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Somerset Borough Council Minutes

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Borough of Somerset Committee of the Whole
March 13, 2017 5:00 p.m.

         Meeting was called to order by President Ruby Miller, opening with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Roll Call:
        Council Members present:  Ruby Miller; Fred Rosemeyer; Judy Pyle; Pam Ream; Sue Opp; and Steve Shaulis. Council member Gary Thomas not present. Mayor Scott Walker also present. 

Also present were the following:  Borough Manager, Michele Enos; Director of Finance, Brett Peters; and Chief of Police Randy Cox.

Announcements:

1. None.

Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting:
(a) Committee of the Whole – Minutes from the February 13th, 2017 Committee Meeting.

Motion: 
Mrs.  Ream moved, Mr. Rosemeyer seconded to approve the February 13th, 2017
Borough Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes.

General Public Comments:
(a) None Registered.

Policy Agenda:

Old Business:
(a)  Hot Box for Public Works – Follow-up and update from the last Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Ms. Enos stated that additional information is being received, as requested from the last Committee Meeting, on lease prices, and different things, for a Hot Box. She stated that, more importantly, we need to figure out if this issue is something that needs addressed next year, since this is not something that was budgeted for in this year’s budget.  Ms. Enos then asked how all of Council feels about this, so she would know whether to add the purchase of a Hot Box to the list of things to consider for next year’s budget.  Discussions were then held, and questions asked, about what may be considered in either purchasing, leasing, renting or co-owning a Hot Box. Ms. Enos requested exploring the options of possibly renting or borrowing off the Township for this year. Then, she suggested, waiting to actually purchase a Hot Box when we budget for it and can afford to purchase one of our own.  Ms. Enos stated that she would also look into identifying the needs for one.  It was decided to wait on the purchase of one, at this time, until the budget process next year.

(b)  LeeAnn Stewart – Somerset County Humane Officer – Follow-up and update from the last Council Meeting.

        Ms. Enos mentioned that she hasn’t had any contact with Ms. Stewart since the last Council Meeting.  Therefore, she does not have any additional information regarding Ms. Stewart’s request for Council to approve her to be able to issue citations for license and rabies violations within the Borough.  Ms. Enos stated that she would reach out to Ms. Stewart to make contact with her.  She asked Council whether they wanted to explore having Ms. Stewart do this work.  Ms. Enos stated that her opinion was that this could be an additional General Fund Expense that we currently do not have.  She mentioned that our Police Officers are capable of doing this kind of work and are already getting paid to do it.  Ms. Enos continued saying that our Police Officers already have the same power, within the Borough, to do this work that Ms. Stewart is requesting to do. Discussions were held regarding Ms. Stewarts request and the practicality of it.  It was Council’s wishes for Ms. Enos to receive more information from Ms. Stewart, regarding her request, before a decision is made. 

 (c) Stone at Autumn Drive and Felgar Road – Follow-up and update from the last Committee of the Whole Meeting.

         Ms. Enos stated that she and Mr. Cascio are researching to see if the stone at Autumn Drive and Felgar Road is a cornerstone.  Mr. Cascio explained that there is engraving on the stone, so he’s unsure whether it’s a survey marker or a monument marker. He and Ms. Enos talked about digging out underneath the stone, to make it flush, so it doesn’t present a hazard.  He mentioned that we do not want to disturb the stone since we’re unsure of the engravings identity.  The issue this presents is that we don’t know where the right-of-way is from a legal Borough’s street point of view.  Discussions were held regarding this, and what we can temporarily do to help with the possible hazard the stone presents.  It was, again mentioned, that the short term fix would be to make it flush.  Research will be done to see how to best solve this problem permanently.

  (d)  Handicapped Parking Space in semi-circle of Public Safety Building – Follow-up and update from the last Committee of the Whole Meeting.

          Ms. Enos stated that she met with our Consulting Engineer, Mr. Bolby, and spoke with him about an additional handicapped parking space in the semi-circle area of the Public Safety Building.  She stated that there is not enough space there that would comply with ADA Regulations.  Ms. Enos asked Mr. Shaulis whether this was a problem all the time.  She also questioned whether we could just block off a space for handicapped parking during times when events were being held.  Discussions were held regarding how this problem could be solved.  Chief Cox mentioned that he could easily give up a permanent parking space that’s reserved for a car.  He also mentioned that he would gladly give up his own personal parking space for special events if he was informed ahead of time when they would be occurring. A portable handicapped sign could be made to clearly mark this additional space.  He stated that this would give them a total of 2 additional spaces when they were needed.  Where these 2 additional spaces are located, there is access to the sidewalk area and a ramp.  Ms. Enos mentioned to Mr. Shaulis that he, Mr. Bolby and herself could meet over at the Public Safety Building to see if handicapped parking in the rear of the building would be more feasible.

New Business:
(a)  Year to Date Financial Report – Provided through the month of February 2017.

         Mr. Peters discussed the Financial Statement for the month of February 2017.  He mentioned, at this point, we’re through “two twelfths” or 16.67% of the year. The following Fund’s Revenues and Expenditures are based through the month of February 2017:
General Fund:  Revenues – 6.53%     Expenses – 15.4%
Water Revenue Fund:  Revenues – 17.94 %    Expenses – 17.16%
Sewer System Operating Fund:  Revenues – 14.99%    Expenses – 10.97%

      Mr. Peters mentioned that if anyone had questions concerning the report, he could be contacted by phone or email, and he would be glad to answer any questions.
(b) Request for Donations:
        No requests have been made.

(c) Somerset Inc. Report– Given by Judy Pyle.

Mrs. Pyle mentioned that Trinity Park is going well and is right on schedule. 
She mentioned how the Uptown Facade Facelift is going well.  Several businesses Uptown gave permission to put the barn quilts on their buildings.
Also, a lot of the businesses that have empty window spaces have given permission for other businesses, sports teams, etc. to decorate their windows. 
Mrs. Pyle mentioned how Somerset Inc. is also working harder to have events that make money, because it’s very, very hard to get donations.  What is being worked on now is “Blues on Main” which is on Saturday June 24th during “Thunder in the Valley.” 

  (d)  Somerset Volunteer Fire Dept. Report –

        President Miller asked Mr. Shaulis questions, in regards to the Fire Department, because Mr. Thomas was not present.  Mr. Shaulis was unsure of the total number of fires in the past month. He stated that there was a call-out to Patriot Manor, last evening, that was upgraded to a commercial structure fire.  Chief Cox said that the fire was too high of an upgrading, but it was dealt with pretty quickly by the Fire Department.  Mr. Shaulis mentioned that he was personally unhappy with the new 800 Megahertz Radio System, because sometimes you can hear dispatch, then after that, you hear nothing, so you’re in the dark to what’s happening.
Mr. Shaulis mentioned that 2 older trucks were sold to local Fire Departments.  He also stated that he heard that the Fire Department may be getting another truck, to be used as a people mover, to go to Fire School classes and things of this sort.

(e)  Request Form Submitted by Council Member Steve Shaulis:

       1.  Whatever happened to the parking meters we were looking at from Pittsburgh?

Ms. Enos explained that they got the serial numbers off of the meters that they were talking to the city of Pittsburgh about.  When they checked more in depth into it, it was discovered that they cannot find replacement parts for these meters.  So it was decided not to buy them.  She mentioned that if you can’t find replacements parts, there is no point in putting them up in our parking lots.Ms. Enos stated that we’re better off with the manual meters at this point.  Ms. Enos also mentioned that we can get replacement parts for the meters we have now, although it is getting harder to find them.

      2.  Any updates on the Turnpike Bridge Replacement on North Center Avenue?

Ms. Enos stated that there were no new updates with the Turnpike Bridge Replacement on North Center Avenue.  She said everything is status quo.

      3.  Have they done the parking study on W. Patriot Street?

Ms. Enos stated that previously Sean Garrigan came into Council and wanted us to reach out to PENNDOT to see if they could come in to do a parking study, so the State could mark the lines when they go down W. Patriot Street and do their line painting every year.  The State wanted to see where the parking would be.  PENNDOT responded back, in letter writing, stating that they do traffic studies, but they will not do parking studies.  So if Borough Council wanted to make defined parking spaces on W. Patriot Street, then we’re going to have to put the allotted amounts based on the regulations. This will result in losing an entire street side of parking if we do that.  We can continue to keep it as it is, because there’s no defined parking.  But if Council wants to define the parking spaces, again, because it has to be up to regulations, it will result in the loss of parking on an entire street side.  

      4. Should we start looking at the heating system in the Fire Hall in light of what happened to the heat this past winter?

Mr. Shaulis mentioned that he spoke to Ms. Enos about the heating system in the Fire Hall. Ms. Enos got a bid to put a new roof unit in. Mr. Shaulis mentioned that if the unit goes down, they have no heat at all. He mentioned that this is what happened this winter, in the truck bay area, for approximately 7-8 weeks.  Ms. Enos mentioned that the replacement part had to be fabricated, so that is why it took so long to get the heat back on. Mr. Shaulis mentioned that a new roof unit, and boiler, was installed in the Fire Hall in 2008.  Ms. Enos’ suggested that she and Mr. Shaulis sit down with the Engineer’s and look at different options for heating systems. Ms. Enos also suggested that a list be made, to present to Council, for the budgeting for next year. Discussions were then held on what areas of the building the boiler in the basement heats.  Ms. Enos stated they would also have to discuss how a new roof unit would affect the other system that is running in the Public Safety Building.  Mr. Shaulis and Ms. Enos agreed that the process should begin to get this project started.

 (f)  Request Form Submitted by Council Member Sue Opp:

      1. When do we get to request more street lights?  How many are we allowed to get per year?  Have they raised our rates or are we still realizing a savings?

          The street lights we did were converted over to LED lights.  There’s 24 in the first project.  The 24 lights we can get, at a time, are over a phased-in process.  Ms. Enos mentioned that they will let us know whenever the next round comes due so we can apply.  She stated that they get in touch with us, then we have to give them pole numbers for all the ones that need to be converted next. This is when the process opens back up, and this hasn’t happened yet. Ms. Enos stated that we haven’t seen any adjustments to the rates, therefore, we are still seeing a savings.

      2. At the corner of Ogle/Smith and Tayman is a muddy mess.  The Borough installed pipes, and they don’t match up.  The Drainage is poor and there is lots of water and mud.

Ms. Enos explained that she and Chuck went out to look at this area of complaint.  She stated that the pipes that supposedly don’t match up, in the catch basin, are actually normal.  Ms. Enos explained that the catch basin has 3 separate drainage storm systems coming in from different directions. She stated that the catch basin is large enough to handle all the water coming in.  Ms. Enos said that at the time she and Chuck were out there investigating the area, they didn’t see any water ponding. They wanted to make sure that everything was moving free and clear so they could get out there and clean the storm lines. They wanted to be certain there was no blockage, and nothing was impeding the flow of the water.  Ms. Enos, again, mentioned that she didn’t see any water ponding.  Ms. Enos asked Mrs. Opp to please let the people, who complained about this area, know that we are going to get out there to clean the storm lines to see if it makes a difference.  If it doesn’t, we will research the problem further.  

 (g)  Lions Club Project – Discussion concerning a request to install security cameras at our Union Street Playground.

Mr. Cascio mentioned that he spoke with Bob Thomas about the surveillance cameras that the Lions Club want to install at our Union Street Playground.  Mr. Cascio said that issues of implied consent came up in their conversation.  They also talked about whether the cameras can be used as evidence.  Mr. Cascio then asked Mr. Thomas who was going to operate the cameras, and who would have access to the recordings or the output.  Mr. Thomas answered that the Lions Club personnel is proposing to have that access.  Mr. Cascio asked Mr. Thomas if he had any objection to having access to it if we need the recordings for any evidentiary purposes.  Mr. Cascio stated that he doesn’t know how the Lions Club would want the cameras deployed, and if we would agree to the surveillance in the areas of the playground they want to monitor, especially from a Police point of view.  Mr. Cascio said that Mr. Thomas was willing to look at all these things. Mr. Cascio stated that he believes the Lions Club may want the cameras there to protect their building.  Mr. Cascio stated that Mr. Thomas was recommending that they meet with Ms. Enos or himself about this issue. Discussion was held about the bathrooms at the playground, and whether a surveillance camera could be pointed at the outside entrance door of the bathroom, because of vandalism and the ensuing damage.

Adjournment   

Motion

            Mrs. Ream moved to adjourn, motion seconded by Mrs. Opp                                                                                                                                                  
Motion Unanimously Carried.
6:22     p.m.                                                                                                                                                            

________________________________
Michele A. Enos, Borough Secretary