February 2, 2015
The Eagles Mere Borough Council meeting was called to order on the above date by President Feese with the following Council members in attendance and Mayor, Joan Werner & Dave Werner by conference phone: VP Christelle Loftus, John Ecker, John Huhn, Walter Haussmann, Robert Spahr and Secretary/Treasurer Wilson. No other attendees.
Public Comments: no issues were raised.
Minutes- for the previous monthly meeting were approved on a motion from Mr. Ecker, seconded by Mr. Haussmann.
Treasurer’s Report – for the previous month were approved with the minutes.
Street Superintendent Report: Mr. Moore was unable to attend.
Open Records Officer: No RTO forms received/filed.
Ordinance & Zoning Officer’s Report- no report needed.
Business Conducted –
Ø Appointments:
o EMBA 5 yr. terms: Lance Robson & Pete Swinick were reappointed on a motion from Mr. Ecker, seconded by Ms. Loftus.
o ZHB 3 yr. terms- Lee Hays was reappointed on a motion from Mr. Spahr, seconded by Mr. Haussmann
o Museum Board 3 yr. terms - Nancy Liebert, Kathy McCorkle and Mary G. Smith on a motion from Mr. Huhn, seconded by Mr. Ecker
Ø Emergency Planning:
o Swiftreach-
o Ad Hoc Committee- A one page outline for Council’s roll in an emergency was approved and will be added to the Emergency Operations Plan. Ms. Loftus was appointed liaison for emergencies on a motion from Mr. Ecker, seconded by Mr. Haussmann.
o An emergency brochure that Wendy Hasting compiled after Swiftreach was implemented will be updated for handouts around Eagles Mere.
Ø 2013 taxes: There has been no reply from Mr. Byrne regarding when the balance of 2013 taxes will be forthcoming. The Secretary reported on a phone conference she had with Attorney Chris Kenyon regarding the issue. It was decided by Council that Mr. Byrne be sent a letter advising him he has 90 days to remedy the shortfall for 2013 taxes before the Bond agent is contacted to start proceedings.
Ø Eagles Mere Inn sign: The sign has been taken down in compliance to a letter sent asking that the sign be moved to avoid further damage by vehicles.
Ø Zoning Ordinance Amendments: amendments/additions to the Borough’s Zoning Ordinance were recommended at the January meeting to include the water shed and designated historic districts. Bob Ryan has been contacted to get some input. Primarily he feels the gas industry will not be interested in drilling in this Borough and that we have sufficient laws in place to limit or discourage it. He thought the water shed protection would be good to include if we had a more complete study that included wells throughout the community as well as the lake. He wasn’t as enthusiastic about the Historic Districts, saying it could be challenged. Council was particularly interested in seeing that gas wells are outer cased with steel casing to below the water table, suggesting 1000 ft deep would be sufficient. Mr. Ryan said this should be regulated by the state, indicating it would be costly for an individual municipality to develop this regulation. After much discussion it was decided that the committee would proceed to get the ordinance amended to include the water shed, the dedicated historic districts and mandate outer steel casing gas wells to 1000 ft. Protect Eagles Mere Alliance will be apprised of these decisions and asked if they would be interested in assisting with getting a more complete water shed/water table study.
Ø Jackson Ward- has been served with a final notice for 2014 fees. On a motion from Mr. Ecker, seconded by Mr. Haussmann, Ward’s account will be turned over to the magistrate for collection.
Ø Registration for the PSAB Annual Conference- will be done by the secretary for Ms. Loftus and Mr. Haussmann.
Ø Election Board – 3 councilmembers are due for election. Petitions need to be picked up at the courthouse in Feb and completed by March 11.
Ø Property Evaluation- Council decided they did not need to have this done.
Ø Audit for 2014- will commence on March 4, 2015. The agreement from Rick Lowe was signed on a motion from Ms. Loftus, seconded by Mr. Ecker.
Ø Salt Contract- application will be filled out using last year’s total usage (100 ton).
Ø Tourist Information Packets- Council approved paying the postage to send manila envelopes filled with brochures upon request on a motion from Mr. Ecker, seconded by Mr. Huhn. Ms. Wilson will ask Linda Roman to stuff about a dozen and drop them at the Borough Office.
Mayor’s Report:
Mayor Werner suggests we market Eagles Mere as being on the National Register of Historic Places, and ask other businesses to include this information in their advertising too. There is a grant available for Banners for our street posts and this was discussed. Council was not interested in doing this in Eagles Mere as per prior discussions and input from the community.
Committees:
Ordinance: Will continue working on amendments to zoning as per above.
Finance: Fewer expenses and increased income were noted for 2014 being was a very healthy financial year.
Website: the web manager is getting more photos from local photographers. 65 of the 120 hours designated have been expended to build the new website, this was expected. Facebook page is being monitored by Ms. Smith and is open for comments and postings. Facebook should not be an expense issue at this time.
Secretary’s Notes:
Ø Annual Pendot report filed and approved by Barry Garverick email 1/16/15
Ø Equifax- Cheryl Shoemaker has opened a new U/C claim, form has been filled out and returned to them.
Ø Letter sent to Shrewsbury Twp requesting their donation to the Fireman’s Workers Comp Costs. Their share $1449.04.
The bills were amended and ordered paid for the Borough and Museum by motion from Mr. Huhn, seconded by Mr. Ecker.
The meeting was adjourned by of the President.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kay L. Wilson
Secretary/Treasurer
Approved March 2, 2015
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