MARTINSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES
JUNE 5, 2006
The regular meeting of the Martinsburg Borough Council was held on Monday, June 5, 2006, in the municipal building. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. with prayer by Randy K. Stoltz and the Pledge of Allegiance.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT: Mayor Donald C. Greenleaf, President Robert A. Carper, Pro-tem Nathan P. Ormsby, Councilman Christopher E. Brooks, Councilwoman Doreen K. Easly, and Councilman Sheldon O. Smith
ALSO PRESENT were Manager Randy Stoltz, Borough Secretary Jane Staily, Attorney Frederick Gieg, Attorney Cathy Miller, Chief Kerry Hoover, Richard Brantner, Jr., Sergeant Justin Davis, and Dan Horton of the Morrisons Cove Herald.
The MINUTES of the regular meeting of May 1, 2006, were approved on a motion by Nathan Ormsby, seconded by Sheldon Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
Doreen Easly presented a review of the FINANCIAL AND TREASURER’S REPORTS for May 2006.
The LIST OF BILLS for May 2006, check nos. 3138-3195 in the amount of $31,150.80 was approved on a motion by Doreen Easly, seconded by Sheldon Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Greenleaf met with Chief Hoover several times throughout the month; attended the Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting on May 9th; presented a 25-minute welcome speech to a group of campers at the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park; attended the Memorial Day parade and the service held at the cemetery; volunteered six hours of his time to trimming grass on unkept borough properties – council expressed their appreciation for his time volunteered for the community. Council also expressed their appreciation to the VFW for inviting them in the Memorial Day parade.
Chief Hoover presented the police report as written. May was a very busy month – summer seems to have come early. He was in the process of setting up the mandatory NIMS training for the council and officials for some evening in July to be held at the computer center. The training is more in depth for emergency personnel. Chief Hoover requested that council hire another part-time patrolman. He was in the process of doing a background check on an officer he felt was qualified. Council on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Doreen Easly, approved to hire Brian Kentner based on Chief Hoover’s recommendation subject to Mr. Kentner passing the background check. The motion passed unanimously.
Chief Hoover reported that the borough’s new website www.MartinsburgPA.org was up and running as of two hours prior to the meeting. The borough has had a web site for over a year, but it was difficult and expensive to update things with that package. Chris Brooks found a web package that is considerably cheaper than the previous one (only $60-$70 per year) and it gives the borough full control of the changes through a program called Front Page. Chris Brooks has spent numerous hours setting up the site. The capabilities of the web site are endless: alerts, e-mail for the officials and employees, water outages, forms submission such as requests for police house checks, sign up of new water customers, etc.
Doreen Easly reported that the next meeting of the 175th Anniversary Committee will be held on June 19th at 6:30 p.m. in the JayCee Room.
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JUNE 5, 2006 – PAGE 2
There will not be a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting this month. The next one was scheduled for July 11th. There is a county-wide Crime Watch meeting scheduled for June 18th.
Manage Stoltz reported that he attended the Roaring Spring Rotary meeting on May 2nd as the guest speaker on the Cove Area Regional Digester Project; attended a half day Notary seminar; met with Gerald Pastva on May 12th to discuss the town center parking lot survey; the curbing on E. Christiana Street was completed, but he hasn’t seen any right-of-way documents yet from Tony Fitzgibbons of Edgewood Acres; started an erosion sedimentation plan and PennDOT plans for the town center parking lot; a One-Call was received regarding the phone pole located at the intersection of S. Market Street and Cross Cove Road – the pole will be difficult to fix and appears to be a major repair for the utility company – the borough will be notified when and if they have to turn the power off to make the repair.
Attorney Gieg reported that he received the town center parking lot survey from Gerald Pastva. He showed council a copy of the drawings. Attorney Gieg did a title search on Mr. Over’s property and there is a mortgage to Altoona First Bank. Now that he can draw a description he can get a release on it. There are no liens on the adjoining McGraw property. There will be about 20 parking spaces for daily borough parking. Doreen Easly mentioned that for the past several years, Gaspar Balsimo of the Pizza Star restaurant adjacent to the parking lot has rented 1-2 parking spaces in that lot area from the previous owner because he has no rear or off street parking. Council felt they should continue to allow him a special exception and continue this only for as long as he is the owner of that building. If Mr. Over approves of this special exception, the agreement will have to be redone to include this. As part of the deed it will be noted that if the borough ever decides to sell the parking lot area the Over’s would have first option to buy it back only for the natural lives of Richard Over and his wife, not indefinitely for generations to come.
Council on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby, approved the agreement between Richard Over and the Borough of Martinsburg for the town center parking lot with all the suggested changes to be executed between now and the next meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
On a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Doreen Easly, council authorized Jane Staily and Bob Carper to execute all necessary deeds to concluded the transfer of the parking lot from Richard Over to the Borough of Martinsburg. The motion passed unanimously.
Attorney Gieg has always represented the Martinsburg Volunteer Fire Company free of charge. Council expressed their graditude to him for all the recent hours he has donated regarding a current incident.
Chris Brooks mentioned a certain postal drop off box located on Spring Street that appeared to be in need of some fresh paint. There was also some concern about the location of the drive by mail box located in the alley between the Post Office and the Choice Store, but no remedy could be made. The post office will be approached to see what ideas they have.
Nathan Ormsby reported that he attended the May meeting of the Martinsburg Municipal Authority. He commended the Morrisons Cove Herald for the good job of reporting on the meeting.
MARTINSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES
JUNE 5, 2006 – PAGE 3
Mayor Greeleaf was working on installing a piece of Marlite in the JayCee meeting room to use as a planning board to list the events for the 175th Anniversary of our town as they progress. More people are starting to show an interest in planning the monthly events for next year.
Chris Brooks recommended that the borough put a banner in the Agricultural parade in July advertising the borough’s web site www.MartinsburgPA.org.
Upon Attorney Gieg’s recommendation, council on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby, adopted Resolution No. 060605-1 opposing legislation that would significantly reduce cable franchise fee revenue. The resolution will be sent to various legislators. The motion passed unanimously. The borough currently receives about $32,000 each year from cable franchise fees.
Sheldon Smith reported that he attended the last Booster’s meeting on May 11th.
Bids were received as follows for the town center parking lot project:
Ben L. May Excavating, Inc. $20,673.50
T. L. Long Excavating, Inc. $6,730.00 or $6,000 if using the borough trucks/labor
Manspeaker $11,950 or $10,650 if using the borough trucks/labor
Work involved in the project includes grading, taking a 1,000 gallon tank out, tear out the old lot, stormdrain, curbing/sidewalk, and inlet. The borough will be purchasing the stone.
On a motion by Sheldon Smith, seconded by Doreen Easly, council awarded the town center parking lot project bid to T. L. Long Excavating, Inc. subject to the borough first acquiring ownership of the property. The motion passed unanimously. Chris Brooks wanted to express his appreciation to Terry Long for preparing a bid and for a job well done on the Spring Street Ditch project. T. L. Long Excavating has been very community minded in the work they’ve done.
Nathan Ormsby attended a meeting on May 4th regarding the Uniform Construction Code board of appeals. A copy of the uniform construction code board of appeals petition form was included in the council packet. This form is used to appeal the ruling of an inspector. The hearing for an appeal is set up in the municipality where the property is located. A hearing fee of $400 was printed on the draft form. This is a non-refundable fee. It should be high enough to deter frivolous appeals. If it doesn’t seem to cover the cost of the appeals, it can be changed by resolution. Council on a motion by Nathan Ormsby, seconded by Chris Brooks, accepted the petition form for the Uniform Construction Code Board of Appeals for use in the Borough of Martinsburg. The motion passed unanimously.
A letter was received from P. Joseph Lehman, Inc. listing the scope of work and related cost estimates for the town center parking lot project. On a motion by Nathan Ormsby, seconded by Doreen Easly (and Sheldon Smith), council voted to accept the proposal by P. Joseph Lehman. The motion passed unanimously.
The exotic pet Ordinance No. 2006-561 was properly advertised for consideration for adoption. Council on a motion by Sheldon Smith, seconded by Nathan Ormsby, adopted Ordinance No. 2006-561 establishing procedures for the maintenance and control of animals and pets and regulating the keeping of dangerous animals. The motion passed unanimously.
MARTINSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES
JUNE 5, 2006 – PAGE 4
On a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Doreen Easly, council approved to finish the office desk project by purchasing three more desk bases to complete the project. The motion passed unanimously.
Two bids were received for the 2006 Paving Project as follows:
New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc. $52,739.05
Grannas Brothers $52,477.75
On a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby, council voted to reject both bids and put the 2006 paving project out for re-bid for a better price. The motion passed on a roll call vote. The votes to reject were as follows: Doreen Easly, Chris Brooks, Sheldon Smith and Nathan Ormsby; Robert Carper recused from the motion.
On a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby, council voted to readvertise the 2006 Paving Project. Bids to be accepted by 4:30 p.m. and opened at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 29th. The motion passed unimously.
The special meeting to open the bids will be advertised for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 29th, at the municipal building.
Correspondence included in the council packet included a letter from Atlantic Broadband list the new price increases and a thank you from the Martinsburg Community Library for the borough’s annual allocation.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 p.m. on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Sheldon Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
M. Jane Staily
Borough Secretary