OCTOBER 19, 2020     1

CALL TO ORDER

PRESENT

VISITORS

MINUTES

BILLS

COMMUNITY COMMENTS

Council in regular session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in the social hall. President McNally presiding.

Dennis McNally, President Alfred Noble, Vice President Peter Burton

Kathy Lyons Jeanne Miller Gregg Mitcho Robert “Doc” Orr

Robert Stubenbort, Borough Manager Robert Kremenik, Mayor

Joseph Yochim, Solicitor Kevin Rafferty, Chief of Police

Dennis McDonald, Public Works Supervisor

Shirley Hall Larry Russell Robin Roberts

Donna Komisarski Jim Simonelli

David Shelenberger Ginger Cinti

Councilmember Mitcho made one correction to the September 21, 2020 minutes. On page five it should read West County Communication Center is working on their budget not the WECEMA. Motion by Councilmember Noble to approve the minutes from the September 21, 2020 council

meeting as amended. Seconded by Councilmember Burton. All in favor. Motion carried.

Councilmember Noble asked about the bill from Lindy paving for street repair patching at the Presbyterian Church in the amount of $236.55. We took care of the street repair on Church Street. Lindy Paving will fix the church parking lot where the borough trucks turn around when salting and plowing the streets.

Some minor damage occurred to the parking lot due to the salt. Motion by Councilmember Lyons to approve the bills. Seconded by Councilmember Orr. All in favor. Motion carried.

Dave Shellenberger from 132 Barker Street addressed council about the increase in speeding on his road as well as Spruce Tree and Hemlock Drive.

Mr. Shellenberger stated that between 7:30 am to 9:00 am, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 11:45 to 12:30 pm are the hours that seem to be the heaviest with traffic speeding. He did speak with Chief Rafferty regarding this situation patrols were increased. Mr. Shellenberger presented a petition from residents from Barker Street, Mechanic to Aurora and Spruce Tree and Hemlock Drive. Chief Rafferty said he put officers out there on special patrol. It has been about two months and he has not received any further complaints. If needed he can increase patrols again. Chief Rafferty will put a note out to his officers to address this matter.

ADMINISTRATION FIRE/POLICE AND PERSONNEL

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

INSURANCE

MANAGERS REPORT

HALLOWEEN

DAY LIGHT SAVINGS

WINTER PARKING RULES

ELECTION DAY

Councilmember Mitcho mentioned that the Fire Department was concerned about the condition of the fire hydrant located at 326  Main St, West. This  was taken care of earlier in the day. Mr. Stubenbort asked if there was a regulation regarding the hydrant. Councilmember Mitcho said yes there needs to be 5′ clearance around a hydrant.

Councilmember Orr said that Chuck Kanarr is retiring on November 6, 2020. Andrew Pennock has been hired to replace Mr. Kanarr. Mr. Pennock resides in Edinboro and has quite a few credentials. The increase to what the borough pays will be $56.13 per month.

Councilmember Mitcho pointed out that the budget for the West County Communications Center that is in the agenda packet is only a preliminary budget with a slight increase and not the final budget.

Councilmember Mitcho said the Insurance Committee did meet recently to discuss renewal on the health insurance. Further discussion will take place during executive session.

The remaining Leaf Pick Up Dates are October 29th , November 12th and 27th. Only 30 gallon clear plastic bags will be picked up.

Trick or Treat will be observed on October 31st between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Only houses that have their outside lights on will be participating.

Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour on November 1st_

Parking is prohibited on all borough streets and curblawns between the hours of 3:00 am and 6:00 am from November ist until April 1st, Signs are posted at every entrance to the borough.

Voting will take place at the Girard Borough Social Hall from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm on November 3, 2020. The borough did receive a check in the amount of

$80.00 from the Erie County Board of Elections for the use of the social hall.

Councilmember Orr mentioned that Girard Township residents will be voting at the Methodist Church this year rather than Saint John’s Social Hall.

Councilmember Burton suggested we use the sign from Emergency Management to inform people where they are to vote. Councilmember Orr said to talk with Lindy Platz.

HYDRANT FLUSHING

LAUGHLIN WATER PROJECT

GIRARD DOWNTOWN INC.

SUNSET WATER PROJECT

PLANNING COMMISSION

SIDEWALKS

AMP R.1.C.E. PROJECT

Hydrant flushing will continue until October 23rd•

Now that all of the utility flags are set Mr.  Stubenbort  will be meeting with Mark Corey, Dennis McDonald and Josh Olesnanik regarding the Laughlin Water Project in Lake City. Mr. Corey will prepare the drawings for the project for Lake City so their contractor can begin work.

Five of the Request for Proposals have been interviewed for the Master Plan and listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The next step will be to check references and select the most suitable RFP.

The Clark Autobody building has brand new siding on it. Thanks to ECGRA for the grant money and Councilmember Burton for his perseverance in accomplishing this task.

The Sunset Water Project is near completion. At this time only some road paving is required. Mr. Stubenbort respectfully asked council to approve payment application No. 2 to McLallen Construction in the amount of

$111,863.70. Motion by Councilmember Noble to approve payment 2 to McLallen Construction for $111,863.70. Seconded by Councilmember Lyons. All in favor. Motion carried.

Mr. Lewis Hughes has resigned from the Planning Commission. He is moving out of state and will be missed. Mr. Stubenbort will place an ad in the West County News Journal to  help find a replacement. If any Councilmembers know of anyone who might want to serve they could turn in a letter of interest so the position could be filled as early as next month. Mr. Jim Simonelli was considered but he is on the Zoning Hearing Board and Solicitor Yochim said that he can not serve on both boards.

Mr. Stubenbort asked the Sidewalk Committee to set up a meeting to discuss the 2021 Sidewalk Program.

There will be a meeting held on October 20, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss the

R.I.C.E Generation Project. Jay Myers from American Municiapl Power will provide detailed  information  about the  project to  the committee members, which include Councilmembers Noble, Mitcho and Orr. Willey Sandel from AMP is not able to be here in person but will phone in.

WALNUT STREET TOWER

WASTE CONTRACT

CREDIT CARDS

VOLUNTEER SERVICE CREDIT

The estimate for the Walnut Street Tower Project is $375,000.00. This will include a new roof, sand blasting and recoating the tank inside and out as well as other DEP required updates. KLH provided the report and estimated most of the costs. Mr. Stubenbort said it would be in our best interest to budget this project for 2021 but start the bid preparation now. The DEP permitting is estimated to  take six months  which will put us into the Spring of 2021. Motion by Councilmember Noble to proceed with bid preparation for the Walnut Street Tower Project. Seconded by Councilmember Orr. All in favor. Motion carried.

The 2021-2026 Waste Contract bid opening is on November 6, 2020 at the Girard Township office. The bids will be presented at the next council meeting.

We bid with Girard Township  and many other municipalities as in the past to get better pricing. In addition to having the representatives from the nearing communities we had Jessica Horan-Kunco from the Erie Coalition of Governments help us a she brought the person in charge of recycling in Erie County. There was good discussion and hopefully we will get some decent pricing.

Mr. Stubenbort  told council that the borough  will be able to  select credit cards online very soon. The icon is active but there are still many bugs that need to be worked out as with anything new. Every dollar that comes in must go to our accounting system. The correct account must be found and then be sorted for water, sewer and electric. It is a little more difficult than what we  had originally thought it would be. Councilmember Miller asked if people can at least set up their account. Mr. Stubenbort said yes. You can log into girardborough.com and click the icon in the right hand corner and follow the directions.

Included in councils packet was the ordinance for the Volunteer Service Credit Program. This ordinance allows for the enacting of tax credits for volunteer members of Volunteer fire companies and non profit emergency medical service agency; and establishing administrative procedures and appeals. Councilmember Mitcho said that this is a complicated ordinance and requires council to make some financial decisions before we would think about advertising it. The fire department would be required to keep all of the records. Councilmember Mitcho has done some research to discuss what the ramifications would be on the boroughs budget. This matter will be further discussed in executive session.

MISC                                      Chief Rafferty mentioned that he received a phone call today from Jonathan Harbaugh. He is a local resident who formed a committee that held the Pro Trump Rally in Northeast. He wanted to inform Chief Rafferty that he organized a rally scheduled for Saturday, October 24th here in Girard at 1:30 p.m.

Participants will be meeting at the school parking lot and proceeding down Rice Avenue and across Main Street to Church Street.

Councilmember Noble asked if we could include the Winter Parking rules on the utility bills. Mr. Stubenbort said yes.

Councilmember Miller mentioned that there will be a bake sale on Election Day in the social hall.

Councilmember Miller said that the Girard McDonalds will donate 10 gift cards for the police to hand out during the holidays. The Elk Creek Recreation Board will donate an additional 20 gift cards.

Councilmember Miller asked if we had to send receipts into the county regarding any purchases for the Cares Act reimbursement. Mr. Stubenbort said that we have to keep a file that the Federal Government can audit at anytime.

Councilmember Burton mentioned that Jim Simonelli and Bev Bible would be a nice addition as citizens to the Sidewalk Committee. Councilmember Burton is hoping that we can get the sidewalk project going a bit more aggressively in 2021. The committee will get together soon to go over the sidewalk  repair list left over from last year. Hopefully we can identify some sidewalks this winter as well so we are ready to go in the spring.

Councilmember Burton said there is a large tree in Wells Park that needs to be looked at. The tree does not look healthy. Also, Larry Vogt was hoping to have his curb lawn tree cut down on the corner of Lawrence Court and Dewey Drive.

Councilmember Burton mentioned that he is on the board of the Erie County Historical Society and the Hagan History Center. He said that they are not very informed about the history of the White House and Yellow House here in Girard. He hopes to  help inform them of our West County history. They do however have some renovation plans for the Yellow House in the future. Councilmember Mitcho said that Caroline Veith is a wealth of knowledge on the history of the White House and Yellow House and when it was transferred to the Historical Society. She would know how much money was given to the Historical Society during the transfer as well.

Councilmember Noble asked what condition the Paulson Tile from the Girard Hotel was in. Mr. Stubenbort said it is destroyed and beyond repair. There really was nothing left in the building for the  memorial  monument.  Councilmember Orr said he will help guide the borough workers how to put up a proper monument.

Robin Roberts asked Borough Engineer Mark Corey P.E. if he has completed a drawing for the Laughlin Water Project. Mr. Corey said he is in the process of putting some details together. He does have some cut sheets for a standard concrete manhole but said we are going to have some kind of a concrete vault instead. The man hole drawing that was provided was not big enough to house everything for the plumbing that is necessary. There will be a meeting on October 23 rd to finalize some of the details. A meeting will then be set up with John Pilewski, the plumber, for the project.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. for a five minute recess before going into executive session.

EXECUTIVE SESSION       At 8:01 p.m., President McNally asked for an executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters.

REGULAR MEETING        The regular meeting was called back into session at 9:26 p.m.

HEALTH INSURANCE       Motion made by Councilmember Orr to approve the UPMC EPO 1500 healthcare plan for the fulltime Girard Borough Employees for the next twelve months. Seconded by Councilmember Noble. All in favor. Motion carried.

ADJOURN                      Motion by Councilmember Orr and seconded by Councilmember Burton to adjourn at 9:06 p.m. All in favor.

Robert A. Stubenbort Borough Manager