MARTINSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES
MARCH 5, 2007
The regular meeting of the Martinsburg Borough Council was held on Monday, March 5, 2007, in the municipal building. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. with prayer by Randy Stoltz and the Pledge of Allegiance.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT: Mayor Donald C. Greenleaf, President Robert A. Carper, Vice-President Brian Gahagan, Pro-tem Nathan P. Ormsby, Councilman Christopher E. Brooks, Councilwoman Doreen K. Easly and Councilwoman Suzanne B. McNally
ALSO PRESENT were Manager Randy Stoltz, Borough Secretary Jane Staily, Attorney Cathy Miller, Richard Brantner, Jr., Chief Kerry Hoover, Judy Miller of the Hollidaysburg Ambulance, Rex Hartman, and Dan Horton of the Morrisons Cove Herald.
Judy Miller was present in representation of the Hollidaysburg Ambulance to answer any questions council may have regarding their services. She is a paramedic and shift manager from the ambulance association. Council expressed their appreciation for the services they provide.
Rex Hartman was present as an interested council candidate. He submitted a letter of interest for consideration for appointment to the remainder of Sheldon Smith’s unexpired term ending December 31, 2007.
The MINUTES of the regular meeting of February 5, 2007 were approved on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby. The motion passed unanimously.
The FINANCIAL AND TREASURER’S REPORTS were presented for February, 2007 as written.
The LIST OF BILLS for February 2007, check nos. 3563-3603 in the amount of $30,647.30 (including a $20,000 investment to PLGIT) was approved on a motion by Doreen Easly, seconded by Brian Gahagan. The motion passed unanimously.
Bob Carper thanked Doreen Easly and Suzanne McNally for all their efforts in the success of the spaghetti dinner fundraiser held on February 17. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards the 175th Anniversary Celebrations this summer.
Mayor Greenleaf attended the last meeting of the 175th Anniversary Committee; met with Chief Hoover several times; attended the interview of the possible candidate for a part-time patrolman; received a letter from Senator Stewart Greenleaf offering to co-sponsor a reference on the Senate register the fact that Martinsburg was having its 175th anniversary on April 2; Senator John Eichelberger will also recognize it; visited Representative Jerry Stern’s office - Martinsburg will probably get representation on the record their also. President Bob Carper recommended that Mayor contact Doreen with all of his proceedings as they pertain to the 175th Anniversary.
Chief Hoover presented his police report as written. Crimes code arrests were up for the month. He was appreciative that the borough work force had uniforms to identify themselves to the community. There was a recent incident in a nearby community of theft when some men entered a home falsely representing themselves as borough employees. The last Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting was cancelled due to bad weather – the next meeting will be in April; Officer Garlena resigned from part-time patrolman to take a full-time position with Allegheny Township. The new vests recently purchased were all custom fit to each
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MARCH 5, 2007 - PAGE 2
officer. Officer Garlena was interested in purchasing his vest from the borough. Due to the circumstance, grant money will not be available for that particular vest. Two candidates are being considered for part-time patrolmen. Suzanne McNally was recently contacted by a citizen concerning speeding in the alley between Spring Street and The Village at Morrisons Cove. The police department will plan to do extra stationary watches and give verbal warnings in that area. Speed bumps were not recommended because they are hard to maintain.
Manager Stoltz reported that they hauled snow from the business district on February 14th; Manager Stoltz will teach a seven hour training session on the building code updates at the fire hall on March 20th – Cove Lumber will sponsor the event; the Spring Cove School District finalized dividing the property on Spring Street – the school’s plan was to keep the vacant lot, but to sell the house; Manager Stoltz attended the Susquehanna River Basin Commission meeting on February 27th – he was invited to give five-minutes of prepared remarks regarding conservation – his recommendations were to discontinue further studies and move on to a plan of action; a representative from the Pennsylvania State Association of Borough’s will be at the April 2nd council meeting to present Martinsburg with a plaque in honor of our 175th anniversary; and met with representatives of the Hollidaysburg Ambulance Association – all costs associated with the ambulance building as the EMS station are being paid for from the ambulance club.
Chris Brooks reported that the street sweeper has been out to clean up the streets.
Manager Stoltz was not recommending much in the way of paving this year especially since the authority is planning to be digging up a street right beside the one street that he would recommend for paving. The town center parking lot may be more of a priority for paving this year than the streets, but it cannot be paved with highway liquid fuels funds. The parking lot storm drain system is working very well. Manager Stoltz was asked to obtain quotes for paving the town center parking lot.
Nathan Ormsby reported that the Martinsburg Municipal Authority will be meeting this Thursday as a special meeting to meet with vendors on nitrate removal systems for the drinking water.
Mayor Don Greenleaf will be contacting Dick Haines regarding upcoming meetings of the Twenty-four member committee of the Planning Commission.
The well head protection grant is scheduled to be closed out in June. Watershed signs are required to be put up. A ground model will be requested for the school to use for students to learn about how the ground water recharge works. A letter is needed from the school district stating that they will use the model. The annual well head protection meeting will be held just prior to the authority meeting the same evening as their regular meeting in September.
Doreen Easly reported that the next meeting of the 175th Anniversary Committee will be held on March 19 at 6:30 p.m. A dinner dance is being planned for April 21st from 6-9:00 p.m. at the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park. Tickets will go on sale weeks prior to the event. Doreen thanked all those who helped with the spaghetti dinner fundraiser. She also gave a special thank you to the fire department for their help in the event.
Nathan Ormsby reported that the Town Center Revitalization Committee is still in the research phase of planning to move the above ground utility poles. It may be cost prohibitive. There is the possibility of grants to be used towards the project.
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The following five letters of interest were initially received to fulfill Sheldon Smith’s unexpired term ending December 31, 2007, on council following his death: Connie Lamborn, Harold Steele, Linda Smith, Ralph Sheffy and Rex Hartman. Harold Steele did however pull his letter this evening on the basis of health issues he was having. Of the four remaining candidates, Doreen Easly recommended Ralph Sheffy. Chris Brooks recommended Linda Smith. A roll call vote was taken as follows: Those voting for Ralph Sheffy: Doreen Easly, Brian Gahagan and Robert Carper; those voting for Linda Smith: Chris Brooks, Suzanne McNally and Nathan Ormsby. The vote was a tie. After researching the Borough Code, Attorney Cathy Miller determined that in this case the mayor may cast the deciding vote. He has the option to decide this evening or request that the matter be tabled and be reconsidered at a special meeting of the council in 5-10 days. Mayor Greenleaf wanted to see the matter settled this evening. Based on his personal opinion, he felt that the person most capable of representing Sheldon Smith’s philosophy was the person closest to him, which in this case would be his widow Linda Smith. With this as the deciding factor, Linda Smith was appointed to fulfill Sheldon Smith’s unexpired term ending December 31, 2007.
Manager Stoltz prepared the specifications for re-shingling the roof on the municipal building. Council on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Suzanne McNally, authorized Manager Stoltz to advertise for sealed bids to re-shingle the roof of the municipal building to be received by April 2, 2007. The motion passed unanimously.
Nathan Ormsby reported that the Morrisons Cove Memorial Park was exploring the possibility for locations for a natatorium. He inquired if council would consider letting them use the old Benson school lot. They are also pursuing two other locations on their own grounds. This lot was donated to the borough by Gene Henry and is reserved for public use, but there were concerns that the old Benson lot could not provide enough parking space for such a building. Council took no action.
Attorney Cathy Miller responded to a question from Dan Horton that the borough is no longer involved in the law suit regarding the Tour de Toona.
The meeting adjourned at 8:21 p.m. on a motion by Chris Brooks, seconded by Nathan Ormsby. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
M. Jane Staily
Secretary