June 5, 2023 Meeting Minutes

RIVERSIDE BOROUGH COUNCIL
 
The Riverside Borough Council met in the Municipal Building, 415 Dewart Street, Riverside on Monday, June 5, 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 and April Shuman.
Also present were Solicitor Joseph Michetti Jr., Chief of Police Kerry Parkes, Street Superintendent Dan Gable, Zoning Officer Brian Anderson and Secretary Lisa Fritz.
 
Absent from Meeting:
John LaMotte Mayor and Council Member, Beth Rake.
 
Pledge of Allegiance
 
Citizens to be Heard:
Ken Gardner suggested that meeting would be more interesting if the meeting packets for Council Members were provided for people in the audience. Barb Kriner asked residents in the audience how they thought we could better get information out to the community. April Shuman suggested a quarterly mailing and volunteered to chair a committee. Resident, Gretchen Knouse said she would help. Kerry Parkes suggested a notice to be mailed out with property taxes.
Resident, Gretchen Knouse said she reads the Facebook pages of Boro Life and Borough of Riverside.
Gretchen Knouse said the mulch around the ‘Welcome to Riverside’ sign looks great.
 
Old Business:
Minutes of 5/15/2023 were read. Brian Whitenight made a motion to approve the Minutes, Barb Kriner seconded the Motion. All in favor.
 
Zoning Officer Report:
Brian Anderson read his report for the month of May. He stated requests for permits were up in May. Brian has tried to contact Mr. James Furfari regarding the fencing on his property. Brian Whitenight questioned if a time-line could be set for Mr. Furfari to repair the fencing. Solicitor, Attorney Michetti stated to give him until 8/1/23 to make repairs to the fencing. Brian Anderson will send Mr. Furfari a notice.
Brian Anderson stated he received a call from someone who wants to put a Solar field in by the Airport and Whitenight properties, Brian plans to meet with the man who called on Tuesday, June 6 at the property. Attorney Michetti stated there a lot of speculators trying to do solar fields that will set up, then sell or lease. John Domanski questioned how a commercial business could be placed on residential or agricultural land? John feels an ordinance should be in place regarding Solar and Wind farms. Attorney Michetti suggested Larson Design Company update the ordinance for zoning and planning. Barb Kriner made a motion to approve the Zoning Report, Peter Fleming seconded. All in favor.
 
Street Department Report:
Dan Gable presented his report. Dan asked if there could be a limit set for loads per resident on Dumpster Day. He stated several people brought multiple loads. John Domanski said guidelines could be worked on. Resident, Ken Gardner stated that some Boroughs have a 2 load limit, with no commercial truck loads. Dan stated the backhoe is still out being repaired. Delavan Whitenight suggested looking into a newer backhoe. He said perhaps the Grant Writer look into getting a grant for a backhoe. Barb made a motion to accept the Street Department report, with Peter Fleming seconding the motion. All in Favor.
 
Southside Fire Company Report:
Barb Kriner stated the fire company has very busy with fires due to the dry conditions. Peter Fleming questioned the man hours for Rush Township. Barb said Rush Township does not have a fire company. Southside does bill insurance companies for services for Mayberry and Rush Township. Rush Township has sent money to the Southside. Brian Whitenight made a motion to accept the report and Delavan Whitenight seconded the motion. All in favor.
 
Police Report:
Kerry Parkes presented his report.  Kerry stated the air conditioning was back on in the Police department. Kerry presented Council with information on PACE Scheduler, a program for use with employee time. Employees can go in and schedule or switch time. The program has sick, vacation, personal and comp-time hours for employees to keep track off. Resident, Gretchen Knouse has heard of this program and said it works well. Brian Whitenight asked if the program would be for non-uniform employees also. Kerry said, yes, non-union and up to 20 employees can use the program. On Monday, June 12th, the will be Active killer training at the Liberty Valley School. National night out is scheduled for June 14th, 5:00pm at the Washies Playground in Danville.
Barb Kriner motioned to accept the Police report, Peter Fleming seconded. All in favor.
 
Mayor’s Report:
A report was not submitted.
 
Solicitor Michetti Report:
Attorney Michetti stated no response has been received from the owner of Lot #29 in the River Hill developments regarding their responsibility to clean out the retention pond. Attorney Michetti stated the Borough should give the owner until the beginning of July to clean the retention pond out. Bridge lighting: the Borough entered into an agreement on April 21, 2006 to maintain the bridge lights. John Domanski stated a company came and inspected the lights, some water was getting the lights causing rust. Dan Gable stated Mahoning Township wants to replace the six (6) lights on their side. Dan will contact Mahoning Township to get costs.
Barb Kriner made a motion to accept the Solicitors Report, with Peter Fleming seconding. All in Favor.
 
Borough Life:
April mentioned June 19th is the Geisinger Residents Welcome Event in Danville, Boro Life will have a stand at the event. Other Boro Life Events this summer are: Movies in the Park on Friday, June 23rd, Kipps Run Open Swim on July 15th and the Community Yard Sale on July 22nd. Barb Kriner put the Burning Ordinance on Facebook. Barb Kriner stated she would like to meet regarding the By Laws, 501C3.  Barb Kriner made a motion to accept the Borough Life report, Peter Fleming seconded. All in Favor.
 
New Business:
The water issue on Sunbury Road, by the Airport is estimated at $46,000.00 to correct. Senator Lynda Culver is checking on Grants to fund the project.
 
Motion to Approve: Nothing to Approve.
 
Action Items:
Barb Kriner made a motion to sign the contract for PennDot to purchase the Stencil for roadway markings. Peter Fleming seconded. All in Favor.
Barb Kriner contacted the PA Game Commission regarding the turkey vultures in the Borough. They are a protected species. The Game Commission recommended to hang shiny objects such as old CD’s or tin pie plates in trees or use noise machines. If nothing works to make them move on, they will come remove them to a safe place.
April Shuman mentioned that 2 of the 5 tested months of sewer samples (February & April) still showed high Total Nitrogen.
 
Executive Session:
At 8:39pm, Barb made a motion to move into Executive session. Peter seconded. All in Favor.
 
At 9:01pm, 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, Peter seconded the motion. Council adjourned at 9:02 o’clock pm.
 
Respectfully Submitted:
Lisa Fritz
Secretary