ROCKLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
OF April 24, 2006

The Rockledge Borough Council met at 7:30 p.m. on April 24, 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.

Mr. Kelleher stated he had a few things to add to his Streets, Lights, and Sewers Agenda.

Mrs. Walz added the hiring of another Basketball Aide and discussion regarding the tennis court grant to her Recreation Agenda.

Mr. Casey added the Agreement reached with the Borough Manager to the Personnel Agenda.

Mr. Mori made a motion to adopt the Agenda as amended. All were in favor.

Law and Planning:

Mr. Beady announced that there would be a Planning Commission Meeting on Tuesday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockledge Borough Hall to review the plans for the proposed Wachovia Bank at 620 Huntingdon Pike. Mr. Denelsbeck asked if Mr. Bresnan could attend this meeting; Mr. Bresnan said he would. Mr. Truman stated that the Borough Engineer, Rick Stoneback, would also be attending this meeting.

Finance

Mr. Casey stated quotes were received for carpeting of the steps and small lobby area. Mrs. Walz motioned to go with Fowler Floor Coverings. All were in favor.

Mr. Casey stated quotes were received for an alarm system for the Borough Offices. Mr. Mori questioned if the issue of adding on the sprinkler system was settled. Mr. Casey stated they will not give a discount for doing both. Discussion followed regarding the differences with the quotes (installation and maintenance). Mr. Denelsbeck stated that the original purpose of this was to install a monitor so that Mrs. Metzinger could see who was coming into the office. The quotes that were received are for security systems. Mayor Costello stated he thought there was a security issue with the back windows in the Borough Office. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Truman to get prices to include a monitoring system along with a security system. Mayor Costello told Mr. Truman he would like to see a panic button included with these quotes. Mr. Truman stated that he and Chief Leary have been discussing possibly getting the monitoring system included with the COPS Grant recently awarded to the Police Department. Chief Leary added that if we can determine that the Borough Office is an alternative Emergency Operation Center, we might be able to take some of the technology and transfer it to the Borough Office. He has not yet received the documentation that says exactly what can be purchased.

Quotes were received for purchasing banners for Huntingdon Pike. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Council to consider this and think about some kind of design for the banners. They will run @$3,000. This will be brought up again at next month’s meeting.

Public Service

Mr. Caffrey announced that the Red Cross is looking to hold a Blood Drive on July 3 from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. They will be parking the Blood Mobile bus in the Holy Nativity parking lot. They are looking for a small committee of 3-4 people to help out and they are hoping to sign up 40 donors. Mr. Truman stated that the move from the Firehouse to Holy Nativity is due to the series of steps involved with using the Firehouse.

Public Safety

Chief Leary presented Richard Carson to be sworn in as a part-time police officer and commented on his background and experience. Mr. Mori made a motion to hire Mr. Carson contingent on his due process. All were in favor. Mayor Costello swore in Mr. Carson.

Mayor Costello announced that the Police Department and Emergency Management Team will be attending the Emergency Management Drill at Springfield High School. Members of the Fire Department will also be attending. Chief Leary announced that the last meeting for this drill is tomorrow afternoon.

Mr. Denelsbeck questioned Mr. Bresnan regarding a letter received by Council concerning mandatory NIMS training for Council members, mayors, commissioners, and supervisors. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Bresnan if Council could actually be mandated to attend this training. Mr. Bresnan will look into this further.

Streets, Lights, and Sewers

Mr. Kelleher asked Mr. Truman if the bill was received from Associated Paving for the work performed to clear the sewer blockage at 43 N. Sylvania Ave. Mr. Truman stated that the bill has not been received. Associated Paving will be coming back this week to do the topcoat.

Mr. Kelleher stated that the video report was received from Pipe Services. There are two issues with laterals going into resident’s homes with branches. Mr. Kelleher will look though the video and discuss what should be done with Mr. Ovack.

Mr. Kelleher asked Chief Leary if the generator at the Police Station is tested/run monthly. Chief Leary stated that it is tested monthly and that during the last power failure (two weeks ago) everything was functioning properly after power was restored. Chief Leary feels he can safely surmise that the generator effectively did what it was supposed to. Mr. Ovack was trained by the company that installed the generator to perform testing/maintenance.

Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Kelleher to have Mr. Ovack look into putting some kind of coating/lacquer on the stone outside of the window in the ladies restroom in the Borough Hall as the wall around the window inside was wet after the bad rain over the weekend. A ceiling tile was also wet near the window of the Borough Office from the rain. Mr. Denelsbeck also extended his thanks to the Streets Crew for removing the graffiti from the dumpster in the Borough Hall parking lot.

Recreation

Mrs. Walz made a motion to hire Steven Walz as a Basketball Aide. Steven is 16 years old and will be 17 in June. Chief Leary will perform a background check. All were in favor.

Mrs. Walz stated that she would like to use the $14,000 grant originally intended for the tennis courts to purchase a new playground set for S. Sylvania Playground. All were in favor.

Mr. Truman stated that the cost of redoing the tennis courts will probably cost around $50,000-60,000. With the small communities’ grant that we applied for, the first $20,000 is given to us. Anything we ask for beyond this, there is a $40,000 cap that we have to match thereafter. If we ask for $40,000 we would have to chip in $10,000, which would give us $50,000. Mr. Truman stated we could possibly tie this in with another grant. Mr. Truman has sent a letter to Senator Washington regarding obtaining grant money. Mr. Denelsbeck asked Mr. Truman to pursue this with Senator Washington.

Mrs. Walz thanked everyone who was involved in helping out with the Easter Egg Hunt.

Property

Mr. Beady had nothing to discuss at this time.

Personnel

Mr. Casey announced that an agreement has been reached with Keith Truman to continue as Borough Manager. Mr. Caffrey made a motion to ratify the terms of this agreement. All were in favor.

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that there is a basic course being offered for Planning Commissioners. He asked Mr. Truman to find out if anyone on the Planning Commission would like to attend.

Mr. Denelsbeck announced that two invitations were received from the Visiting Nurses Association for their Community Services Municipalities Thank You luncheon if anyone would like to attend.

Council met before the meeting in Executive Session this evening to discuss the Borough Manager’s agreement. Council will be meeting briefly in Executive Session after tonight’s meeting on a personnel issue.

Public Comment

Mr. Denelsbeck asked for public comment. Mrs. Ivey commended Mrs. Walz for her tremendous job with the Easter Egg Hunt.

Mr. Mori made a motion to recess to Executive Session. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace Metzinger
Assistant Borough Manager