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MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 13, 2003 COUNCIL MEETING The first regular meeting of the Hamburg Borough Council for 2003 was held this evening at the Hamburg Municipal Center with President Rick Boyd presiding. The meeting was opened with Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and a Prayer. Members Present – Richard Boyd, Roy Heffner, Leon Balthaser, Charles Figard, Dale Schlenker, Jeanette Heckman, Diana Edwards Members Absent – None Also Present – Kim Y. Berger, Recording Secretary, Lynda Albright, Borough Manager, Mayor Roy Del Rosario (7:35 pm) Visitors – Steve DeLucas (Reading Eagle), Nikki Murray (Hamburg Item), Chief Zelinsky, Kimm Montone (Pottsville Republican), Peggy Sterner, John Sterner, Lori Whitehead, Albert Chriscavage (Pottsville Republican) A motion was made by Diana Edwards and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the amended agenda. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, D. SchlenkerNAYES – None COURTESY TO AUDIENCE John Sterner, a resident of Walnut Street, was present to discuss the noise ordinance and the continuing disturbance that the "Back Door" is creating. Apparently the proprietor had been cited in regards to the noise ordinance and the District Justice dismissed the case due to the ordinance being vague. Mr. Sterner expressed his concern that this noise has been continuing since October. In addition, Mr. Sterner is concerned about the "drunken" patrons leaving the establishment, squealing tires etc. The residents in the area are fed up with this situation and want something done about it. Chief Zelinsky stated that he and the zoning officer met with the owner and some insulating has been done. President Boyd stated that the ordinance will be reviewed at the next Safety Committee. Also Chief Zelinsky will endeavor to have more patrols in the area on the nights the club is open. Mr. Sterner stated that he had contacted the LCB and an agent did correspond with him stating the music can be heard 100 feet north and south of the building (not including the building length). This is not adequate. Ms. Whitehead, a resident of Walnut Street, stated that the noise that can be heard on the second floor is worse and that is where they sleep. Mr. Sterner stated that if nothing can be done with the noise ordinance, maybe it could be classified as a nuisance bar and things could be corrected in that fashion. A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Diana Edwards to approve the minutes of the December 30, 2002 meeting. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, D. Schlenker NAYES – None A motion was made by Jeanette Heckman and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the following reports: Borough Manager's Report, Public Works Supt. Report, Water/Sewer Supt. Report, Office Manager's Report, Treasurer's Report. ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Boyd, R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, D. SchlenkerNAYES – None BOROUGH MANAGERS REPORT
The Borough Manager’s activities for the month of December 2002 included the following: Held one staff meeting to discuss various issues. Again, spent time amending and finalizing the 2003 budgets for both the Borough and Authority. Also worked on clearing out outstanding items for the end of the year. Nester, being the apparent low bidder for trash, was unable to meet the requirements of the bid specs and therefore was not awarded the bid. I spoke with the solicitor regarding this and was to check into the second lowest bidder. Based on those findings and in further discussion with the Solicitor and Finance Chairman, the bid was then awarded to Raritan Valley Disposal. Had several meetings with John Leonforte, Building/Zoning Officer to discuss issues directly related to building, zoning, property mtce., as well as updating on several situations that he is currently working on. Attended the annual breakfast, as prepared by members of Borough Council. Great job, as usual. Time was also spent working on personnel related issues. June Hilbert, Recreation Director and I interviewed prospective applicants for the park and pool summer season. In addition to the two regular council meetings, attended Authority and Finance meetings. If anyone has any questions regarding my report, please feel free to ask. Listed below are the activities of my staff for the month of December. Lynda G. Albright Borough Manager PUBLIC WORKS SUPERINTENDENT DECEMBER 2002 AUTHORITY PROJECTS The crew repaired a 4" water main break at 130 North 5th Street. The crew spent time working at the sewer plant on the pump grinder and also assisted in meter checks and installing remote meters. GENERAL WORK The crew spent time cold patching around the borough, cutting brush along the roads and maintaining the level in the swimming pool. The crew delivered the OPT forms to all the businesses in town. During the Christmas holiday and days following, the crew plowed and cindered the streets. The snow came on fast and heavy and with the limited manpower cleared the streets. During the month, the equipment was maintained and repaired as necessary. Richard L. Pickel Water & Wastewater Superintendent’s Report December 2002 Wastewater #2 raw sewage pump has been repaired and is back in service. The digester chopper/ grinder pump has also been placed back in service. Having the digester pump off line has allowed the digester to become "stuck". This is a condition where the sludge in the digester foams. We had a slight spill because of this but it was contained and cleaned up. We are trying to bring the digester around but it is a slow process. Heavy rain and melting snow caused both the Edenburg and Ridge Lawn pumping stations to over flow again. Arrangements have been made to provide some repairs to the collection system but the repairs can’t be made until the water table goes down. The proper authorities were informed and the proper forms were filed. The weather again caused some problems Christmas night. When the power was restored, after being off Christmas Day, the pumps would not run. We determined that one leg of the 3-phase power was low and therefore there was power to run lights and for the transfer switch to "see" power but it was insufficient to run the pumps. The by-pass pump was put into operation until we figured out how to manually transfer power to the generator. Water Meter changing season is here again and we have been changing 3 to 4 meters a week. The finished water soda ash feed at the plant has been causing some problems. The line has been freezing when the plant is off line and the temperature drops well below freezing. We have increased the size of the line in hopes of keeping at least part of it open but have had little success. We are addressing this with the engineer. Suspended solids from the WFP wastewater clarifier started creeping up at the end of November so we hauled several loads of solids from the bottom of the clarifier. This has cleared up the problem in the short term and we will, within the next few months, remove some more sludge to keep things in compliance. The dam remains full with strong flow from the springs. All water for the month was from the dam. Submitted OFFICE MANAGER’S REPORT DECEMBER 2002 During the month of December, I attended two Council meetings, one Civil Service Commission meeting and one staff meeting. The month of December, of course, has been a crazy one. With trying to cram everything into the last month of the year and trying to prepare for the new one it was quite hectic. I have been working with June on various pool and park issues. One being season tickets for 2003. Changes will be occurring for 2003. Letters went out to the applicants and interviews were held on December 30, 2002. I contacted the school and provided them with a few flyers to hang on their job bulletin board for potential applicants. Trash and recycling bids were revamped and various letters were sent. PA DOT reports were completed and mailed for year-end. Met on several occasions with the representative from the uniform company. The employees were measured and uniforms ordered. The staff prepared for the arrival of the auditors on December 26 and December 27. Both of these days I worked with the auditors for the majority of my time. I scheduled training sessions for 2003, updated various reports to council, lists of dates, salary surveys, job tickets, etc. Prepared the Civil Service Commission report for 2002. In mid-December met with the divers at the Hamburg pool. The divers plugged all the lines and hopefully this will stop or at least slow down the leak we have. There was some vandalism at the park again, the bathroom windows were shot out and I took pictures to report it to the insurance company. The payroll year end reports as well as quarterly reports and W-2’s have been completed. I assisted in opening an emergency shelter at the Middle School on December 26, 2002 for those individuals who were without electricity. Red Cross was present as well as news media. Judith Schwank, County Commissioner also visited the center to take a look at all that was prepared. No one needed the assistance and so the shelter was closed at 8 p.m. Respectfully submitted,
Office Manager
OLD BUSINESS NONE NEW BUSINESS NONE A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Charles Figard to approve payment of invoices totaling $251,316.52 ROLL CALL: AYES – R. Heffner, J. Heckman, D. Edwards, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, D. Schlenker NAYES – None ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE 300.00 BARKO CLEANING 720.00 BERKS CO. PUBLIC WORKS 50.00 COUNTY OF BERKS 1,566.35 BURKHARDT MECHANICAL 963.00 EARTHLINK 47.90 GP FASTENER 8.86 GALLS 85.95 TROY HATT 145.00 INSIGHT 802.00 KUZANS 19.93 MET-ED 367.93 MEIT 135.50 NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS 623.34 PENN PRIDE 879.68 QUILL 55.96 SOFTWARE SYSTEMS 100.00 TELCO 567.50 THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR 155.70 TRIANGLE COMMUNICATIONS 170.50 UPS 13.32 VERIZON 414.49 TOTAL $8,192.91 BILLS PAID DURING THE MONTH WACHOVIA BANK 935.56 BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – GROSS PAYROLL 103,058.29 BOROUGH OF HAMBURG – SS/MEDICARE 5,575.69 PATCH PLAQUES 46.90 HAMBURG MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY 236.49 RICHARD BOYD 81.15 RITA REED 863.47 M & T BANK 430.16 MET-ED 1,629.76 NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS 832.58 M & T BANK 128,850.03 LOIS PETERS 10.50 KEITH BROBST 79.97 PETTY CASH 31.63 RANDALL RENTSCHLER 3.55 POSTMASTER OF HAMBURG 457.88 BILLS FOR APPROVAL $243,123.61
INFORMATION ITEMS
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. on motion of Leon Balthaser and seconded by Charles Figard.
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