was opened with Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and a Prayer. Members Present - Martha Bertolet, Heather Berger, Elaine Swavely, Dale Schlenker, Roger Stetzler, Jeff Adam, Jeanette HeckmanMembers Absent – None Also Present –Solicitor Zubey, Solicitor Antanavage, Kim Y. Berger, Office Manager/Recording Secretary, Lynda G. Albright, Borough Manager Visitors –Deena Kershner, Maria Herne (Pottsville Republican) A motion was made by Heather Berger and seconded by Jeanette Heckman to approve the amended agenda. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, D. Schlenker
NAYES – None COURTESY TO AUDIENCE Deena Kershner handed out the monthly report and the preliminary five year plan for the Elm Street program. The last Visioning meeting will be held on December 3, 2008. A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler to approve the minutes of the November 10, 2008 meeting. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, D. Schlenker
NAYES – None A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Jeff Adam to approve the following reports: Engineer’s Report, Property Committee Report, and Finance Committee Report. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, D. Schlenker
NAYES – None ENGINEER’S REPORT
Bid Item #1: Williams Street $26,784.00 Permanent Paving $11,160.00 Bid Item #2: North Third Street $11,600.00 Permanent Paving $1,800.00 Bid Item #3: North Forth Street $11,000.00 Permanent Paving $1,980.00 Total Contract Amount Awarded – Bid Items #1 thru #3 $64,324.00The three items above are complete. Permanent paving will be scheduled for the spring after the temporary pavement and backfill has had time to stabilize.
The impoundment dam is being brought back on line. The recent rains are helping refill the impoundment dam, but flow rates after the rains fall quickly. For this report period water production was entirely from the wells. TILDEN AGREEMENTS Systems Design Engineering, Inc. is working with Charles Fitzpatrick in writing the agreements needed to operate the Tilden system. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND BUDGET Systems Design Engineering, Inc. is working with the Borough staff in reviewing all the budgets and rate structures. Budgets and rate structures will be presented for approval. WELL LEVEL DATA COLLECTION Systems Design Engineering, Inc. is assisting the Plant Superintendent with the purchase and installation of the data logger devices for recording well level data. MET ED SUBSTATION The land acquisition sale option has been reviewed and executed. Systems Design Engineering, Inc. is supporting Met Ed’s request for information when received. Met Ed is pursuing a boundary agreement with the neighboring property and has reported that NAPA is in agreement with the new boundary. The boundary was staked on Monday. Met Ed plans to be present at the meeting to execute the boundary plan. REQUISITIONS To be presented at the meeting. PROPERTY COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 11, 2008 MUNICIPAL CENTER – 3PM ATTENDING: Lynda Albright, Martha Bertolet, Elaine Swavely, Jeanette Heckman, Roger Stetzler, Jeff Adam & Dale Schlenker VISITORS: Kim Emes, KME Security; Guy Ketch, Rec. Director & Deena Kershner, OTF
CHAIRMAN OF PROPERTY Dale R. Schlenker FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT SEPTEMBER 2008 Lynda reported we will be receiving a $98,230.16 distribution from EIT for the third quarter of the year. Sidewalk and curb repair enforcement were discussed with a mention of working out a budget payment plan for the elderly who cannot afford to pay the whole amount up front. Further contributions to OTF were discussed and it was decided we should contribute once again with the amount to be determined at a later date. Received approval for a grant of $90,000 for the Grand Street extension. Discussed the trash contract and it was decided to extend the contract rather than rebid in hopes of keeping the price as low as possible. Respectfully submitted, Elaine M. Swavely, Chair FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2008 Discussed the budget for the upcoming year. Lynda stated she would do the budget with no raises for 2009. Had discussion on the total budget issue and the need for holding the line on expenses and no tax increases for the following year due to the economic climate. Discussed employees paying a co-pay for their health insurance. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea and will be considered as we move through the budget process. Respectfully submitted, Elaine M. Swavely, Chair OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, a motion was made by Heather Berger and seconded by Dale Schlenker to tentatively approve the 2009 General Budget in the amount of $3,306,140. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, R. Stetzler, J. Adam, J. Heckman NAYES – D. Schlenker, H. Berger On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, a motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Dale Schlenker to take action setting the tax rate for 2009 at 5.25 mils for general purposes and .25 mils for fire protection and authorize the Borough Manager to prepare and advertise an ordinance at this rate (same as 2008) ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, R. Stetzler, J. Adam, J. Heckman NAYES – D. Schlenker, H. Berger On the recommendation of the Borough Manager, a motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Roger Stetzler approving a Resolution increasing the trash charges by $12.00/yr. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, R. Stetzler, J. Adam, D. Schlenker, H. Berger NAYES –J. Heckman On the recommendation of the Borough Manager, a motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Heather Berger accepting the resignation of Sylvia Summons, with regret, as a member of the Hamburg Planning Commission, effective immediately. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, D. Schlenker
NAYES – None A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Jeff Adam to approve payment of invoices totaling $ 95,101.58. ROLL CALL: AYES – M. Bertolet, E. Swavely, D. Schlenker
NAYES – None LIST OF BILLS AT & T 30.71 BARRY ISETT 4,500.00 BURKHARDT MECHANICAL 244.18 CNA SURETY 743.75 CODY COMPUTER SERVICES 2,500.00 EDM PUBLISHERS 108.78 EXETER SUPPLY 2,188.00 FROMM ELECTRIC 36.00 HAMBURG MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY 952.61 INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL 100.00 J/M FENCE 20,617.00 M & T BANK 4,684.00 MASANO BRADLEY 7,072.82 JP MASCARO 11,332.00 MET –ED 2,503.04 NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS 652.14 PMHIC 25,083.34 PA STATE ASSC. OF BOROS 120.00 POWERCO 751.63 QUILL 360.61 SAM’S CLUB 151.76 RUSSEL STICHTER 99.99 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUND 212.69 TRIANGLE COMMUNICATIONS 161.50 TYLER TECHNOLOGIES 9,849.98 YOUR PAPER PLACE 45.05 TOTAL $95,101.58 SOLICITOR’S REPORT Nothing to report INFORMATION ITEMS
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. on motion of Heather Berger and seconded by Dale Schlenker.
ATTEST:
Kim Y. Berger |
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