March 15, 2021 Work Session Minutes

RUTLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL MINUTES

March 15, 2021

7:30 PM Work Session

 

The remote meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance recited at 7:32 pm. 

 

Roll Call  Present:  Heidi Sentivan, Jody Roberts, Marlaina Kloepfer, Samantha Newell, Christine Gradel, Ken Torres-Zickler, Lindsay Reed, Mayor Kevin Cunningham, Solicitor Christine Reuther, Administrator Jen Mickle.   Guest Chief Stufflet

 

Public Comment: None.

 

Tax Collector: report attached

 

Mayor’s Report:  KC read police report 

• Thank you to Ben Martin, Lindsay Reed and the activities committee for their help with St Patrick’s Day celebration
  • The star of the show was Emily Peterson of Linden Ave who played the fiddle and sang
• Police Update:
  • Chief Stufflett would like to encourage community interaction.
    • The SPD will  be putting the officers business cards in the Borough office
  • They will also be outside SRS on the 1st and 2nd day that the kids return full time to ensure safety and the adjustments are made to increased drop off and pickup.
  • HS asked the SPD to use their new traffic monitoring system to  track counts for the 3 blocks around Triangle Park (Swarthmore Ave, Waverly Terrace, Rutledge Ave) for use in the Master Plan. Chief Stufflet agreed and will begin monitoring this week.

 

Minutes: approval of the minutes of March 1, 2021 council meeting HS/LR unanimous approval

 

Trash & Recycling: Starting work on contract for next year. 

 

Communications: 

 

• Newsletter – Mar. 19 final submissions for distribution before the park cleanup and Easter. Items to include:

 

• • Shade Tree commission Park Cleanup and Tree Planting
  • 3rd Triangle Park Master Plan Community Forum
  • Memorial Day Service- Date to be determined

 

Parks & Property: 

• Triangle Park Master Plan Update
  • 2nd Public Forum was held virtually on Saturday, March 13th.
    • 3 Concepts were presented. This meeting is available for viewing on facebook. Additionally the 3 concepts were also shared on facebook for community comments.
    • Over 20 residents attended
  • Send comments to trianglepark@rutledgepa.org
  • 3rd meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 6th using the regular Borough Zoom link. A single concept design will be presented based on the comments on the 3 earlier concepts..
• Softball Update
  • New benches were installed in the dugouts. These were paid for by the Girls Club.
  • Covid guidelines have been implemented and appear to be going well. 

 

Activities:  

• St. Paddy’s follow-up. See mayor’s report
• Easter Celebration 
  • Sat, Apr 3 at 1pm
    • Candy shoot and pictures with the Easter Bunny

 

Public Safety: 

• Update on upcoming Police Contract
  • At the next borough council meeting, council will set aside time to listen to community members about policing goals and values
    • A separate email will go out about this to residents

 

Finance: 

• Bills list 3.2.2021-3.15.2021   CG/KTZ  unanimous approval

 

Sewers: 

• Act 537: Council has decided to take no action on Act 537 sent to us from Aqua

 

Building:  

• Catania February 2021 Permit and Citation Report-attached 
• New Exterior Sconces and motion light for Borough Building:
  • Building Committee requested funding ($120 from Amazon)  ($44.99 from Amazon) 
    • Some of the existing fixtures are not working and improved lighting is needed for safety
    • HS/LR unanimous approval
• Card Access & Keypads Funding requested for the doors to the 2 rental spaces ($378)  
  • HS/CG unanimous approval
• Update on Building Assessment Plan
  • MK discussed the progress on creating a building assessment plan including conditions of existing components of the building and starting to project costs for the next few years 
• Update on PA State Indoor Event Capacity Guidelines: Modified from 20 to  25% on April 4th
  • This does not change anything in the short ter

Public Comment: None.

 

Old Business/New Business:

• Recovery Act: Borough Funding
  • The Borough anticipates receiving between $78-79,000 in funding.
  • The details have not been released although we have been preliminarily told that it can be used to replace lost  revenue, property tax collections, infrastructure, and salary expenses.

 

Adjournment  8:13 HS/KTZ unanimous approval