1.     Call to Order

 

2.     Moment of Silence & Pledge of Allegiance

 

3.     Roll Call done by: Nina Mulnix

 

Council present: Councilmember Bayko, Councilmember Cardiff, Councilmember Cole, Councilmember Corrales, Councilmember Perovich, Councilmember Shoub

 

Council not present: Councilmember Batzel

 

Other staff present: Mayor Llewellyn, Solicitor Craig Alexander, Borough Manager Jaime Peticca, Code Enforcement Officer Andrea McCord, Borough Secretary Nina Mulnix, Engineer Don Glenn, Fire Chief Brian Lindbloom.

 

4.     Notice of Executive Session held August 2, 2022, for matters of personnel and litigation and collective bargaining.

 

5.     Approve the July 5th, 2022, regular meeting minutes.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Perovich

b.     Second: Councilmember Cole

c.      Discussion: No Discussion   

d.     Vote:  5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)   

 

6.     Approve the July 5th, 2022, expense voucher list.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Bayko  

b.     Second: Councilmember Corrales

c.      Discussion: No Discussion  

d.     Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)   

 

7.     Public Comment

Councilmember Cardiff to provide response after each resident completes their comments.

 

a.      Mark Kozubal- (14 Meadow Street) Three things to address. First: Commend the work that was done on Meadow Street by the gas company repairing the gas leak. Second:  Forbes Road going into the Commerce center there is a lot of debris, trees blocking ¾ of the crick, that backs up anywhere from Money Mike’s all the way to my property. I’d like to see that addressed. Third a nice article was written in the paper about Jaime it’s a good thing for her and for Trafford.

 

Response Cardiff:  The article was incorrect regarding Ms. Peticca’s salary. The previous manager was not paid $31,000 a year; she was paid roughly about 60,000 or 61,000.

 

Response Peticca: The DEP would have to be involved regarding the crick. We will reach out to the DEP about the currents and the debris that is flowing through there to let them know there is a problem.

 

b.     Dolores Sutton (601 Brinton Ave) My neighbor lives on Seventh Street, up by the wall that Trafford put in on the corner of Sixth, Seventh Street and Brinton. The electric company put in a new pole, and they left the old pole and it's leaning. The wires are wrapped around my neighbor's tree and it's strangling the tree. Can anything be done about that?

Theres a house along Route 130, next to the playground on Woodlawn. It’s the second house down from the park and the grass is hill high and folding over.  The house appears to be empty.  Does anyone know who owns that house and can anything be done about the grass.?

 

Response Shoub: I’ll go look at the pole tomorrow to see if I can determine whose pole, it is and why it hasn’t been looked at.

 

Response Pettica: Borough asked if Ms. Sutton contacted Duquesne light? Mrs. Sutton hasn’t contacted Duquesne light she wanted to address the concern with council. Ms. Peticca advised Mrs. Sutton to contact Duquesne Light and mention that the wires are wrapped and that they should be addressing them.

 

Response Cardiff: The property at 122 7th street with the tall grass is a code enforcement issue.

 

Response McCord: It’s been investigated, and the residents are deceased. At this time we are working on getting grass cutting services set up for the property.

 

Mr.Perovich asked Ms. Sutton about her response to a tax form in July meeting.  Ms. Sutton stated that she resolved the issue.

 

c.      Brian Lindbloom (205 Wallace Ave) Meadow Street had a gas line rupture on July 20th that was handled swiftly and quickly. The contractor did a good job along with Public Works. I know you have a parking issue to discuss along Meadow.  Lindbloom’s recommendation is for parking to be at a minimum limited to at least one side of the street. Supporting documents were handed out to public to see the problems.  The VFD  has issues getting the fire truck to the street in an emergency. Lindbloom also commented about trees are overgrown all the way encroaching on the Meadow Street. Requested maintenance and that the trees be cut back.   

 

Response:  Borough is addressing Meadow Street concerns under Old Business.

 

d.     Renee Kociela (144 Jackson Ave) Concerned about the status of the claim that was supposedly filed from the damage of the garbage truck. That incident occurred on March 24. When we spoke to people from the garbage department, they said they were following two claims one for the homeowner and one for the borough. We received our check on April 22. Would like to know what the follow up is for the street and when something plans to be done. 

 

Response Craig Alexander to Sutton: We are writing a letter to waste management. Borough asked Mrs. Kociela to provide a copy of the documents she received from Waste Management.

 

e.      Mark Frydryck (8 Meadow Street) Submitted photos to convey concers about the parking situation.  I must commend the progress that has been made with getting things removed off the property to date, thanks to Code Enforcement.  Concerned about neighbor’s garbage in his front yard and the structure of the old building on Meadow Street that is separate from the house.

The structure is covered with foliage and has major foundation cracks. He believes the building houses a live spring that comes out from the hill and into the ground. There's water leaking from that building into a neighboring basement. Meadow Street scheduled to be paved, and I think these situations need to be resolved before we get the road work done.

 

 

 

 

Response Alexander to Frydrick: A injunctive relief was filed against Mr. Tempsick regarding the storage container. The borough has asked the court to make him move it.  In the event of an appeal, Temsick is required to comply we hope a court will agree and order him to immediately remove it rather than wait for an appeal process.

 

Response Peticca to Frydrick:  If the homeowner was receiving natural water in their basement. The boroughs suggestion would be to have a sump pump installed by homeowner to address water issues in the basement.

 

f.      Dan Juliussen (221 Ridgecrest Court). Several of the Bradford Square homeowner’s association are with me here tonight. Had some concerns about the retention pond, need some clarity regarding who owns the pond and who’s responsible for safety and liability. There is no fence or protective barrier around the pond. The second issue is regarding the sewage.  There's a manhole clean out of the sewage system that does not exist. The sewage hasn't been turned over to the borough and there’s some conflicting information that we've received and wanted clarity on those items.

 

Response Don Glenn to Juliussen: It will remain private, and documentation can be provided.

 

Response Shoub to Juliussen: Prior conversations with the developer in Virginia was agreed upon that it would go to the HOA and they would be responsible for it.

 

Response Alexander to Juliussen: There have been discussions with Maronda and the site developer and with the entity that was responsible for putting in the clean out.  The borough will not take over that sewage system until it’s proven that the cleanout is there. It’s also below grade and needs to be raised above grade so that we can get access into the sewage system.

 

8.     Report from Borough Engineer, Glenn Engineering

a.      Report Submitted: Looking at Meadow Street upgrades.   The second item is our sanitary interceptors with Alcosan. There’s an overflow and because of the overflow DDP is mandating we do a 10% flow reduction. We need to prove that we don't have any bypasses, and we must put a flow meter into one of our interceptors. It will be required to be there for a year.

b.     Public comment on Mr. Glenn’s report:

c.       Cardiff stated these mandates are passed down to our Borough and we have to pay for them.

d.     Glenn Engineering dismissed from meeting

 

9.     Mayor’s Report: Report Read at the meeting.

 

10.   Committee Reports

a.      Community & Economic Development (Chair Steve Perovich/Co-chair Justin Batzel)

Perovich: On July 19th Wings Across Westmoreland were unveiled in the borough parking lot. This is just the beginning of what we want to try to do with regards to showcasing it over there.  We had a nice crowd that came down for the unveiling.  The event was to share some history with the town with regards to what these things represent.

b.     General Government & Finance (Chair Pat Bayko/Co-chair Chris Corrales)

Bayko: Things are rolling along in a good direction. Jaime’s getting a real handle on her position and Nina is settling in. The 2021 audit is going to be finished this week.

c.      Parks & Recreation (Chair Justin Batzel/Co-chair Steve Perovich)

Perovich: Read Batzel’s Report: Justin attended the recreation board meeting:  The Trafford elementary PTO is interested in working with us on the Halloween program. The school districts yearly contribution of a little over $1,000 is due in August. The playground is ending, participation was good.  The BY pond’s water level has increased slightly, not quite to the overflow grade yet. The four life ring boxes need to be replaced due to age. The secondary wash source that runs down through Shadow Wood was discussed by the rec board for future discussion.

d.     Planning, Property, & Ordinances (Chair Casey Shoub/Co-chair Zack Cole)

Shoub: Referred to Andrea Code Enforcement to read her report.

e.      Public Safety (Chair Chris Corrales/Co-chair Pat Bayko)

                        Corrales:  National Night Out postponed from tonight to the first Tuesday October 4. Will be posted on the website. I just wanted to thank the police department, the fire department, for their hard work over the past couple of months.

f.      Public Works & Sanitation (Chair Zack Cole/Co-chair Casey Shoub)

Cole: Contract negotiations are continuing. We have another meeting tomorrow.  

g.     President Kris Cardiff-   Received a report from Councilman Baum from Irwin borough, I've been trying to work with them and form a good relationship between our municipalities.  They are looking to do a cleanup of the old coke ovens down along Route 993 they're deteriorating.  Due to the historical significance of those coke ovens they would like to organize a group with surrounding municipalities. An attempt to reach out to Andrew Cabits of the historical society has been made to gauge his interest in the project. The Junior Council person program is starting, it will begin at the next regular council meeting. Ally will be here to join us, and we are excited about the program.

 

11.  Motion to ratify the amount paid to El Grande for the Hillcrest project in the amount of $57,509.69.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Shoub

b.     Second: Councilmember Corrales

c.      Discussion- This has been paid out of the ARPA funds, which is the American Recovery Act.  

d.     Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)   

 

12.  Motion to ratify the authorization payment in the amount of $1,50000 to have Anthony Barna at Integra Realty Resources for the appraisal of the borough owned parking lot at 410-414 Cavitt Avenue.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Cole

b.     Second: Councilmember Shoub

c.      Discussion- this is the parking lot across the street from the post office. It's become disarray and we've had to block it off.  Our option was to get it assessed in the case that we may choose to sell the property if it's going to not be worth it to fix the property.

d.     Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)    

 

13.  Motion to advertise to vacate Ordinance 188-25.1. Permit parking designated for commercial vehicles on Adrian Avenue.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Shoub

b.     Second: Councilmember Cole

c.      Discussion- No more commercial vehicles - No parking at all.

d.     Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)      

 

14.  Motion to approve the Trafford Borough Police Department MMO (minimum municipal obligation) for 2023 year in the amount of $98,982.00.

a.      Motion: Councilmember Corrales  

b.     Second: Councilmember Perovich

c.      Discussion- This is for retirement it is standard, and we do this every year.

d.     Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)      

 

15.  Motion to approve handicapped parking spot on Cavitt Avenue.   

a.      Motion: Councilmember Shoub

b.     Second: Councilmember Cole  

c.      Discussion- we have all the paperwork, and the police department has approved that it would be okay to put it up.  

d.     Vote:  5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)      

 

16.  New Business.

a.      Amusement Fee Devices

b.     Discussion: Cardiff:  We’ve been approached by our business owners regarding the collection of amusement fees. Proposals are being put together to add or eliminate the structure of the current fee schedule in comparison to other municipalities.

 

 

17.  Old Business.

a.      Meadow Street Parking

b.     Discussion- Councilmember Cardiff:  the borough has received a lot of information and we have also received several recommendations on how to proceed with the situation on Meadow Street. Borough Managers full recommendation was read at the meeting. Peticca’s recommendation to council is to prohibit street parking on Meadow for public safety concerns. Solicitor Alexander read Council’s motion which is to implement a 90-day temporary no parking on the right-hand side as you look down Meadow Street towards the dead end and to re-evaluate after the 90 days.

 

Motion to approve the western side of Meadow Street, to allow parking to be on that side temporarily for the next 90 days and reevaluate after the 90 day period.

a.      Motion- Councilmember Perovich

b.     Second- Councilmember Bayko  

c.      Discussion- Alexander: The recommendation is that it gets implemented immediately and if there are violations warnings get issued until we can implement an ordinance.

 

 

 

18.  Adjournment

a.      Announce the next Regular Meeting for Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers.

b.     Move to adjourn

Motion: Councilmember Shoub

Second: Councilmember Perovich  

                  Vote: 5, 0, 1 Absent (Batzel)

 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Nina M Mulnix