ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF APRIL 10, 2006

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 p.m. on April 10, 2006, at the Rockledge Borough Hall. After the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance were recited, the roll was called as follows: Mr. Denelsbeck, Mr. Mori, Mr. Beady, Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Caffrey (late arrival), Mr. Casey, and Mayor Costello.

Mr. Casey added a discussion regarding the Kise Straw bill to the Finance Agenda.

Mr. Mori added the swearing in of two part-time police officers to the Public Safety Agenda.

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

Mr. Mori made a motion to adopt the minutes from the March 13, 2006 meeting. All were in favor.

Mr. Mori made a motion to adopt the minutes from the March 27, 2006 meeting. All were in favor.

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that the Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success. Everyone had a great time. He commented on what a great job Mrs. Walz does in organizing this every year.

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 adopt Ordinance #596 requiring owners of rented property within the Borough to provide tenant lists to the Borough on a periodic basis. Mr. Mori asked for the definition of periodic. Mr. Denelsbeck stated this would mean twice a year. Roll was called as follows:

Mr. Kelleher: Yes
Mr. Beady: Yes
Mr. Mori: Yes
Mr. Casey: Yes
Mr. Denelsbeck: Yes

The vote being 5:0 Ordinance #596 was passed.

Mr. Beady made a motion to approve Resolution 2006-01 Montgomery County Open Space Board Approval of the Rockledge Borough Municipal Open Space Plan. (This was accepted at the January 31 Council Meeting, but Resolution was never passed). Roll was called as follows:

Mr. Kelleher: Yes
Mr. Beady: Yes
Mr. Mori: Yes
Mr. Casey: Yes
Mr. Denelsbeck: Yes

The vote being 5:0, this resolution was adopted.

Public Safety

Chief Leary presented two officers for part-time employment: Mr. Robert Ruxton and Mr. Ray Heffernan. Chief Leary commented on their background and experience and recommended that both be hired as part-time police officers. Mr. Mori made a motion to hire both of these officers. All were in favor. Mayor Costello swore in both of these officers.

Mr. Mori made a motion to accept the Police, Fire Company, Fire Marshal, and Second Alarmer’s (February) Reports. All were in favor.

Mr. Mori announced that following this meeting there will be a meeting of the Emergency Management Team at One Park Avenue.

Finance

Mr. Casey motioned to accept the monthly bills, mercantile tax report, financial report, and tax collector’s report. Mr. Denelsbeck commented that the tax collector’s report is not being prepared according to the State’s guidelines. This was supposed to have been straightened out last year. Mr. Denelsbeck requested that Mr. Truman inform Mr. Wartman that the report needs to be prepared according to the DCED format. All were in favor of accepting the above-named reports.

Mr. Casey made a motion to pay the Kise Straw bill ($4,160.00). This would be the final payment for services rendered during the building renovations. Mr. Mori asked if everything on the punch list had been completed. Mr. Truman stated everything was complete. The vote was 3:2; the bill will be paid.

Public Service

Nothing to discuss at this time.

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher motioned to accept the Streets Department and Streets Opening Reports. All were in favor.

Mr. Kelleher announced that there was a sewer blockage at 43 N. Sylvania Avenue (Caffrey residence). They are currently working to clear it.

Pipe Services will start the camera work in the sewers throughout the Borough this week. They will be starting on Sylvania Avenue. Detailed reports will be provided. Mr. Kelleher asked Chief Leary to provide assistance with traffic on Sylvania Avenue if needed.

Recreation

Mr. Denelsbeck spoke about installing a fence or hedgerow between the Jarrett Avenue playground and the property located at 315 Valley Street. He asked if this was a request from the resident. Mr. Truman stated he believed there was a verbal request. Mr. Denelsbeck asked for a written request from the resident and asked Mr. Truman to obtain prices for this work.

Mr. Denelsbeck spoke on behalf of Mrs. Walz and thanked everyone who helped with the Easter Egg Hunt this past weekend. It was a huge success.

The Basketball Program is running on Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00-8:00 p.m. in the gym at the Rockledge Borough Hall.

Property

Nothing to discuss at this time.

Personnel

Nothing to discuss at this time.

Public Comment

Mr. Denelsbeck asked for public comment. Mrs. Gallagher, 105 Loney Street, asked for information regarding the Summer Playground Program. Mr. Denelsbeck gave her these details.

Mr. John Creedon and Mrs. Lynn Toner, 16 N. Sylvania Avenue spoke about the parking problems they are experiencing on their street regarding the Austrian Village and the Rockledge Vet. Visitors and employees of these two businesses are repeatedly parking in front of their residence. Friday and Saturday evenings seem to be the worst. She has had a problem with people parking in front of her driveway. Mayor Costello informed Mrs. Toner that if people are parking in front of her driveway, she should be contacting the Police Department. Mr. Creedon stated that the installation of the traffic light has caused them to lose 30’ of parking on each side. He reminded Council that he attended a Council Meeting before the light was installed and his main concern at that time was parking. Council stated at that time that if parking became a problem after the light was installed, that they would consider permit parking. Mrs. Toner feels that she pays enough in taxes and she can’t even park on her street. Many nights she winds up parking in the Blockbuster parking lot.

Mr. Kelleher asked if the curbs in front of their residence be painted yellow to designate resident parking. Mr. Denelsbeck stated there would need to be an ordinance adopted for permit parking. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the Rockledge Vet has a parking lot that complies with the zoning ordinance; however the sign in their window informing customers they may also park on Sylvania Avenue needs to be removed. Mr. Denelsbeck instructed Mr. Bresnan to write an Ordinance for permit parking for the unit block of Sylvania Avenue. All of these residents will be issued permits. Signs would be posted on the street reflecting that it is a permit-parking block only. Anyone who parks there without a permit will be fined. The owners of the Rockledge Vet and the Austrian Village will be informed of this also. This whole process will take about two months as the Ordinance has to be advertised before it can be adopted. In the interim we can contact the Austrian Village and request that they put up signs in the restaurant requesting that patrons not part in front of the residences on Sylvania Avenue.

Mayor Costello commented that permit parking can cause a problem for visitors to those residences as they would not have permits to park and would wind up with a ticket. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the permits would have to be transferred from car to car. Mr. Denelsbeck feels that the permit parking system gives you the ability to call the police if there are cars from the Austrian Village parked in front of their residence. If there are signs up on the street reflecting that it is a permit-parking only street, then it might deter customers of the Rockledge Vet and Austrian Village from parking there. Mrs. Toner asked if a sign could be put up noting “Residential Parking Only” in lieu of permit parking. Mr. Denelsbeck stated they would not be able to tell who was a resident and who was not.

Mr. Mori stated the parking issue is not only a problem on the unit block of Sylvania Avenue. He also has this problem on his block of Robbins (unit block). Mr. Mori feels permit parking should be instituted on all of the unit blocks in the Borough. Mr. Denelsbeck stated he did not feel this was necessary as there haven’t been any complaints from residents on the other unit blocks.

Mr. Denelsbeck stated the Ordinance will be drawn up and the residents on Sylvania Avenue will be issued the number of permits they need. Mr. Denelsbeck told Mr. Mori that permit parking on Sylvania Avenue could be used as a test zone for the other streets. Mr. Kelleher motioned for an Ordinance to be drawn up to make a portion of the unit block of Sylvania Avenue permit parking only. Chief Leary will determine the distance, not to exceed more than half the block. All were in favor.

Mr. Naudascher commented on the issue of installing a fence between the Jarrett Playground and 315 Valley Road. He asked why a fence was never installed all long Valley Road for the safety of the children. Mr. Denelsbeck told Mr. Naudascher this would be looked at.

Mr. Aungst asked if permits were needed for dumpsters. Permits are not required for a dumpster; they need to be coned, lighted, and reflected. Mr. Aungst noted he has seen dumpsters that are not properly coned or lighted. A question was asked regarding the building material in the street on Burke where the new house is under construction (Kraus). Mr. Truman stated that a parking exemption was permitted by Chief Leary. Chief Leary stated that Mr. Kraus requested a permit to allow him to store wood in the street. Chief Leary stated the conditions required for the permit to be issued were that the pile of building materials be reduced by 50%. Mr. Kraus was given a reasonable amount of time to do that. He missed the deadline by two hours. Chief Leary stated that he made it very clear to Mr. Kraus that the next time he is denied permission for a parking exception or storage exception on the street the denial will be given to him in writing so there are no questions.

Mrs. Ivey commented that people on Montgomery Avenue park right up to the crosswalk at night. It is practically impossible to see beyond the SUV’s parked up to the edge of the crosswalk. Mr. Mori asked what the setback requirements were. Chief Leary stated 15’, but they are not marked. Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the curbs can be painted.

Mr. Mori made a motion to recess to Executive Session.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Assistant Borough Manager