Monthly
Business Meeting Minutes- April 2, 2019
The Trafford Borough Council held its monthly business meeting on
Tuesday, April 2, 2019, at 7:01 p.m., in the Council Chambers.
Council President, Kris Cardiff, called the meeting to order and
led the Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence.
Roll Call of Attendance by Assistant Borough Manager, Nina
Solivan:
(Present) Kris Cardiff, Council President Craig
Alexander, Solicitor
Casey
Shoub, Council Vice-President Ed Llewellyn, Mayor
Steven Perovich,
Councilmember Louis
Corrales, Public Works Foreman
Leslie Peters, Councilmember Ashley
Stack, Borough Manager
Cheryl Petersen, Councilmember
(Absent) Zackery Cole Councilmember, Joshua Sanders Councilmember, Don Glenn
Engineer, and John Eliyas EMC
Notice of Executive Session held April 2, 2019, for legal matters.
Minutes: A motion “to
accept the minutes of March 5, 2019, regular meeting” was made by Councilman Perovich
and seconded by Councilwoman Peters. The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
Payment of
Bills: A motion “to approve the expense voucher list dated, April 2,
2019” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Perovich. The
motion carried unanimously 5-0.
Public
Comment:
Delores Sutton 601 Brinton Avenue: Ms. Sutton came before council
to inquire about a better alert system for emergencies. Ms. Sutton stated she
and her neighbors were unaware of the Manchester Room warming center during the
February 25th power outage. Ms. Sutton suggested knocking on doors
or perhaps a bull horn. Ms. Sutton also questioned the status of the Seventh
and Brinton Ave slide. Ms. Sutton questioned where the new polling locations
will be. Ms. Sutton also expressed concerns regarding the Library’s drag queen
bingo and story hour.
Borough response: Councilman Cardiff stated the warming center
information was placed on social media. Councilman Perovich stated the Fire
Department during a snowstorm in 2009 went out and around town on the intercom
and announced the middle school as an emergency shelter. Borough Manager Stack
stated the wall is completed the water company will be coming in within the
next week to mill the roadway and then pave which is all weather dependent.
Councilman Cardiff was unaware of the polling places being moved. Fire Chief
Lindbloom stated the new location for both districts will be at St. Regis
Parish. Councilman Cardiff stated the library is its own organization, the
borough has no control over what events they hold. Borough Manager Stack stated
drag queen bingos are a very popular fundraiser and they also bring in a lot of
revenue.
Lester Race 271 Hillcrest Drive: Mr. Race came before council to
appeal the $500.00 fee for use of the South Trafford Ballfield. His group only
uses one field for twelve Monday’s out of the summer. Neighboring fields either
charge a small fee of $100.00 or no fee at all. Mr. Race asked council to
consider a fee of $100.00 instead of $500.00
Borough response: Councilman Shoub stated he personally doesn’t
feel that the borough does enough to encourage senior activities and does not
have any issue with changing the fee to $100.00.
A motion “to reduce the ballfield rental fee from $500.00 to
$100.00 for the senior citizen group” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded
by Councilwoman Petersen.
Mayor Llewellyn questioned how many players on the team are from
Trafford? Mr. Race stated two individuals are from Trafford. Mayor Llewellyn
stated the seniors do not contribute towards clean-up or maintenance of the
fields, like the girls’ softball teams do. The girls’ softball has clean-up day
this Saturday and the seniors should be there to help as well. Roll call vote was taken Councilman Cardiff
and Councilman Perovich voted no, Councilwoman Peters, Councilwoman Petersen
and Councilman Shoub voted yes. The motion carries 3-2.
Jim Emerick 625 Sixth Street: Mr. Emerick came before council to gain
clarification on the boroughs’ tree policy. Mr. Emerick inquired about whose
responsibility a tree is if it falls onto the roadway.
Borough response: Solicitor Alexander stated as per the provisions
of the borough code the responsibility of the trees in a right-of-way is the
responsibility of the property owner. Councilman Cardiff suggested reaching out
to Duquesne Light for help with trees with lines.
Timothy Martin 413 Duquesne Avenue: Mr. Martin came before council
to inquire about the recent sewage bill postings. Mr. Martin received a
delinquent notice and saw on Facebook approximately fifty other residents did
as well but did not receive an original bill. Mr. Martin inquired if there will
be an investigation on this matter.
Borough response: Councilman Cardiff thanked Mr. Martin for coming
to the meeting and addressing council. Borough Manager Stack stated we have
been keeping a list of those individuals who have not received a bill and are
planning on meeting with PTSA. We have looked on our end and could not find any
issues. We are unaware if this is human error, a glitch with the software or
the post office. PTSA sends out 1,400 bills and we have 10 documented calls
from individuals who did not receive a bill which is less than one percent. We
are looking into this matter.
Councilwoman Peters asked Borough Manager Stack to explain how the
billing is generated. Borough Manager Stack stated the billing is performed by
Penn Township Sewage Authority and mailed out of the Irwin Post Office.
Don Glenn,
Engineer: No report.
Borough
Manager: Borough Manager Stack reported the playground at the South
Trafford Ballfield has been removed. The borough has received its new MS4
permit we will be reviewing what will be cost and credit effective. Councilman
Shoub has been verifying and reviewing street lights once the list has been compiled
we will be meeting with Duquesne Light. The borough was not selected for the
Local Government Academy’s 2019 summer intern program however she will be
reaching out to some of the local colleges to see if there is any interest out
there. Borough Manager Stack stated she has contacted the engineer regarding
the street paving list, she inquired if we should use the one that was done in
2017 or compile a new list. She is waiting to hear back.
Code
Enforcement: Borough Manager Stack reported there were eight occupancy
inspections filed, six follow-up occupancy inspections completed, a total of two
occupancy permits were issued and one zoning permit was issued. There was one
grass/weeds complaint that was filed and is in progress. There were four
garbage/ trash complaints filed with one abated and three in progress. There
were six property maintenance complaints filed and all are in progress.
Solicitor: Solicitor
Alexander stated all his items were covered during the executive session with
nothing further to add.
EMS: No report.
Trafford VFD:
Fire
Chief Lindbloom reported there were six calls for the month of March and the
year to date to forty-three calls. There were one hundred eighty-nine
non-emergency medical transfers for the month of March. The fire department will
have the annual hoagie sale during clean-up days. We held a CPR class for a
local dentist office and their staff. Fourteen members of the fire department
refreshed their hazardous material operations certification, this is done every
year along with Larimer Fire Department. During the month of April, members
will be sent to Cambria County for their pump level II certifications. Members
will also be completing driver certification at the Allegheny County fire
academy.
EMC: No report.
Rec Board: Rose Frolinni
reported the pavilion at the Terrace Playground is complete, and the board
plans to purchase two picnic tables for the pavilion. The Easter egg hunt will
be held April 13th at 2:00 p.m. at BY Park for ages 2-10.
TECDC: No report.
WHT: No report.
Mayor’s
Report: Mayor Llewellyn reported for the month of February there were a
total of one hundred and twenty calls, eleven criminal cases filed with
additional pending investigation, and twenty citations were issued. Mayor
Llewellyn stated the Crime Watch meetings will be held the third Wednesday of
every month at 7:00 p.m. at the American Legion. We are looking for a block
monitor, one resident per block. The memorial bench for Renee was purchased in
the amount of $3000.00 all funds were raised; the bench will be delivered
soon.
General
Government: No report.
Finance: No report.
Community
Development: No report.
Public
Safety: No report.
Public Works:
No
report.
Sanitation: Councilman
Shoub announced clean-up days for May 3, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and
May 4, 2019, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Presidents
Report- Councilman Cardiff reviewed last months public comment with no
further action required.
Animal
Control Contract
A motion “to authorize a contract with Sable Kennel to continue
handling dog and animal control services for Trafford Borough” was made by
Councilwoman Peters and seconded by Councilwoman Petersen.
Borough Manager Stack stated the contract would be for twenty-four
months ending April 2020. Sable Kennel is to perform the following duties; 1. to
collect and capture all dogs running at large in the said municipality, if
possible or to collect and capture as many dogs running at large within said
municipality as is reasonably possible. 2. to hold licensed dogs for a period
of no more than five (5) days after capture, after having notified the owner,
also to feed and water all dogs while in custody. 3. to hold all stray or
otherwise appearing to be unlicensed dogs, and in good health, for a period of
48 hours, after which time said dogs will be adopted out, placed in rescue or
humanely destroyed.
The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
Salary
Increase for William Holby
A motion “to increase William Holby’s pay rate to $12.00 an hour”
was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Perovich.
Borough Manager Stack stated Mr. Holby has been with the borough
since May of 2018 and is a hard worker, he has saved the borough a significant
amount of money with his prior work experience of being a mechanic.
The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
Final
Payment to Victor Paving
A motion “to authorize the final payment to Victor Paving in the
amount of $9,425.00, for Murrysville Road” was made by Councilman Shoub and
seconded by Councilwoman Petersen.
Councilman Cardiff stated the repairs of Murrysville Road were
paid by the state with the turnback program. Now that the final payment has
been issued the road is now the borough’s responsibility.
Borough Manager Stack stated with the Borough Engineers
recommendation to not release the final payment until the maintenance bond in
the total amount of the project has been received. We received the bond today.
The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
Payment
to Westmoreland Construction Group
A motion “to authorize payment to Westmoreland Construction Group
for $15,094.00, for the Terrace Park pavilion” was made by Councilwoman Peters
and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
New
Business
Councilman Perovich stated the cell tower on Route 130 is not in
Trafford but in Level Green.
Adjournment
Councilman Cardiff announced the next regular meeting for Tuesday,
May 7, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
Councilman Cardiff announced the discussion meeting for Tuesday, April
16, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in the Manchester Room.
A motion “to adjourn” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by
Councilwoman Peters. The motion carried unanimously 5-0.
The meeting closed at 7:45 p.m.