[0:19] Okay, Joey, we're live.
[0:23] » Thank you, Jen.
[0:26] Good meeting time, guys.
>> How's it going?
[0:29] » Thank you.
Good evening and welcome to the
[0:34] Grove Park Summit Council meeting,
September 2nd.
[0:38] In attendance we have Mrs. Grady, here.
Mrs. Miller is absent.
[0:44] Mr. Goza.
>> Present.
[0:48] » Uh
Mr. Mitchell.
[0:50] » Here.
>> Mr. Halonen.
[0:53] » Here.
>> Mr. Shields.
[0:55] » Present.
>> Mayor Kelly.
[0:56] » Here.
>> Solicitor Krolak.
[0:58] » Here.
>> Borough Manager, Jen Basilega.
[1:01] » Here.
>> And Chief Kevin O'Connell.
[1:04] » Here.
>> We're going to stand for a moment of
[1:07] meditation.
I'd like to lead you all.
[1:10] Salute our flag and we will have our two
leaders and our secretary.
[1:20] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States
[1:24] of America.
With liberty and justice for all.
[1:34] » Thank you.
[1:39] The only one on the agenda is our own
container public meeting that we
[1:45] And Jen, would you like to direct us on
this?
[1:49] All council members are ready to hold on
this week.
[1:53] » If there was any public comment?
>> Do we have any public comment on this?
[1:59] » And just for the record, notice was
provided in the newspaper
[2:03] twice.
We we don't have this on our agenda to
[2:06] vote on tonight though. Do we need to
add it to our agenda before we approve
[2:08] the agenda?
>> I have it up on the top here agenda
[2:11] should we vote on here or
>> It's just here at the public meeting but
[2:14] do we need to have it under old business
in order to vote on it?
[2:17] » Yes.
>> And I apologize. Obviously that was my
[2:21] fault. I thought we could just vote on
the top here. Yes.
[2:27] And so we'll add this to old business.
>> Yes.
[2:31] » Okay.
Okay.
[2:36] The next item on our agenda is the
approval of the agenda. Do we have a
[2:41] motion to approve the agenda?
>> I'll make the motion to approve with the
[2:44] addition of ordinance 1-2026
to old business.
[2:48] » I'll second that.
>> Thank you. On the question.
[2:53] All in favor.
>> Aye.
[2:54] » Aye.
>> Who's abstaining?
[2:59] Next the approval of the minutes of our
August 15th
[3:05] and 2026 Borough Council meeting and our
August 26th, 2026
[3:11] work session. Do we have a motion to
approve?
[3:14] » I'll make a motion.
>> Thank you, Jean. Do we have a second?
[3:19] On the question.
All in favor.
[3:23] » I vote aye.
>> Aye.
[3:25] » Who Who seconded that?
>> I don't know.
[3:28] » Jerry?
>> I didn't
[3:30] » I only got Jean as the first who
seconded that.
[3:34] » I'll second it.
>> Okay.
[3:36] Thank you.
All right. I apologize. Go ahead.
[3:39] » Okay. Thank you.
The next is our public comment. Go
[3:43] ahead.
>> Good evening.
[3:54] Good.
>> Next is our police report
[3:58] from our chief.
>> Um in August um obviously one of the
[4:04] biggest things in town was the blessing
of the bikes thing.
[4:06] Um they staffed it with three additional
officers um along with our uh full
[4:11] officers that were working that day. And
then we had assistance from South Avenue
[4:15] and Waverly during the race itself.
Um we had really no no issues. It went
[4:19] over really well. I know it was very
well received. Um
[4:23] as far as crowd control there was no the
alcohol there was no public drunkenness
[4:27] anything like that. Um
We definitely have to iron out some of
[4:32] the rules with who's serving it next
time um because there was issues with
[4:37] verifying age of people that were of age
21 years old or older.
[4:42] The the proper uh vessels that the
alcohol is supposed to be in. So
[4:48] it wasn't uh it was just a a hurdle we
had to jump the day of and and navigate
[4:53] kind of that. So it it went well. Um
there were some minor hiccups but
[4:59] I think it'll work better in the future.
Um
[5:03] » I think for the turnout we had that day
it was a overkill for the whole event.
[5:08] » Yeah. It was
>> And it was run so well.
[5:10] » It was all behind the scenes stuff that
that still needed to be tweaked for
[5:14] future but definitely something that I
need to keep an eye on for for future
[5:18] events.
>> yeah.
[5:20] » No major issues. No there was no like I
said there was no uh
[5:23] it was a breast cancer uh fundraiser so
people weren't there
[5:27] highly lit. They were having a good time
having a beer watching the band. So it
[5:30] was it was a good time. It was a good
time. It was well received.
[5:33] Um no there was no major issues. Um
we're having a department meeting
[5:38] in town in house with the mayor uh
September 10th that's next Thursday for
[5:42] our department. Um
Let's see. I was at the back to school
[5:47] carnival last Thursday.
I'm at the high school talking about
[5:51] e-bike safety with the Abington business
and the school
[5:55] district
in there.
[5:58] We had our PSP audit which audits our
clean
[6:03] or you basically our criminal histories
of who who are running license plates,
[6:07] all those sorts of things, anything why
we're running them. We passed it.
[6:10] I'd like to give a shout out to Officer
Kaiser. He does a great job with that.
[6:13] He's our TAC officer. So he too really
does a a good job with that.
[6:17] Another shout out to our DPW, Brian or
yeah, Ryan Kehoe and Jay Miller. We had
[6:23] our office staff kind of knows an
incident in front of the borough
[6:26] building last week. There required some
use of the DPW.
[6:31] See me after for details, I guess. It
was
[6:36] not safe for work stuff. But yeah, it
was it was very well for those two
[6:39] stepping up and helping us out there
with that. Griffin Pond, I believe is on
[6:45] the agenda tonight. I'm not sure
to talk about that. I guess I'll I'm
[6:48] going to stick around. So I'll just kind
of save that for the end of the
[6:52] That's another thing.
My last thing I'll come to is once again
[6:56] staffing continues to be the biggest
hurdle I have.
[7:00] You know, you'll look our overtime was
down greatly in August and that was
[7:04] because we have our new hire Justin
Wilkie working in the slot that I was
[7:08] in. So when I came up and did obviously
made openings. So Justin's in there.
[7:12] He's he's firing on all cylinders. He's
been a great addition to our department
[7:16] helping out with our rifle
qualifications and all sorts of things.
[7:19] It still leaves that opening on the
other side filled by part-timers that
[7:23] just
are not getting filled throughout.
[7:29] So
that's one thing with part-timers which
[7:31] troubled. The also troublesome thing is
the SRO staffing for a while.
[7:38] The person we hired that was supposed to
be working that has kind of taken other
[7:43] uh
is working more heavily in their other
[7:47] department
and hasn't been available for the
[7:50] shifts. So, that's the trouble with the
part-time staffing for that.
[7:54] So, we're have on we're on plan B. Um
we're working on getting somebody else
[7:59] in there, but it's been a struggle, for
sure.
[8:03] Yeah, we we we have been up there since
school has been in. Yeah, no,
[8:07] everything's as is. You know, we're
we're we're leaving the car up there.
[8:09] We're walking through several times a
day.
[8:11] Um it was a little bit of a fiasco since
St. Gregory's was closed for Seal
[8:15] Coating last week. So, we're up there
directing traffic, but it it's been
[8:19] steady as she goes. We're we're still up
there. We just
[8:22] still have that uh dedicated officer
before that school.
[8:26] school right now.
[8:29] » Uh Chief, um on the agenda on old
business is Clark Street road contract.
[8:34] Do you have an opinion on that or is it
something
[8:37] » I got to I got to hang around for the
whole meeting here, so I'll have a
[8:39] little comment on on that. Um Clark
Street, I've been here the whole 10
[8:43] years we've had that contract. Um
it's been uh
[8:47] no extra hassle for us to have the
coverage up there.
[8:51] Um
I'd love to see the continued coverage
[8:54] up there. They've been great to work
with. Uh they've been a nice addition to
[8:58] our department. Um
it it really hasn't
[9:01] seen too much of a decline for for us in
functionality, so.
[9:05] » And we think we're going to have an
executive session in a minute.
[9:10] » I I I think that's as fast as we can
give a bit of an update
[9:13] on the agenda, but then to get into some
of the negotiation stuff, we should
[9:17] probably go into executive session.
And you're going to stay for
[9:20] » Yeah, I'll stay tonight. You can talk.
>> Oh, thank you.
[9:23] Appreciate that.
[9:27] Thanks.
Anybody else have any questions for our
[9:30] Chief?
[9:33] And this is when we usually excuse you,
but we appreciate you staying.
[9:37] » Hang on. No problem.
>> Thank you very much, too.
[9:41] Okay.
Uh the next
[9:45] is in polls. We don't have any.
I do have treasury reports. The motion
[9:51] to
>> They're not available. The um treasury
[9:55] report and vendor report will be for
next one.
[9:58] Um Kevin was just here yesterday, which
was the 1st, and it wasn't available.
[10:02] So, we'll have both next time.
>> Thank you, Jen.
[10:05] » Mhm.
[10:07] » Okay. Next is our vendor payments to be
ratified. Say it.
[10:17] We have a motion to pay the bills.
>> No, uh they're the same. We won't have
[10:21] that till next time, too. Treasury's and
vendor.
[10:23] » Oh, that's perfect. Thank you, Jen.
>> Sure.
[10:32] » Old business, we have our
first green police contract.
[10:38] » So,
in in the packet is the proposal that
[10:42] was sent to them. It's based on what I
discussed at our at our work session. Um
[10:48] I did converse a little bit today with
Bill Egan there,
[10:52] and I can
share a little bit more about what we
[10:55] discussed in executive session.
>> Okay.
[10:58] Very good. Thank you, Judge.
[11:02] Next we got animal police and I need a
uniform at 205 funding allocation for
[11:08] 2027.
>> Sure.
[11:17] » Council needs to vote for Jerry to sign
that.
[11:20] » Okay.
[11:27] » I'll make a motion to approve the 2027
MLO.
[11:30] » I'll second.
>> I'll motion,
[11:32] » Any questions?
All in favor?
[11:35] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[11:37] » Favor is carried. Thank you.
[11:41] The next item on our agenda is our pet
fees.
[11:46] This is
>> So, I had a chance to review what's
[11:50] currently in the place. It's important
since 2016.
[11:54] I had a chance to speak with John prior
to discuss this prior to the meeting.
[11:58] This is called This is our
Um
[12:01] My recommendations are
the ordinance that's currently in place
[12:05] does not cover all of the issues that
these are dealing with currently with
[12:09] pet fees. So, Chief advised talking
about what you're dealing with.
[12:14] » Yeah, I mean well
>> Specifically what pertains to like the
[12:17] » So, we live in an area where like we
have a lot of responsible pet owners. If
[12:20] people generally their dog gets out,
they're out looking for it. If not, we
[12:25] take a dog or a dog and drive and put it
on our Facebook page or community page.
[12:29] Somebody says, "Hey, that's my
neighbor's dog." And we get it home.
[12:32] Maybe 10 times a year that we don't find
the owner, it's nighttime, whatever,
[12:37] that we have to take the dog to the
impound.
[12:41] And we have to pay the the fee, whether
it's a stray or whether the owner
[12:44] doesn't claim it or whatever. So,
part of the issue that we're having now
[12:48] is that
the bureau allotted so much money there
[12:51] and
you know, we had one hoarding house that
[12:54] kind of was uh
humane officer came and took nine cats,
[12:58] I believe, out of there. Well, that ate
up our budget right there. We know who
[13:02] the person is. These weren't stray
animals. These were people that were
[13:05] caring for. Then another incident last
week where
[13:08] uh somebody tried to take the cats up to
the impound. The impound refused them
[13:11] because they were they fall.
Uh
[13:14] so, then he just drove to a random
street up on Claremont and dropped them
[13:17] out on the front porch because he said
Herbert Claxon has money.
[13:21] You know, our department investigated
it. We figured out who he is. So, we
[13:24] know know this guy is. I feel like we
should be able to they shouldn't be able
[13:28] to tax people who come into eat that
cost that we should be able to tax them
[13:31] to eat to kind of go after these people
to pass these these these costs along to
[13:36] that because the people are certain now
getting the system, right? It's not
[13:38] going to take long to do that. I know we
were dealing with issues with
[13:43] um
people were saying they were going to be
[13:45] summoned to actually lay in road or
something. So that that kind of got
[13:48] ironed out, but there's still really no
way for us to verify. If somebody takes
[13:52] a dog up in a different pond, I believe
we're still if a citizen takes a dog up
[13:56] there and they say, "Oh yeah, I found it
on Summit Avenue." They're just marking
[13:59] it down as Clark Summit and we're
getting billed for it. There's no way to
[14:02] verify. The dogs they don't ever check
in the dogs to make sure for me to vet
[14:07] it and say, "Oh yeah, that dog actually
is from Summit Avenue or wherever."
[14:11] So
just think there needs to be a better
[14:13] way for us to be accountable with our
money going up there and then um
[14:18] legally going after people who are are
neglecting their animals who are not
[14:22] taking them up there and then we're
having to pay the cost of it.
[14:27] » Do we do we have any ordinances on the
books that allows us to pass that cost
[14:30] on?
>> There is an ordinance on the books, but
[14:32] it's very vague as to specific
circumstances. It doesn't cover the
[14:36] gamut. So for example, if someone was
302 and the animals were removed from
[14:41] their home, um I'm not sure if this
ordinance would cover that. It'd be a
[14:45] stretch to say so.
Um the one definition section here that
[14:51] talks about police officers seizing an
animal is for animals who are at running
[14:55] at large in the borough. Um so if
they're just a stray dog, something
[14:58] along those lines. Um but it doesn't
cover kind of what I believe the police
[15:03] department is currently seeing going on.
>> There is nothing in writing that
[15:07] covers that, right?
>> No, correct. There is none.
[15:10] » We just We just make donations to them.
It's kind of an informal
[15:13] » We need We We discussed it and we have
an informal agreement that we would take
[15:18] care of five We would cover the cost of
five surrenders.
[15:23] » How much is a year generally?
>> In the surrenders, like 50 bucks or
[15:25] something?
>> Oh, no, $120.
[15:28] » But But they really They really do it as
an obligation.
[15:31] » Yes, they do. Yes, they do. Cuz well, I
think we used to we used to give a $500
[15:35] donation
>> Right.
[15:36] » uh years ago, and then it became, "Well,
no, there's no more donation. You're
[15:40] actually going to get charged for the
animals."
[15:42] We agreed to a limit of five.
And that that that's where we are now.
[15:47] And then this year, especially, we
really got it. Like I said, with that
[15:50] having said with the hoarding hoarding
situation,
[15:54] that took us over right away.
>> Of course.
[15:58] They
They don't understand.
[16:01] Everybody says they're from Clark
Summit, but where do they pay their
[16:04] taxes?
>> Right. And they do try. They're
[16:07] conscious of that. I do know that. I
found an old email that Virginia did
[16:11] explain to them that there are seven
boroughs and townships that make up
[16:15] Clark Summit. So, that is an attempt
that they do make. They're aware of
[16:20] that, but it doesn't always mean that
that's the way it's going to work. So.
[16:24] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> And it's the So, the only time we would
[16:28] be on the hook is if our police took it
up there. So, it's not like any resident
[16:32] or if they if they found it I don't know
if they have to They have like
[16:36] dog catchers or something like that to
find stray dogs? Or
[16:39] » The only No, Scranton is the only area
that has animal control around us here.
[16:43] So, they are like We are animal control
for Clark for
[16:47] So, yeah, no, the way I understand it is
if if if Bob Shields finds a dog on
[16:52] uh with the way and takes it up to
different parts, Clark Summit Borough
[16:55] pays that week.
>> Oh, really?
[16:57] » Just like anybody. That's the way I
understand it, yeah. It gets billed
[17:00] against the borough.
>> I believe they're not taking surrenders,
[17:04] so it would be You can't surrender
>> take my dog up there.
[17:07] » Yeah, surrender, right. But if
>> But
[17:08] » But that's Say you find it on
>> Right.
[17:10] » wherever other town, because South
Abington does not pay.
[17:14] So, if you find it on their and say,
"Oh, I found this on uh
[17:17] uh
>> whatever street."
[17:19] » Whatever street in the borough.
>> How is it that
[17:22] we are treated like it's an obligation,
but South Abington is not paying? How is
[17:25] that
>> Good question.
[17:27] » They don't respond to this. I think our
citizens, I don't know. They They don't
[17:30] respond to those calls. Our department
does.
[17:35] » Is there any way we can turn it around?
>> Yeah.
[17:39] » If that works for South Abington, and I
don't want the the poor dogs to get put
[17:42] in a bad or cats to be put in
>> Right. So, should it That would be sad
[17:45] if it's just stray animals.
>> I mean, they they tried to turn us away
[17:48] when I tried to take those cats that
day.
[17:50] They said, "You guys don't You guys are
only allowed so much money." It was
[17:54] pulling teeth to get them to take those
cats.
[17:57] » Well, then
>> And what would happen? We're in a
[17:59] pickle, and then I mean, what does the
residents do then?
[18:01] » What happens to South Abington Township
if the police won't respond to the call
[18:05] about animals?
[18:08] » So, these poor residents and dogs run
around a lot.
[18:13] » They wait until they run in Clark's
Summit.
[18:19] » That's what Griffin Pond told me. He
said that was the initial concern was
[18:22] that they said, "Oh, well, you're South
Abington. You guys don't pay."
[18:25] I literally had to go there in my
collection uniform.
[18:28] Talk to them.
[18:31] Beg them. Beg them to take it.
[18:35] » Maybe we're going to have to change that
ordinance and say things. I don't know.
[18:40] » The ordinance currently allows us to
collect those fees from the owner. It's
[18:44] just putting a matter of identifying
that owner of those animals. So, in the
[18:47] instance of
you know, nine cats being dropped off at
[18:50] the front door,
we don't have any recourse to recover
[18:53] those fees.
>> I see.
[18:55] Yeah, I think I think I like like Do you
normally make a donation for what? Five?
[18:59] I think five is like an average here.
This is just uh
[19:04] Like I said, one one person with nine
sent us over.
[19:08] » And I mean, again,
I I just I mean, the concern I mean, the
[19:11] cost of of doing an ordinance and
noticing it, I mean, it's if we're if
[19:14] it's usually $500, do we really need to
It's just reduce worse than squeegee.
[19:19] » I get it.
>> We're better off just doubling our
[19:21] budget and
maybe we don't pay it all in the
[19:24] following year most years.
I do.
[19:28] These are huge sums. We just just have
to budget on the service.
[19:32] » Is this year out of the ordinary because
of that hoarding situation at all?
[19:36] » I think yeah, we're
>> Okay, I I think so. That's why I got the
[19:39] phone call.
>> Yeah, yeah.
[19:40] » Just because they said, "Hey,
>> We knew the two people. It's not If we
[19:43] take a dog up there a lot of times or
cats are rare, but if we take a dog up
[19:48] there a lot of times it's We never hear
a resolution whether it somebody came
[19:52] and got it or or what.
So,
[19:55] I don't know what happens there, but
[20:00] definitely happens. Um
with our holding service.
[20:05] » Maybe this year this year is just a a
unique year. If it happens again next
[20:08] year, then maybe we can look at visiting
it.
[20:11] » But we we certainly should look to try
to recover what we can in these
[20:15] instances under whatever ordinance we
have.
[20:17] » Yes, so there's a there's a fine that's
associated plus the cost of
[20:22] the donation to the different counties
or whatever it may be. So, there's a
[20:25] fine on top of whatever the cost may be
as well.
[20:28] » Okay, good point.
>> Are you getting
[20:30] » We do So, we cited them with a summary
citation. That's why
[20:34] Can we get
recovery that way?
[20:37] You know, I don't know if there's a
summary citation. What's that?
[20:40] » I guess we can talk about that after,
but potentially, yeah.
[20:42] » what I mean?
>> Yeah. I think you
[20:43] » It'd be part of the judgment.
>> Yeah.
[20:45] » They actually know the two people.
>> So, I'll I'll talk to you after.
[20:50] I would agree I would agree with Bob on
that. I don't I don't think a new
[20:52] ordinance for the more trouble of
drafting and publishing and whatnot is
[20:55] worth it. Just try to operate with what
we have.
[20:59] » Because what was our total this year
January?
[21:03] I think that was it was it was over
$1,800 this year. But like I said, it's
[21:06] definitely an anomaly this year.
Definitely.
[21:09] » Oh, yeah.
>> But, just like I just wanted to bring it
[21:13] to everybody's attention, just in case
we wanted to move forward with anything
[21:16] or change anything.
>> Surely.
[21:21] Oh, yeah.
We kind of just watching.
[21:25] » Sounds good.
>> People are following the place here.
[21:27] » Sure.
>> Thank you.
[21:30] Next Saturday, our 9/11 memorial will be
Uh Jenny and I talked about this today.
[21:39] And
uh
[21:43] Abington has a football game on 9/11,
and Josh just said it isn't holiday
[21:49] time.
>> It is, right.
[21:50] » So.
>> Yeah.
[21:51] » Uh So, we kind of decided that we would
do this memorial at 9:00 on the 11th.
[21:59] At our pocket park.
And
[22:03] we're going to have
somebody from our Lady of Sorrows Church
[22:08] will do that. Uh an addiction for it.
And
[22:13] we just
want to speak with first responders
[22:17] having
some students from the high school that
[22:21] from the band, someone that could sing
God Bless America. We'd like to have
[22:27] some of our firemen that would be able
to come through. And also our police
[22:32] department can do a really beautiful
dedication. We're also going to have uh
[22:39] a wreath made for the memorial.
And uh
[22:44] we will place that on the memorial that
day, too.
[22:47] » And so, those
>> And we'll also deposit on your You'll
[22:51] let the family
>> brothers will be there.
[22:53] » The brothers will be there. They
confirmed they would be there. They did
[22:56] also confirm that they would like to uh
to pay for the
[23:00] um
for the uh the the memorial that's going
[23:05] up. They did send an email saying that
also.
[23:07] Okay. We'll coordinate how we'd like to
do that.
[23:09] » Is that work
scheduled?
[23:11] » Oh, it's been it already started. I last
night uh
[23:15] I went by and took a few shots. They
broke ground. They're right in front of
[23:19] the tree.
If you're on the sidewalk looking at the
[23:24] looking at the pocket park of trees
right there, it's beautiful. And they're
[23:27] they have it right there. I talked to
the master gardeners. They cuz they they
[23:32] have uh the high sunflowers up right
now. So, what they're going to do is
[23:35] they're just going to have something the
the fence goes 3 and 1/2 ft to 4 and 1/2
[23:41] ft. And uh they're going to do plantings
that are
[23:45] uh not going to cover it.
>> In in in in future
[23:48] » In the future. Next year. Right. And
then they said they would even put more
[23:51] plantings around it, too. Uh yeah, they
were terrific. They were terrific. So,
[23:56] they they're very happy to work
with the borough to make sure that that
[23:59] is highlighted.
>> I think I think everybody is really
[24:03] working together as a team and secure
make this a beautiful beautiful event.
[24:09] It is 25 years and it certainly well
deserved.
[24:14] We definitely want to make it
over the top.
[24:19] » And so, we will be planning on 9:00 on
September 11th on that Friday if any
[24:23] council members are
you want to let me know who will will be
[24:26] attending. Of course, I could always
send the email out a clip.
[24:29] » Yeah, we'd like to have a follow-up
committee meeting
[24:32] also, you know,
to be there
[24:35] » and see what
the fire and it's probably when the
[24:37] Hazleton see if any volunteer
firefighters would be able to attend.
[24:42] That would maybe close the office for an
hour maybe to be there. That that kind
[24:46] of thing just to show
support and respect.
[24:51] » Okay.
We're going to continue working on it
[24:55] and make sure that everything has been
goes perfectly.
[24:58] » Thank you for your very hard work. Jane
for all your good hard work on this,
[25:02] too.
[25:04] Okay, does anybody have any questions on
the 911
[25:08] or suggestions or anything like that?
>> Is there going to be a listing
[25:13] or
>> Oh, yeah.
[25:14] » I will let um
Christine Lee with the Times now.
[25:19] Um and
um
[25:21] I'm not sure really who our our contact
is now. Besides him, for the Abington
[25:27] Journal.
>> gone, but he was still working.
[25:30] » For the journal, is he gone?
>> I think he was laid off.
[25:32] » Oh, he was. I didn't know that. Well, I
could always reach out to him or whoever
[25:35] at the journal.
>> Abington Journal.
[25:37] » And I was thinking maybe I'd put it on
our billboard.
[25:39] » Oh, yeah.
>> And on our Facebook page and then I put
[25:42] it like personally on the community page
cuz the community page won't post post
[25:46] anything from the Clarks Summit Borough.
So, I just put it on my page.
[25:49] » It's because the Well, the Abington
Journal uh is out at the beginning of
[25:54] the month.
>> Oh, yeah, so that will make a
[25:55] difference, I think.
>> because we do have the email for Liz.
[26:00] She said anything that we get pictures,
articles, she's willing to put them in,
[26:05] too.
>> Definitely.
[26:07] » So, we will certainly whatever pictures
and information we have will get to her
[26:13] so she can put it in in the next week.
[26:16] » So, I'll use whatever
I have at
[26:20] my disposal to get the word out.
>> Right.
[26:23] Okay. Next item on our agenda is our
West Grove Street Bridge sidewalk.
[26:30] » So,
um the school district is not going to
[26:34] be in the West Grove proposal to be
maintaining the maintenance of that the
[26:37] bridge on West Grove Street. Um so, they
would have to have DPW maintain clean
[26:42] that for the winter time for the
liability purposes.
[26:47] Um
so, I'm not sure what the
[26:51] » The is there, but we we don't have any
equipment in place with the school
[26:54] district now to assist us in that
maintenance of that bridge.
[26:59] » And I I did follow up with Dr. Shafer on
that topic, and
[27:03] ba- basically what I gather is uh the
maintenance that the school district now
[27:07] employs is a contracted service. They're
not district employees. And
[27:13] the contractor just doesn't want to do
it. It's not in their contract, and they
[27:16] don't want to do it.
>> Oh.
[27:17] » So, that's really what it comes down to.
Um
[27:21] but you know, it is what it is. Quite
frankly,
[27:25] we haven't maintained the north side of
the bridge for years, um and we probably
[27:28] should have. Uh so,
we just have to go and do it.
[27:32] » It's been slowly deteriorating, so this
is where we are right now. So,
[27:38] » But we need to the DPW believes we need
to purchase equipment in order to
[27:42] » because we don't have anything that
small to uh
[27:47] for a snow thrower. We need something
that's going to be able to powerful
[27:51] enough to go over the fence.
>> Right. So, we definitely say it's there
[27:55] or exactly those two.
>> So, they're going to they're going to
[27:58] request that budget, and
>> Okay.
[28:01] » Jay is aware of that.
[28:05] » Just keep moving in that direction with
that, Andrew.
[28:08] » As long as we have the proper machinery,
we can take care of it.
[28:11] It will be no problem.
[28:17] » And new business and
>> We have to we have to cover the
[28:19] ordinance that's
>> Yes, the open container ordinance.
[28:22] » Oh, okay.
>> Take a vote for that.
[28:24] » Yes.
>> I'll make a motion that we approve
[28:28] ordinance number 1-2026.
>> I'll second it.
[28:34] » Question.
All in favor.
[28:37] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[28:38] » All opposed.
>> Nay.
[28:39] » No.
>> Okay.
[28:45] Okay.
>> 4-2.
[28:47] » Then that then
>> Uh can I ask one or can I make one
[28:50] suggestion? Is there any reason in our
event
[28:54] um our our special event application
process policy that we could not charge
[28:59] a fee for anyone requesting
the exemption that now exists inside of
[29:03] this ordinance to allow us to recover
the money we spent to publish it over
[29:08] time?
Is there any reason we couldn't do that?
[29:10] It's just a policy we set, right?
>> You can you could you can certainly do
[29:13] as well as
it takes time out of
[29:17] » Yeah. I mean we we we passed this
because the majority of us believe it's
[29:21] in our best interest to do it and it's
going to make it a lot easier next time
[29:23] round. But we could also charge a
nominal fee to
[29:27] you know, make sure that it's uh it'll
pay for the ordinance itself over time
[29:31] and
um make sure that anybody applying for
[29:34] it is serious about what they're doing.
>> option. I like it.
[29:38] » I I we don't have to discuss that.
And it's not on our agenda to set that
[29:42] policy. I just want to raise that cuz it
occurred to me that
[29:45] we could do that. That's all.
>> And I'm sorry, we're charging a fee for
[29:49] » If somebody submitted an event
uh application where they requested
[29:55] an exemption to the
container
[29:58] » I understand. Okay.
>> manner of application would require a
[30:01] fee.
>> Yep.
[30:09] Thank you.
Next item is our solicitor's report.
[30:13] » Can I just cover our old business?
>> Yes.
[30:16] » Thank you.
That's a good report.
[30:22] We have no correspondence.
And
[30:26] we're going to
uh
[30:30] We're going to go into executive session
now. Do you want to do that now, Joshua?
[30:35] » Yeah, I think we should. Do we um
we adjourn first and then go into
[30:39] executive session?
>> Yeah.
[30:40] » Okay.
Uh we had known
[30:44] We had one prior personnel
and contract negotiation. We had one
[30:50] prior and no substitute.
>> One substitute. Yeah, one substitute.
[30:53] » Okay, just one prior meeting.
So, uh
[30:57] we will adjourn and then go into our
executive session.
[31:02] » And the purpose of the record we're
going into executive session for
[31:04] personnel matters, lawful purposes, and
for contract negotiations.
[31:09] » I'll make a motion.
>> Second.
[31:19] » Continue, John.
>> See you all.
[31:23] » See you, John.
>> Take care.
[31:59] » Okay.
[32:03] I am just making sure we are off
line.
[32:07] » It looks like we're still on the YouTube
up at the top, John.
[32:10] » Like I said, see how it's got the green?
[32:16] » Okay, let's see.
[32:20] » We are
[32:23] » What happens now that we can go?