ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF NOVEMBER 14, 2005

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 PM on November 14, 2005, at the Rockledge Borough Hall. 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 addition was made to the agenda: Mr. Kelleher added discussion regarding payment due from the Austrian Village for a sewer blockage that occurred earlier this year and an issue regarding truck repairs.

Mr. Mori made a motion to adopt the agenda. All were in favor.

Mr. Mori motioned to adopt the minutes from the October 10 meeting. All were in favor.

Mr. Casey noted that his name was omitted from the October 24 minutes. Mr. Mori, not Mrs. Walz, motioned to adopt the agenda at this meeting. With these corrections noted, a motion was made to adopt the October 24 minutes. All were in favor.

Law and Planning:

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

Mr. Beady brought up for discussion the planting of trees on private property or within raised planter boxes on Huntingdon Pike. A good percentage of sidewalks on Huntingdon Pike are too narrow for installation of tree pits or the presence of underground utilities preclude the installation of a tree pit. This originated from the absence of trees on the Revitalization Plans. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Bresnan what the law was with regard to planting trees on private party. Mr. Bresnan stated that outside of the public right of way it has to be with their consent. Mr. Denelsbeck told Mr. Beady that if the trees are to be included in the Revitalization Plan this would have to be approved on November 28 since the plan has to be to the Streets Department by December 14. Mr. Beady said he would try to have some information regarding tree planting for the next Council Meeting.

Mr. Beady announced there would be a Zoning Hearing on November 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Borough Hall concerning 110 Daly Street regarding an application for a variance to enlarge their existing family room.

Finance

Mr. Casey motioned to accept the monthly bills, mercantile tax report, financial report, and tax collector’s report. All were in favor.

A sewer backup occurred at 117 Fox Street on October 24, 2005. The residents (Maria & Mike Lanahan) are requesting that the Borough pay two bills incurred as a result of this backup for $215.00 and $130.00 for drain cleaning and a plumber. There were rags found in the main. A second blockage occurred in the lateral. It has not been determined whether the second blockage occurred on the lawn or in the street. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that in the past Borough policy has been that if a blockage occurs from the curb to the street then the Borough pays to have this cleared. If it is from the curb to the house, it is the resident’s responsibility. The bills resulting from rags found in the main is the Borough’s responsibility. The blockage found in the lateral would be the resident’s responsibility. Mr. Denelsbeck asked that a decision on paying these bills be put on hold until we get a report from Abington stating where the second blockage occurred. All were in agreement with this decision.

Mr. Casey announced that budget discussions would continue after the regular meeting this evening.

Public Service

Mr. Caffrey announced that he and Mr. Truman have been considering the idea of putting a recycling bin in the Borough for residents to use or something just for use by the businesses. It would be just for newspapers and recyclable papers. Discussion followed regarding whether the S. Sylvania garage would be a good place for the dumpster. Chief Leary stated this would not be a good place as it would need to be properly monitored or it becomes a drop-off place for couches, etc. Mr. Beady stated his concern would be that if the dumpster was full then people would just lay their papers on the ground. Mr. Kelleher stated he felt it was a bad idea as he is afraid it would be a fire hazard. Based on all of these concerns it was decided that this idea would not be pursued.

Mr. Beady brought up the idea of recycling printer cartridges as we are not currently doing this and it would generate money to possibly subsidize a program. Mr. Beady stated he believed you receive anywhere from .50 to $8.00 per cartridge depending on the size of the cartridge. Drop-offs for the cartridges could possibly be at the Borough Office and the Police Station. It was agreed that this idea would be investigated.

Mr. Caffrey mentioned that a letter was received from Temple University Health System requesting a handicapped designated drop off parking space in front of their offices located at 120 Huntingdon Pike. Mr. Denelsbeck said they would have to take a look at the Streetscape Plan to see if it would allow for this.

Public Safety

Mr. Mori motioned to accept the Police Report, Fire Marshal Report, Second Alarmer’s Report (September and October), and Fire Company Report. All were in favor.

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher motioned to accept the Streets Department and Streets Opening Reports.

Mr. Kelleher asked that anyone who needs anything done on the weekends by the Streets Crew should go through Mr. Truman. All work will be prioritized by Mr. Truman and then passed on to Mr. Ovack. If there are any questions regarding why or when a job will be completed, everyone should contact Mr. Truman. Mr. Denelsbeck stated he felt certain jobs should be completed every weekend, such as blowing the leaves off of the Rockledge Park trail in the fall, walking the playgrounds every Saturday and checking for trash, etc. Mr. Denelsbeck stated Mr. Ovack may also hire some more people in order to get everything done.

Snow removal policy will remain the same as the past two years. If it begins snowing when Mr. Truman is not in the office, the Police Department will call Mr. Kelleher. Mr. Kelleher will call Mr. Ovack and Chief Leary and notify them to put the snow plows in service. Mr. Denelsbeck commented that the snow removal ordinance policy states that on the odd days streets are plowed only to the odd side of the street. On even days streets are plowed only to the even side of the street. This should be included in the December Newsletter so that residents are made aware. The Streets Crew standby policy will still be in place this year.

Repairs of curbs that were broken during the paving project began this past Friday.

Mr. Kelleher stated that the Austrian Village has still not repaid the Borough for their half of the bills incurred when a sewage blockage occurred earlier this year. Mr. Bresnan has sent them two letters informing them if they did not make payment, the Borough would bring suit against them for payment. Mr. Caffrey moved to proceed with filing suit with the Austrian Village for payment of their half of the bill. All were in favor.

Mr. Kelleher stated that the truck is down again and is in the shop for repairs. Mr. Kelleher authorized the Streets Crew to do leaf collection with the pick-up truck. Mr. Mori remembered extensive break work done on the truck about a year ago. Mr. Kelleher stated that was just done on the one side. The other side now needs repair. Mr. Kelleher stated again for the record that we are going to need a new truck.

Mr. Kelleher brought up the issue of the recent vandalism at the Borough Garage. Chief Leary stated that there is a detail set up there every night. Recently there were a few attempted break-ins that were unsuccessful. Graffiti is an ongoing problem at the garage. Mr. Kelleher mentioned the recent fire at the Jarrett Avenue Playground. Mr. Denelsbeck asked if the individuals responsible for this would be paying for the damages. Chief Leary stated that he is hoping that is what will happen, however, the suspects are not admitting to anything. Mayor Costello told Mr. Denelsbeck that the investigation into this matter is ongoing.

Mr. Mori asked if the tarring that was scheduled for today had occurred. Mr. Truman stated that the tarring was done except for the unit block of Elm Avenue as there were too many cars for them to uniformly tar the streets. Instead of towing the cars, those parts of the street were left unsealed.

Mr. Denelsbeck mentioned the policy regarding leaf collection. The purpose of leaf collection in the streets and out of the gutters is for trees that drop leaves into the street. It is not for the purpose of people blowing their backyard or their institutional property into the curb line to take up between 6-8 parking spots. Robbins Avenue has lost a number of parking spots recently due to this practice. If people park on or near these piles of leaves with their hot car, the leaves may then catch on fire.

Recreation

Mrs. Walz had nothing to discuss at this time.

Property

Mr. Beady had nothing to discuss at this time.

Personnel

Mr. Casey had nothing to discuss at this time

Public Comment

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that the Revitalization Plan for Huntingdon Pike would be approved on November 28. On that date the Open Space Plan will also be given final approval. This would be a public hearing and needs to be advertised.

Mr. Aungst mentioned the house on the 300 block Huntingdon Pike that is scheduled to be demolished and turned into a doctor’s office. Mr. Aungst feels the outside of this building looks awful and should be cleaned up. Mr. Denelsbeck said that a letter would be sent to the owner regarding this.

Mr. Wynne made some comments regarding the planting of trees on Huntingdon Pike mentioned earlier in the meeting. He stated that there are trees where the roots grow directly down and would never interfere with any surrounding wires. Mr. Wynne also inquired about the Borough’s non-smoking policy. He stated he was in one of the parks recently and someone was smoking a cigarette. He felt this caused a hazard should a cigarette be thrown into a pile of leaves. Mr. Denelsbeck answered that there are non-smoking policies in effect only for the buildings. Mr. Wynne felt this policy should be expanded to include the parks and playgrounds.

Mr. Denelsbeck announced they would be recessing into Executive Session after which they would then restart budget discussions.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Assistant Borough Manager