ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF FEBRUARY 27, 2006

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 p.m. on February 27, 2006, 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.

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

Recreation

Mrs. Walz presented a Recognition of Merit to James Bollard for his service to the Borough by providing benches and tables for our parks and playgrounds as part of his Eagle Scout Project.

Mrs. Walz motioned that she would like to start the Basketball Program on March 18 and it will run through June 18. The times will be Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. She would like to hire 6 counselors to run the program at $7.00/hour. She would like them to be 18 years or older. Ages 6-11 will play from 2:00-4:00 p.m.; ages 12-15 from 4:00-6:00 p.m.; and ages 16-18 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Parents will have to sign their children up and provide emergency contact numbers, etc. Each resident child can bring one outside guest who will have to sign in and show school ID. This program will cost the Borough about $2,000 and there would be two counselors on duty each day. All were in favor. Chief Leary stated that anyone who is hired for this program will require background investigations.

Law and Planning:

Mr. Beady announced that a Zoning Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockledge Borough Hall concerning an application received by Wachovia Bank regarding the property located at 620 Huntingdon Pike.

Mr. Beady made a motion to adopt the Stormwater Management Ordinance #2006-595. Mr. Beady read aloud the purpose of this ordinance. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mrs. Ivey (who did some research on this) if she had any comments regarding this ordinance. Mrs. Ivey stated she felt this ordinance should be passed. Mr. Denelsbeck called the roll:

Mrs. Walz: Yes
Mr. Mori: Yes
Mr. Beady: Yes
Mr. Kelleher: Yes
Mr. Casey: Yes
Mr. Caffrey: Yes
Mr. Denelsbeck: Yes

The vote being 7:0, Ordinance #595 was adopted.

Mr. Beady made mention of a Verizon Resolution. Mr. Truman explained that Verizon is planning on coming into each and every Montgomery County municipality with their new fiber optic wire which will be voice, data, and television/video service. Because they have now gone beyond just phone, they fall into the same realm as Comcast does and Comcast has to give us a franchising agreement. Therefore, Verizon inevitably will probably have to give us a franchising agreement as well. The Montgomery County Consortium feels that we will have a stronger bargaining chip if we unite rather than pick it apart one municipality at a time and get a county-wide franchising agreement with a level playing field. In order to do so, they want to hire a communications group. All of the municipalities are sharing the cost. As Rockledge is so small, our share of the $10,000 bill would be $45.81. This amount could go up if all of the municipalities do not opt in, but most of the bigger municipalities are opting in. Mr. Denelsbeck asked when this needed to be approved. Mr. Truman said we can wait until the March meeting to sign the resolution. Mr. Denelsbeck asked that Mr. Bresnan review the resolution before a decision is made. All were in agreement.

Finance

Mr. Casey had nothing to discuss at this time.

Public Service

Mr. Caffrey made mention of the 2005 recycling update. Recycling is up 17% overall since 2004. Yard waste collection was down slightly in 2005 compared to 2004. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Truman to compile a chart that includes the savings/cost of recycling.

Mrs. Ivey commented on the most recent newsletter. She felt it was very informative and well put. She asked if apartment dwellers received any kind of recycling information. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that homeowners and apartment dwellers receive newsletters, recycling information, etc.

Public Safety

Mr. Mori announced that the Borough has received a $50,000 police technology grant from Senator Allison Schwartz. Chief Leary stated that this grant is specifically earmarked for technology and the training that goes with technology. It will be spent on such items as computers in the police cars, phone systems, surveillance system for the cell block, etc. Chief Leary also announced that as a result of our affiliation with the radio team in Montgomery County, we have received a radio distribution grant. This saved the Borough $4,000.00. We will also be receiving an Electronics Communications Equipment Grant from the County and we will also receive multiple scholarships from some academic organizations for trainings.

Mayor Costello extended his thanks to Chief Leary and Officer Frank Weinberg for doing the legwork and making sure that the grant was put together and seeing that it came to fruition. The Mayor also announced that Willow Grove Bank has donated $2,500 to furnish the lobby of the Borough Hall.

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher announced that there was another problem with the sewer pit on Shady Lane. Many pictures were taken with the digital camera. It looks as if the edges of one of the pipes needs to be cut as rags, etc., are getting caught on these edges. Zoom wants $3,000 to go in and repair the pipes. We are in the process of getting two more quotes for this job. Mr. Kelleher stated he would like this to be repaired ASAP. Motion was made for Mr. Kelleher to proceed with the lowest bid. All were in favor.

Property

Mr. Beady had nothing to discuss at this time.

Personnel

Mr. Casey had nothing to discuss at this time. Mr. Denelsbeck announced that Borough Council met prior to tonight’s meeting to discuss negotiations with the Borough Manager regarding his letter of agreement.

Public Comment

There was no public comment at this time.

Mr. Mori motioned to recess to Executive Session. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Assistant Borough Manager