Borough Council August meeting wrap up
The Reynoldsville Borough Council met in a lengthy regular session August 21 which lasted more than an hour and half.
Part of the time was taken up by an executive session concerning legal matters. After that session, Borough Solicitor Joe Ryan stated that the council had no comment concerning Councilmember John Chesnalavich who is facing charges (see the complete story here).
The council approved a request for a variance in an alley near Fourth Street. There was some discussion if the proposed garage encroached too closely to the alley, but it was determined the garage will be built on the current footprint of a car port and will not take up any additional space. The approval of the variance was conditional to the approval by the borough road crew after a review of the site.
Cathy Streigel, representing the Reynoldsville Community Association (RCA), spoke to council about tree removal on Main Street. At the July meeting, the council; talked about removing the trees that have become a nuisance and are damaging the sidewalk.
The trees were a part of a Reynoldsville Business Association (before it became the RCA) project a number of years ago where patrons donated money to have the trees planted in memory of someone. A memorial brick was placed beside each tree.
Streigel old council she surveyed the trees and noted the dedications. She said the RCA was willing to track down the families involved, if possible, and replace the trees with planters and place the memorial bricks in those locations,
After some discussion, the council decided to let the RCA pursue that project and report back at the next meeting.
Streigel also told the council that the RCA has done as much as it could to get the process of zoning started in the borough. She said it was now up to council to make the next move and provided contact information. The council voted to make the call and look into the process.
The RCA has urged the council at previous meetings to start the zoning process. Once completed, it makes the borough eligible for grant monies. Streigel informed the council at this meeting that grants are available to help find the process.
Garbage
A lengthy discussion was held about who enforces compliance concerning garbage pick up in the borough. That contract was awarded to ARC Disposal of Reynoldsville.
Councilmember and Code Enforcement Officer Nichole Walk said she had a list of individuals who have not signed up, which is required by the borough ordinance. She plans to send letters to those individuals. She also said there’s been a problem with people signing up but not paying their bill.
The council also discussed a problem with dumpster contracts that businesses had with the previous garbage collector, Waste Management. Some business owners said they’d like to switch but they are locked into a contract with Waste management and face a fee to end the contract.
That part of the garbage situation was turned over the Solicitor Joe Ryan for review. Fort his part, ARC Disposal owner Bob Beck said he was okay with business owners having a separate agreement as long as they have a contract for waste removal.
Other actions
After another lengthy discussion, the council decided to inform a property owner along Yellow Brick Road that if the owner didn’t do something about runoff from the driveway, the borough would do the work and send the bill to the property owner. Council member Ralph “Tucker” August said recent rains washed off the materials that had been placed in the area and the work will have to be redone.
The council approved a motion to have the borough building roof over the library repaired at the cost of $7500. They also discussed repairs to the borough office around a leaking air conditioner. They will also investigate a heating problem in the borough garage and get estimates on repairs to the borough’s zero-turn mower.
What to do about budget shortfalls was discussed (see related story here). Payments to the pension funds for uniformed and non-uniformed personnel were also approved, with the council voting to pay the higher rate for the police pension.
Dredging the Sandy Lick was also discussed. It was decided to see if dredging could be included in the proposed canoe launch/walkway project or if separate funding can be found.
The deeds for the borough park have been cleared. It can be turned over to the fire department once the DuBois Area School Board votes on waving the property tax fee. The council voted to wave its fee, so the Fire department will pay $2200 in transfer taxes instead of $4400.