RIVERSIDE BOROUGH COUNCIL
The Riverside Borough Council met in the Municipal Building, 415 Dewart Street, Riverside on Monday, March 20, 2023 at 7:00pm. Meeting was called to order by President John Domanski.
Council members present:
Vice President Barb Kriner, Peter Fleming, Brian Whitenight, Delavan Whitenight, Jr. and April Shuman.
Also present was Secretary, Lisa Fritz.
Absent:
Mayor, John LaMotte and Council Member, Beth Rake.
There were no citizens present.
Pledge of Allegiance
Old business:
Approval of the minutes of March 6, 2023 was done by Motion from Brian Whitenight and seconded by Delavan Whitenight Jr. All in Favor.
Borough Life:
April Shuman touched base on the upcoming events in the Borough. Barb Kriner made a Motion to permit members from the Assembly of GOD Church to hold an Egg Hunt in the Borough Park on Saturday, April 8 at 11:00am. Peter Fleming seconded the motion. All in Favor.
New Business:
Kerry Parkes told John Domanski that the Police Cruiser is back from being repaired by students at the Vo-Tech School. Kerry stated he would like to do something for the kids for repairing the vehicle, such as a pizza party.
Brian made a motion for the Police to pay for a pizza party, not to exceed $200.00. Barb seconded the motion. All in Favor.
Barb Kriner stated the commercial sewer rates will be finalized and sent to the Solicitor, Attorney Michetti for review and approval. John Domanski thinks each business should be billed individually, including residential properties that have a business at their home.
John stated Les Taylor from Merck/Cherokee contacted him about setting up a meeting with Riverside Borough and Danville Borough regarding the pumping of chemical waste after the plant closes. Peter spoke with Danville Sewer Plant Personnel, they indicated the Danville Plant is not equipped to treat the underground waste water from Merck/Cherokee. Delavan Whitenight expressed concern that if Danville does take the waste, then if they cannot or just stops handling it, what would happen. Peter stated he would like to know exactly what contaminates are in Merck’s waste.
John stated that Dan Gable gave an update on the sewer tanks and manhole replacement:
West End –
A. there are 51 tanks
B. 8-10 private pumps (lift stations)
The Borough will pay for the pump and the tank to be installed. After installation, the property owner is responsible for maintenance.
Sunbury Road Manholes –
A. there are 15 total manholes
B. 11 need new rings and lids: one (1) manhole is in an alley, which will not affect paving and four (4) are repaired.
The Borough is going to order the rings, lids and gaskets, USG (Utility Services Group, Inc) will do the work. Funding will come out of Grant monies. Manhole work will be done during the daytime hours; paving will be done at night.
Motion to Approve:
Borough Office bathroom ceiling repair: Barb Kriner made a motion to hire Steinbacher’s to repair the ceiling in the bathroom. April seconded. All in Favor.
Action Items:
Barb Kriner has been working with Lisa, Borough Secretary, to complete reconciliations for our bank accounts. An error was discovered from January-February 2022 in Liquid Fuels and we did not want to move further until we had a better understanding of what all was going on. Barb Kriner met with Shannon Berkey to take a closer look at Liquid Fuels and the Sewer account. Additional errors were discovered. At that point the recommendation was to either make adjustments to the accounts and move forward with the reconciliations or have a third party accountant go through all accounts for January-March 2022 to make sure the reconciliations were correct then have Lisa more forward from there. Council was also made aware of an adjustment our accounting company made to our General account in March 2022 of a substantial amount. With no explanation from our Accounting firm of why that adjustment was necessary Barb Kriner contacted several other Accounting Companies to see if we could get someone to come in and go through the accounts for that time period. John Domanski suggested that maybe we need to go back to 2021 and start from there. Barb Kriner contacted several companies and has been in contact with Klacik & Associates. Our first decision we need to make is to better define the scope of work that we want to have done. John Domanski suggested that they be contacted to see if they could send someone to a meeting at the office to look at our accounts to better understand what information we will need to provide them. Barb Kriner will follow up with them and report additional information for the next council meeting. Barb Kriner will also make contact with our accounting company, Wagner, Dreese, Elsasser & Associates to find out about the adjustment they made to our account and why that was necessary.
John Domanski feels an audit should be done going back to and including the year of 2021.
At 8:19pm, John Domanski to move into Executive Session, Barb seconded. All in Favor.
At 8:39pm, Peter mad a motion to go back into Regular Session, Barb seconded. All in Favor.
Brian made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Delavan seconded the motion. Council adjourned at 8:40 o’clock pm. All in Favor.
Respectfully Submitted:
Lisa Fritz
Secretary
The Riverside Borough Council met in the Municipal Building, 415 Dewart Street, Riverside on Monday, March 20, 2023 at 7:00pm. Meeting was called to order by President John Domanski.
Council members present:
Vice President Barb Kriner, Peter Fleming, Brian Whitenight, Delavan Whitenight, Jr. and April Shuman.
Also present was Secretary, Lisa Fritz.
Absent:
Mayor, John LaMotte and Council Member, Beth Rake.
There were no citizens present.
Pledge of Allegiance
Old business:
Approval of the minutes of March 6, 2023 was done by Motion from Brian Whitenight and seconded by Delavan Whitenight Jr. All in Favor.
Borough Life:
April Shuman touched base on the upcoming events in the Borough. Barb Kriner made a Motion to permit members from the Assembly of GOD Church to hold an Egg Hunt in the Borough Park on Saturday, April 8 at 11:00am. Peter Fleming seconded the motion. All in Favor.
New Business:
Kerry Parkes told John Domanski that the Police Cruiser is back from being repaired by students at the Vo-Tech School. Kerry stated he would like to do something for the kids for repairing the vehicle, such as a pizza party.
Brian made a motion for the Police to pay for a pizza party, not to exceed $200.00. Barb seconded the motion. All in Favor.
Barb Kriner stated the commercial sewer rates will be finalized and sent to the Solicitor, Attorney Michetti for review and approval. John Domanski thinks each business should be billed individually, including residential properties that have a business at their home.
John stated Les Taylor from Merck/Cherokee contacted him about setting up a meeting with Riverside Borough and Danville Borough regarding the pumping of chemical waste after the plant closes. Peter spoke with Danville Sewer Plant Personnel, they indicated the Danville Plant is not equipped to treat the underground waste water from Merck/Cherokee. Delavan Whitenight expressed concern that if Danville does take the waste, then if they cannot or just stops handling it, what would happen. Peter stated he would like to know exactly what contaminates are in Merck’s waste.
John stated that Dan Gable gave an update on the sewer tanks and manhole replacement:
West End –
A. there are 51 tanks
B. 8-10 private pumps (lift stations)
The Borough will pay for the pump and the tank to be installed. After installation, the property owner is responsible for maintenance.
Sunbury Road Manholes –
A. there are 15 total manholes
B. 11 need new rings and lids: one (1) manhole is in an alley, which will not affect paving and four (4) are repaired.
The Borough is going to order the rings, lids and gaskets, USG (Utility Services Group, Inc) will do the work. Funding will come out of Grant monies. Manhole work will be done during the daytime hours; paving will be done at night.
Motion to Approve:
Borough Office bathroom ceiling repair: Barb Kriner made a motion to hire Steinbacher’s to repair the ceiling in the bathroom. April seconded. All in Favor.
Action Items:
Barb Kriner has been working with Lisa, Borough Secretary, to complete reconciliations for our bank accounts. An error was discovered from January-February 2022 in Liquid Fuels and we did not want to move further until we had a better understanding of what all was going on. Barb Kriner met with Shannon Berkey to take a closer look at Liquid Fuels and the Sewer account. Additional errors were discovered. At that point the recommendation was to either make adjustments to the accounts and move forward with the reconciliations or have a third party accountant go through all accounts for January-March 2022 to make sure the reconciliations were correct then have Lisa more forward from there. Council was also made aware of an adjustment our accounting company made to our General account in March 2022 of a substantial amount. With no explanation from our Accounting firm of why that adjustment was necessary Barb Kriner contacted several other Accounting Companies to see if we could get someone to come in and go through the accounts for that time period. John Domanski suggested that maybe we need to go back to 2021 and start from there. Barb Kriner contacted several companies and has been in contact with Klacik & Associates. Our first decision we need to make is to better define the scope of work that we want to have done. John Domanski suggested that they be contacted to see if they could send someone to a meeting at the office to look at our accounts to better understand what information we will need to provide them. Barb Kriner will follow up with them and report additional information for the next council meeting. Barb Kriner will also make contact with our accounting company, Wagner, Dreese, Elsasser & Associates to find out about the adjustment they made to our account and why that was necessary.
John Domanski feels an audit should be done going back to and including the year of 2021.
At 8:19pm, John Domanski to move into Executive Session, Barb seconded. All in Favor.
At 8:39pm, Peter mad a motion to go back into Regular Session, Barb seconded. All in Favor.
Brian made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Delavan seconded the motion. Council adjourned at 8:40 o’clock pm. All in Favor.
Respectfully Submitted:
Lisa Fritz
Secretary
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