Council Meeting Minutes will be posted after they are approved at the following meeting.
The Borough of Somerset Council Meeting
March 23rd, 2026 - 5:00 p.m.
1. Meeting Called to Order– President Ream.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
a) Borough Council Members present: Pam Ream, Lori Barnhart, Lee Hoffman, Sue Opp, Steve Shaulis, Ian Mandichak and Mario Dirienzo.
b) Also present: Mayor Fred Rosemeyer.
c) Also present were the following: Borough Manager, Michele Enos; Municipal Authority Manager, Jessica Sizemore; Director of Finance, Brett Peters; Assistant Director of Finance, Matthew Franciscus; Chief of Police, Rich Appel, Consulting Engineers, Tom Reilly & Jake Bolby.
d) Public Attendance: Alec J. Bittner.
4. Approval of Agenda: Consider approving the agenda as presented.
Motion
Mr. Mandichak moved, Mrs. Opp seconded, to approve the agenda as presented.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5. Announcements:
a) There was an executive session that was held on Monday, March 9th & March 16th 2026 to discuss personnel matters.
6. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting(s)
a) February 23rd, 2026 – Borough Council Meeting Minutes.
Motion
Mr. Dirienzo moved, Mr. Mandichak seconded, to approve the February 23rd, 2026Borough Council Meeting Minutes as presented.
Motion Unanimously Carried
7. Award of Bids:
a) None
8. General Public Comments:
a) Fire Chief Jim Clark – To discuss and recap the 2025 Fire Calls for Somerset Borough.
Chief Clark was not in attendance. Discussion on this topic will be held in April.
9. Administrative Business:
a) Communications – (none)
b) Payment of Bills – Month of March 2026.
Motion:
Mrs. Opp moved, Mr. Shaulis seconded, to approve the payment of bills for the month of March 2026 numbered 44622 – 44719 totaling $595,748.33.
Motion Unanimously Carried
c) Department Reports – Consider approving the Departmental Reports for the month of February 2026.
Motion
Mr. Dirienzo moved, Mr. Hoffman seconded, to approve the Departmental Reports for the month of February 2026.
Motion Unanimously Carried
10. Policy Agenda:
Old Business:
a) None
New Business:
a) Mary S. Biesecker Public Library – Consider the resignation of Marsha Dykstra as a member of the Board of Directors.
Motion
Mrs. Ream moved, Ms. Barnhart seconded, to accept the resignation of Marsha Dykstra as a member of the Board of Directors.
Motion Unanimously Carried
b) Mary S. Biesecker Public Library – Consider the appointment of Julia Shetler to fill the unexpired term on the Board of Directors.
Motion
Mrs. Opp moved, Mr. Dirienzo seconded, to appoint Julia Shetler to fill the unexpired term on the Board of Directors.
Motion Unanimously Carried
c) Tax Claim Bureau Private Sale – Consider authorizing a “no objection” to the offer from Oralia Ponce Rubio to purchase the property of Charles R. Shaulis at 188 Missouri Street. (Lot 13 offer is $1,167.63 & Lot 15 offer is $2,074.70)
Ms. Enos stated that a sale of this kind has been done in the past. There are no homes on these two empty lots, which are up for tax sale. Both lots are residential properties.
Ms. Enos added that this sale goes in conjunction with the County, the School District and the Borough, and all have to approve of the sale.
Motion
Mr. Mandichak moved, Mr. Dirienzo seconded, to authorize a “no objection” to the offer from Oralia Ponce Rubio to purchase the two properties of Charles R. Shaulis at 188 Missouri Street.
Motion Unanimously Carried
d) Request from our Finance Department – Seeking Council’s authorization to pay certain invoices via ACH instead of a check to avoid late fees.
Mr. Peters stated that the Borough is being hit with late fees because checks and invoices are getting lost in the mail. ACH payments would help the Borough to avoid these late fees. Mr. Peters said that the Borough’s new Auditors agree with this as long as we have the same controls in place.
Explaining that a Borough check was recently intercepted in the mail, Mr. Peters stated ACH would be a safer alternative in preventing a reoccurrence.
In the interim, Mr. Peters suggested only paying the invoices, via ACH, for larger corporation-type payments, some payroll related transactions and UPMC Health Insurance. More vendors may be added in the future.
Motion
Mrs. Opp moved, Mr. Dirienzo seconded, to authorize to pay appropriate invoices, via ACH, instead of a check to avoid late fees or other issues.
Motion Unanimously Carried
e) Industrial Appraisals – Consider authorization to proceed with an Industrial Appraisal for all Borough assets.
Ms. Enos explained that an Industrial Appraisal is a company that comes in and values equipment assets and gives a real time value on property, infrastructure and anything assets related to the Borough.
Industrial Appraisals came in to give the Borough a quote on the General, Water and Sewer Funds. This was important, because the last time an appraisal was done was 15-20 years ago.
Ms. Enos said that each year an annual audit is done on the Borough’s insurance policies through Halverson Insurance. It was based upon the Borough’s Industrial Appraisal from over 15 years ago, and was used to cover everything under the insurance policies. Halverson’s do a typical inflationary adjustment to all of these costs over time.
Ms. Enos noted that the Borough may be paying more for things that aren’t valued like they should be because of the inflationary part that the insurance company charges. Our new CPA firm wants to establish an asset cost so it can be recorded on the Financial Statements. The Industrial Appraisal is something that the CPA firm has recommended to develop what the assets costs are, the value of them, and to get them properly insured.
There is a potential for the Borough to save money, especially on the Borough’s insurance policies. It may also be an asset to the Borough’s Financial Statements because PennVEST wants to see those things for financing these larger projects.
Ms. Enos disclosed that the Industrial quote for the General Fund is $6,980.00. The Municipal Authorities combined Water & Sewer Funds cost is $21,990.00.
Ms. Enos reiterated that this is something that would be better for future financing, and also for the audit and the Financial Statements. This would also most likely save the Borough money on insurance costs.
Motion
Mr. Mandichak moved, Mr. Dirienzo seconded, to authorize the Borough to proceed with an Industrial Appraisal for the Borough assets at an approximate cost of $28, 970.00.
Motion Unanimously Carried
Committee Business/Reports:
f) Borough Manager’s Report – Given by Michele Enos.
Ms. Enos had nothing further to discuss.
g) Finance Report – Given by Matt Franciscus.
Mr. Franciscus provided Borough Council with the year-to-date Financial Report through February 2026. We are 2/12th of the way through the year or 16.67%.
General Fund: Water Fund: Sewer Fund: Stormsewer Fund:
Revenues – 8.20% Revenues – 15.54% Revenues – 17.70% Revenues – 17.36%
Expenses – 17.23% Expenses – 16.32% Expenses – 18.60% Expenses – 5.17%
h) Municipal Authority Manager’s Report – Given by Jess Sizemore.
Mrs. Sizemore had nothing further to report.
i) President’s Report – Given by Pam Ream.
Mrs. Ream mentioned that the Borough will be getting dates from Pro-Disposal for Spring Clean-Up. Dates for clean-up will be announced when they are scheduled.
j) Somerset Inc. Report – Given by Lee Hoffman.
Mr. Hoffman mentioned that Somerset Inc. is in the hiring process for potentially two individuals.
“Chalk the Block” planning is well under way.
k) PSAB Report – Given by Fred Rosemeyer.
Mayor Rosemeyer said that the PSAB Conference will be held May 31st - June 3rd, 2026 in Hershey, PA.
The Somerset County Boroughs Association Meeting was held March 19th, 2026 at the Somerset Country Club. There were 44 individuals present with 11 Boroughs represented. He added that it went very well.
l) Somerset Volunteer Fire Dept. Report – Given by Steve Shaulis.
Mr. Shaulis said that to date, between the two fire departments, they have answered 185 fire calls.
Last Friday, March 13th, the Fire Department answered 14 calls which were all weather related calls. He thanked the Borough for their assistance on Grandview Avenue where a big tree fell down.
There was a large brush fire at Stutzmantown Road on March 22nd. It took a tremendous effort to put it out.
m) Engineer’s Report – Given by Jake Bolby.
Mr. Bolby presented the Updates to the Engineer’s Report.
SEWER:
1) Assessment, Repair, and Abatement Plan (Hydraulic Overload):
Mr. Bolby said that all the phases of the Sewer Project are progressing and on schedule.
They are continuing to be mindful of the construction in the Borough with the Western PA Fireman’s Convention that is going to be held August 5th – 8th, 2026.
n) Mayor’s Report – Given by Mayor Rosemeyer.
Mayor Rosemeyer stated that a Borough Officer recently completed his training to be a Certified Taser Trainer. All the Borough’s Officer’s will be officially trained on the use of the taser.
Mayor Rosemeyer also noted that there will be a “Dog Handling” training program on April 1st, 2026 at the Fire Hall. The program will include prevention of dogs bites, and how to handle the dogs.
Fire Arms training will start again. It is held twice a year.
Mayor Rosemeyer also mentioned that a Police car will be delivered soon.
Lastly, the radios are in the process of being updated.
11. Executive Session: Personnel Matters.
Motion
Mr. Dirienzo, seconded by Mrs. Opp, to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5:32 p.m.
Back in Session
5:53 p.m.
12. ADJOURNMENT
Motion
Mr. Dirienzo moved to adjourn; motion seconded by Mr. Shaulis.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5:58 p.m.
_____________________________________________
Michele A. Enos, Borough Manager/ Secretary