The tenth 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 –Rick Boyd, Leon Balthaser, Dale Schlenker, Charles Figard, Jeanette Heckman, Roy Heffner, Scott Kreider

Members Absent – None

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

Visitors- William Greenawald, Clara Moyer, Pam Wilkerson, Alean Tray, Lowell Thomas, Bob Gust, Tim Neufeld, Pauline Binner, Wendy Kauffman, Dean Kauffman, Donna Smith, Garnetta Heckman, Ray Heckman, Dave Berger, Norma Berger, Heather Breininger, Kelly Breininger, Chuck Denis, Stephanie Smith, Brad Breininger, Tammy Wilkinson, Lisa Gehring, Holley McEllroy, Harvey Lengel, Kathy Lengel, Rodger Gehring, Adam Dries, Dennis Schwoyer, Donna Smith, Brent Adams, Margaret Bender, Moises Arce, Jr., Tracy Arce, Scot Boyd, Nikki Murry (Item), Rory Schuler (Pottsville Republican)

A motion was made by Dale Schlenker and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the amended agenda adding an increase for the crossing guards under New Business.

NAYES – None

COURTESY TO AUDIENCE

Tammy Wilkinson was present to ask what action was being taken regarding the release of Rodger Gehring’s personal information, namely the social security number being released to the public.

Solicitor Shollenberger stated that there was information that was released inadvertently as part of the information regarding Officer Gehring. Steps have been taken to correct that release of information. Solicitor Shollenberger stated that he believes that anyone who had access to that information has cooperated except one person, who has not returned the information. Solicitor Shollenberger stated that it does not need to be discussed further.

Ms. Wilkinson stated that copies could have been made or the numbers written down and that the damage has been done.

Solicitor Shollenberger stated that the damage has not been done. There has been no damage that he is aware of. Solicitor Shollenberger stated that it was not appropriate to discuss about it any further. The more it is discussed the more you put it at issue.

Ms. Wilkinson stated that the issue was that the borough is asking for this information back. Solicitor Shollenberger agreed. Ms. Wilkinson stated that if the borough wasn’t wrong, the information would not have to be returned.

Ms. Wilkinson stated that she made her point and Solicitor Shollenberger agreed that her point was made. There was an inadvertent disclosure of information.

Ms. Wilkinson also questioned a property where weeds are an issue on S. 4^th Street. This will be taken care of.

Moises Arce questioned the amount of money spent to date for legal fees.

Councilman Schlenker stated that we have spent approximately $20,000 to date.

Mr. Arce questioned if that was to date and Councilman Schlenker stated that it included this month.

A motion was made by Scott Kreider and seconded by Charles Figard to approve the minutes of the May 28, 2003 meeting.

(Councilman Kreider stated that under courtesy to the audience, 4 points made by President Boyd were from the previous meeting.)

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, Personnel Committee Report, Finance Committee Report and the Property Committee Report.

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

NAYES – None

The Borough Manager’s report for the month of MAY, 2003, includes the following:

Again this month, the majority of my time was spent handling police personnel and political issues, meeting with residents and handling questions related to these issues, as well as working with council and attorneys.

Keith Brobst, W/S Superintendent and I attended a meeting with Greg Unger at Systems Design Engineering, as well as Authority Solicitor Charles Fitzpatrick, Tilden Twp. Engineer Ron Tirpak and representatives from Cabela’s to discuss what is needed to get the required approvals for sewer hook-up at Cabela’s.

Met with John Leonforte, Code Enforcement Officer several times during the month to discuss various building and zoning issues he is working on.

Met with Rich Hart, Ins. Agent to review some of the borough and authority insurance policies and execute the required documents.

Handled correspondence and complaints as needed.

Spoke with various banks to obtain rates for financing of capital improvements. This will be presented and reviewed with the Finance Committee.

Worked with Jaycees and ball teams to ensure park returned to useful state following the Memorial Day Festivities. The inclement weather created a real mess at the park, however, Jaycees did a great job in having the park grounds repaired.

In addition to two council meetings, attended Personnel, Property, Safety, Road, Finance, Planning, Recreation and Authority and other special meetings.

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

Following my report are the activities of my staff for the month of May, 2003.

Lynda G. Albright
Borough Manager

Cut sewer plant field.

Rebuild fire hydrant at Church and Pine and the one located on S. 3^rd near the car wash.

GENERAL WORK

Equipment maintenance and truck maintenance.

Mow grass around municipal building and borough property. Cut weeds along roads and streams.

Cold patching continues until such time that hot patching can commence.

Work started on cutting the flood control dams.

Clean out inlets with street sweeper.

Painting of cross walks, stop areas and other white lines.

Repaired street signs and replace a few with new signs.

Met and assisted the contractor with paving on Hillside Drive.

Painted things at the park.

Lots of time mowing grass around park.

A lot of time was spent at the park and pool preparing for the summer season and the Memorial Day Festivities.

Richard L. Pickel
Public Works Superintendent

Water

All water was from the surface source this month. For most of the month the dam barely overflowed while the plant was running. Rain at the end of the month helped that situation considerably.

I spent some time with a representative of Custom Design and Manufacturing in regard to installing sprinklers in the former Hahn building.

Wastewater

Flows have been very low for this time of year. We tried to take a clarifier off line but poorly settling sludge would not allow us to do that. We also experienced a period of low effluent ph. We treated with bi-carbonate and soda ash and things seem to be back to normal. This has become an expected thing every spring.

The effluent meter has turned up a bad transducer and the chemical feeds from controlled from that meter are running in manual. The vendor has ordered a replacement.

Number 1 utility water pump has been repaired and is back in service.

I attended a meeting with representatives of Cabela’s, Tilden Township and SDE in regard to sewer service for Cabela’s.

The ’87 Ranger and "given up the ghost" and is no longer usable.

Around midnight, Friday the 30^th there was a burglary at the treatment plant. The fence was cut and electrical components were stolen from the blower control buildings and some damage was done in the main control building. When the power went off it triggered an alarm and an operator responded. The police were notified and are investigating. Damage is in excess of $30,000.

Submitted

Keith L. Brobst
Water/ Wastewater Superintendent

During the month of May, I attended two regular Council meetings, one special Council meeting and one staff meeting.

Met with a representative from Copy World.

Sent various weed notices, junk car violations.

Spent a lot of time working on season tickets, flyers, pamphlets, summer employee paperwork, working papers,

Spent a lot of time working on minutes from council meetings, special meetings and committee meetings.

Municipal access channel and web page continue to be updated.

Assisted the auditors from the State regarding a Liquid Fuels Audit.

Spent a lot of time assisting the Recreation Director with various issues, season tickets, community day information, employee issues, flyers etc.

Completed the recycling grant.

Ordered replacement roof for a piece of the park equipment.

Work on insurance issues as well as workman’s compensation claims.

Completed various complaint letters.

Took pictures of park before and after Memorial Day Festivities.

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Y. Berger

/s/ Lynda G. Albright, Treasurer

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING

June 3, 2003 - 6 p.m.

Councilpersons attending: J. Heckman, C. Figard, L. Balthaser, S. Kreider, Mayor Del Rosario, L. Albright, Borough Manager

Items discussed:

Crossing guard salary information from other municipalities was researched by Lynda and shared. It appears Hamburg is on the low end of the scale. It was agreed to suggest that finance committee consider upgrading the salaries.

It is suggested to start advertising for a new person for borough crew due to the upcoming retirement of Roger Stetzler. This would give a training period and smooth transition to the position.

We still need a few more lifeguards for the summer season.

The chairperson suggested the possibility of establishing a Junior Council Person position as a few other boroughs in the state have done. We decided to look into formulating criteria for such a position. (An article in the Borough News, June 2003 share a Youngsville Borough, Warren County story of a Junior Council Person).

Visitors Lori Riegle read a letter she wrote explaining her opposition to Chief Zelinsky. Moises Arce shared his thoughts on the keeping of personnel files. Mr. Gust stated that the records were kept in the Manager’s office when we was Chief of Police. He didn’t see a need for a change. All comments from visitors were listened to and will be taken into consideration.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanette Heckman

FINANCE COMMITTEE
MAY 28, 2003

Attending: Jeanette Heckman, Lynda Albright, Chuck Figard, Roy Heffner, Leon Balthaser, Scott Kreider and Dale Schlenker. 

The finance committee was given the first quarter budget analysis for review. Discussion of the analysis will take place after each member has a chance to review the same. 

In light of the attractive interest rates, Lynda Albright was instructed by the chairman to investigate a financial package to cover capital improvements needed by the Borough. A need list was compiled and distributed to each member for further research and future discussion. Each member was asked to prioritize the list. Financial institutions will be contacted concerning these needs and ways to accomplish our goals for the future. 

Chairman of Finance
Dale R. Schlenker

Property Committee
6/03/2003
Chairman – Roy Heffner

Attendance: L. Albright, L. Balthaser, C. Figard, S. Kreider, D. Longacre, D. Schlenker

1) Pool is still leaking although not quite as much. Contacted one source for pool recommendations. They indicated to bring in leak detection again. Need to check additional sources, i.e. pool engineers, for complete evaluation of pool and pool area for renovation. Need to check into grants for assistance in pool renovation. Water usage data shall be brought to next meeting.

2) Property Maintenance code amendment – Solicitor has several questions that need to be clarified. Need to have those questions for next meeting.

3) Snow Removal – Surveyed surrounding municipalities for their snow removal. Four(4) have indicated they only remove snow in extreme cases of snowfall, one(1) indicated that they do no snow removal, only plow, three(3) have indicated that business/property owners remove the snow, and one(1) indicated that they remove snow. Details are available at the borough office.

There is concern about the method of snow plowing at the fire station. Snow is plowed in a manner that it builds up at Walnut St. This makes it difficult to see at the intersection and significantly narrows the street.

Need to address the removal of cars on the snow emergency routes to have effective snow plowing.

There is concern about snow clearing on intersection walkways for school children to pass. Suggestion was made to consider clearing intersection walkways at which there are crossing guards. Will discuss with business group and look at the possibility of having this done through contracted services.

4) Synergetics is working on the drawings and specifications for the renovation of the second floor north side of the municipal building for the District Justice. Bid requests will be going out shortly.

5) Municipal Building HVAC – System is working better. Still having some problems with the thermostats. Burkhart must install ASAP one new type thermostat to evaluate its performance.

6) Adult Bookstore Ordinance – Will be ready for adoption at the second council meeting of June.

7) Surveying Borough properties – Surveyor contacted, nothing definite due to their schedule. Priority to be the lot across from NAPA, then the lot adjacent the newsstand. Additional properties as necessary.

8) The JC’s have had the damage to the community park fixed due to the inclement weather during Family Festival.

9) To better service the community, it is recommended that voice mail be installed to the municipal building phone system. This would be a one-time cost of $515.00 with about $210.00 for training.

10) The Inline Hockey Assoc. had requested to install a permanent scoreboard by their rink. They submitted their plans. The plans need to be reviewed by the Building Safety Inspector. Approval is granted following this review.

11) Saturday, June 6^th, there will be a review of the municipal recreation properties y the recreation board. This will be to plan for capital improvements through the implementation of an updated 5-year plan. This will also allow for the searching of grant money for assistance. At this time, will also review the need for fencing at 2^nd and Island due to vehicles passing through this area and driving onto the ball field.

12) M&T wants to continue with their parking lot as it currently exists. Will pursue additional dialogue with M&T about future plans for the lot.

13) Municipal Parking lot – Handicap sign needs to be moved. Review the restriping for parking to maximize the spaces, J.Leonforte could assist. Parking Sign needs reconditioning/replacement, Borough will accomplish. Permission granted to place a bicycle rack at the dead area of lot. Borough will empty any additional waste receptacles placed at the lot.

14) Request about painting fire hydrants – This shall be addressed by the Water Authority.

15) Need to establish crosswalk painting schedule with the downtown area as a priority.

On the recommendation of the Borough Manager, a motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Jeanette Heckman to execute a one-year extension of the grant agreement between the Borough of Hamburg and the DCED. (This is the $5,000 grant for the Main Street Committee.)

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

NAYES – None

On the recommendation of Emergency Management Coordinator, a motion was made by Charles Figard and seconded by Roy Heffner to approve the adoption of a resolution and promulgation as per the County EMA’s request. This is for updating the EMA plan.

NAYES – None

On the recommendation a motion was made by Leon Balthaser and seconded by Charles Figard to increase the salary of the crossing guards effective 2003/2004 school year from $11.50 for a whole day to $20 for a whole day, $10 for a half day and $20 to compensate them for special activities or functions.

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

NAYES – None

A motion was made by Roy Heffner and seconded by Jeanette Heckman to approve payment of invoices totaling $175,100.23.

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

NAYES – None

Solicitor Shollenberger stated that he needed to talk to Councilman Heffner regarding revisions to the Property Maintenance Code.

Solicitor Shollenberger stated that he had an ordinance regarding adult entertainment for the council to review and then advertise for adoption. A copy should also be forwarded to the Planning Commission. Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance are needed from the board. Berks County Planning will receive copies from the solicitor’s office.

An executive session was called at 7:47 p.m. to discuss the report on the Chief of Police from the Mayor as well as contract issues regarding the Chief of Police.

Meeting reconvened at 8:12 p.m.

JUNE 10, 2003 – 6 p.m. - Library Board- in the library

JUNE 11, 2003 – 3:30 p.m. – Road Committee

JUNE 16, 2003 - 7 p.m. – Planning Commission

JUNE 17, 2003 – 7 p.m. – Safety Committee

JUNE 18, 2003 – 6:30 p.m. – Water Sewer Committee

JUNE 18, 2003 – 7 p.m. – Authority Meeting

Councilman Kreider stated that the next Community Day meeting would be June 12, 2003 at 7 p.m.

Councilman Kreider announced that if any resident sees a street light out to contact the borough office with the pole number so that Met-Ed can be contacted to fix.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m. on motion of Scott Kreider and seconded by Charles Figard.

ATTEST:

Kim Y. Berger
Recording Secretary/Office Manager