REGULAR MEETING WASHINGTON CITY COUNCIL – Thursday, January 10, 2013.
A regular meeting of Washington City Council was held Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 7PM in Council Chambers, 55 West Maiden Street, Washington, Pennsylvania. Mayor Brenda Davis, presiding, opened the meeting.
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Present
Councilman Joseph Manning — Present
Councilman Terry Faust — Present
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Present
Mayor Brenda Davis — Present
SOLICITOR: Lane Turturice, Esquire
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Mayor and Council held an Executive Session prior to this meeting to discuss litigation matters.
A motion was made by Mayor Davis, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve the Minutes of the December 31, 2012 special meeting.
Mayor Davis then opened the Public Participation portion of the meeting. Those signed in to speak were as follows:
- Chief Brookman gave Jerry Coleman’s (Zoning Department’s) December report: 9 permits were issued in December, total of $682. There were 1 commercial permit, 2 demolition, and 6 residential. For the year (2012) there were 45 commercial permits, 139 residential permits along with demolitions, signs and pools – with a total revenue for the year of $58,799.29 For the Fire Department for the year there were 1700 calls which were up approximately 150 from last year. For the month of December there were a total of 124 – most of these were medicals and 3 structure fires, 2 out of town calls with the intervention team. There is a complete report if anyone wishes to receive one. There are more projects going on such as the Washington Trust Building renovation. We met with these people today in Pittsburgh, Jerry will be back in touch once information is received.
- Chief Lemons gave his December 2012 report: traffic citations were at 57, non-traffic citations were 32, criminal arrests 48, accident reports brought in $720.00 along with incident reports at $75.00, fingerprinting $700.00, there were no mace permits, and vehicle release forms brought in $450. There were 710 police calls for service in December. Going back to 2012 which he compared to 2011 there were: total traffic citations written by the Police Department: 1,843 which was up 727 from 2011 so almost 800 more citations in 2012 than in 2011. Non-traffic citations total: 646 which were up 123 from 2011, criminal arrests: 672 which were also up 125 from 2011. So there is an increase in crime but this also shows that the Police Officers are out being very proactive, especially with the traffic and non-traffic citations. Criminal arrests you really can’t predict – some calls you make an arrest others are on-view. There is a mixture of everything. Accident report income for the year: $7,470.00 which is up $465.00 from 2011. Incident reports stayed the same at $750.00, fingerprinting: $3,780.00 which is up $370.00 from 2011, mace permits $25.00 which is up $20.00 from 2011. Vehicle release forms which is a new item, recently passed Ordinance, brought in $675.00 for 2012 – these started late in the year. Total monies collected: $12,700. Total police calls in 2012 were 12,726 which is up almost 1,600 from 2011. The Officers are definitely busier. Averages for the top three for 2011: number of traffic citations were 153 a month, 53 for non-traffic, and 56 criminal arrests per month.
- Georgianna Farkus said she attended the Agenda Meeting this past Monday evening. Discussed was the Rental Registration . . . will there be a vote on this tonight? Also, how many people were not on the list that are non-compliant with the Rental Registration program? She said she has the right to know and has not received any information yet. She also asked about the 500 citations that were sent out; and there were a lot of people that did not attend the meeting. The average fines to her understanding are $200 to $1,000 per unit – she would like to know how many citations will be collected on and if it is feasible for this program to continue. Can Council speculate on what was discussed on Monday night? Also can a motion be done for the garbage collecting for the bills, as it is a possibility that the amount will go up. People need more ample time to be able to pay. The social security went up 1.7%, and they take it right back off of you because of medical. The commissioners approved a 3% — so, we would like to know where we are supposed to get all the money for the garbage. This question is not coming from her . . . Georgianna said this is coming from other people she speaks to as well.
COMMENT: Mayor Davis stated that she is not in favor of doing away with the Rental Registration. It is working; when she took over in January it was not working. There was a Rental Registration program but the information was not kept up to date. Mayor Davis stated that it is efficiently and affectively running properly right now. It has not cost the City anything to run last year. We actually have $30,000.00 in this account. This program has been run by her friends, volunteers who have not cost the landlords a dime for them to be here to work on this to get it to where it is today. The employees who have worked on this program – we’ve taken out the money to cover their salary and costs. The Police Department was not even aware when Mayor Davis took over that there was a Rental Registration Ordinance. The Chief and I have been working all summer long with the Officers on the Police Department so they can understand the Ordinance. There are tools inside this Ordinance that helps every single one of us here in the City. It helps the real estate investor, the resident, the commuters coming into the City. We have been sending out notifications when it comes to the disruptive conduct that is occurring in the City. We send the landowners and the landlords notification that there is disruptive conduct occurring on their property. Mayor Davis has received a few phone calls from them where the landlords do not want this against their property. They, in turn, call their tenant to say that if they receive any additional then the tenant is gone. They are actually taking responsibility right now. Our Police Department have the software inside the Police Department right now; so, they can radio any point in time, pull up the Rental Registration and find out who owns the property and who is the manager. As I told them, “I have no problem if you get a call at 3 o’clock in the morning and there is a party going on there . . . you look on the computer, you call that landlord, you call that property owner and you tell them they need to get there immediately and get their tenant under control”. By no means, by no means do I want to do away with this Rental Registration. We are not going backwards . . . not one bit are we going backwards . . . we are moving forward. We will continue to utilize the tools that are available. We will start to inspect these properties. They need to be taken care of. It’s about the health, the safety and the welfare of the citizens of the City of Washington.
COMMENT: Councilman Manning stated that he thought it was misunderstood at the Agenda Meeting. No one was in favor of doing away with the Ordinance.
COMMENT: Councilman Staniszewski stated, “right”.
COMMENT: Councilman Manning continued by saying that the Ordinance, as the Mayor stated, is a good tool to use for the Police Department, for neighbors, for the Fire Department, Code Enforcement to be able to go in and make sure that the properties are safe, the unruly tenants are dealt with in a timely manner. It was not the Ordinance to get rid of . . . it was cleaning up the administration of it — the taking in the funds, following up with delinquencies. Councilman Manning said, “there was never a suggestion to can the Ordinance, it was more of cleaning up of the way it was being administered”. It was so unwieldy and time-consuming. Mayor said she brought in volunteers and how much time everyone has spent on this. Once everything is in place it will run itself. But, you have to have the time to get everyone registered. There were large apartment complexes that we had just been able to deal with because there were so many in the City. These just took time – it was becoming too time-consuming. He wished when we looked at it he told the Mayor that we had maybe thought of sun-setting the fee. The idea is not to get rid of the Ordinance. The idea was to clean-up and stream line the administration of it.
COMMENT: Councilman Staniszewski said that he agrees with this. As Brenda had stated we did pull in $30,094.00 this year. Really that’s combined from 2010, 2011 and 2012. So really we may not even pull that much in, it might be the same, no one really knows for this year. I know, I spoke with the Accounts and Finance Office the other day – they transferred out about $15,000.00 to cover operating expenses. I can tell you the amount of time that Christy and many others paid employees spent on this. Christy was spending 66% of her time alone. The City Clerk has many other duties. We are probably losing about $15,000.00 a year. We really have to factor in how much time was spent on this.
I agree with what Councilman Manning had said, no one is trying to get rid of the Ordinance – it is a good tool. Councilman Staniszewski said, “the City is stepping over quarters to pick up pennies”.
COMMENT: Mayor Davis elaborated a bit further by saying that last year’s budget was budgeted to bring in $25,000.00 for the Rental Registration program. I got the figures from the City Clerk who does process them on a daily and monthly basis; with what she had brought in was $30,229.36 — so as you can see she brought in $5,000.00 more than what the City had budgeted. I have to give great thanks to the Fire Chief, who once was given the information on the larger complexes, he volunteered to go out and talk to these complexes to get these individuals to register their property. So, thank you very much Chief for doing that as well. In essence, we were able to track down some complexes that weren’t registered. The citations that are going to the magistrate have 3 years of non-compliant. Georgianna this is another answer to your question – we do not know what the magistrate is going to do when it comes to the fines. So, that’s still to be determined yet.
Georgiana asked, “is this per unit, right?”
COMMENT: Mayor Davis confirmed that this is per unit. So, the landlord owns ten units and has not paid on ten units – the citations will be going to the magistrate on ten different issues.
Georgianna asked if we have the percentage of the rentals for the City?
COMMENT: Mayor Davis stated no but we could get these numbers for her. Mayor Davis said that she just found out yesterday and today, being able to utilize the Rental Registration program to find out with the tragedy that occurred in West End if it was a rental property. It was a rental property on Fayette Street. Just today it was brought to my attention that there is another three-quarter way house that is opening here in the City. So, immediately I called the City Clerk to find out if that property was registered as a rental unit. Low and behold, it is not. So, this is something that Councilman Westcott is going to look into.
Georgianna stated that her other issue is with the garbage . . .
COMMENT: Councilman Manning addressed this by saying that we can’t take any action here tonight because we don’t know if we are going to have to increase the fees, how much; we have a recycling bid to open tonight and all that’s going to have to be factored in. Plus, I will have to deal with the Treasurer’s Office and the lady who works in Solid Waste to see if it is even feasible to break up the billing into different cycles. We are going to make this as painless as possible. I think that everyone has agreed to that. But, as far as taking action tonight that is not possible.
Mayor Davis said that this closed the public participation portion of the meeting.
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Commonwealth of PA Clean Water Fund in the amount of $400.00 which is the fee for NPDES (Park Pond Project) CHARGE 66.00/446-310
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Washington County Clean Water Fund in the amount of $500.00 which is the fee for NPDES (Park Pond Project) CHARGE 66.00/446-310
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to PNC Bank in the amount of $164,863,45 for YTD Act 205 EIT collections as of 12/31/2012. CHARGE 79.00/483-000
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to North Central Highway Safety Network, Inc. in the amount of $12,883.00 for Reimbursement #10 CHARGE 90.00/489-000
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to North Central Highway Safety Network, Inc. in the amount of $9,330.00 for Reimbursement #11 CHARGE 90.00/489-000
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to North Central Highway Safety Network, Inc. in the amount of $9,595.00 for Reimbursement #12 CHARGE 90.00/489-000
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Berggren & Turturice, LLC in the amount of 1,687.05 for services rendered from 12/10/2012 through 1/9/2013. CHARGE 01.13/404-310
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Skelly & Loy in the amount of $9,598.18 for professional services Catfish Creek Project. CHARGE 66.00/446-310
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Estate of Howard W. Keenan in the amount of $140.00 for Dye Test payment made. Property located on Springfield Avenue ~ a garage-type building that could not be entered due to unsafe conditions. This was confirmed by WEWJA.
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Edmunds & Associates Inc. in the amount of $15,754.00 for Software Maintenance. CHARGE 01.23/407-457
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Edmunds & Associates Inc. in the amount of $1,028.00 for Maintenance SQL & Scanners. CHARGE 01.23/407-457
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve payment to Metro Technology Services in the amount of $4,206.00 for Annual Maintenance. CHARGE 01.23/407-457
A motion was made by Councilman Staniszewski, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to approve Councilman Staniszewski to enter into a COSTARS Agreement for 1,800 tons of sodium chloride (road salt) for the August 2013 – July 2014 Season.
COMMENT: Councilman Staniszewski stated that we do this every year. We actually save significantly 50% per ton.
A motion was made by Councilman Staniszewski, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried to authorize the City Clerk to advertise for bids for the following road materials:
a) 1,750 Tons of 9.5mm Surface
b) 2,000 Tons of 25mm Binder
c) 1,500 Tons of 19mm Binder
COMMENT: Councilman Staniszewski said this is in preparation for the paving season for 2013. He thanked Mayor and Council for continuing to make this a tough priority in improving our roadways.
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Mayor Davis, and unanimously carried, to approve the Washington Police Department’s payment to Mobile Radio Service, Inc. in the amount of $3,576.00 for annual coverage fee on all equipment covered under said contract. Services will commence on February 1, 2013 for one (1) year contract. CHARGE 01.15/410-327
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Mayor Davis, and unanimously carried, to approve the Washington Police Department’s payment to Witmer Public Safety Group in the amount of $3,136.87 for ammunition needed for qualification and re-stock of used amounts for the department. CHARGE 01.15/410-239
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded by Councilman Westcott, and
unanimously carried, to amend the for the following changes which were omitted/changed in
error).
a) The base salary of the Maintenance Repair Worker at $40,560.00 effective retroactive to 1/1/13.
b) The base salary of the Deputy Treasurer to $27,446.85 effective retroactive to 1/1/13.
c) The base salary of the Part time Executive Director of the Parking Authority as $23,806.60 retroactive to 1/1/13.
d) The base salary of the Deputy Finance Director as $43,316.98 retroactive to 1/1/13.
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded by Councilman Staniszewski, and unanimously carried, to approve the budget transfer as follows: FROM LSA Fund 85.00/100-000 TO Catfish Creek Project Fund 66.00/100-000 in the amount of $2,399.54
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded by Mayor Davis, and unanimously carried to approve the following Washington City Transit item: a travel request for Roberta L. Gostic to attend the National Transit Database training in Charlotte, NC on 2/12-15/13 with total expenses not to exceed $1,000.00 to be paid from the Mass Transit Operating approved travel budget.
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to GG&C Bus Company, Inc. in the amount of $72,280.05 for contracted public transit fixed route services performed in November 2012, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-455
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to GG&C Bus Company, Inc. in the amount of $576.00 for additional services related to updates to transit vehicles, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-310
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Washington County Transportation Authority in the amount of $9,824.70 for contracted public transit paratransit services performed in November 2012, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-455
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Roberta L. Gostic in the amount of $24.48 for reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred in December 2012, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-240
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Nancy Basile in the amount of $119.33 for reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-240
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Nancy Basile in the amount of $217.10 for reimbursement of approved travel expenses incurred for training of a transit staff member, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-240
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Amsterdam Hospitality (NY), owner of The Blake Hotel, in the amount of $337.00 for lodging related to approved travel for training of a transit staff member, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-240
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Comcast in the amount of $82.32 for monthly internet service for transit farebox equipment/networking, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-240
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Hickson’s Office Supply Company in the amount of $125.60 for transit office supplies, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-210
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to nTouch, Inc. in the amount of $637.50 for contracted services regarding map redesign, website revisions and file conversions to web formats, to be paid from the Mass Transit Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 28.00/447-310
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Westcott, seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to approve the Washington City Transit’s payment to Astorino in the amount of $14,262.77 for contracted services performed through December 2012, to be paid from the Purchase of Buses & Equipment Account upon verification by the Finance Department that the stated transit funds are available. CHARGE 27.00/447-743
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — Yes
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — Abstained
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Staniszewski, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried to open the bids for the Screened Road Cinders.
Solicitor Lane Turturice opened and read aloud the following bids:
Del-Sir Supply, Inc.
660 West Pike Street
PO Box 335
Meadow Lands, PA 15347
10% Bid Bond is attached. #1 $13.00 Unit Price, Delivered at Job Site
Donald D. Growden
14 Dover Drive
McDonald, PA 15057
10% Cashier’s Check is attached. #1 $15.43 Unit Price, Delivered at Job Site
A & S Landscaping, Inc.
2150 Washington Road
Canonsburg, PA 15317
10% Cashier’s Check is attached. #1 $13.45 Unit Price, Delivered at Job Site
Solicitor Turturice stated that this concludes the bids.
A motion was made by Councilman Staniszewski, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to table these bids upon review of the Street Supervisor, the City Solicitor and Councilman Staniszewski.
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded Councilman Staniszewski, and unanimously carried to open the bids for the Collection and Disposal of Recyclable Items.
Solicitor Lane Turturice opened and read aloud the following bid:
Waste Management
625 Cherrington Parkway
Moon Township, PA 15108
10% Bid Bond is Attached.
Option A: A three (3) year contract for a monthly collection of recycled items. (Collected on Monday) All based on 4,300 Households.
Alternate A-1 $369,614.88
Alternate A-2 $369,614.88
Alternate A-3 $369,614.88
Option B: A three (3) year contract for a bi-weekly collection of recycled items.
(Collected on Monday) All based on 4,300 Households.
Alternate B-1 No Bid
Alternate B-2 No Bid
Alternate B-3 No Bid
Option C: A three (3) year contract for a monthly collection of recycled items. (Collected any day) All based on 4,300 Households.
Alternate C-1 No Bid
Alternate C-2 No Bid
Alternate C-3 No Bid
Option D: A three (3) year contract for a bi-weekly collection of recycled items. (Collected any day) All based on 4,300 Households.
Alternate D-1 $559,019.52
Alternate D-2 $559,019.52
Alternate D-3 $559,019.52
Solicitor Turturice stated that this concludes the bids.
There was a discussion between Mayor and Council to reach a decision.
Mayor Davis thanked everyone for their patience.
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded by Councilman Westcott, and unanimously carried, to accept the Recyclable Option A (A-2). Collection shall be made by Contractor on a monthly basis during the contract period on a date specified by Contractor. In addition, Contractor shall pick up all newsprint on the recycling date and transport the same to the ICC Composing site approved by the City of Washington and currently located in North Strabane Township.
A motion was made by Councilman Faust, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to direct the Solicitor to initiate all necessary legal action to appeal the December 12, 2012 decision of the Washington County Board of Assessment Appeals in connection with Washington County Parcel 720-001-00-0001-01, owned by Beau Street Associates.
COMMENT: Mayor Davis stated that regarding appealing this decision the County made a clerical error last year. The County came back to the City saying that because of the clerical error the City now owes Millcraft a refund, and, unfortunately the County was not willing to fix the clerical on the City’s side. It is unfortunate, and because it was a clerical error coming from the County you would have thought they would have fixed it on both sides but they did not do that.
COMMENT: Councilman Westcott said, as the Mayor stated, when we vote tonight I want you to understand that this vote is a vote because the County has screwed up. This is not a vote against Millcraft or a vote against the owners of Beau Street Associates. This is a vote, in fact, the County is responsible and the County needs to fix this problem. So, I just wanted to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the owners of the property. It is the County that needs to clean up their mess.
A motion was made by Councilman Faust and seconded by Councilman Manning, and carried to direct the Solicitor to initiate all necessary legal action against Beau Street Associates to determine the legality and enforceability of the TIF Agreement approved by Council in December, 2007 and executed in April, 2008.
COMMENT: Mayor Davis stated that in the process of undertaking what the City went through regarding the potential of amending the TIF, a month and a half ago, it came to the City, here, that procedurally some things may not have been done correctly when it came to the first amendment of the TIF. The voice of the public was never heard when that amendment was made and the assessed value was reduced by an agreement by all the taxing bodies. The public had the right to know and the public voices were not heard. I believe that the public, just as they did at the public hearing that we held last year, had the right to come out and voice their opinion. It was not done in 2007 and in 2008.
ROLL CALL:
Councilman Kenneth Westcott — No
Councilman Joseph Manning — Yes
Councilman Terry Faust — Yes
Councilman Matthew Staniszewski — No
Mayor Brenda Davis — Yes
A motion was made by Councilman Manning, seconded by Councilman Faust, and unanimously carried, to approve the FINAL READING OF BILL NO. 14 OF 2012 ORDINANCE 1854
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA AMENDING CHAPTER 21, PART 3 SECTION 309 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES PROVIDING FOR A REDUCTION IN THE PERMIT FEE FOR THE EXCAVATION OF SIDEWALKS
ELECTED OFFICIALS:
Councilman Westcott gave the Code Enforcement’s report for the last couple of months – Ron, I apologize. Ron’s calls of service for the month of December were 109. Total revenues brought in (less expenses) was $3,723.79 Also, I want to comment that I was at the fire on Broad Street. I want to commend both Chiefs and the Street Department for their work of cooperation, working together. It was a cold night, a tough fire to fight. We had a couple of Police Officers who ran through the house to make sure no one was in the house. Obviously, the Fire Department put the fire out, the Street Department taking care of the streets afterward. Great cooperation – I want to commend all of you for that.
Councilman Manning said that he noticed a lot of members of the West End Neighborhood Crime Watch in attendance this evening. He congratulated them. Anyone who has been following the recent tragedy in the West End knows the role you all played in it. It is clear the work you are doing is working. Working with the Police Chief and Mayor in getting this crime solved quickly. You deserve a lot of credit for this. Also, I see Danny and Neal Isiminger are here with us tonight. This past week Isiminger’s Pennzoil has celebrated 45 years in business here – congratulations to you! (Everyone clapped)
Councilman Faust had no comment.
Councilman Staniszewski said that John Stout, Street Superintendent’s (Mother) had some health issues. Please remember her in your prayers.
Mayor Davis recognized the West End Neighborhood Watch being in attendance. Seeing you all here tonight is great. She stated that she has not been able to be at their meetings but she has been making sure that the Police Officers have been there – hearing all the concerns and issues. Mayor Davis said she hopes that this year her schedule clears; she will try harder to attend their meetings. She thanked them for attending the March For Violence. Mayor Davis will be meeting next month with the group that organized this March. It is important to continue to strengthen the Neighborhood Watches in the West End, 6th Ward and 7th Ward. We are looking at starting one in the 5th Ward too. You have set the precedence here in the City of Washington. We need to build to what you have done up there. I will be in touch with Tom to let him know when this meeting will be in February. Mayor Davis thanked them for all they do. In addition, Mayor Davis thanked Mr. Isiminger for 45 years worth of service in the City of Washington. Mayor Davis thanked the Police Department for all of their hard work that they’ve done last year. The fire that the Fire Department put out was substantial – they are doing a fine job. Councilman Westcott deserves some credit too because he manages that department. Mayor Davis thanked Ken for all the hard work he has been doing.
A member of the West End Neighborhood Watch thanked Mayor Davis for her compliments.
(Everyone clapped)
The Washington City Building will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2013 in observance of
Martin Luther King holiday. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
at 8:30AM.
The next regular meeting of Washington City Council will be held on Thursday, February 7,
2013 at 7PM in Council Chambers. The Agenda Meeting will be held on Monday, February 4,
2013 at 6PM also in Council Chambers.
A motion was made by Councilman Staniszewski, seconded by Councilman Manning, and unanimously carried, to adjourn the meeting.
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Brenda Davis, Mayor
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Christy S. Thomas, City Clerk