ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF January 10, 2005

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 p.m. on January 10, 2005, at the Rockledge Community Center. After the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance were recited, the roll was called as follows: Mr. Denelsbeck, Mrs. Walz, Mr. Mori, Mr. Beady, Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Warren, Mr. Caffrey, and Mayor Costello.

A motion was made to adopt the agenda. All were in favor.

Mr. Mori made a motion to approve the minutes from December 13, 2004. All were in favor.

Public Safety

Mr. Mori made a motion to appoint Russell Hellyer as Fire Marshal and Timothy Brooks as Assistant Fire Marshal. The roll was called and all were in favor. Mayor Costello swore in Mr. Hellyer and Mr. Brooks.

Mr. Mori made a motion to accept the Police and Fire Company’s Reports. All were in favor. (The Second Alarmer’s Report was not present as of the date of this meeting.)

Mr. Mori made reference to the Police Report and some statistics for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004. These statistics are included with the Police Report for December, 2004. Part I Crimes went up from 48 in 2002 to 58 in 2003, and back down to 48 in 2004. Mr. Mori attributed these statistics to the fact that we have an excellent police force. Mr. Mori asked Chief Leary to elaborate on this information.

Chief Leary thanked Mr. Mori for his comments. Chief Leary thanked Mayor Costello and Mr. Denelsbeck for allowing him to re-design a patch for Rockledge Borough Police. Chief Leary stated that Sgt. Miller, Officer Horajeckyj, and Officer Buttenbusch asked him to publicly proclaim their appreciation for having been able to attend a very prestigious school. They appreciate the support of Council.

Chief Leary made mention of the efforts of Officer Polidoro in tracking down the source of smoke coming from a dumpster at Siwek’s Hardware. Officer Weinberg arrested two felons over the last month as a result of his patrol-initiated activity.

Mayor Costello commended Chief Leary and the Rockledge Police Officers for their efforts regarding traffic issues.

Law and Planning:

Mr. Beady made a motion to accept the monthly Building Inspector’s report. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Solicitor Joseph Bresnan. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Engineer Charles Shoemaker. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Auditors Bee, Bergvall & Company. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Treasurer Albert Wartman. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Secretary Troy Madres. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Mercantile Tax Collector Troy Madres. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Earned Income Tax Collector Berkheimer & Associates. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Building Inspection Underwriters. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Emergency Management Coordinator Eugene Reinhardt. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Vacancy Board Chair Joseph Costello. Mr. Denelsbeck stated Mr. Costello fills in for any vacant council position that is not filled within 30 days. All were in favor.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Troy Madres as a member of the Animal Regulatory Board.

Mr. Beady made a motion to reappoint Dan Assal as member of the Zoning Hearing Board. All were in favor.

Finance

Mr. Warren made a motion to accept the Monthly Bills, Financial Report, Tax Collector’s Report, and the Mercantile Tax Collector’s Report. All were in favor.

Mr. Warren stated that a computer vendor needed to be selected. Chief Leary supports New Hope Computers, but as his expertise is limited, he asked that any questions be referred to Officer Weinberg. Officer Weinberg stated that New Hope Computers came out free of charge when the Police Department’s network server crashed last year. They gave the Police Department eight hours of free technician time and got the Department up and running. Based on their record of service and price, Mr. Warren made a motion to choose New Hope Computers as the Borough’s computer vendor. All were in favor.

Mr. Warren made a motion to accept the following banks as depository banks for the Borough: a) Willow Grove Bank; b) Commerce; c) Wachovia; d) Fox Chase Federal; e) PNC; f) Sovereign; g) Summit; h) Wachovia; and I) PA Local Government Investment Trust. All were in favor.

Mr. Warren announced that a new actuary needed to be selected for the Borough. The current company that we use and the actuary (Joe Duda) that they employed who has served us for many years have parted ways. Mr. Duda has started his own company and has offered us the same services we received last year at a tremendous cost savings. Mr. Madres has recommended that the Borough move to the new company formed by Mr. Duda. Mr. Madres stated that the savings would be around $1,500.00. Motion was made to select Mr. Duda and his new company as the Borough Actuary. All were in favor.

Public Service

Mr. Caffrey announced that a waste management hauler needed to be selected. Based on the review of the bids (Mascaro and BFI) by Mr. Madres and Mr. Bresnan, a recommendation was made to go with BFI for three years. BFI’s bid came in at 14% less than Mascaro. Mr. Madres commented on the good service provided to the Borough by BFI. Complaints about their service are relatively low. Motion was made to accept BFI’s bid for waste management hauler. All were in favor. Trash pickup will remain once a week (no more than 10 bags).

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher made a motion to accept the Streets Department and Streets Opening Reports. All were in favor.

Mr. Kelleher stated he met with Aqua regarding the replacement of the sewer piping in the Borough. Aqua wants to replace 12,000 feet of piping on the North side of Huntingdon Pike. Aqua is willing to do this at no cost to the Borough. This whole project amounts to @$40,000 in permit fees. The representative from Aqua suggested they would do other work throughout the Borough to offset these costs. Mr. Kelleher told Aqua that the Borough would choose to receive the permit money. Mr. Kelleher suggested Aqua be given the go ahead to do this project now (the entire 12,000 ft). He requested a prospectus from Aqua on how long this project is going to take, so that a street contractor can come in and start paving when Aqua is done. Weather conditions over the winter will dictate how long this job will take. If all goes well, the work will be completed by June, and street paving could commence. Mr. Denelsbeck suggested that Aqua pay the Borough the money they would spend on restoring the streets they work on, and the Borough would then put that money towards the cost of paving these streets. Mr. Madres will talk to the Aqua representative about this. Motion was made to allow Aqua to replace the 12,000 feet of piping from Huntingdon Pike to Shady Lane now. All were in favor.

Mr. Kelleher announced that the bids for the traffic signal on Sylvania Avenue have gone out and will be opened and reviewed by Council on January 31. Construction is due to start sometime in March and ending sometime in May. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the solicitor needed to be instructed to prepare the ordinances for parking on North and South Sylvania Avenues in order to give the businesses time to warn their customers that parking will be changing. Mr. Madres stated he would get this information to Mr. Bresnan. Mr. Kelleher stated that after the traffic signal is installed that the residents on Sylvania Avenue be reassured that all of their previous concerns will be taken into consideration. Mayor Costello assured Council that the residents of Sylvania Avenue will see that the police will be on their block monitoring their traffic concerns and that all of their issues will be addressed.

Recreation

Mrs. Walz announced that the next Open Space meeting would be held on Wednesday, January 19 at 7:30 at the Rockledge Community Center. Mrs. Walz stated that Mr. Kelleher has requested that Fox-Rok athletics be allowed to use South Sylvania Playground. Mr. Denelsbeck asked that the President of Fox-Rok send a letter to Council with this request and Council will vote on it at their next meeting The general feeling of Council would be to allow Fox-Rok to use the field when needed except for Tuesday evenings from 6:00-8:30, when the field is used by a women’s softball league. Mr. Denelsbeck asked that a schedule be provided by Fox-Rok so that the Borough would know when the field is available.

Property

Mr. Beady had nothing to discuss at this time.

Personnel

Mr. Warren had nothing to discuss at this time.

Public Comment

Mrs. Ivey asked about the open space at Rockledge Park. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the project has been bid on and approved for $45,000. The trail is scheduled to begin on May 1, with the sidewalk to be installed shortly thereafter on the Rockledge Avenue side of the property.

Motion was made to recess to Executive Session. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Borough Clerk