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FEBRUARY 6, 2012
The regular meeting of the Martinsburg Borough Council was held on Monday, February 6, 2012, in the municipal building. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. with prayer by Randy Stoltz and the Pledge of Allegiance.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT: Mayor Rex L. Hartman, President Connie S. Lamborn, Pro-Tempore Durban D. Metzler, Councilman Edward L. Bennett, and CouncilwomanLinda K. Smith
ALSO PRESENT: Borough Manager Randy Stoltz, Borough SecretaryJane Staily, Chief Kerry Hoover, Sgt. Justin Davis, Rich Brantner, Jr., Attorney Frederick Gieg, Jr., Attorney Matt Gieg, Lucinda Meck, Andrew Wyandt, Nathan Hale and Brian Hess of the Morrisons Cove Herald
Prior to all other business Mayor Rex Hartman administered the Oath of Office to Lucinda Meck as elected auditor for the Borough of Martinsburg.
(Lucinda Meck left at approximately 7:05 p.m.)
Chief Hoover introduced two proposed new patrolmen: Andrew J. Wyandt and Nathan R. Hale.
The MINUTES of the regular meeting of January 3, 2012, were approved with two corrections on page 3 (Dan ‘Smouse’ – not Smith; ‘stipend’ – not stipulation) on a motion by Durban Metzler, seconded by Linda Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
The FINANCIAL AND TREASURER’S REPORTS were presented for December 21-31, 2011 as written.
The LIST OF BILLS for December 20-31, 2011, check nos. 6338-6346 in the amount of $3,028.37 were approved on a motion by Durban Metzler, seconded by Linda Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
The FINANCIAL AND TREASURER’S REPORTS were presented for January 2012 as written.
The LIST OF BILLS for January 2012, check nos. 6347-6364 in the amount of $3,593.46 were approved on a motion by Linda Smith, seconded by Ed Bennett. The motion passed unanimously.
Chief Kerry Hoover presented the police report as written. They have been investigating stolen copper ground wire from utility poles in January. They did find out who was doing it and charges will be filed. On January 10 Officer Finochio and Chief Hoover did a finger printing demonstration for the third grade. The department was recently audited on January 12 by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime Delinquency and all went well. Four of our officers served as honor guards at the Chris Garlena viewing. He died of a massive heart attack. Chris Garlena worked for our police department for two years. Chief Hoover and Sgt. Davis attended the funeral.
Huston Township approved the new police agreement with Martinsburg Borough. They were in agreement with the new rate increases. Council on a motion by Ed Bennett, seconded by Durban Metzler, adopted the two year police agreement for Martinsburg Borough to serve Huston Township for 2012 and 2013 at the new rate of $35.50 for 2012 and $36.00 for 2013 and using the current IRS gas mileage of $.55 per mile. The motion passed unanimously.
As introduced earlier, Chief Hoover had the two candidates that he was recommending for hire as part-time patrolmen in attendance this evening. Based on Chief Hoover’s recommendation, council on a motion by Ed Bennett, seconded by Durban Metzler, voted to hire both Andrew J. Wyandt and Nathan r. Hale as the two new part-time patrolmen for the Martinsburg Police Department, subject to them passing their background checks which have not been completed yet. The motion passed unanimously. A. J. Wyandt is not yet fully certified but will be in about one month. Nathan Hale is already working forWilliamsburg and can start immediately. With the addition of these two officers our force we will now have a total of eight part-time patrolmen.
Linda Smith inquired again about having Spring Street zoned as a school zone so the speed limit can be reduced to 15 m.p.h. Chief Hoover has not found anything on it yet but does not think it can be done. He suggested that the department may just want to do more frequent speed checks for the speed limit that is already there.
Manager Randy Stoltz reported that eleven Christmas trees were picked up on January 5 – there seem to be less trees set out each year; the Christmas decorations were taken down on January 6; Stiffler & McGraw Engineering were in on January 11 to engineer the proposed street beside the Riverside Market; continued to clean out the old municipal building on January 16 – the new owners did submit a building plan for review; plowed 5” of snow on January 21; attended the Open Records Webinar with Jane Staily, Kerry Hoover and Sharon Brower on January 25 – the webinar was mostly review; met with Rick Truscello to discuss the municipal assistance application for the grant for the comprehensive plan – fourteen people have agreed to sign letters of support; attended the annual Blair Regional Code meeting at Logan Township – 14 member communities can use the same appeals board – our portion of the cost will be about $167 per year; met with Jessica Sheets on February 3 to discuss the Keystone Grant – she will be trying to get us another grant to match the one that we already have in the amount of $98,000 for proposed streetscape work.
Attorney Frederick Gieg, Jr. reported that he prepared the Huston Township police agreement.
Attorney Matt Gieg is working on the roadway transaction. He received an email from Stiffler & McGraw and Associates that the survey is completed. He also received the $1,000 contribution from Morley Cohen and forwarded it to the borough. A dedication and petition will need to be prepared as well as a new ordinance and a public hearing will need to be scheduled to formally take the road over. Council on a motion by Linda Smith, seconded by Ed Bennett, authorized to proceed with the acquisition of the roadway located beside the Riverside Market that runs from W. Allegheny Street to E. Penn Street as a formal borough street. The motion passed unanimously. Council will need to come up with a name for the roadway before it can formally be ordained as a borough street. The name chosen will need to be approved by Blair 911.
Council will be advertising for a new part-time CLERK for the borough office. An executive session will be held on personnel matters at the end of the meeting to briefly discuss the position.
Durban Metzler reported that the Martinsburg Municipal Authority is planning a pilot study on the nitrate removal system to help decide what size filters will be necessary. Wineland Wells 1 and 3 have been redrilled but it is a long process to get them permitted. The water levels are high and the nitrates in the drinking water are down to nearly zero.
Linda Smith reported that the Blair County Recycling Committee must be short on help again because she was informed by a resident that the bins have been full. The county normally picks up every Monday and Thursday. The borough and the townships use the same recycling spot located at the borough garage. It services about 4,000 people.
The borough will be holding a spring clean up this year. It has been scheduled about every other year. Manager Stoltz has prepared a draft flyer for the clean up scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everything listed except tires will be free now. Each borough resident will be sent a flyer and it must accompany them to participate.
Council on a motion by Ed Bennett, seconded by Linda Smith, adopted Resolution No. 2012-0206-01 as Addendum H to the Employee Benefits and Regulations Manual redefining the position of municipal office secretary as “clerk”; including a mandatory residency requirement of a 5-mile radius; and excluding the word “advanced” in the job description. The motion passed unanimously.
Council on a motion by Linda Smith, seconded by Durban Metzler, voted to advertise in the Morrisons Cove Herald two times (February 8 and 16) for applicants for the position of part-time clerk for the borough office. The motion passed unanimously. Application forms and a brief job description will be available to be picked up at the borough office during normal office hours. Deadline for the applications will be Friday, February 24, with interviews to be scheduled the following week so that an applicant can be approved for hire at the March 5th council meeting.
A copy of the Keystone Grant request for proposal which came from Jessica Sheets was distributed to council. The grant is intended to supplement the $98,000 grant that we were previously approved for. She feels strongly that she can obtain a matching grant. Council on a motion by Durban Metzler, seconded by Linda Smith, authorized to pay Jessica Sheets $1,000 to be paid from the General Operating Fund so she can proceed with applying for the Keystone Grant Application. The motion passed unanimously.
Having an updated comprehensive plan is very helpful when applying for grants. It gives you a better chance of getting them. Rick Truscella of the EADES Group has been working with Manager Stoltz on trying to obtain a grant through the Municipal Assistance Program for one-half the funding needed for a comprehensive plan. Each municipality involved would have to pay their portion if the grant is obtained. Originally the cost was quoted at a certain price but over time the costs have gone up as follows:
TOTAL Martinsburg North Woodbury
LOCAL SHARE Borough Township
NEW PLAN TOTAL $38,708 $19,354 $10,770 $ 8,584
ORIGINAL PLAN TOTAL$35,840 $17,920 $ 9,975 $ 7,945
TOTAL DIFFERENCE $ 2,868 $ 1,434 $ 795 $ 639
Since council had previously approved for Rick Truscella to reapply for this grant, the only thing needed now was a Resolution to increase the borough’s portion of the cost. Council on a motion by Ed Bennett, seconded by Linda Smith, approved Resolution No. 2012-0206-02 amending the allocated amount of Martinsburg Borough’s portion of the cost for the comprehensive plan from $9,975 to $10,770 an increase of $795. The motion passed unanimously. Fourteen letters of support are to be received to be included in the grant application.
Manager Stoltz did some research on new Christmas decorations. The last poinsettias purchased were bought in 2001. There is a big sale through Holliday Design which runs only through the end of March. The ones were currently use are 6 foot in diameter. He would like the new ones to be consistent with what we already have. Linda Smith volunteered to look at them and come up with some choices.
Attorney Gieg during the process of preparing the updated section to the Employee Benefits and Regulations Manual felt that council may want to review their current Employee Drug Testing Policy. No action was taken.
Everyone was invited to attend the upcoming webinar on March 1 to discuss Parliamentary Procedure.
A brief executive session was called to discuss personnel issues following the adjournment of the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. on a motion by Linda Smith, seconded by Durban Metzler. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
M.Jane Staily
Borough Secretary
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