Trafford Borough
Monthly Business Meeting Minutes- Tuesday, April 3, 2018
The Trafford Borough Council held
its monthly business meeting on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 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 Borough
Secretary, Nina Solivan:
(Present) Kris Cardiff, President Leslie
Peters
Carol Morrow,
Vice-President Cheryl Petersen
Dennis Hockenberry Casey
Shoub
Ashely Stack, Borough
Manager Ed Llewellyn, Mayor
Craig Alexander, Solicitor Don
Glenn, Engineer
Brian Lindbloom,
Fire Chief Lou
Corrales, Public Works Foreman
(Absent) John
Eliyas, EMC
Notice of Executive Sessions held
Tuesday, April 3, 2018, for matters of personnel.
Minutes- A motion “to
accept the minutes of March 6, 2018, regular meeting minutes” was made by
Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Cole. The motion carried
unanimously.
Payment of Bills-
A motion “to approve the expense voucher list dated, April 3, 2018” was made by
Councilman Hockenberry and seconded by Councilwoman Morrow. The motion carried
unanimously.
Resolution _ of 2018
A motion “to adopt the resolution
recognizing Penn Township Ambulance, Michael Andras, Dr. Daniel Schwartz and
the Trafford Borough Police Department for their response and aid to an
incident on December 8, 2017.” Was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by
Councilman Shoub.
Solicitor Alexander read the
resolution.
Councilman Hockenberry questioned
why the police officer who responded wasn’t named in the resolution. Solicitor
Alexander stated the two individuals named are the two that performed the care.
Councilwoman Peters questioned
what the resolution means. Solicitor
Alexander stated just for recognition.
Penn Township Ambulance Chief Ed
Grant presented a certificate to the Trafford Police Department.
The motion carried unanimously.
Don Glenn, Engineer-
-
Don mentioned
the CDBG projects, BY Bathroom Restorations and Cavitt Avenue Curb Ramps both
have separate budgets but if one is underfunded and the other is overfunded we
can transfer between the two projects.
Public Comment
Patricia Paola, 74 First Street- Questioned if a letter was written and sent to the proper authorities about the trains. Also, was there a response? Ms. Paola stated she is fed up with
the train situation. The main line is not the issue. I fear this issue is
starting to affect my health. How do we get a barrier wall up?
Ms. Paola questioned why anyone
who signs up for public comment has to wait for a response. Ms. Paola stated
you all are elected officials we should not have to wait twenty minutes for an
answer.
Ms. Paola questioned when
something will be done about the road where the busses layover. The road is in
deplorable condition and the stop sign has been down for over two weeks now.
Borough response: Solicitor Alexander stated he forwarded the
letter to council for approval tonight. Ms. Morrow has been in contact with
connections she has with North Folk Southern and we wanted to give her an
opportunity to see if she could get the issue resolved at a local level. We
hadn’t heard anything back so Ms. Stack informed Mr. Alexander to have the
letter prepared. Once the letter gets approved by council the letter will go out
via email and US Mail. Solicitor Alexander stated he’s never heard of a barrier
wall within a municipality. Public comment is not a debate, you present your
comment and council responds. It is the most professional way to handle
business so the general business does not get delayed. We have a discussion
meeting every quarter which is an open forum for residents is.
Councilwoman Morrow stated she hasn’t gotten any response, but
with the constant phone calls to North Folk Southern we have aggravated them. Councilwoman
Morrow states she has sent a letter to Charles Morman
the CEO of North Folk Southern, the CFO Marta Stewart, and the COO Mark Manyon with no response.
Also sent a letter to Chris Collie at the local North Folk Southern
office and Mr. Collie stated he will see what he can do.
Borough Manager Stack stated the barriers have been put up on
viaduct way to prohibit the busses from parking on that side of the road. In
the beginning of Ms. Stacks employment with the borough there was a meeting
with Port Authority to see if they would help fix the road. The bus has the
current route so the borough owned roads would incur the least amount of
damage.
Lynnwood Leeman, 334 Fourth Street- Various complaints on potholes. Questioned how many Public Works
employees there are and how they do their job. Large tree limbs need cleaned up
at Memorial Park. Mr. Leeman stated public works has done a poor job keeping
sidewalks clean during the winter.
Borough
Response: Borough Engineer Don Glenn stated the borough would be wasting money
on cold patch, it has no substance and will come right up in a few days. Most
municipalities wait for the hot material to be made, it cannot be made until
the weather gets warmer. You will spend the same amount of money on cold patch
as the hot patch it’s senseless to spend the money rather than wait a few
weeks.
Public Works
Foreman Lou Corrales stated public works plans on patching Sixth Street to
Third Street.
Borough
Manager Stack stated again to Mr. Leeman a lot of these issues have not been
addressed due to being short staffed. We also are mandated to fix Wallace
Avenue Bridge which will take half of our Liquid Fuels Fund.
Wallace Ave
Bridge Deck
A motion “to authorize a contract
with A. Folino
Construction for Wallace Avenue Bridge Deck repairs in the amount of $23,342.02.”
was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion
carried unanimously.
Wallace Ave
Bridge Concrete
A motion “to authorize a contract with Satira Construction
for the Wallace Avenue Bridge Concrete repairs in the amount of $9,000.00” was
made by Councilwoman Peters and seconded by Councilwoman Morrow. The
motion carried unanimously.
ADA Curb
Ramps
A motion “to authorize a contract with Independent Enterprises for
the ADA Curb Ramp project in the amount of $35,200.00” was made by Councilwoman
Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub.
Councilwoman Peters questioned if
Glenn Engineering vets the contractors? Don informed Councilwoman Peters yes
and we always have inspectors on the jobs.
Borough Manager Stack stated this
is why we also require bid bonds.
The motion carried unanimously.
Rejection of
Bids for BY Park Restroom Project
A motion “to reject the sole bid
from Whitby for the BY Restroom Project in the amount of $42,128.00 and
re-advertise” was made by Councilman Cole and seconded by Councilwoman Peters.
Don Glenn stated the contractor
failed to complete the proper paperwork that is mandated under the federal guidelines.
The contractor also failed to submit background information to Glenn
Engineering as part of the specifications. Did not submit any completed
projects within the last five years. The
motion carried unanimously.
Murrysville
Road Drainage and Paving
A motion “to authorize a contract
with Victor Paving for the Murrysville Road Drainage and Paving project in the
amount of $201,870.08” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by
Councilwoman Morrow.
Borough Engineer Don Glenn
informed the public PennDot will annually reimburse
the borough for the maintenance of the road.
The motion carried unanimously.
Trafford
Borough Police Civil Service Rules & Regulations
A motion “to adopt the Police
Civil Service Rules and Regulations” was made by Councilman Hockenberry and
seconded by Councilwoman Peters.
Councilman Shoub questioned the
amount of money that was spent on updating the rules and led into a discussion
with Councilman Hockenberry.
The motion carried unanimously.
Advertise for
a Full-Time Public Works Laborer
A motion ‘’to advertise for a
full-time public works laborer” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by
Councilwoman Peters.
Councilman Hockenberry stated he
does not feel that we are in that great of shape to hire.
Councilwoman Morrow stated if we
do not hire an employee to keep up with the MS4 mandates our fines will cost
more than an employee.
Councilman Cardiff stated we also
need to maintain our streets, public works is shorthanded, and we need to be
proactive on this.
Councilman Hockenberry questioned
if we would be hiring seasonal help.
Councilman Shoub stated if we
don’t hire seasonal help we are going to be paying full time employees to cut
grass.
Borough Manager Stack stated there
was $45,000.00 budgeted with unused full-time wages and part-time wages, as a
rough estimate we would be paying a new full timer $35,000.00. Which would
leave a surplus of $10,000.00.
The motion carried unanimously.
Approval of
the lot line revision at 211 Cavitt Avenue & Second Street
A motion ”to
approve the lot line revision at 211 Cavitt Avenue and Second Street” was made
by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub.
Councilwoman Morrow stated at the
planning commission meeting held on Monday, March 12, 2018 here is a husband
and wife whom are separating lots she will be keeping the house and he will be
keeping the garage.
Solicitor Alexander stated when
you sub-divide a property the structure on the property must be primary
structure. A garage is an accessory structure, which raises a legal issue and
may be required to go to the zoning hearing board for a variance.
Councilman Shoub stated the garage
was once a commercial property. Solicitor Alexander stated that could be
considered a primary structure.
A motion “to table the motion for
30 days” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Morrow. The
motion carried unanimously.
Administrative Reports
Borough Manager-
Parks will be opening within the next few weeks’ weather dependent. The next
sewage billing will be coming from PTSA. The ALCOSAN bill for the last quarter
was $127,585.03. Michael Burnett did accept the position of Code Enforcement
Officer at a rate of $14.00 per hour, his hours are 8:30-4:30 Tuesday’s and
Wednesday’s. We are happy to announce
council will be provided with an updated financial report for the next meeting.
We are finally moving in the right direction.
Code Enforcement-
A total of ten complaints. With 15 new occupancy inspections. One stop work
order was issued. Three zoning permits were issued. Amusement tax fees were
solicited.
Borough Solicitor-
There is a provision in the municipalities planning code “No-impact home-based
business,” a business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an
accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling
and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or
pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in
excess of those normally associated with residential use. The business or
commercial activity must satisfy the following requirements: (1) The business
activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and
surrounding residential uses. (2) The business shall employ no employees other
than family members residing in the dwelling. (3) There shall be no display or
sale of retail goods and no stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.
(4) There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not
limited to, parking, signs or lights. (5) The business activity may not use any
equipment or process which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or
electrical or electronic interference, including interference with radio or
television reception, which is detectable in the neighborhood. 5 (6) The
business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge, in
volume or type, which is not normally associated with residential use in the
neighborhood. (7) The business activity shall be conducted only within the
dwelling and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area. (8) The
business may not involve any illegal activity.
CEA’s Craig McVicker condemned and
ordered 501 Cavitt Avenue (Old Bank Building) be demolished. The property owners
lawyer filled an injunctive relief arguing we should be adjoined from
demolishing the building, he wanted an emergency injunction, a preliminary
injunction and a permanent injunction. The property owner is required to submit
a bond and he wanted the bond to be $1.00. We argued the bond must be
substantial. In order for a hearing to be held the sum of $44,000.00 must be
deposited within ten business days. If the bond is not posted there will be no
preliminary injunction. The lawyer has reached out to Solicitor Alexander to
sit down and try to resolve some of the issues. Craig stated he will talk to
Craig McVicker at CEA to see if he would be willing to do so. If Craig McVicker
thinks it’s worthwhile to sit down we will extend the ten day period.
EMS- There were
29 calls for the month of March, 3 calls were handled by North Huntingdon and 1
by Murrysville.
Trafford VFD- There were
17 total alarms for the month of March. There was one building fire in town
with a total loss of $35,000.00. Hoagie sale Friday and Saturday during
clean-up days. Keep in mind Memorial Day parade is coming up. Brian questioned
the helicopter. Borough Manager Stack stated they are permitted by the FAA and
will be gone by Tuesday.
EMC- No Report.
Rec Board- None.
TECDC- Nicole Montecupo reported the sign is up and working, it will be
updated every Monday. Nicole also has drafted the rules for the new sign for
council to look over. With a copy on file.
TECDC meets in the library lot at 9:00 a.m. to help clean up downtown
Trafford. TECDC is actively fundraising for a bike rack for BY Park. The county
has provided the TECDC with gloves and vests for 80,000 people.
WHT- There will
be a meeting April 12, 2018 Councilman Cole is looking to get an update on the
fourth street section we are trying to acquire.
Mayor’s Report-
There were several car break-ins please lock your doors. For the month of March
there were 145 service calls, 40 citations were issued, and 14 criminal cases
filed to date.
Mayor Llewellyn addressed Mr.
Leeman’s tree limb complaints and informed him during the summer he borrows a
public works truck and removes the limbs from the park.
Public Works Foreman Lou Corrales
indicated there are individuals whom need to perform community service directed
from Judge Helen Kistler, Lou informed Judge Kistler the borough would be open
to the idea as long as the parents are there to supervise for a total of 16
hours.
Lou asked Nicole if that is
something she would be willing to do, Nicole stated she would sign off on those
hours as long as the parents are present.
Committee Report
Community Development-
Clean up days April 27th and April 28th .
Looking for volunteers to help the beautification club clean up the garden and
hillside at the BY during clean up days. Looking into a community notification
system such as Nixel to notify residents of emergency
situations or other important general information. Free to the citizens but not
to the borough.
Sanitation- Clean
up days April 27th 12:00pm to 8:00pm and April 28th
8:00 am to 4:30 pm. No Hazardous waste or electronics.
Presidents Report-
We sent a letter of support to the Historical Society for a grant they have
submitted to place historical signage around the borough.
New Business
A motion
“to advertise for a maximum of part-time public works employees” was made by
Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Petersen. The motion carried
unanimously.
Mayor
Llewellyn reported a tri-axel of aggregate for each field will be delivered
April 21, 2018 for the softball clean-up day.
Councilwoman
Peters gave a statement as follows; Volunteers are the backbone of our
community. Many activities, events and services cannot take place without their
efforts. Some give their time and energy, some give their money, and some put
their lives on the line or all three. Most of them elected us to do what is
right for our community, and to support their efforts. Not to trash talk what
they try to do or publicly defame their character. Please think of their
families. I am personally embarrassed about what I have most recently heard and
need everyone to understand the behavior and actions of elected officials from
this borough do not reflect my beliefs. I believe in this town and all of its
people and its volunteer’s. Please keep volunteering and I will stand with you
and keep cheering you on.
Adjournment
Councilman Cardiff announced the discussion
meeting will be held Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 7:00 pm in the Manchester Room.
Councilman Cardiff announced the next regular
business meeting will be held Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at 7:00 pm in the Markosek Council Chambers.
A motion “to adjourn” was made by
Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried
unanimously.