borough of yoe

150 North Maple Street, Yoe, PA 17313  •  (717) 244-5904

Minutes for November 2, 2016

The regular monthly meeting of Yoe Borough Council was held on November 2, 2016 at the Yoe Borough Municipal Building, 150 N. Maple Street, Yoe, PA 17313. The meeting was called to order by Council President Samuel Snyder at 7:00PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council members in attendance:
Samuel Snyder
George Howett
Seth Noll
Ryan Harper
Regan Strausbaugh
William Bankoske

Others in attendance:
Dana Shearer, Maintenance
Seth Springer, Solicitor
Steve Malesker, Engineer
John Sanford, Mayor
Diana Dvorak, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
Nancy Lanocka, Resident
Samuel Benton, Resident

Minutes
Councilman Snyder asked if everyone had an opportunity to look over the minutes from the prior meeting. Councilman Howett made the motion to accept the minutes, Councilman Bankoske seconded the motion. All in favor. Minutes approved.

Visitors
Mr. Samuel Benton was in attendance to discuss putting a hair salon on S. Main ST. Councilman Snyder let Mr. Benton know that the Zoning Hearing Board would be the one to approve this. Mr. Benton has started this process. Councilman Snyder explained in a little more detail a special exception. Discussion continued.

Ms. Nancy Lonocka was in attendance to discuss issues with a home on 285 N Main ST. The back yard of the home has quite a bit of trash, such as a sofa, garbage bags etc. Mrs. Patti Myers, the Zoning Officer has been out there twice to address this issue. The resident was given a deadline of October 31 to rectify this issue. Councilman Noll went over different ordinances in place to address issues such as this, and the time frame involved.

Ms. Lonocka, also asked about paving on High ST. The road is in need of repair in certain areas. Discussion continued regarding the possibility of patching certain areas. Speeding is also an issue on this road. The possibility of speed bumps were discussed, a traffic study would need to be completed. Councilman Noll, and Mr. Shearer said they would walk the road in the next few weeks, and go from there.

Ms. Lonocka, also volunteered to help paint the fence around the ball field or with other projects around the Borough. Ms. Lonocka, also inquired about larger recycle bins. This are available for private purchase at possibly Penn Waste or box stores. Discussion continued.

Solicitor’s Report
Solicitor’s report was provided. Solicitor Springer and Councilman Snyder had been working with Mr. Rich Fromeyer at American Legal Publishing, regarding codification. The plan is to begin the contract in January. Keystate Publishing has provided all of our current information, as well as historical ordinances. In turn all of this information will be available online. We will also be provided paper copies. Discussion continued. American Legal is also willing to work with us regarding cost. We can put a spending limit on the project each year. There will be a $300 annual fee, or our ordinances to be put online.

Councilman Noll made a motion that we approve, as present, Yoe Borough Resolution 2016-12, authorizing American Legal Publication for Ordinance publication printing, and electronic form. Seconded by Councilman Harper. All in favor.

Resolution 2016-10, annual resolution for the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, the Borough contributes $120 each quarter to each member’s account. Councilman Bankoske made the motion. Seconded by Councilman Howett. All in favor.

Resolution 2016-11, the annual resolution to appoint the auditor, Smith Elliot Kearns & Company as the auditor for 2017. Motion made by Councilman Harper, Seconded by Councilman Bankoske. All in favor, motion carried.

Councilman Noll made a motion that we accept the proposed 2017 budget, and it be advertised for adoption in December. Councilman Howett seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.

Councilman Snyder will prepare the tax ordinance for next month, which will be number 2016-1. There is no proposed tax increase for 2017.

The SPCA provided a contract in the amount of $509 yearly. This will provide dog licensing, microchipping clinics, animal related municipal ordinance consultation, full record keeping provided by the Department of Agriculture, Low Cost spay/neutering assistance, including programs for stray cat colonies, and free spaying/neutering of Pit Bulls, Humane investigations, citations and prosecutions of animal cruelty, etc. Councilman Howett made the motion to accept the SPCA contract. This was seconded by Councilman Strausbaugh. All in favor, motion carried.

Engineer’s Report
Mr. Malesker provided a Engineer’s report. Mr. Shearer and Mr. Malesker met with Mr. Kopp from Penndot regarding the Broad ST work, and creating a project number so the PIB loan application could be started.

Mr. Shearer discussed the inlets on Broad and Poplar. Mr. Shearer wanted to camera the inlet pipe into the two inlet pipes and the outlet. This was done on October 31st. There is some rust on the very bottom of the pipe, otherwise they are still in good shape. It is Mr. Shearer’s recommendation that we consider refurbishing, rather than replacing the inlets. Discussion continued.

Councilman Noll made a motion for Mr. Shearer to proceed with the approved repairs in front of Yoe Auto Parts, to the stormwater inlet. Councilman Harper seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried. This is to come out the stormwater account. Discussion continued.

Mr. Malesker discussed the meeting with Mr. Kopp. At this point, we need to know exactly how much we want to borrow, and how we plan on paying. Whether it will monthly, or yearly etc. The interest rate at this point is 1.75%. Councilman Snyder recommends paying once a year, with our liquid fuels allotment, over the next 10 years. Discussion continued. Councilman Noll made a motion to apply for $110,000 PIB loan, with the terms of paying once per year, with a ten year term. Seconded by Councilman Bankoske. All in favor, motion carried. Discussion continued.

Councilman Harper made a motion for Mr. Malesker to advertise the Broad ST project. Councilman Strausbaugh seconded, all in favor, motion carried. Councilman Snyder received notification for conservation grants from the DCNR. Discussion of what the grant would cover was discussed.

There was discussion regarding the current grant, and if we have any access to the paperwork Mr. Romig originally submitted. Mr. Malesker has been following up with Mr. Romig to follow up on this, but has not heard anything back. Mr. Malesker is also going to check the DEP website, to see if anything has been updated since the last time he checked. Discussion continued. The possibility of continuing the rail trail project was also discussed.

Councilman Noll suggested that two or three people get together after the next meeting, and discuss all the possible projects to present to council. Discussion continued.

Maintenance Report
A lot of the maintenance report had been discussed under the Engineer’s report.

The new truck should be in production sometime around the 21st, and should be delivered to the body builder in December. So the truck should be available around the first of the year. Mr. Shearer would like to get the Borough Seal permanently added to the truck.

Zoning Officer’s Report
The Zoning Officer has been busy. The provided report includes August through October. Multiple issues are being addressed, and citations issued. Discussion continued.

There will be an upcoming Zoning Hearing Board.

EMA Report
The radio project for the County is moving forward.

Mayor’s Report
Mayor Sanford is continuing to work with Police in regards to 85 W Walnut. Also working with Chief Damon regarding some property issue near the House of Windsor. The alley behind W Broad ST has had a lot of vandalism. There has also been activity in the alleys behind S. Main ST. Several break-ins to garages and homes. There are people walking down the alley behind W Broad ST with flashlights on multiple occasions.

Councilman Snyder inquired how we are doing on our hours. Mayor Sanford has discussed this with Chief Damon, and they are working together to come up with a clear formula, as being short staffed has made coming up with a firm number difficult.

Mrs. Dvorak had gotten an estimate to replace the front office door, as warehouse door. To replace both doors it would cost roughly $3000. Discussion continued. The money for the door will come out of the capital reserve fund.

Councilman Harper made the motion to replace the doors, with the funds coming out of capital reserve. Councilman Noll seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed. Councilman Noll, did recommend going with a security box, versus a mail slot in the door.

Mrs. Dvorak did follow up with State Farm regarding the incident on Springwood RD, and the damage to the fence.

Mrs. Dvorak also requested a back -up system for the computer. Stambaugh Ness does provide a cloud based back up for $120 a year. Councilman Noll made the motion to purchase a back-up system for the computer. Seconded by Councilman Howett. All in favor, motion passed.

Mr. Shearer mentioned that we receive notification from FEMA that we have been approved $6087.32 reimbursement.

Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.

New Business
There are four cars that are parked on Philadelphia ST between Main and Elm. Mayor Sanford inquired about how difficult it would be to make that stretch a snow emergency route. Mr. Shearer will look into this, as it would require a traffic study. Councilman Noll made a motion for Mr. Shearer to do a traffic study for snow emergency route in W. Philadelphia. Seconded by Councilman Bankoske. All in favor, motion passed.

Payment of Bills
A motion to pay the bills was made by Councilman Howett, and seconded by Councilman Strausbaugh.

Adjournment
A motion was made by Councilman Bankoske to adjourn at 8:55. Seconded by Councilman Snyder. All in favor.

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