[0:26] what [Music]

[0:28] resume recorded uh also at the end of this

[0:33] meeting tonight I will convene an executive session to discuss Personnel

[0:38] matters and we'll leave the

[0:45] room come back to the room at the conclusion of the night so at this

[0:52] time please stand forication by Julie

[0:57] M will you back of all who are today thank you for your many and Abundant

[1:03] Blessings thank you for the ability to be involved in useful work on behalf of

[1:08] the citizens of serton I pray for our mayor for the

[1:13] various levels of bur officials and in particular for this assembled Council

[1:17] I'm asking that you would graciously grant us to have the wisdom to govern

[1:22] amid the conflicting interests and issues of our times the sense of the

[1:26] true needs of the citizens of satton and the abil ility that we may work work

[1:32] together in harmony disagreement I pray for the

[1:36] agenda set before us today please give an assurance of what would please you

[1:41] and what would benefit those who live and work in and around our beloved

[1:45] burrow of saton in Jesus Christ we pray amen than you jul standing for the

[1:56] [Music] pledge

[2:04] [Music] and you may be

[2:09] seated pleas not the attendance

[2:16] coun

[2:20] jounel thank you Stacy and at this moment uh a lot of you for the same

[2:27] reason but I'll turn over to the mayor for the first presentation thank you

[2:31] Tracy uh we are a lot of us are in the room tonight to honor uh Mike

[2:39] Cole in true Mike fashion he did not want any of you here no Fan Fair

[2:45] whatsoever uh if we wanted to we could pack 10 rooms this size with my co so

[2:52] thanks to you're here that uh you really have worked closely with my EV so so my

[3:00] I didn't invite any I promise Mike Cole is sain B oh and I

[3:07] have to say I'm definitely G to get choked up halfway through

[3:11] this sa B he's been employed by saon since

[3:17] 1982 and astonishing 40 years on the job you might think a town with the same

[3:23] leadership for 40 years could be stagnant but think about saan in 1982

[3:28] and look at us now one thing that I appreciate Mike most

[3:32] for is being a bridge goer the Montgomery Theater the Boys and Girls

[3:38] Club Main Street improvements saon Community Park Northbound the weight

[3:43] building the freight building the list goes on these are just some of examples

[3:49] of the dynamic burrow that project that required creative thinking by this

[3:54] municipality there were many people involved in the current Resurgence of

[3:58] saon but the thread that ties them all together working behind the scenes in

[4:03] his own quiet way was Mike Cole and Mike's been here for so

[4:09] long that he was also involved in many capital assets that we now take for

[4:14] granted the sewer treatment Clan the sain pool and this very building as you

[4:20] might remember Mike started his career here on Main

[4:24] Street Mike knows where every tree is planted in saon where every sewer line

[4:30] runs and where every Grant dollar has been spent he knows cuz he's been here

[4:35] to see it all happen because Mike Cole is ston

[4:40] burrow and on the flip side Mike's also not been afraid T dir he started his

[4:45] career on a road through and was never free afraid to leave his office to pick

[4:50] up a shovel clean up a mess or even go on a

[4:53] fire this Readiness to do whatever day often these

[5:01] days being the bur man manager is not an easy

[5:08] job not only do you have to make hard decisions in the town that Mike

[5:13] lives but he also has worked for many dozen elected officials over the

[5:19] decades there have been some big Personalities in these seats Charlie

[5:24] alok Abe clemmer Ed huncker Brian gosh out just to name a

[5:33] few I'm sure Mike has some good War Stories and probably some from this very

[5:39] Council that he prefer to not share but his willingness to work with

[5:43] everyone engage with Community groups and do whatever is best for the

[5:48] residents of this burough is what made Mike a favorite for everyone in

[5:53] s the job also requires many long nights at problem solving whenever Duty called

[6:01] so we owe a deep de of gratitude to his wife Kathleen and his whole family for

[6:07] their support and for Lending Mike to us for so

[6:11] long and I have to thank Mike on a person when I was 16 years old I that

[6:20] right there as the junior burough counselor and I went to college to study

[6:27] public administration so I I could be my

[6:33] cult we have very different leadership and I'm sure I've caused my

[6:40] many headaches I'll never be able to thank

[6:43] you personally and know for everything that you've done for sain and everything

[6:48] that you've done for me my call

[6:58] is

[7:05] lives and breathes s

[7:09] Mike there are no words that can sum up the thanks and gratitude that are owed

[7:14] to you by this community the best we can do is tonight

[7:19] say thank you and wish you a relaxing after 40 dedicated years of

[7:27] service to this community so my from the bottom of our hearts we say thank you

[7:33] for

[7:54] everything you don't have to introduce yourself I don't know if I was ever

[8:03] here I Dan thank you Tracy thank you and

[8:10] Council thank you um I don't want to do a long speech

[8:18] but out in the lobby hangs on the

[8:24] wall at black was when this building was renovated the names on that plaque are

[8:32] forever important to me because those individuals provided a 22y old kid a

[8:42] chance to become at on March 22nd of 1982 became an assistant bur manager to

[8:52] uh to saton bur and it was because of those

[8:57] people who really trust in me coming out of came from

[9:03] Quaker Town I had a bachelor's degree but I was

[9:08] green um but um those people meant an awful lot to me most of them have

[9:15] passed but John

[9:21] Young and Greg a remain um and they are always in my

[9:30] heart also I just want

[9:35] to go back in time a little bit and recognize a Woman by the name of elain

[9:44] Fred I don't know if anybody knows who Lan

[9:48] Frederick in the municipal building at 117 Main Street where creative or hok

[9:55] creativist she was the burough secretary for sat burrow probably for as long if

[10:01] not longer than me and back in that time frame the burough secretary performed

[10:09] all the tasks that the modern manager does

[10:13] today and if you go back in the vault you will find volumes of minute books

[10:19] signed by Elaine Frederick that documented the history of

[10:24] the bur another fabulous woman who I worked

[10:29] with is Esther Stout and some people in this room know

[10:35] Esther but uh Ester and Elaine were in the uh office when when I walked in

[10:41] March 22nd in 1982 they welcomed me with open arms they mentored me

[10:49] they taught me they showed um all the things that I needed to know to advance

[10:57] my career another important person

[11:02] is Delton plank was the manager at the time he served as manager for about 13

[11:10] years he was only the second manager in the history of the burrow I was in

[11:17] third but D was probably the best Mentor you could

[11:24] ever ask for um he took the time to show me variety of things in the burrow

[11:31] taught me different things showed me the history of the burrow set me up for

[11:37] Success going forward I thought I would work here for

[11:42] a few years and maybe move on B was rather young at the time B served as

[11:49] manager not only in Saturn but frankonia and Loris Alford he retired from lower

[11:57] sford but um Del plank was the one that moved

[12:03] first um and that same group of people on that

[12:09] plaque put faith in me again in July of 1984 and uh promoted me to the position

[12:18] as burrow manager and uh there

[12:23] again that's where it all started with with those

[12:28] individuals uh um my career was not me my career

[12:37] was

[12:40] councils the many count over the years number of them are in this room again

[12:47] tonight they volunteered their time I often said I get paid they do not so I

[12:53] never wanted them to take the Brun of complaints I wanted to make sure I had

[12:58] everything in order for them did everything I could do to implement their

[13:04] policies their procedures

[13:08] and I also need to really thank many burrow employees we had a

[13:15] tremendous crew we still do some are in this

[13:20] room without them we would NE never have accomplished

[13:25] we accomplished um

[13:29] Steve who is my cousin not my brother my cousin and we we come from a

[13:37] generation um our fathers our grandfather worked in cers so we knew

[13:43] what it was going to take and we devoted that effort just

[13:49] like our parents did to this Burl and we live we both live in this Burl but every

[13:59] project that you see every that we've accomplished from the pool to the

[14:05] downtown all have our crew on it um I thank the councils over the

[14:15] years who sometimes scratch their heads when I would say I think we could make

[14:20] something like this work could do it and and for

[14:27] the most part we did and I will hold those

[14:34] successes forever dear to me I thank my family as Dan brought my

[14:41] family is with me tonight again gave up a lot of time for meetings and all that

[14:45] but um they understood what I needed to

[14:50] do the uh the mayor um Charlie

[14:57] alock as I had many mentors growing up but

[15:02] Charlie alach was particularly an individual who I I

[15:07] really enjoyed he would visit me almost every

[15:11] day um sometimes just to talk sometimes to vent but um he visited me probably 30

[15:19] plus years Charlie alach had

[15:25] one major philosophy that stuck with me from the day I started and Charlie

[15:33] alach said and preached that a man has got to give back more to the community

[15:40] than he takes and he preached that and he

[15:45] preached that and I hope i'

[15:48] lived to uh uphold that because I felt strongly about

[15:56] that so with that I thank everybody in this room I

[16:05] thank all the council member the committee members that I've worked with

[16:11] and all of my employees I will I will

[16:18] miss and I am very humbled to say I I really appreciate it this this long

[16:26] ride um it was the only thing I ever wanted to to

[16:30] do and I only hope that Charlie alach those people out there in

[16:40] particular would give me a nod and also say job well

[16:44] done I uh I thank you Dan I thank you Tracy I thank the

[16:50] community for giving me this opportunity and I hope and wish the best

[16:59] for everybody going forward thank

[17:22] you now I suspect that over half of you did not come here us tonight so I would

[17:31] like to invite you for all that only can you see Mike Mike if you don't mind G

[17:37] out in the foyer and anyone that wants to spend some time with Mike and his

[17:41] family for a couple minutes you're free to slip out quietly there or you can

[17:46] also stay here as long as you like and as I always say you're probably

[17:53] missing you're missing some great television M thank you so so

[18:15] much good

[18:27] child

[18:33] okay moving right

[18:36] along here a while Stacy has improved the efficiency of the approval instead

[18:44] of three or four different approvals uh those now proving one

[18:48] consent agenda so uh will one of the uh Council make a motion please for

[18:53] approval of the consent agenda which would includ all all minutes from March

[18:59] as appr the bills Mr President make a motion to

[19:04] approve the minutes from March the March 4th 2024 regular council meeting March

[19:11] 18th 2024 work session unit and the bills for the month March and the

[19:18] reoccurring bills for the month of April 202 B

[19:24] second okay have motions by council's Littlefield and wac for approval of the

[19:32] March minutes both work session and regular session as well as the bills

[19:37] which would include the recurring bills for people

[19:40] and regular bills for the month of of mar as well uh are there any

[19:49] necessary amendments to the minutes or inent okay then here none uh all in

[19:57] favor of approval the consent agenda please say I I you

[20:03] oppos okay that's unanimous and state'll turn it back over

[20:08] to you and you have planned presentation so I'm gonna actually let

[20:17] let Sarah kind of take over and introduce herself but um really excited

[20:21] to Sarah

[20:24] um here our new Finance director and and she just started last she a great job so

[20:32] we're

[20:37] also hello

[20:44] everyone from a where I serve as manager um my

[20:52] husband area about two years ago um he works for work in landale um we

[20:59] originally mov from Shippensburg where we both attended school and work so um

[21:05] we're both very happy to be

[21:24] in welcome

[21:27] aboard you're okay we'll make a motion at a moment I have a motion for

[21:31] appointment of Sarah Sarah Treasurer Mr President I'd

[21:36] like to make a motion to appoint Sarah Jared Eaton in the position of Treasurer

[21:42] I'm

[21:46] second motion by councilor Banana seconded by Council

[21:52] Rogers for the appointment of sah as the B treasure on fa please say I

[22:00] any post okay thank you

[22:03] sir

[22:08] and all right hi everyone um okay let me pull up some

[22:13] notes here um we are really busy right now getting everything situated next

[22:19] month is our first third Friday event um I have a bunch more bands booked I think

[22:24] we're switching it up this year I'm bringing in a lot of local groups

[22:31] um which I hope will BR and and what have you so I think both stages are

[22:35] going to be well represented by people of this area this year um again I've got

[22:41] a m run on food socks everyone wants to be wonderful um I did want to and and if

[22:48] this needs to happen at another time but I also just wanted to make sure that I

[22:52] didn't need to formally request use of the parking lot again or is that

[22:57] something that has been allowed now for this ongoing for third

[23:01] Fridays I just want to make sure because I am getting more vendors and I am kind

[23:07] of using that space already in my head so I didn't want to assume

[23:13] anything okay I just didn't want to assume yeah y I'm filling it up and then

[23:17] I'm thinking uh oh so um well thank you um so that'll be fun um so we're getting

[23:24] you know everything squared away for that first event I've been talking

[23:27] actually even to some local reporters one specifically is new assigned to our

[23:32] area from wh and I'd like to try and bring her out to do a piece um for that

[23:38] first third Friday event so I've been in constant contact with her um in terms of

[23:44] our committees right now the beautification committee is in the

[23:48] process of accepting ideas and applicants for the art Banner project

[23:54] throughout town and so I know that Harry and his committee are working on that um

[23:59] facade Grant committee uh Economic Development sorry is dealing with the

[24:04] facade grants which is actually getting some really good applications and we've

[24:08] ined the first facade Grant already Gallery which is on the corner

[24:16] and he's do a lot of functioning up um he's painting the whole outside of the

[24:22] building fixing some windows and such so we're still receiving applications just

[24:28] talked to someone today um our Economic Development doing them with her

[24:33] committee so um as they come through we're addressing those so that's really

[24:37] nice that people reaching out to us about that um along the lines of

[24:42] Economic Development our next business fites event we're going to have on

[24:47] Wednesday May 8th that's going to be held at Brass collar Brewery hopefully

[24:52] it'll be a nice night we can be outside on the The Patio there and this is going

[24:56] to be a informal Q&A with members of the E

[25:02] economic development committee and other members from saton connects but more

[25:08] specifically to ask some questions highlight um and present the

[25:11] revitalization plan that we've all uh were presented by Khloe and just kind of

[25:17] talk about the town answer any questions we're hoping that that that kind of a

[25:22] outside atmosphere might draw some more businesses um and a the hour five to

[25:27] seven type timing already got some RSVPs so that's great and um

[25:34] last but not least I was busy over thank you for the the B office of getting the

[25:40] assessment information over to me we have processed it all crosschecked it

[25:46] made sure all addresses were fixed from last year which we worked so hard to do

[25:51] last year and those are being sent out now to everybody um for the assessments

[25:56] and this year we're also making sure have a plan in place and we have

[26:01] these procedures already lined up and voted on

[26:05] to to collect any delinquent payments there have been some last year

[26:10] especially there were some that just kind of we had to either write off or

[26:14] notice people had moved and we weren't side of certain things so we have a

[26:18] procedure this year um and they will be receiving the bill then they will

[26:22] receive if they don't pay it within 30 days um they'll be receiving uh

[26:27] certified ma reminding them of that another 30 days certified mail again

[26:31] we're doing it as we've been told to after 90 days we are have permission to

[26:38] send anyone to collection so we'll be following that that procedure this year

[26:42] so hopefully that'll be that'll be good but we did fix a lot of um incorrect

[26:47] information that were in the the fors last year so I think that's going to go

[26:53] you know great um and that's really it right now so we're just next month

[26:59] excited thank you any questions oh yeah any questions question just the

[27:03] collections yes procedure what where is that coming

[27:18] from and um last year when he was still asking if the buau was going to need to

[27:26] process these or follow up and per our bylaws actually it is satton connects

[27:34] responsibility to collect any uncollected funds from the assessment

[27:38] payments it's not the buros so we did some research our new um bookkeeper did

[27:43] a lot of research on professional collection agency so we will be going

[27:49] through an agency on that and he has all the details for that so if you'd like to

[27:53] know that I can certainly get you the company and everything short uh answer

[27:57] after you've gone through collections if there's anything still not collected is

[28:01] there a lean issue to the there will be no lean and that's why it wasn't going

[28:05] to go through the burrow because it's not a lean type of a charge for that

[28:10] reason thank you you're welcome anything else just one the facade gr yes is that

[28:16] uh is that something sat connect or it part of the Pennsylvania faade so that s

[28:23] has done and put together um and that we have funding that we we have assigned

[28:29] from the economic development budget right now which we obviously hope to

[28:33] increase over time with the success of this program um but there is some that

[28:39] we already have in the budget this year U we took a lot of the funds that last

[28:42] year maybe were used for some other things or weren't used to um and Kylie

[28:48] did a lot of research on this and worked with you know you did a lot of research

[28:53] uh to come up with this so it is coming from the satton ks budget for economic

[28:59] development yeah for the future look look into it because I know there was

[29:02] one now I did meet with Steve malagari yes

[29:06] represent and um he gave me a thick book of grants for Pennsylvania so we've

[29:11] started to actually go through and look at it because we did just notice that

[29:15] Hatfield was just awarded a $300 and something thousand Grant yeah so we were

[29:20] talking about that the other day so um we've kind of highlighted a few in there

[29:25] that I think we can go after yep that I've seen KY is it's it's not well known

[29:32] and it's a only small money like they would pay for p May materials and then

[29:37] the owner would have to you know meet the improvements but it's out there yeah

[29:43] absolutely every little dollar and yeah and it's and there is money to be had in

[29:47] the state that people just don't take the time to fill out and go through the

[29:52] Grant application process but I think that we are aware of these programs and

[29:58] have the manpower to do it we're gonna some of that so thank

[30:03] you

[30:07] thanks all right then we'll move forward to the administrative reports

[30:14] and the administrative reports will be in your April 15 packet because April T

[30:21] today get all that together packet so if there's you can go stuff um in case

[30:28] there's anything they want to report tonight she a update but'll

[30:32] get okay perfect then for you know for the reports feel free to just give a

[30:37] high level and you know follow the detail in your administrative reports so

[30:43] uh mayor anything else you to see yeah two quick events

[30:47] happening in April now technically this is by tord

[30:56] happening so you think you can cook is happening at uh

[31:05] fireh tickets at the door John okay and then the fire company is having cash ail

[31:13] 20 at

[31:17] 5m that's all I have thank you sir uh Chief uh good evening I actually got my

[31:23] report done about three hours ago

[31:26] but did 132 traffic stops uh we issued um 52 original warnings I'm sorry 52

[31:34] citations and 22 rig warnings for people with equipment violations or other sorts

[31:39] of things that unfortunately had 14 crashes last

[31:42] month with two minor injuries uh we had four arrests 291 public service calls 48

[31:48] assists to other agencies um for clarification that only not includes our

[31:53] neighbors but that's same time we're assisting any federal agencies so we

[31:56] assist uh the military background strikes and that kind of thing so we had

[31:59] 790 calls for the month uh which is a 7% decrease over last year's time uh which

[32:04] is great our arrest numbers are down at the moment um but we have several

[32:09] investigations we're conducting which will probably lead to arrests our Major

[32:14] Crimes are way down which is great un fortunately our minor crimes are up

[32:19] almost 50% uh that being said um we tend to catch them after they do it um but

[32:25] it's a little too late after that part uh but we when we do get them we take

[32:28] them to court and we do try to either get money back from them or have them

[32:31] the community service to make good for what they've done um on the 27th is the

[32:37] national direct takeback we're going to be participating in that again uh our

[32:40] new police candidate passed all of our entrance tests for the Academy so now

[32:47] she's momy County conord testing for police officers again also on

[32:53] 27 um management I've just about finished

[32:57] all the paperwork for the grant representative malagari I don't want to

[33:01] be competing with you for

[33:05] Grants thought we should be expecting that money shortly um because we already

[33:09] had to purchase some of the items on there out of necessity uh we sent an

[33:12] email today requesting permission to use those funds on other pieces of equipment

[33:16] and we been preliminary yes at this point so that's a really good thing uh

[33:21] the two vehicles that we had listed on munici were both

[33:24] sold $400 for that um so they'll be gone by the end of the week uh our new police

[33:31] vehicle is here it's going to go get equipped on April 15th it'll be two we

[33:34] Bill uh and most importantly because I've been talking about this for almost

[33:38] three years now as of tomorrow a two and a half year trip has ended where we were

[33:42] trying to use the mcy county prison is our Central Booking which means that's

[33:46] where we would take people to get fingerprinted and photographed right now

[33:49] if we arrest somebody we have to drive them to Lansdale drive them back to the

[33:52] county sometimes drive them back to lale they go back to the county till they see

[33:56] each other uh we are now in with Mony County Correction Facility so all the

[34:02] unnecessary trips are out so we have one place to go uh and I know that the board

[34:06] supported us on that so it was a two and a half year battle but we got it done so

[34:10] I appreciate your support on that I do like request and well one more thing um

[34:16] we are now at 122 policies done out of 164 so we're making the progress uh with

[34:22] our dra towards accreditation which I'm very happy

[34:26] about and at the work session last month purchased the new one

[34:31] and a used vehicle from T the price that I had given the board

[34:35] was $5,000 for vehle it's 10 years old but only has 36,000 miles on it and has

[34:41] a Kell value of a little over $155,000 um the price was a suggestion

[34:46] based on other vehicles that the police department has sold there was no

[34:50] contract there was no signature when tomon looked at the vehicle they decided

[34:53] it was worth a little bit more uh so they're requesting 8500 vehicle which is

[34:58] 3500 more than I had gotten board approval for uh I am requesting approval

[35:03] to spend up to 8,500 on that vehicle to replace uh the two that we've gotten rid

[35:07] of um if you subtract the money we brought in unid we're paying $1,100 for

[35:12] the car I realistically so I'm requesting board approval to be able to

[35:16] purchase that vehicle or to increase the amount that was approved by $3,500

[35:21] when's your timeline for for the purchase of that V uh they're putting

[35:25] out there on April 10th April okay uh I don't I don't want to think emotion it's

[35:31] necessary are there any objections for CH pursuing that vehicle

[35:36] no all right without objection Chief I appreciate that thank you um and just a

[35:42] question uh the last um third Friday is that going to be the only right now for

[35:48] And to clarify the Lots the municipal lot next to the red building no okay

[35:51] corre we will take care of that for you thank you thank

[35:56] you

[35:59] public works like said I'll working on La T this we the big thing that we did

[36:05] finish up in uh May was the uh the SE main project in

[36:12] Wild Avenue and all the lals have been completed so they have three four cross

[36:18] stretches to base and we'll be ready to uh work with our equipment R person d m

[36:25] on the paving of that room and then plan on for early

[36:31] May uh things we were doing this this month started going on uh Russ and Lea

[36:37] collection should start this week sometime off

[36:40] weoperate with or we will doing a Le collection for the whole month of

[36:49] April start at the pool we completed our part of the uh

[36:56] pool people were St start to do the CL for this week not looking good for that

[37:01] happening this week so hope don't be here next and one other thing we got

[37:05] going is uh our subcontractor trout Brothers Concrete will be in he was

[37:13] supposed to start tomorrow just not looking

[37:16] good left down at West West BR and Washington

[37:23] Avenue build theater over to the cany the the other one in last year and then

[37:30] got

[37:33] last get done this one what are we doing that hole that sort of like right way

[37:43] it's a lot of ups and downs CU we actually well got delayed on the permit

[37:47] and we ased the handicap ramp down the side in front of steps which sometimes

[37:53] isn't the best but we got approval for that so that go across so I think it's

[37:59] backed up to pigment right along there and then it got down

[38:03] across little spur Washington it's going to take out like

[38:09] 30t sidewalk build this it's pushed down the line up of the

[38:16] one cent

[38:20] place and one other last thing we did we did uh talk to our seal Master G know

[38:29] he's uh getting us on the schedule for the

[38:33] uh coding the Bas so there was a picture that fluttered around everybody seemed

[38:39] to be know good with the color scheme he had so that's what they're going with

[38:42] now but uh it is time I mean you don't need to know the color they have all the

[38:46] color you bring so we're hoping to get on the

[38:50] schedule for that I think the park committee the S Park committee would

[38:56] probably like to weigh in on that I have it there I can the S par

[39:02] committee not necessarily the parks and R committee yeah the bur yeah yeah yeah

[39:08] yeah I can like jet basically we'll probably pick R

[39:12] color's the time uh we didn't get a date yet

[39:17] when's plug system so it's probably a month

[39:23] hour

[39:26] yeah I didn't have a

[39:29] good only

[39:32] picture but it's clear

[39:38] it CHS I have one with me here I

[39:56] I from a

[40:00] vertical yeah he worked also he wored for

[40:11] sat

[40:14] question the ramp is that on Broad Street or on are you talking the last

[40:21] side both the ones we're doing are the uh

[40:28] north side of street the the bank parking lot

[40:34] yes Circle one right and then that t on corner there so we'll be there at that

[40:42] and the first one we're doing and will remain the

[40:47] same correct won be up at the intersection some of way but it's be

[40:54] straight across got you actually f something in front of

[40:59] the yeah it's going right in front the handicap Crossing from theer over will

[41:05] be right in front of his steps and that's what we put request in to get

[41:10] permission to do that and we finally got it end of last year

[41:13] Prett I just saw the sidewalk is so narrow there I wasn't sure you'd be able

[41:17] to get something that actually it's is it okay doesn't seem like it

[41:24] looks more with the traffic P stuff there yeah where the ramps are going

[41:29] open up but if not really access to Richard's point if you're walking

[41:42] from 41 West Broad Street and trying to cross over pass the

[41:49] way into that parch lot at the back is there a pole like right in the

[41:55] couldn't fit a wheelchair between the wins and the small retaining

[42:01] wall I mean it is you're not mov all no Works engineering

[42:18] so than St yes thank you um Tracy I just too

[42:25] matter for this evening uh the first matter is actually a litigation matter I

[42:29] L to talk to P about in executive session um and the second matter is it's

[42:36] actually item 8B that's on your agenda this evening it's to authorization

[42:42] advertise ordinance uh it's a couple changes to the nonuniform patching plan

[42:49] um it is I guess some key changes there was a

[42:54] provision in there about employees hired after

[42:58] um I think it was May 31st 2016 and they wouldn't vest until they were year 25

[43:03] years which was different than all the other employees at the furnace and now

[43:07] everyone's invested after 10 years in the pension uh another key change is the

[43:14] coal increases um there's some changes in

[43:18] that uh that they won't be mandatory for uh people that uh retire um you know

[43:27] going through okay um so that that's the

[43:34] background and I think the third was oh I'm sorry drop there was a drop there

[43:39] was a drop I yes thank you the changing drop

[43:45] interion you'll be eligible for job any retire you know

[43:50] that's Contin need to you know partak in that program but any new hires

[43:58] end of May of this year current employees who are not

[44:04] vested you know will not be for

[44:11] the thank you

[44:15] sir any questions for

[44:23] Don thank you um the manager I'm just going wait

[44:28] okay very good are there any committee reports for this

[44:35] evening all right hearing none will open up for public comments if you're a bural

[44:41] resident property of business owner we'd love to hear from you please come up to

[44:46] the mic state your name and address and we'd love to hear from you

[44:56] this

[45:02] Calvin mondon 220 Montgomery Avenue PE resident I am not here as a resident

[45:08] tonight however I here for the students of the marching

[45:15] band at the high school so I'm the president of the band

[45:20] booster maybe some of you guys know um we just had a very success from

[45:28] bag Bingo on the 15th of March and got some support from the the ladies here

[45:36] from the saon connects very helpful but anyway um and and Tracy you HT me when

[45:43] you let everybody go because I I had an audience that I

[45:48] wanted to catch so I need people so um April 20th

[45:55] it's a Saturday we're having a indoor home show at the high

[46:01] school and it it feels like to me that since the new high school has been

[46:07] built on Lower Road Community interaction with it

[46:13] because it's kind of like there but not there sight unseen right so anyway um I

[46:20] just wanted to uh invite members of the council and the

[46:26] public to come out and support a home

[46:31] show um groups there and I don't know if anyone has ever been to a indoor

[46:37] percussion show or not it is a little loud but it's it's really exciting and

[46:45] it's and

[46:49] the performance it's really really exciting and it's a lot different from a

[46:54] outdoor marching band at half time show and most of the time when you have a a

[47:02] uh indoor band competition the people in the audience are there because of the

[47:06] band they're not there because of a football game or anything like that so

[47:10] it's very engaging so uh the other part that um we do need volunteers um and um

[47:19] so if you are free to volun people to come in the parking lot and to um man a

[47:29] couple other stations and so on and so forth so uh we do have a sign up jness

[47:35] for that um you can go to the soldon big red.org

[47:41] website and maybe find some um information regarding the Sign Up Genius

[47:47] and and and it's also something that you could do um you know for a few hours it

[47:53] doesn't have to be an all day thing um

[47:57] and the other thing and normally I'm not Mondays because normally we have our our

[48:03] our meetings on Mondays and every time I come here after the meeting you guys are

[48:07] gone but we're not having our our normal meeting so that's why I'm here tonight

[48:13] so moving forward we're having another big event

[48:18] fundraiser on Memorial Day weekend at the JC's at the parking um we're manning

[48:26] the parking lot there too so um it's all volunteer and it's a nonprofit We have a

[48:33] huge budget and this is how we fund our our our budget

[48:41] so April event it's April 20th it starts at 12 in the afternoon

[48:48] first performance and it goes all day after that so it's probably from 12

[48:54] until 8 o'

[48:58] that is at the high school it's indoor yes it's indoor

[49:04] percussion yeah yeah sorry and I I couldn't tell you

[49:10] right now what the cost of the emission is but there is a there you you'll find

[49:15] out yeah so come on out thank

[49:25] you thanks Calvin anyone

[49:34] else all right public comments are closed for

[49:49] the we had item for bid improved items for bid and we

[49:57] the chief we

[50:00] sold Crown VI sold for $4,100

[50:07] for and the 2003 Trail are sold for $3,300 purchased it for

[50:14] 4,000 uh the skate park equipment sold for

[50:19] $1,350 and the portable ice skating rank sold for

[50:23] 750 um the uh antique rollers not sell we had a lot of uh calls about it and we

[50:30] relisted it for a lower price so I have we have it on another two weeks and then

[50:34] we'll on back to you with that so this evening we just need to approve the

[50:40] resolution in order to officially it that were sold

[50:48] on okay that's that's like a everyone so have a motion Mr President I make a

[50:55] motion to approve the sale items that were recently B on misid of outline in

[51:00] resolution 2024

[51:08] second now I have to pretend I here call

[51:14] that okay I have motions by councilors Mund and H to approve the sale of items

[51:21] that were recently B on municip is outlined in resolution

[51:24] 2024 8 are there any comments questions or

[51:30] concerns okay straight forward all in favor please say I

[51:37] I all right and also just to add um the reason

[51:41] you use is we don't

[51:49] have the next item is as talked about the authorization adverti

[51:58] 242 amending the new uh the nonuniform employee pension plan um as over

[52:07] investment period which to 10 years from 25 the col

[52:12] provision and the drop

[52:25] program

[52:29] are there any concerns with thinking a motion on on this advertisement this

[52:34] evening

[52:37] iation about it because I disagree that the pension should be lowered the that

[52:43] te years should be lower but we didn't actually hear

[52:48] from Gerard about the implications of

[52:54] that so I mean because what that will

[52:59] do is make some employees who are currently not

[53:03] eligible eligible right now

[53:09] so some actuar that I that think is

[53:16] relevant but that's just my

[53:21] opinion are you proposing that we put this this off until we have uh

[53:29] come back in it'll definitely

[53:33] change the pension

[53:38] plan we have at least I can think of one employee right

[53:44] now that on your team that would not

[53:55] be we haven't got a report from Gerard about what that would du to the pension

[54:02] plan and we did just have a conversation about the issues with the Pion

[54:10] plan you know what I

[54:14] mean not on Council so yeah if anyone um if if anyone so

[54:22] move then please make the motion we can deliberate it further necessary mind

[54:26] this an advertisement and we would not

[54:30] necessarily do the approval until the May the May R session so is there a

[54:35] motion to for the advertisement uh Mr President I make a

[54:42] motion to authorize the advertisement of the ordinance

[54:46] 24762 amending the non nonuniform employee pension plan I'll

[54:54] second okay I'm motions by

[54:59] counselors uh Rogers and to authorize the advertisement of ordinance 24- 7602

[55:06] amending of the non-uniformed employee pension plan all right now let's I open

[55:12] up for further question comment question um

[55:17] John just because you're vested doesn't mean you can Co right you sp with then

[55:22] you have to hit a certain age you have to hit you would be 10 years and I think

[55:26] 60 or2 62 so you could become besty but not be able to

[55:31] use that's correct okay so I don't know how would be I think even though you're

[55:40] it doesn't change your your ability to retire if you're not right

[55:50] retire the mayor's I think I'm just saying Stacey I think before the actual

[55:55] hearing on this ordinance adoption I think the banuary could she would have t

[56:01] weigh in or have them weigh in on that issue

[56:05] that that's great so we could get that we can get that information and then we

[56:11] be ready we could discuss it hopefully at work session and then we can we'll

[56:17] have a 30-day advertisement and then we can improve the M

[56:21] session um there may be if drop was part of that so the other

[56:28] concern that we had at work session I believe

[56:31] was uh just making sure that I I think I think you covered all basis John and the

[56:39] and and what you covered about we wanted to make sure

[56:42] that especially I mean to go 10 years is very favorable as opposed to what was in

[56:48] the ordinance before but if there are any negative connotations then that

[56:53] would also be good to know prior to us so what what we were concerned

[56:59] about and I think the concerns are alleviated but that we didn't want

[57:04] anyone that were thinking they were getting some type of retirement benefit

[57:08] and would not be and we could just confirm that at work session to that

[57:14] would that would be two great things to be up you know off of our

[57:18] back whether it was in writing or or just be good to to have that make sure

[57:24] we're not negatively impacting someone B getting something more favorable than

[57:30] than the resolution if adopted would negatively impact the employees have all

[57:36] received this

[57:41] um and about that and did you receive

[57:47] any just some clarifications but um almost all the people most of the people

[57:52] here are vested um currently and would be El the drop um they

[57:58] did time really affects mostly the new hires for the most part so there's and

[58:05] then like two other employees and so we did notify them we

[58:17] out we'll have plenty of time to to clarify later uh John just one more

[58:22] thing the cola the maining Cola is that for the

[58:28] retirees would be that's an that would be an a council option if you wanted to

[58:33] allow acoss the living best right now if you are invested in your pension and you

[58:40] could retire tomorrow then the new provision won't affect the cola raises

[58:47] okay we going forward for new hirings the way the ordinance is drafted uh the

[58:52] revisions to the the ordinance um it's up to the discretion of counts to give

[58:59] those call increases to employees who are not bested at this

[59:05] point or May 31st or by May by May 31st if they're not bested okay and that

[59:12] would be one thing I don't know if what there are any employees that would be

[59:18] like a may I would just hate to have like a one you know five day cut off and

[59:24] that would that would be we might be able to accommodate that okay then um

[59:28] and then they're vested when you say that they are vested that's at the

[59:36] amended the May 31st it would be right now if they're

[59:41] vested in in their in their pension right you're not going to be changing

[59:45] anything right but if if we change it from five to 10 we'll have two employees

[59:51] that will all overnight be correct yes then they could also participated

[59:58] drop no because they're changing

[1:00:03] simultaneously the drop program would be they

[1:00:08] didn't they they weren't eligible for drop before the

[1:00:13] changes that's we

[1:00:17] eligible because they weren't M the vesting period and the drop change are

[1:00:21] happening at the same time so they couldn't have invested before

[1:00:30] yes did you hear from those two

[1:00:34] employees I didn't I didn't hear from them at all but they've been notified of

[1:00:39] it I told them if they have questions have talked to me about it I not heard

[1:00:44] anything I've received negative feedback so it's

[1:00:50] probably yeah yeah I mean

[1:00:59] okay so we need that clarifying feedback from those from those any any effected

[1:01:04] employee on on the policy that's that's what we need by the work session okay

[1:01:10] then uh let's take that the book so all in favor of of the advertisement of TCI

[1:01:17] I any

[1:01:23] oppos all right and the last is the the emergency action

[1:01:31] plan emergency acinator for the past several

[1:01:36] years he will be stepping down um and um

[1:01:49] our so this evening it's really just changing me and everything else but we

[1:01:55] have

[1:02:16] before we take the motion so the big changes the appointment but were there

[1:02:23] any changes to the Emergency Operations plan other than contacts and the

[1:02:27] Emergency Management coordinating uh every two years total 35 requires the

[1:02:31] plan be updated the the plan in a confidential form includes all of your

[1:02:37] information all department heads information so that has all been updated

[1:02:41] uh and the only other thing that got updated was some of the contacts in our

[1:02:45] emergency U resources and in some of our group owns

[1:02:50] and what not the contacts for those but the the meato are the same nothing has

[1:02:55] changed accept those okay and Julie I looked at it yeah

[1:03:02] was just in the absence of yeah isn't here um I don't know if you did you take

[1:03:08] a look at it but chur I did read through it we got it um what was that we were

[1:03:13] gonna have a meeting last month and we decided to have it when I read it and

[1:03:18] not Chang exact okay and I would encourage Council

[1:03:25] to read it it's a linky document Steve had updated it last a couple of years

[1:03:29] ago it's a really good document and we do have some roles and responsibilities

[1:03:34] in that document so means if you haven't already to read it and this is a

[1:03:42] corrective action per se but it would be really good in the future for us to get

[1:03:46] a red line of work doc what basically changed from the from

[1:03:52] the previous conditions okay let's take uh a

[1:03:57] motion Mr President I um want to make a motion to approve adopt and place into

[1:04:03] immediate effect the Emergency Operations plan of F jur and appointing

[1:04:07] Chief Brian a Neal Emergency Management coordinator has outlined in resolution

[1:04:12] 202 409 I'll

[1:04:17] second too slow Richard okay I have by councilors Mund and

[1:04:24] Littlefield uh for the approval adoption and placing immediately with the

[1:04:30] Emergency Operations of sou Bing Chief Bri New Hall as the Emergency Management

[1:04:36] coordinator has outlined in resolution 20

[1:04:42] 24-9 are there any comments questions or concerns I have one comment to mention

[1:04:48] mention about there is a page in shows every page every updated there is an

[1:04:54] index for okay thank you and thank you for all

[1:04:59] your years of service doing that it is a big deal thank you st one of them

[1:05:07] I'm uh you're an unsung hero for something that gets no accolades but

[1:05:12] it's something that if we need to implement that plan it's really really

[1:05:16] important for the commun any other comment all right

[1:05:24] then

[1:05:45] Mr President I make I second okay so thank you everyone

[1:05:51] for

[1:05:54] coming

[1:05:59] govern

Souderton Borough Council Meeting - April 1, 2024

Transcript