ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF March 28, 2005

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 p.m. on March 28, 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. Caffrey, Mr. Casey and Mayor Costello.

The following additions were made to the agenda: Mrs. Walz delayed discussion of the Parks Advisory Committee until the next meeting, and added discussion regarding Open Space Committee.

Motion was made to adopt the agenda. All were in favor.

Law and Planning:

Mr. Beady had nothing to discuss at this time.

Finance

Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the letter from Kathy Jordan regarding recommendations for Police Pension Fund needed to be reviewed by Mr. Casey. Mr. Casey will follow-up with that.

Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the Borough Office is having a problem getting our records from Vaccaro & Associates (former Actuary) regarding our Police Pension Fund. Mr. Bresnan stated that the Borough is entitled to these records. Mr. Bresnan will deal with Vaccaro in obtaining these records.

Public Service

Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Caffrey about a recycling grant that was applied for in 2004. This included recycling buckets, pamphlets, etc. Mr. Caffrey was not aware of this grant, but will look into it.

Public Safety

Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Mori to contact the Second Alarmer’s and ask them to provide their monthly reports to us in a more timely manner.

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher stated that Aqua has moved into the second phase of their project and they will also be starting Huntingdon Pike.

The traffic signal project will begin April 11, and should be complete by the end of May.

Mr. Kelleher stated as it stands now, Aqua will be paying the Borough $85,000 for paving. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that Aqua still owes permit fees for this project. Aqua apparently would like to barter for these permit fees; Mr. Kelleher stated that he has told Aqua that the Borough is not interested in bartering these fees. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Beady to have the building inspector calculate the value of the permits needed by Aqua to exclude Blake and Robbins (fire hydrants installed in exchange for permit fees) and Fillmore (already paid).

Recreation

Mrs. Walz thanked everyone who helped with the Easter Egg Hunt. Everything went very well.

The Open Space Committee will be postponing their presentation of their plan to Council until May 9. The Open Space Committee will be having a meeting on April 20, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Center. The public is invited.

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that the application for a historical marker and preservation grant for the Fox Chase and Huntingdon Pike Tollhouse. This was denied.

Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mrs. Walz if the police clearances for the summer employees had been started. Mrs. Walz answered yes.

Property

Mr. Beady announced that a newspaper article had been printed regarding Alt Chem (low-bidder for building renovations). The article stated that Alt Chem had been thrown off a job in Bordentown. Little Builders (second bidder for building renovations) provided several encouraging letters of recommendation regarding their work. Mr. Bresnan stated that if Council had a legitimate concern about the low-bidder then they did not have to accept their bid. The fact that they did not complete the Bordentown project is considered a legitimate concern. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that he spoke with the owner of Alt Chem who stated that the problems they encountered in Bordentown were not his fault. Apparently there was a variance change in the Bordentown project and Bordentown did not get the proper zoning variances. Bordentown stated it was the contractor’s fault. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that he had called the owner of Alt Chem several times and he finally returned Mr. Denelsbeck’s calls today. Mr. Beady stated that he considered this a concern. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the Trades Unions have been faxing the newspaper article concerning Bordentown to the office.

Mr. Denelsbeck stated that he did check Alt Chem’s references and got favorable responses. However, he was not comfortable with the fact that it took the owner of Alt Chem so long to respond to his phone calls. The remainder of Council agreed with Mr. Denelsbeck’s concerns.

Mr. Beady made a motion to accept the bid from Little Builders. All were in favor.

Mr. Denelsbeck instructed the Borough Clerk to send the owner of Little Builders a notice to proceed with this project.

Personnel

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that the Borough has a tentative agreement with a new Borough Manager, Keith Truman. Keith will begin on Friday, April 1, 2005.

Public Comment

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that a request was received from the PA State Association of Boroughs regarding each municipality passing a resolution to petition the Federal Government from doing away with the Community Development Block Grant program. Rockledge has benefited from the program and Mr. Denelsbeck stated he would like a motion to adopt this resolution to maintain this program.

Mrs. Walz made a motion to adopt this Resolution 2005-02. All were in favor.

Mr. Denelsbeck asked for public comment on any topic.

Mrs. Ivey commended Mrs. Walz on the success of the Easter Egg Hunt.

Mrs. Denelsbeck announced there would be a meeting on Act 72, the Homestead Tax Redemption Act, at the Montgomery County Community College on Saturday, April 2. Anyone from the public may attend.

Mrs. Walz made a motion to recess to Executive Session. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Borough Clerk