August 7, 2023 Meeting Minutes

RIVERSIDE BOROUGH COUNCIL
 
The Riverside Borough Council met in the Municipal Building, 415 Dewart Street, Riverside on Monday, August 7, 2023 at 7:00pm.  Meeting was called to order by President John Domanski.
 
Council members present: 
Vice President Barb Kriner, Peter Fleming, Brian Whitenight, April Shuman and Beth Rake.
Also present were Solicitor Attorney Joseph Michetti, Chief of Police Kerry Parkes and Secretary Lisa Fritz.
Absent from Meeting:
Mayor John LaMotte, Council Member Delavan Whitenight, Zoning Officer Brian Anderson and Street Superintendent Dan Gable.
Pledge of Allegiance
Citizens to be Heard:
Dennis Wildt of Sunbury Rd stated he receives two (2) Sewer bills. He asked if the one bill for his garage could be relinquished. He purchased the property three (3) years ago with a small home on it, he remodeled the home into a garage, leaving the commode in place. Solicitor, Attorney Michetti recommended having the two (2) properties Deeded into one, with a limitation in the Deed, stating no residential, business or In-law suite could be operated in the garage.  Another option would be to disconnect and cap the commode in the garage, then show proof of such doing. Upon doing one of the two (2) recommendations, the Solicitor and Council would review and decide on approval of deleting the garage sewer billing. John Domanski asked Dennis why he has not questioned the bill before now. Dennis stated he pondered it for a while, but the recent increase made him finally take action.
Another citizen (not present in the audience), requested to have a sewer bill waived for a second floor apartment that has been vacant for five (5) years. Attorney Michetti stated, again, that he would need to disconnect, showing proof to the Borough and also that the apartment is indeed vacant. Attorney Michetti did state if a sewer is disconnected, there would be a re-connection fee applied, along with back sewer amounts due at time of re-connection (which-ever was less). Brian Whitenight commented the Borough should not waive sewer bills on unrented apartments. Resident, Ken Gardner, stated he has asked at previous meetings about recycling. Beth Rake stated she checked into it with a recycling business and they told her they do not have enough resources to put a recycling bin and maintain it. Peter Fleming said he has private recycling, but he realizes the concern with plastics getting into the water ways. Brian Whitenight said many other municipalities do not use recycling terminals, partially due to people placing items in them that should not be.
Ken Gardner also asked:
1). if the Agenda could be advertised in the paper for each meeting.
2). burning could be eliminated in the Borough. Beth stated some push-back was received. John Domanski agrees to try and stop burning.
Old Business:
Minutes of 7/10/2023 were read.
Brian Whitenight made a motion to approve the Minutes, Peter Fleming seconded the Motion. All in favor.
Zoning Officer Report:
Brian Anderson’s report was looked over by Council, as he was not in attendance.
Beth Rake made a motion to approve the Zoning Report, Brian Whitenight seconded. All in favor.
  Street Department Report:
John Domanski read the report, as Dan Gable was not in attendance. An estimate was received for cutting a tree that fell on Pine Swamp Hollow Rd. John stated the tree trimming budget was lowered and there was not enough to cover the cost. Barb stated to transfer the money from the Money Market CD.  John mentioned the closing of Boyce Road due to heavy rain causing a hole. John stated that Grant Writer, Justin Skavery met with him and Dan to work on a grant for guardrails on Pine Swamp Road. April suggested that hours worked on projects should be on the Street Department report; consistently have vehicle mileage, fuel usages, and man hours worked reported, like the Police Dept and Fire Dept reports are. 
Brian suggested taking an inventory of items at the Street Department garage and would be willing to help do inventory. John will speak with Dan when he gets back from vacation to do the inventory.
Barb made a motion to accept the Street Department report, with Brian seconding. All in Favor.
 Southside Fire Company Report:
Reports for May and June were provided. Barb stated there has not been any property damage.
Beth made a motion to accept the fire company report. Brian seconded. All in Favor.
 Police Report:
Kerry Parkes presented his report.  He stated the PACE Scheduler has been implemented for employee time tracking and seems to be working well. Kerry ‘Thanked’ the Street Department for helping to get debris cleared from roadways caused by storms. Kerry stated he spoke with the Grant Writer from Hailstone to start the process of applying for a Grant for a Work Station and server tower. The Police hosted a check-point and averaged two (2) DUI’s.
Brian Whitenight motioned to accept the Police report, Beth Rake seconded. All in favor.
 Mayor’s Report:
No report was submitted.
 Solicitor Michetti Report:
Attorney Michetti stated the Union matters are still pending. At the request of the Street Department employees, there is a hearing scheduled with the Borough’s Labor Attorney and the AFSCME representative, Craig Vollkommer on Friday, September 15 in Harrisburg.
Barb made a motion to accept the Solicitor’s report, with Brian seconding. All in Favor.
 Borough Life:
April Shuman stated the postcards are almost ready to mail to residents regarding community communication. April reported the yard sale as a success, bigger than last year, with a lot of positive feedback, and appearing bigger for next year.
 Upcoming events are Halloween and the Parade of Lights in December.
Peter made a motion to accept the Borough Life report, Beth seconded. All in Favor.
 New Business:
No new business.
 Motion to Approve:
The Sewer waiver requests are on hold.
 Action Items:
SR 54 Pavement Markings; John Domanski and Kerry Parkes discussed doing the first stenciling for RT 54E, then if the markings help, the Borough could purchase the stenciling for 54W. PennDot will store the stencil and provide it the Borough upon a one week notice.
Barb made a motion to proceed with the painting of RT 54 E. Peter seconded. All in Favor.
Council will meet with Larson Design group on Tuesday, August 8th to get updated on the two (2) sewer projects. John Domanski touched base on the Sewer rate increase, stating it increased .34 per day from the previous rate. April Shuman stated it has been several years since they have had to increase the rates. There are two (2) sewer projects in the Borough. West End; the new sewer lines will handle the sewer and water with an eight (8) inch line versus the current 4” lines. East End; the terracotta lines are being checked. There has been high nitrates & phosphates reported, possibly due to ground water run-off.
 New Building; a meeting is scheduled with the Grant Writer from Hailstone on Wednesday, August 9th to discuss grants for the new building. Barb showed the residents in the audience, the plans for the new building.
 Executive Session:
At 8:28pm, Barb made a motion to move into Executive session. Peter seconded. All in Favor.
 At 9:22pm, Brian made a motion to go back into Regular Session. Barb seconded the motion. All in Favor.
Barb made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Beth seconded the motion.
Council adjourned at 9:23 o’clock pm.
 
Respectfully Submitted:
Lisa Fritz
Secretary