Regular Meeting of California Borough Council, November 12, 2009, 6:30 Pm

Regular Meeting of California Borough Council, November 12, 2009, 6:30 pm

President Bittner called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm

PRESENT:Mr. Difilippo, Mrs. Gallo, Mr. Bittner, Miss Roberts, Mr. Mariscotti, Mrs. Chambers, Mayor Durdines, Jr. Councilman Kurilko

ABSENT: Mr. Weld

ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA:

Miss Roberts added the District Attorney

Mrs. Gallo added Police K-9

MINUTES

Chambers/Gallo motion to accept the minutes of the October 8, 2009 meeting duly carried with all those present stating aye, except Mr. Bittner who abstained since he was not present at that meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

MR. MADDIEX:

Mr.Maddiex asked if the Inspector for the Zoning Office was an outside company how will that affect the 2010 budget. Mrs. Roberts replied that she plans to explain that under her agenda item.

SECRETARY/TREASURER REPOT- MISS PFROGNER

Miss Pfrogner read the accounts payable and bank balances as of October 31, 2009

Motion by Difilippo/Chambers to accept the Secretary/Treasurer report duly carried with all members present stating aye.

PRESIDENTS REPORT – MR. BITTNER

DIABETIC SCREENING

Mr. Bittner stated that he has received a request from the University of Pittsburgh and Centerville Clinics to use council chambers on one of four dates for a diabetic screening and they will also provide a certificate of liability insurance.

Motion by Chambers/Mariscotti to permit the University of Pittsburgh and Centerville Clinics to use the council chambers to conduct diabetic screenings duly carried with all members present stating aye.

HOLLYWOOD THEATRE

Mr. Bittner stated that he would like a motion to forgive all Borough tax liens on the Hollywood Theatre. All other entities have released their liens on the building. That way the Redevelopment Authority will have that building.

Motion by Difilippo/Mariscotti to release all Borough tax liens on the Hollywood Theatre duly carried. Under discussion Mayor Durdines asked if there were sewer liens and Mr. Bittner suggested that perhaps we could have the motion say to release all Borough liens.

Amended Motion by Difilippo/Mariscotti to forgive all Borough liens filed against the Hollywood Theatre duly carried with all members present voting yes.

PROPERTY EXCHANGE - BOROUGH/CAPANNA

Mr. Bittner stated that he had given council a copy of the map for the property exchange at the end of town and all it is for is to clean up that piece of property. The owners property comes out to a point. Where it comes out to that point it blocks the entrance into our storage yard down there plus it infringes on some of our reserve parking down there. This will just clean it up and square those lots off down there and give us our property. We need permission for the Solicitor to prepare an ordinance to take care of that property exchange.

Motion by Difilippo/Chambers to permit the Solicitor to draw up an ordinance for the property exchange duly carried with all members present voting yes.

DRIP IRRIGATION

Mr. Bittner stated that we need to authorize the Solicitor to proceed with adding the drip irrigation as an approved system in the borough for on lot waste water disposal.

Motion by Difilippo/Mariscotti to authorize the Solicitor to do the drip irrigation ordinance and any other approved systems that may not be in ordinance right now duly carried with all members present voting yes.

GARBAGE ORDINANCE ADDITIONS

Mr. Bittner stated he would like to give the solicitor authorization to add those additions that were in your packet last week on the garbage ordinance to try to tighten up on the length of time that garbage is at the curb, the removal of cans and so forth. This will give us al little more teeth that our enforcement officer can enforce some of those things.

Motion by Chambers/Difilippo to give the Solicitor authorization to modify the garbage ordinance duly carried with all members present voting yes.

Mr. Weld joined the meeting at 6:45 pm

LEAF & GARDEN WASTE RECYCLING

Mr. Bittner announced that leaf and garden waste recycling will be held on November 14th. Those materials are to be put into biodegradable bags that can be purchased at any of your local home depots or lowes stores. The individual needs to call CountyHauling prior to date of pick up to schedule the truck to be there.

GAMING REVENUES

Mr. Bittner stated that we are going after gaming revenues for Technology Drive. A couple of meetings we attended we were told that it would be nice if a local share was put towards that money. I don’t know if they would look at it more favorably or not. We had our borough engineer do a survey of that road and it should be around $700,000.00 to do the work we would like to do on it. Would Council like to commit any local funding towards that as a gesture of our willingness to go along with that or not? Miss Roberts asked where would that money come from. Mr. Bittner responded by he thinks this year we have been very fortunate to have quite a bit of construction at the University. With that construction we have gotten some building permit fees that I think would give us a little bit of extra money that we could possibly do that with. If we don’t get this gaming revenue we’re going to be responsible for fixing that road. It is in bad shape and its going to be deteriorating quickly. Mrs.Gallo asked why the road is in such bad shape. Engineer Art Brower replied that the subsurface was never prepared correctly for the heavy truck traffic on the road. It was probably constructed under cost constraints at the time of installation, but it has served its purpose, but it’s been patched up a good bit. Underneath it’s very wet and needs graded properly. Miss Roberts commented that she would not be happy at all if the money came from the zoning fund. Secondly, she heard about how horrible this road was and she believes the figure was over $700,000.00 to fix it. My sister and I were on that road recently when we went to a meeting and I was expecting to be jostled all over the place and I was bracing myself for it since I have a bad back. That did not happen. Miss Roberts added that as far as she is concerned she will bet the people on Water Street would like to trade their road for that one. It’s certainly not in that bad of a shape compared to some of the streets and alleys in this town. The other thing I would like to say is we were at a meeting where some companies would like to come in and build a hotel that we badly need and a restaurant that we badly need. Cal U is going to contribute to some of those funds. I don’t see why they couldn’t contribute to having the road repaired. Maybe they should contribute. Personally I think zoning money should stay in zoning. Mr. Bittner stated that he thinks Miss Roberts needs to be corrected in that that money is not zoning money it is California Borough money that just happened to come in through the zoning office through a permit fee that we had. So I think that money can be expended on anything this council deems necessary. It doesn’t belong to the zoning as far as my own personal opinion. Secondly, Mr. Vitchoff has taken pictures of that road and we had our engineers look at it. We get a pretty nice group of taxes out of that area up there. Water Street, he believes, is going to be addressed along with the sewer project when it comes along because we are going to be doing some work down there. Mr. Bittner added that the TechnologyPark has been expanding and we’re getting a good tax base from up there. The road is very bad and I certainly wouldn’t want one of those entities to leave up there over a bad road. Mayor Durdines added that he thinks also with the condition of the park in general probably plays a factor as to whether people are going to move in there and construct a new facility or not. So having the paved road may contribute to that as well. Mr. Difilippo added that considering losing the gaming revenue and having to pay the whole thing, we should contribute some of our own money to it if we get some money from the gaming revenues. Mr. Bittner asked how much money Mr. Difilippoconsiders contributing, since we have to put a dollar amount on when the application is submitted. Mr. Mariscotti suggested we contribute 5% of the $700,000.00 cost to repair which would be $35,000.00.

Motion by Difilippo/Weld to put up $35,000.00 in borough funds as our local share toward the reconstruction of Technology Drive if awarded monies from the gaming revenue funds duly carried with Mr. Mariscotti, Mr. Weld, Mr. Diflippo, and Mr. Bittner voting yes and Mrs. Chambers, Mrs. Gallo, and Miss Roberts voting no.

EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT – DAVID RAGER

David Rager, who is doing his eagle scout project needs a letter of support from the Borough for the rebuilding of the East Pike Run and Phillipsburgh monument at the town circle.

Motion by Difilippo/Chambers that we send a letter of support to the Boy Scouts in support of David Ragers Eagle Scout project duly carried with all members present stating aye.

LETTERS OF SUPPORT

Mr. Bittner stated that the Borough has received letters requesting we do a resolution in support of them going after the gaming revenue money. The first letter is from the Mon Valley Progress Council and they are going after a $60,000.00 grant.

Motion by Chambers/Weld to give a resolution of support to the Mon Valley Progress Council duly carried with all members present stating aye.

Mr. Bittner stated that Center in the Woods is asking for a resolution of support and they are going after $285,000.00 to expand and upgrade their parking lot.

Motion by Chambers/Weld to give a resolution of support to the Center in the Woods duly carried with all members present stating aye.

Mr. Bittner stated that The Village at Center in the Woods is asking for $132,583.00 for a natural playground up there for the non profit day care center. This day care provides free child care for any student attending classes and they in turn volunteer their time to the center.

Motion by Chambers/Weld to give a resolution of support to The Village at Center in the Woods duly carried with all members present stating aye.

BUDGET MEETING

Mr. Bittner asked council when they would like to hold another budget workshop. Council decided to hold their budget meeting on Thursday the 19th at 6:00 pm. Miss Roberts requested that Cypher & Cypher be there. Mr. Bittner added that there will be a charge for that. Miss Roberts stated that she has several comments from citizens on using the zoning money or the sewer fund money so she would prefer Cypher & Cypher is here and the public to be here so we can ask questions of them.

Motion by Roberts/Chambers that Cypher & Cypher attend the next budget workshop duly carried with Mrs. Chambers, Mr. Difilippo, Mrs. Gallo, Miss Roberts voting yes and Mr. Bittner, Mr. Weld, and Mr. Mariscotti voting no.

PROPOSAL FROM PENNSYLVANIA MUNICIPAL SERVICES

Mr. Bittner stated that we have received a proposal from PA Municipal Services for the collection of the delinquent per capita tax. If people don’t pay their delinquent per capita tax with their property tax, then it goes to the County. The County has no resource the only resource they have is to collect the delinquent property tax not the per capita tax. So we have no one to go after that per capita tax. Mrs. Gallo questioned whether or not the college student who vote here as residents also pay per capita tax as residents? She doesn’t believe that has ever been done in the past. Mr. Bittner suggested we ask PA Municipal Services to do that. Mrs. Chambers stated that the proposal states that PA Municipal will not make any commission.

Motion by Chambers /Gallo to let PA Municipal Services collect our delinquent per capita taxes with no fee or percentage to them just the recovery of the cost. Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Gallo withdrew their motion to allow council time to review the proposal and get answers to their questions.

TRICOUNTY BOROUGH ASSOCIATION

Tri County Borough Association will hold its meeting next Thursday in Finleyville. Mr. Bittner stated we should probably change the budget meeting scheduled earlier. The budget meeting will be changed to Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 at 6:00 pm.

RESOLUTION TO GO AFTER GAMING MONEY

Our resolution states that we are going after a total grant of $700,000.00. That resolution will have to be changed to reflect that we are contributing $35,000.00 so our amount will be $700,000.00 minus the $35,000.00.

Difilippo/ Weld motion to change our resolution to reflect our $35,000.00 contribution duly carried with Mr. Difilippo, Mrs. Gallo, Mr. Bittner, Mr. Weld, Mr. Mariscotti voting yes and Mrs. Chambers and Miss Roberts voting no.

Motion by Weld /Chambers to accept the Presidents report duly carried with all members present stating aye.

PUBLIC WORKS – MR. WELD

Mr. Weld stated that interviews need to be held for the second round of applicants applying for the street department position. Can we set it up or 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 15th and we should have it done by 6:00.

GRASSCUTTER – EXTENDED EMPLOYMENT

Mr.Weld stated that we need to extend the grass cutters employment a little while longer until we hire someone for the street department.

Motion by Weld/ Mariscotti to extend Jim Mitchell’s employment until a street department employee is hired duly carried with all members present voting yes.

LIQUID FUELS

Mr. Weld stated the estimated Liquid Fuels amount for 2010 is $100,934.19. That is a

$4,404.23 decrease from 2009.

Mrs. Chambers stated that she sees Mr. Mitchell driving around town on a little John Deere and a big bagger. She asked where that came from. Mr. Weld responded that we had purchased that a while ago. Mrs. Chambers replied that he is removing all the leaves and the town is looking better.

Motion by Chambers/Diflippo to accept Mr. Welds report duly carried with all members present stating aye.

PUBLIC HEALTH – MRS. CHAMBERS

SEWAGE REPORT

Mr. Chambers read the monthly sewage report.

CROFTCHECK

Mrs. Chambers stated that we had sent them an agreement on Sept. 10, 2009 we have heard nothing back. Council has worked on this project for a very long time. Since they have not responded it becomes null and void. Mr. Melenyzer added that it should be on record that the only call we have had was from the attorney who appeared before council and asked us to extend our decision to terminate our offer to them. Mr. Melenyzer stated that during that call he indicated that Croftcheck and Walmart were going to Center West. Mrs. Chambers added that she wishes them well and if for some reason Center West is not done and ready for them and they come back to us we should graciously accept them.

Motion by Chambers/Mariscotti to withdraw the Sept 10, 2009 Croftcheck agreement duly carried with Mr. Bittner, Mr. Weld, Mr. Mariscotti, Mrs. Chambers, Mr. Difilippo, and Mrs. Gallo voting yes and Miss Roberts voting no.

CDBG

The Community Development Block Grant money for the 2010 will amount to

$129,250.00. We have talked off and on about beautifying our town. It was brought to our attention by one of our citizens that the lamp posts are old fashion lamp posts and need to be refurbished. The grates under the trees need to be done. We need new trash cans, new benches. In short we are going to establish this fund for beautification of our downtown area. In further support of that the Chamber of Commerce of California Area has contacted all business owners telling them of the commitment by this borough council to use this money and to do so for hopefully four to five years for a long term plan. Additionally, we have asked the businesses to tell us what they want. We are also going with Mr. Brower to Murraysville which he had worked with them to beautify their town to get ideas. We will also do a walk around. We’ll let people know and we want all the ideas that the people have so we can break it down into bite size pieces year to year and maybe finally our town will be a show place.

Motion by Mariscotti/Weld to accept Mrs.Chamber’s report duly carried with all members present stating aye.

PUBLIC HOUSING – MISS ROBERTS

INSPECTORS

Miss Roberts stated that as far as the inspector goes, after the last budge meeting when I saw how much money there was that the zoning department brought in, I wouldn’t want to do anything about more inspectors until after our December budget meeting.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Motion by Roberts/Chambers to call District Attorney Toprani in to investigate the recent, what I refer to as a, debacle of the police department.

They are free. They don’t charge $1,500.00 to investigate. Mr. Weld asked what can the DA find out about us hiring him back. She thinks there is a lot of things that the public does not know that I would rather not reveal, but she feels the DA should know about. Mayor Durdines requested that council take an executive session so he can tell them the conversations that he has had with that particular individual already in regards to some of the things that Miss Roberts has raised concerns about.