Council Meeting Minutes will be posted after they are approved at the following meeting.
1. Meeting Called to Order – President Ream.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call:
a) Borough Council Members present: Pam Ream, Lee Hoffman, Sue Opp, Steve
Shaulis, Ian Mandichak and Mario Dirienzo.
b) Borough Council Member absent: Ruby Miller.
c) Also present: Mayor Fred Rosemeyer.
d) Also present were the following: Borough Manager, Michele Enos; Director of Finance, Brett Peters; Municipal Authority Manager, Jessica Sizemore; Chief of Police, Rich Appel; Solicitor Lois Caton, and Consulting Engineers, Tom Reilly & Jake Bolby.
e) Public Attendance: Alec Bittner.
4. Approval of Agenda:Consider approving the agenda as presented.
Motion
Mr. Hoffman moved, Mr. Mandichak seconded, to approve the agenda.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5. Announcements:
a) None
6. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting(s)
a) July 7th, 2025 – Borough Council Meeting Minutes.
Motion
Mr. Shaulis moved, Mrs. Opp seconded, to approve the July 7th, 2025 Borough Council Meeting Minutes.
Motion Unanimously Carried
7. Award of Bids:
a) None
8. General Public Comments:
a) None Requested
9. Administrative Business:
a) Communications – (none)
b) Payment of Bills – Months of July/August 2025.
Motion:
Mrs. Opp moved, Mr. Mandichak seconded, to approve the payment of bills for the month August 2025 numbered 43517– 43776 totaling $931,136.78.
Motion Unanimously Carried
c) Department Reports – Consider approving the Departmental Reports for the month of July 2025.
Motion
Mr. Hoffman moved, Mr. Dirienzo seconded, to approve the Departmental Reports for the month of July 2025.
Motion Unanimously Carried
10. Policy Agenda:
Old Business:
a) None
New Business:
a) Resolution No. 2025-06– Consider authorizing the disposal of certain Borough records in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Commonwealth’s Record Retention and Disposition Schedule.
Motion
Mr. Dirienzo moved, Mrs. Opp seconded, to authorize the disposal of certain Borough records in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Commonwealth’s Record Retention and Disposition Schedule.
Motion Unanimously Carried
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-06
RESOLVED, by the Council of the Borough of Somerset, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, that...
WHEREAS, a Local Government Records Committee was created by Act 428 of 1968, and empowered thereby to make rules and regulations for records disposition; and…
WHEREAS, by virtue of Resolution No. 87-02 adopted on April 27, 1987 the Borough of Somerset declared its intent to follow the schedules and procedures for the disposition of records set forth in the Municipal Records Manual and…
WHEREAS, said Municipal Records Manual was updated December 16th 2008 and amended on March 28th, 2019… and…
WHEREAS, The Borough of Somerset wishes to dispose of records according to statutory requirements …
WHEREAS, the Council of the Borough of Somerset, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, intends to follow the schedules and procedures for disposition of records as set forth in the Municipal Records Manual as approved and updated, 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 Borough of Somerset; Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in accordance with the above cited Municipal Records Manual, hereby authorizes the disposal of the following public records:
WATER AND SEWER BILLING DEPARTMENT RECORDS:
WATER TREATMENT PLANT RECORDS:
Adopted this 25th day of August 2025
b) Building Code Official – Ratify the “Notice of Change in Building Code Official” Form for the PA Department of Labor and Industry.
Ms. Enos stated that the President of Council signed off on this document to make the 30-day due date after the new Building Code Official took over.
Motion
Mr. Mandichak moved, Mrs. Ream seconded, to Ratify the “Notice of Change in Building Code Official” Form for the PA Department of Labor and Industry.
Motion Unanimously Carried
c) November & December Meeting Dates –Discussion concerning the dates for November and December Council Meetings. (2026 Budget Process)
After discussion of the upcoming holidays in November & December 2025, Council agreed to have the Special Budget/Council Meeting on Monday, November 3rd, the Tentative Budget/Council Meeting on Monday, November 24th, and the FINAL Budget/Council Meeting on Monday, December 15th.
Committee Business/Reports:
i) Borough Manager’s Report – Given by Michele Enos.
Ms. Enos giving her Manager’s Report in Executive Session.
j) Finance Report – Given by Brett Peters.
Mr. Peters provided Borough Council with the year-to-date Financial Report through July 2025. We are 7/12th’s of the way through the year or 58.33%.
General Fund: Water Fund: Sewer Fund: Stormsewer Fund:
Revenues – 80.35% Revenues – 57.41% Revenues – 52.66% Revenues –27.12%
Expenses – 53.95% Expenses – 49.14% Expenses – 53.69% Expenses – 0.09%
k) Municipal Authority Manager’s Report – Given by Jess Sizemore.
Mrs. Sizemore had nothing further to report.
l) President’s Report – Given by Pam Ream.
Mrs. Ream mentioned how nice “Chalk the Block” was. She thanked PennDOT, the Borough, and the Police & Fire Departments for all their help.
She also mentioned how nice “Night Out” was and noted that it was well attended.
Mayor Rosemeyer expressed the fabulous job Krista and Jody, from the Police Department, did with “Night Out”, and during the “Every Child Matters” Event at the Georgian Place in Somerset this past weekend. He added that they both do a lot for the Police Department and the Borough.
m) Somerset Inc. Report – Given by Lee Hoffman.
Mr. Hoffman noted that “Chalk the Block” was another great event. He thanked the Borough, Public Works and the Police & Fire Departments for all the coordination in shutting down the streets.
Somerset Inc.’s Annual Meeting is on September 23rd, 2025. Mr. Hoffman invited all of Council, as the Borough’s Representatives, to attend. Somerset Inc. is aiming to have Diamond Row, aka the former Brinker Building, more presentable for tourism around that time.
Lastly, Mr. Hoffman mentioned that “Light Up Night” and “Fire & Ice” are being planned for in the upcoming months.
n) PSAB Report – Given by Fred Rosemeyer.
Mayor Rosemeyer noted that the PSAB Conference will be held at State College, Pa October 3rd - 5th, 2025. He reviewed the Agenda with Council Members.
Also, the County Borough’s Association will hold their meeting October 16th, 2025 at Rizzo’s in Windber, PA.
o) Somerset Volunteer Fire Dept. Report – Given by Steve Shaulis.
Mr. Shaulis stated that from the beginning of the year, between the two Departments, they have answered 588 calls.
Mr. Shaulis said the Fire Department has been very busy this summer with all the events in the Borough. During “Chalk the Block”, the fire departments came together and organized a chicken barbeque selling 1,000 halves of chicken that weekend.
Both departments have just completed all of their hose testing, which is mandated by the insurance company. Over 19,000 feet of hose was tested.
Mr. Shaulis noted that the departments annual golf outing fundraiser is coming up in September. It will be held at the Country Club.
p) Engineer’s Report – Given by Jake Bolby.
Mr. Bolby presented the Updates to the Engineer’s Report.
WATER:
1) Water System Capital Improvement Projects:
Mr. Bolby said that that there will be a Waterline Repair Project starting in October 2025 down by the old feed mill which will take a week or two. It was awarded to Ligonier Construction.
SEWER:
1) Assessment, Repair, and Abatement Plan (Hydraulic Overload):
Mr. Bolby said that the contract for Phase 1A of the Sewer Project was awarded to Snyder Environmental Services.
PennVEST’s settlement date is scheduled for September, 23rd, 2025. This allows the project to officially start. If everything goes well, the contractor will be issued the “Notice to Proceed” shortly after that.
Tentatively, they are looking to mobilize into town in October 2025, and the work will continue for the next 1½ years. The Brierwood area & West Somerset area will be focused on during this 1st Phase of the project.
Mr. Bolby said that the funding application was submitted for Phase 1B of the project on July 30th, 2025. It will be considered October 15th, 2025. The quickest this would come together would be the spring/summer of 2026. This phase will take place in the main part of town. It has not been put out for bid yet.
Mr. Bolby said that the permits are presently being worked on for Phase 1C of the project. A funding application is anticipated for February 2026, and would be considered in April 2026. The timing for this phase to start would be around winter/spring. Phase 1D would follow in 3-4 months.
GENERAL:
1) Center Ave. Sidewalk Project:
Mr. Bolby said that the contractor is in their warranty period. Borough Management and the contractor worked out a way to approach the scaling issues with the concrete. Contractors will perform the repairs in 2026 to give the Uptown area a 1-year reprieve from construction. He added that the excavation work required to remove the sidewalks will happen at night, and concrete will be poured during the day so the disruption to that area will be minimized.
q) Mayor’s Report – Given by Mayor Rosemeyer.
Mayor Rosemeyer said that the new Police vehicle with the blown engine has been repaired and is back in service.
He also mentioned that the Police Department needs to replace five Taser’s with their accessories. Taser’s are only warranted for 5 years.
Chief Appel mentioned that the requested Taser’s in 2025’s budget year was approved. Chief Appel obtained the proposal for the Taser’s in late August / early September 2024. At that time, the quote to replace the 5 Taser’s, with their accessories, was $15,000.00.
Chief Appel noted that he was not told that on January 1st, 2025, there would be a 46% increase. Therefore, when the Taser order was being placed in early January 2025, he was told that the cost rose from $15,000.00 to $28,000.00. With that in mind, the 2025 budget was prioritized, and other items that were requested and budgeted for in 2025 were not purchased.
Chief Appel added that future proposals will include some of these items that were unable to be purchased in the 2025 budget year due to the Taser’s increase in price.
Mayor Rosemeyer mentioned that there are four trained Operators efficient in using the drone that was purchased, and it was already used on two separate occasions.
Lastly, Mayor Rosemeyer mentioned that all of the Borough’s Police Officers have been qualified.
11. Executive Session: FOP Collective Bargaining and Personnel Matters.
Motion
Mrs. Opp moved, seconded by Mr. Mandichak, to go into Executive Session to discuss FOP Collective Bargaining and Personnel Matters.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5:46 p.m.
Back in Session
6:17 p.m.
Motion
Mrs. Opp moved, seconded by Mr. Hoffman, to authorize the advertisement to hire an Assistant Director of Finance. The cost of the position is allocated through the Borough’s three funds, and has no negative affect on the budget.
Motion Unanimously Carried
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion
Mr. Hoffman moved to adjourn; motion seconded by Mr. Dirienzo.
Motion Unanimously Carried
6:19 p.m.
_____________________________________________
Michele A. Enos, Borough Manager/ Secretary