FEBRUARY 21, 2022
CALL TO ORDER
PRESENT
ABSENT
VISITORS
MINUTES
BILL
COMMUNITY COMMENTS
Council in regular session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. President McNally presiding.
Dennis McNally, President Jeanne Miller
Gregg Mitcho Robert “Doc” Orr Jim Simonelli Doug Wright
Robert Stubenbort, Borough Manager Peter Burton, Mayor
Joseph Yochim, Solicitor Kevin Rafferty, Chief of Police
Dennis McDonald, Public Works Supervisor
Alfred Noble, Vice President Mark Corey, Engineer
Shirley Hall Larry Russell Bev Bible
Ginger Cinti, Lake City Borough Dave Shelenberger
Dave and Carolyn Lindenmuth Mike Adams, Dobler Hose
Motion by Councilmember Wright to approve the minutes from the January 17, 2022 council meeting. Seconded by Councilmember Orr. All in favor. Motion carried.
Motion by Councilmember Mitcho to approve the bills. Seconded by Councilmember Simonelli. All in favor. Motion approved.
Mike Adams, Captain of the Dobler Hose Fire Department spoke with council regarding their training site located North East of the railroad tracks off of Haggerty Street. This property is owned by the borough and it is gated. The department will be cleaning the site up very soon. They have plans for a three phase project. Phase One would be to improve the heavily used training grounds. They are not asking for any money from borough council but do need help moving some things around on the site. Secondly the department would like to put in a new fire training structure at a cost of approximately $225,000.00. The department will apply for a $50,000.00 grant that will be opening soon. Other fire companies that have expressed interest in the fire training structure are Albion, Springfield, Lake City and Fairview. If each fire company applied for the grant the project cost would be completely covered. Mike Adams also said the benefit of training in a simulated structure is the control. He wanted to know if council had any objections to the fire training structure being placed on borough property. Councilmember Miller asked if the fire structure was made in the USA. Mike said yes and it is coming from Arizona. Mr. Stubenbort asked how strong the odor is when a fire is burning in the unit. Mike said if you are right next to the box you can smell the fire but the box will be placed downwind from any residents. President
McNally thanked Mr. Adams for coming in to talk with council.
Shirley Hall said there is a new recycle company in Erie called New Bin which recycles all plastics which is an alternative to the curbside pick up. Right now we can only place #1 and #2 recyclable at the curb. She handed out a few pamphlets with further information to council.
COMMITTEE REPORTS Councilmember Mitcho mentioned that the invoice for the ambulance repair came in at 15,441.00. There will be a regular maintenance schedule in the future to keep it running properly.
Councilmember Mitcho said that the county is working on a three county collaborative (Mercer, Crawford, Erie). He had attended a ECOG seminar back in June of 2021 where the county was working to identify some of the problems that the EMS Services were having. Any licensed EMS service is required to be available 24/7 (Act 37). They can be exempt if there is a signed agreement with another service. Thankfully Dobler Hose has an agreement with West County
Paramedics. Right now, if Dobler gets a call they have two minutes to respond. If they do not respond they will be called again at the six minute mark. If still no response the 911 center will contact another service at eight minutes. Lou DePalma and John Grappy from the 911 Center gave a presentation that would allow a service to notify the 911 Center when they are not going to be available in advance. Councilmember Mitcho said he believes this would reduce the response time from when a call is received at the 911 Center until EMS is activated.
MAYOR/POLICE Mayor Burton said he had good meeting with Chief Rafferty recently. Chief Rafferty told council that all of the officers have completed the Act 180 in service training.
Tanner Hughes will be replacing Officer Jeff Parker. Chief Rafferty is still waiting for Mr. Hughe’s certification.
The grant for new vests opens up on April 1, 2022. This is a 50/50 matching grant.
Chief Rafferty is looking into grants for body cameras. There is no information to report at this time.
Chief Rafferty reported that we are still waiting for the light bar/control unit for the new police car. Once that is installed, we can get the car on the road.
MANAGERS
REPORT Resolution 1-2-2022 will allow for the MS-399 Liquid Fuels money for 2022 and estimated to be $111,640.91 to be used for various road surfacing projects in the borough. The breakdown for the total is as follows:
| Liquid Fuels Act 655 money | 102,336.91 |
| Turnback Act 32 money | 2,880.00 |
| County Liquid Fuels money | 6,424.00 |
Motion by Councilmember Orr to approve Resolution 1-2-2022. Seconded by Councilmember Simonelli. All in favor. Motion carried.
RESOLUTION 2-2-2022
RESOLUTION 3-2-2022
LAKE CITY WATER PROJECT
BENTLEY TREE SERVICE
Resolution 2-2-2022 will allow for the suspension of Chapter 112, Alcoholic Beverages, of the Girard Borough Municipal Code during the Chamber of Commerce Summer Solstice event and to allow for Public Works and Police at the expense of the borough. This years event will be held on June 23, 2022 in Wells Park from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Motion made by Councilmember Simonelli to approve Resolution 2-2-2022. Seconded by Council member Mitcho. All in favor. Motion carried.
Resolution 3-2-2022 would establish procedures for the standard destruction of both public meeting audio tapes and audio video recordings or digital recordings upon adoption of the written approved minutes by Council. We currently destroy the tapes after minutes are approved by council. Motion by Councilmember Orr to approve Resolution 3-2-2022. Seconded by Councilmember Wright. All in favor. Motion carried.
Lake City has two more customers to hook up to their new water line and then the borough water supply to the Laughlin Subdivision can be eliminated.
Councilmember Mitcho mentioned that there is a deadline for the project to be completed. Ginger Cinti from Lake City Borough Council believes the deadline is May 1, 2022.
Bentley Tree Service removed four curblawn trees from the following locations in the borough.
312 Wilcox Street
212 Walnut Street
134 Walnut Street
216 Prospect Street
Bentley Tree Service will come back to grind the stumps and the Public Works department will clean up the area in the Spring.
HOTEL PARK
WATER WORKS PARK
GENERATION PROJECT
AMP MEETING
CIVIL WAR MONUMENT
The survey for the Girard Hotel property is complete. The next step would be for council to approve a preliminary park layout and to hold a public meeting. There has been a public meeting scheduled for March 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in the Social Hall for the National Register. The second part of the meeting will be used for park review and gathering of potential names for the park.
Steven Laskowski replaced Tim Ackerman as our new State Forester. On January 26, 2022 a Committee of Council had a meeting with Steve to discuss a management plan for the trees at Waterworks Park. He provided a list of services for council to consider. Steve Laskowski said he is willing to develop a forest management plan and timber sale process for Girard Borough.
Councilmember Simonelli talked about making a loop trail. Councilmember Wright said creek access for fisherman is a great option as well as a trail along creek that would end at Whitemans Hill. He said there are many possibilities with creating a loop trail. Councilmember Wright said that before anything is done in the park we need to commit to a plan. We need to know what the boroughs mission is for the park. Motion by Councilmember Simonelli to allow Steve Laskowski to develop a forest management plan for the borough including the marking of trees and the bid for the sale of timber. Seconded by Councilmember Wright. All in favor. Motion carried.
February 15, 2022 was our first official use of our diesel electric generation units. The unit was turned on for a short time for its first peek shaving event. The units were connected to our switch gear on Monday January 31, 2022 without any disruption of service to our customers.
On January 20, 2022 American Municipal Power held the annual portfolio meeting with a Committee of Council. The borough is doing really well and continues to have a solid portfolio that will be continued with the diesel generation units used for peaking and the new contract in 2023.
Councilmember Jeanne Miller is working with Milano Monuments, out of Cleveland Ohio to have the Civil War Monument restored. The representatives from Milano Monument will be in the borough on Thursday, February 24th at 1:00 p.m. The estimated cost to restore the monument is $9,500.00. Councilmember Miller is working with Melinda Meyers, the county grant Writer. to fund the project.
PSAB CONFERENCE
SPEED SIGNS
SHRED DAY
WATER FLUSHING
NATIONAL REGISTER
TRUCK LIFT
TIM HORTONS
The 109th PSAB Annual Conference will take place May 22-25, 2022 at the Hershey Lodge. Please let Mr. Stubenbort know if you plan to attend.
Mr. Stubenbort did receive some information on the speed detection signs. President McNally says he is not sure why these traffic calming signs are needed. He does not feel these are necessary. Mayor Burton said they are a reminder of what the speed limit is and they clock your speed. Chief Rafferty said they are not a calibrated device so the Police can not write tickets even if someone is speeding. Councilmember Mitcho said that there is a portable version of this sign. He sees value in these for the fact that we could use it for different events that are happening in the borough.
Shred Day will be held on June 11, 2022 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m at the
A.F. Dobler Hose Fire Department. The Lions Club will be collecting plastic tote bags. Councilmember Mitcho said that this will be a community day just as Dobler Days was a few years ago. A free lunch will be served and people are welcome to make a donation if they choose. We could consider selling family pool passes that day as well. Overall this will be a family friendly event.
The spring water system flushing will take place April 18th through May 6th this year. Some brown water may be observed but should clear up after a few hours.
The National Register of Historic Places draft has been submitted to the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for consideration by the State Review Board. Part of the process for the National Register includes two public meetings, the first of which will take place on
March 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in the Social Hall. The second meeting will be scheduled for a later date.
The truck lift for thePublic Works Garage was delivered on February 15, 2022 (9 months after it was ordered). The cost for the lift was $6,735.00. It has been assembled and will be in operation next week. This is a nice addition to the garage.
Tim Hortons will be opening soon. Mayor Burton said the grand opening is now planned for March 25th•
MISC Councilmember Mitcho said he received a request from a resident regarding the lack of a stop sign coming out of the most southern driveway of the Rice Avenue Middle School. Mr. Stubenbort said he will check into this. Chief
Rafferty said that by putting in a stop sign in that location does not mean its enforceable. Police can enforce the law on Yellow Jacket Way because they have an agreement with the school.
Councilmember Mitcho told council that on January 18, 2022 a state investigator called Gail Fees, from the Girard Cemetery Corporation. He asked her why no one reported to the state that John Fees who was a Sexton at the cemetery and in charge of the finances had passed away. Gail said she was not aware that she needed to report this information. Todd Riser, from the Pa Department of State Bureau of
Enforcement and Investigation told Gail that he was in her driveway and needed to speak with her. What started out as a difficult situation turned out to be a very good inspection. Mr. Riser reviewed the finances and as a result of that told Gail Fees and the board that The Girard Cemetery is among the very best, if not the best well financed cemeteries in the state. Councilmember Mitcho said the reason he is telling council this is because if the cemetery folded because of financial problems it would become the boroughs responsibility.
Mayor Burton said that bricks from the Girard Hotel will be sold at Dan Rice Days. Proceeds will benefit the Dan Rice Days Committee. The charge will be $5.00 for a plain brick and $25.00 for an engraved brick.
Mayor Burton asked Councilmember Orr if he would still like to build a brick pillar for the new park. Mayor Burton said he was going to cut a cap for the pillar out of granite and asked Councilmember Orr how big the pillar would be. There will be two plaques that will be about 18 inches long placed on the pillar. Councilmember Simonelli offered to help Councilmember Orr with building the pillar. Once they come up with a plan they will decide how big the pillar will be.
Mayor Burton said he commends Mr. Stubenbort and Councilmember Miller for working on the blue prints for the new park. We are being allotted three extra parking spaces for the park from the railroad. Councilmember Mitcho had mentioned previously that a dog park might work with the extra space we have left over.
Mayor Burton said he has been working on the pool brochures for 2022 and they are almost complete.
Councilmember Simonelli mentioned that we need to put in a sign at Myrtle and Main Street for a compact car parking space. We had taken down the “No Trucks” sign when the sidewalks were replaced about ten years ago. The area is too small for a truck but a small car would be fine.
Councilmember Simonelli also talked with the owner of the new winery on the corner of Main Street and Mechanic Street. He would like for the “30 Minute Parking ” sign on the Mechanic Street side to be removed.
Mr. and Mrs. Lindenmuth asked council if they would be permitted to raise hens on their property located at 211 Hathaway Street. Councilmember Simonelli mentioned that we do have an ordinance that does not permit farm animals in the borough. Mr. Lindenmuth was thinking about keeping the hens in his garage. President McNally said that council will need to discuss this matter and Mr. Stubenbort will get back to him.
Councilmember Miller said that there will be a movie night at the pool during Dan Rice Days.
Meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m. for a five-minute break before going into executive session.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
REGULAR MEETING
At 8:55 p.m., President McNally asked for an executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters.
The regular meeting was called back into session at 9:10 p.m. No other issues were discussed.
ADJOURN Motion by Councilmember Orr and seconded by Councilmember Simonelli to adjourn at 9: p.m. All in favor.
Robert A. Stubenbort Borough Manager