Council
Meeting
May 27, 2008 – 7:30 p.m.
The Borough of Somerset Council Meeting was held this date, called to order by President Mary Ann Smith. Present: Paul Urbain, Frank Koval, Ruby Miller, Hank Parke, Mary Ann Smith, Fred Rosemeyer, Council Members. Randy Cox, Chief of Police; William Meyer, Mayor; Tom Reilly, Consulting Engineer; Ben Vinzani, Borough Manager; George Svirsko, Director of Public Works; John Dirienzo, Borough Solicitor; Michele Enos, Assistant to the Borough Manager.
Meeting opened with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Mayor Meyer mentioned that the proposed minutes of April’s Council Meeting were in error. The minutes read that the vote was 4 to 3 with the Mayor breaking the tie vote. The vote was actually 3 to 3 with the Mayor breaking the tie vote to deny the contract time extension for the Public Safety Building Renovation Project. Mr. Koval moved to approve minutes of the meeting of April 28, 2008, with the correction made, motion seconded by Mr. Rosemeyer.
Unanimously Carried.
General Public Comments
Stephanie Williams, Somerset Inc. attended the meeting to ask what Borough Council’s intentions are with the engraved bricks uptown. She said people have been calling and want their bricks to remain uptown in the same area where they were originally. Mr. Vinzani stated that Somerset Inc. was made aware of this work and the Borough has requested ideas on the reuse of the engraved bricks. To date, no ideas have been presented.
Payment of Bills
Mr. Koval moved to pay the following bills as printed, motion seconded by Mrs. Miller:
Check Numbers: 11227 - 11383 Total Amount: $342,651.68
Vote: Mrs. Smith, yes; Mr. Koval, yes; Mr. Urbain, yes; Mrs. Miller, yes; Mr. Parke, yes; Mr. Rosemeyer, yes.
Unanimously Carried.
New Business
Mr. Parke moved to award the bid for street paving for year 2008 to the lowest responsive bidder, New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company, in the amount of $88,856.80, motion seconded by Mrs. Miller.
Unanimously Carried.
Mr. Koval moved to authorize adoption of the following Resolution, motion seconded by Mr. Urbain:
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-6
WHEREAS, The Borough of Somerset adopted Resolution No. 87-02 on April 27, 1987 providing for the destruction of certain papers in accordance with the Retention and Disposition Schedule for Records of Pennsylvania Municipalities, and;
WHEREAS, The Somerset Borough Administration wishes to dispose of some of its records in accordance with this Resolution;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the following items be authorized for purging:
1991 Payroll Tax/Deductions Records
1992 Payroll Tax/Deductions Records
1993 Payroll Tax/Deductions Records
Unanimously Carried.
Mr. Parke moved to authorize adding the Memorial Day Parade Event to the Borough’s insurance policy and to do the same for 2009 providing that the same parties are involved and its event is similar in nature - motion seconded by Mrs. Miller
Unanimously Carried.
Mr. Koval moved to donate $500.00 to the Listie Volunteer Fire Department - motion seconded by Mrs. Miller.
Unanimously Carried.
Mr. Rosemeyer made a motion to host the next Somerset County’s Borough Association dinner which will be held in September. Motion seconded by Mrs. Miller. Mr. Rosemeyer offered to check into places, preferably in Somerset Borough to hold this dinner. He asked if Ben could notify the County Borough Association Secretary that we will host this event.
Unanimously Carried.
Committee, Administration, Special Reports
Manager’s Report:
- Route 601 Penn Dot Project to construct a turning lane along North Center Avenue for traffic wanting to turn onto the Turnpike Approach Road.
- May 14th meeting Turnpike Access Road realignment project – utility relocation
- May 6th Michele and I attended the annual Penn Dot Outreach Program where Penn Dot outlines its short and long term work plans
- May 7th George and I attended the bi-monthly Joint Utility Meeting
- May 9th Techquest Broadband meeting
- May 13th I attended the monthly meeting of the Drought Task Force Meeting. All systems were reporting adequate supplies, but noted that the trend
- May 14th Turnpike Commission Meeting
- May 15th Uptown Sidewalk Pre-Construction Conference. Removal of the old sidewalks on the Army-Navy Corner has begun today.
- May 16th Coxes Creek Cleaning project has been issued a Notice to Proceed
- May 19th Strategic Planning Committee
- May 21st Borough / Twp meeting - more info coming
Engineer’s Report: Noted that if anyone has questions with the report submitted, he would be glad to answer any questions.
Public Works Committee: Reported that painting/roof repairs/and the purchase of a vactor should be done by late summer.
Finance Committee: Mr. Urbain reported that we are in line with the budget. The budget is at 33% and we have spent 31%.
Equipment Committee: Nothing reported.
Shade Tree Committee: Nothing to report.
Somerset Inc. Representative: Nothing to report.
Solicitor’s Report:
Regarding the grant for police protection for our officers outside of the Borough, Solicitor Dirienzo said this appears to be a no-cost deal, but requires an ordinance. This would be the preliminary one which affords Council the opportunity to prepare the ordinance, to be available for next meeting. The ordinance would not be passed until it is completed and signed by all parties.
In answer to questions, it was explained that payment for our officers going outside of the Borough would be covered by the grant. Mr. Urbain suggested that we add safeguards in case of a Township police officer abusing privileges, so that we would not be liable. Mr. Dirienzo said the draft of the Agreement addresses this point, and these things will all be taken into consideration. We would also require clearance from our own insurance carriers, and the ordinance would not be advertised until everything is in place.
Mr. Koval moved to authorize the Solicitor to write the ordinance regarding the PennDOT grant for Police Protection – motion seconded by Mr. Rosemeyer.
Unanimously Carried.
Further discussion ensued concerning how the officers are to be paid. Mr. Cox explained that it is not through a fund; the money is expended first then reimbursed by PennDOT when we submit our invoice. We submit the other municipalities’ invoices at one time. Our coordinator would collect invoices from the other municipalities, submit them to PennDOT; they would submit a check to Somerset Borough and we would keep our amount then submit checks to the other municipalities for their share of the work.
Mr. Cox said part of the grant may have an administrative cost built into it for the Borough’s time in administering the entire grant. It operates separately from any of our given day-to- day shifts. We add hospitalization, FICA, etc. in addition to the officers’ gross pay.
Mayor’s Report
Mr. Meyer reported that Officer Ponzek was hired. Officer Snyder received full-time work but asked to stay with us to work a couple of shifts per week. Since we have two shifts per week at the hospital we agreed to work with this for a while - Friday and Saturday nights at the hospital.
In answer to question of Verizon’s problem with phone service at the new location, Mr. Cox said there was a communication issue but now we have two live phone lines in the building and expect to have two more by next day. Next week phones will ring in both locations.
Concerning the computers, Mr. Fritz needed to determine if the units we were buying to provide the internet across the street would be feasible to use after we finished with the temporary quarters, since cost of the unit could not be justified for only 4 or 5 months. Also he needed the Fire Department’s aerial truck to make that determination and the truck was out for repairs. The equipment was ordered and ready to install it last week but was delayed by the asbestos abatement and the holiday weekend.
He added that everyone worked well together and he commended Mr. Hauger for his supervision of the work force including the D.O.C. crews, which have been a tremendous assistance to us and saved us multi-thousands of dollars, with good quality work.
Executive Session
Mr. Koval moved to enter into Executive Session to discuss negotiations concerning possible leasing of Borough property for oil and gas purposes – motion seconded by Mr. Urbain.
Unanimously Carried - 8:20 p.m.
Council Meeting session reconvened at 8:51 p.m.
Mr. Rosemeyer asked if we need to develop a plan of action for conserving fuel. Mr. Vinzani said our policy has been to double up on trips when possible, with no unnecessary idling of vehicles, etc. and asked for other suggestions.
Mr. Rosemeyer moved to direct our Solicitor, along with our Manager and Mr. Parke, to proceed with developing a plan aimed at investigating the leasing of gas and oil interests in Jefferson Township. Seconded by Mr. Koval.
Unanimously Carried.
Adjournment
Mr. Koval moved to adjourn, motion seconded by Mr. Urbain.
Unanimously Carried - 8:53 p.m.
_________________________
Benedict G. Vinzani, Jr., Ph.D.
Somerset Borough Manager |
