The third regular meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council for 2002 of the Hamburg Borough Council was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Richard Boyd presiding. The meeting was opened with Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and a Prayer.

Members Present - Richard W. Boyd, Roy Heffner, Leon Balthaser, Jeanette Heckman, Charles Figard, Diana Edwards

Members Absent – Dale Schlenker

Also Present – Lynda G. Albright, Borough Manager, Kim Y. Berger, Recording Secretary

Visitors – Thomas J. Zelinsky, Jr. – Chief of Police, Scott Kreider, Nikki Murry (Item)

A motion was made by Diana Edwards and seconded by Roy Heffner to approve the amended agenda.

NAYES – None

NONE

A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the minutes of the January 23, 2002.

ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser

NAYES – None

A motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Roy Heffner to approve the following reports: Borough Manager's Report, Public Works Supt. Report, Water/Sewer Supt. Report, Office Manager's Report, Treasurer's Report, Finance Committee Report and Property Committee Report.

ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard,L. Balthaser

NAYES – None

The Borough Manager’s activities for the month of January, 2002 included the following:

January was a very busy month with the start of the New Year.

A lot of time was spent researching, putting together information and finalizing the Tax Anticipation Loan and the Refinance of the Municipal Building.

Took January 9, 10 and 11 as final vacation from 2001.

On Monday, January 7, attended the monthly meeting of the Main Street Committee. A representative from the state was present and spoke about the steps the group would be required to follow in order to proceed with their project.

On Monday, January 14, Keith Brobst, Rick Pickel and I met with Mark Jacobs, the new Permits Supervisor at PennDOT to review the new procedures for applying for Highway Occupancy Permits.

On Tuesday, January 15, attended the Northern Berks Chamber Breakfast; the speaker for this event was Ken Pick of the Berks County Community Development Office. He discussed funding that was available to perform a financial analysis for those municipalities with a fixed tax base, declining infrastructure and increased demands for services. As a result of this meeting, I have forwarded a letter to Mr. Pick and advised him of the Borough’s interest in having a long-term financial analysis performed. This will include a 5 and 10-year projection of the Borough’s financial future. I will keep members of Council apprised of the progress.

Discussion was also held regarding vacant industrial and commercial properties and funding that is available for rehabilitation and reuse of these properties. This, too, is also being worked on. Permission is needed from those particular properties and we currently have a letter in hand from Penn Steel. Again, I will keep Council apprised of the progress or need for action by the governing body.

Both projects are in the very early stages.

On January 16, held Staff meeting to discuss various issues with department supervisors.

On Friday, January 18, attended an informal meeting with Congressman Geekas and various other officials and discussed concerns for the Hamburg area. With the redistricting, there is a possibility that Congressman Geekas will be representing the Hamburg area.

On Saturday, January 19, we experienced our first significant snowfall of the winter season. Fortunately, we escaped the original forecast and a snow emergency did not have to be called.

On Monday, January 28, John Leonforte, Bldg./Zoning Officer and I visited some of the new businesses and relocated business in the commercial district. The purpose of these visits was to introduce John and myself to the business owners, and to ask a few questions and to offer them space on our website for advertising their business. After all visits are completed, I will make a formal report to council of my findings. I expect his will be done by the end of February.

Handled various complaints during the month; also met with Chief Zelinsky on various occasions to discuss personnel and other pertinent issues relative to the police department.

In addition to the two regular council meetings, attended Authority, Safety, Finance, Library Board, Civil Service and Property committee meetings.

If anyone has any questions regarding my report, please feel free to ask.

Attached with my report are the activities of my staff for the month of January, 2002

Lynda G. Albright
Borough Manager

PUBLIC WORKS SUPT. REPORT

During the month of January, the Borough Crew completed the following:

The water meter replacement continues to progress.

A fire hydrant was rebuilt.

An electric line was installed at the reservoir from the building to the pit.

An 8"main at 438 State Street was repaired.

The crew repaired the sewer line on Bickel Drive.

The first accumulation of snow came and went. The crew spent time plowing and cindering.

Repairs to street signs around the borough were performed.

There were many dirt piles that needed to be cleaned up and the inlets around the Borough were also cleaned.

Cold patching continues to be done as the weather permits.

Some more brush was cut around town and the equipment continues to be serviced on a regular basis.

The wall in the sergeant’s office was repaired with drywall.

The crew installed an electric line at the park from the arts and crafts building to the light poles.

The plates were repaired on the Greenway bridge.

Richard L. Pickel

Public Works Superintendent

We have replaced the lateral at 503 Bickel Drive after the owner complained of a sewage back-up. After repeated attempts to open the line we broke a rod in the lateral. After digging it up we found the line broken in several places and replaced it.

We are working on the digester gas system. The waste gas burner has not been working. It may be a broken pipe or water keeping the gas from getting to the burner. We have taken it apart and will work with Dave Yoder to fix it.

We continue to fight a bout with filimentous bacteria. We are have a tough time getting rid of it, however we are meeting permit requirements. We also continue to have a problem with total chlorine residual. We are feeding enough chlorine to meet disinfection requirements but this is causing high total residuals. Our permit requires that me meet a limit by June of this year. We have spoken with the engineer about it.

Our newest operator, Kim Cherry, has received certification from PaDEP to operate wastewater treatment plants in the state of Pa. The staff offers its congratulations.

Al water for the month was from wells. The impounding dam is recovering due to the recent rain and melting snow, but it not yet a viable source.

I met with the owner of the Wright’s Knitwear building and we have made sure all water has been turned off in the complex. I toured the building along with John Leonforte. Two services have been turned off inside the building. One service stop is on private property and needs to be fixed by the owner. The other stop is in Peach Alley and needs to be located and turned off by our people.

The sample vault project at the water plant is proceeding. The vault has been installed and electric and sample lines have been installed. We are now waiting for specs on a sample pump and electric hook up.

A leak was repaired in the 400 block of State St. The 8" main was cracked and leaking about .250 mg per day. In addition it seems either the clearwell itself, or the pipes between the clearwell and the meter vaults, is leaking at about .090mg per day. We are working with the engineer to resolve this.

We have significant pressure and volume swings at well 5. We have been able to narrow the band to some extent and will continue to work to narrow it further. We have also had some problems with the chlorinators at well 5. We have made some modifications to the installations but we still need to relocate the ejectors.

The property around the elevated tank at Hamburg Center has been inspected for appraisal. We are still waiting for appraisal of the tank itself.

Water levels across the state are extremely low and the PaDEP along with DRBC may call a drought emergency along with the appropriate restrictions very soon.

Keith L. Brobst Water & Wastewater Superintendent

The month of January was again a very busy one for the Borough Office.

The staff once again had to prepare a mass mailing for trash customers. This was accomplished in short order.

Lynda, Keith and I met with a sewer plant employee. It was determined that due to his injury he will be unable to return to full duty status and effective December 31, 2001, his services were no longer needed.

Throughout the month, many many reports, documents, ordinances, letters etc. were prepared and sent out.

Throughout the month, the budget was revamped and resubmitted.

During the first three weeks of the month, the phone rang constantly with complaints and questions regarding the OPT and the trash billing.

Various junk car and debris letters were mailed.

The auditors had mailed the office some information and letters were prepared to various financial institutions.

The 2002 street sweeping schedule was prepared and copies made to be handed out in mid March.

The web page and municipal access channel continue to be updated.

A lot of time was spent working on clearing up 2001 accounting and closing out the year. I worked for an extremely long time with SSI to work the bugs out of the system. This has been completed and everything is ready for 2002.

A lot of time was spent cleaning up the Building Inspector’s office to prepare for the auditors arrival.

A lot of time was also spent moving desks and relocating desks. This task is not quite complete at the time of this writing but everything will be put back in order shortly.

During the month, I attended 2 Council meetings, 1 EMA meeting, 1 Civil Service Commission meeting, and 1 staff meetings. The minutes have been prepared for all meetings.

If you have any questions in reference to my report, please feel free to ask.

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Y. Berger, Office Manager

 

ATTENDING: LYNDA ALBRIGHT, CHUCK FIGARD, RICK BOYD, ROY HEFFNER, LEON BALTHASER, DALE SCHLENKER, TROY HATT, CHARLES DALIOUS, DUANE BECHTEL

The representatives from the Hamburg Fire Co. were invited to discuss their financial needs with the members of the Finance committee.

1. There is a definite need for increased revenue to support current and future expenses.

2. The fire company is researching various ways to increase revenue, such as billing of incidents, communicating with neighboring fire companies when Hamburg’s heavy equipment is used and more judicious use of the Field House.

3. Address School District assessment of Field House.

4. Finance suggested an equitable means for all entities to share in the acquisition of additional revenue.

5. Finance offered the use of Borough personnel to aid in the billing for a reasonable fee.

6. Both sides discussed the enactment of an ordinance, which would assist the development of a set procedure.

7. Both sides decided a meeting the latter part of April 2002 would allow for more discussion.

8. The Borough thanks the fire company for all their devotion and dedication and realize help is needed.

On the recommendation of the Property Committee, a motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Charles Figard to adopt Ordinance # 712-02, INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE

NAYES – None

A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Charles Figard to approve payment of invoices totaling $150,448.56.

AT & T 12.11

AMES DEPT. STORE 29.39

BCMHIPG 14,271.91

BOC GASES 21.83

BARKO 720.00

COUNTY OF BERKS 1,566.35

BERKS MONT NEWSPAPERS 346.71

BLUE MT. COMPUTER SERVICE 240.00

BFI 9,604.84

E-MAC DAIRY BRUSH 37.20

EJB PAVING 83.62

EARTHLINK 43.90

EDENBURG WELDING 234.00

FIRST UNION 935.56

GPU 5,603.09

GREAT VALLEY CONSULTANTS 341.74

HAMBURG AUTOMOTIVE 110.63

HENNS GARAGE 132.48

MIKE KERSHNER 31.75

KUZAN’S 75.94

LEISAWITZ, HELLER, ABRAMOWITCH 2119.59

LOWES 4.30

M & T BANK 95.15

MP UNIFORMS 85.98

JP MASCARO 4,123.13

ROBERT MENGLE 15.18

METROCALL 9.95

MILLER MUNICIPAL SUPPLY 61.80

DAVE MORGANTI 11.22

MOUNTAIN VIEW SUPPLY 88.86

NATL. UNIFORM 226.50

OVERHEAD DOOR 226.50

PENN PRIDE 569.18

PA LEAGUE OF CITIES 65.00

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ASC. 97.00

PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS 195.50

QUILL CORP. 79.92

READING EAGLE 334.10

RANDALL RENTSCHLER 36.30

SAVAGE 32.00

ROGER STETZLER 10.50

STRAUSSER INSURANCE AGENCY 50.00

SYNERGETICS 2,966.81

THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR 139.05

VERIZON 407.26

WESTERN AUTO 120.38

WINDSOR PRESS 274.39

YIS/COWDEN GROUP INC. 181.75

TOTAL $46,905.77

BERKS CO. ASSESSMENT OFFICE 2,237.05

CASE CREDIT CORP. 11,829.24

BILLS PAID DURING THE MONTH 89,476.50

TOTAL FOR APPROVAL $150,448.56

BILLS PAID DURING THE MONTH

NORTHERN BERKS CHAMBER 10.00

BERKS CO. TREASURER 1,003.50

ALBRIGHT COLLEGE 50.00

BERKS CO. ASSN. OF BOROS 88.00

BERKS CO. CONSERVATION DISTRICT 50.00

FIRST UNION 935.56

GREATER HAMBURG BUSINESS ASSC. 50.00

MENGLE, ROBERT 15.18

MUNIS 3,468.00

SOFTWARE SYSTEMS 655.65

TELCO 552.00

TERRY’S TREE EXPERTS 1,500.00

ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE 300.00

BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – GROSS 68,027.80

BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – EMP SS 3,817.79

SAM’S CLUB 310.67

EARTHLINK 43.90

POSTMASTER 461.51

GPU 6,901.03

ANTHONY JANUZELLI 20.00

ROBERT MASLAR 9.80

DONNA ADAMS 139.82

BEST BUY 119.98

BOROUGH OF HAMBURG 233.10

HMA 248.73

PETTY CASH 21.53

NORMAN RIEGEL 126.41

TOTAL 89,476.50

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. on motion of Leon Balthaser and seconded by Jeanette Heckman.

Attest: