Council Meeting Minutes 2025.12.15

RUTLEDGE BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

December 15th, 2025

7:30 PM Council Meeting


Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call  Jody Roberts – Excused, Sue Hunt, Heidi Sentivan, Ken Torres-Zickler, Andrea Juarez, Sean Sheehan, Vaughn Johnson – Excused, Mayor Gamal Sherif, Solicitor Carl Ewald – Not scheduled, Borough Secretary Janet Diiorio.

Approval of Agenda   

Postpone vote to approve minutes from 2025.12.02

Add Fire Company Report

Sean motion to approve, second by Ken. All in favor.

Public Comment

Lindsay Micklin, representing RGC– Spring sign-ups will open January 1st. Hoping to have indoor skills clinics this winter, stay tuned! Hope to have your support for Souper Bowl of Caring.

Tax Collector’s Report

None

Mayor’s Report

Swarthmore Police Department report: 11/14/2025-12/11/2025

 Discussion around increase accidents on Morton Ave and relation to signage and street closures

Discussion around parking on streets during snowstorms.

Congratulations to Chief Stufflet – Incoming President of the Delaware County Police Chiefs Association

Thank you to Councilmember Vaughn Johnson

Approval of Minutes  2025.12.15 Minutes. Approve postponed 2025.12.02 minutes from last meeting.

Activities Committee 

Information Sharing

Luminaries – Block captains are asked to come collect their luminary kit boxes from Council Member Sue Hunt. For sand, please collect them from the containers behind borough hall. If you are not going to be home, please ask your neighbor—Rutledge is very friendly! There is a great article in the Swarthmorean

Events for 2026

Building Committee

none

Communications Committee

Information Sharing

Newsletter to be printed and sent this week

Calendar will be sent in December and June

Activities Events have dates through June, July-Dec dates will be republished in June Newsletter

Yard Waste moving to Mondays, and second pick-ups will be Apr-May-Jun and Sep-Oct-Nov. Spring clean-up and Fall haul.

Action Item

Vote to Approve Council Calendar for 2026

              Motion to approve by Andrea, Second by Heidi. All in favor.

Finance Committee

Discussion

Final Budget Item Discussion

              Review of Budget ordinance 2025-03

Action Item

Vote on 2026 Budget Ordinance & Sewer and Trash Fees

              Motion to approve by Heidi, second by Sean. All in favor.

Approve Bills Distribution: 2025.11.15-2025.12.14

              Motion to approve by Sue, second by Andrea. All in favor.

Ordinance Committee

none

Parks and Property Committee

Discussion       

Gather Space Punchlist – Parks and Property Committee reviewed punch list in person; project reschedule was to be done by November 21st and engineer and council marked as substantially completed on 12/5. There is a stipulation that the plants need to survive 12 months, so depending on those plants there may be variation in final sign off timing.

Action Item     

Vote to approve Shade Structure Order – Costars Compliant: General Recreation in the amount of $96,957.00

    Motion to approve, pending validation with borough accountant on appropriate timing of order finalization and fulfillment, by Andrea, Second by Sean. All in favor.

Personnel Committee

none

Public Safety Committee

none

Sewer Committee

none

Streets Committee     

Information Sharing   

Waverly One Way – Signage is up, we are monitoring the situation with the barricade. Requests have been submitted to Google Maps and Apple Maps to change directions.

2026 Streets Projects – Please reach out to Andrea Juarez, ajuarez@rutledgepa.org

Trash and Recycling    

Information Sharing   

ReCloth Earth Textile Bin Performance – 20 to 30 lbs per week, 80-120lbs per month. 35% redistributed locally. Just under half of the remaining 65% does go to East and West Africa, but ReCloth Earth advises these are all certified, responsible recyclers. Unusable textiles are recycled into industrial rags or new textile.

Question to Sanitation Committee regarding how our performance compares to similar boroughs. The committee will follow up with the provider.

Question about location remaining same, this is a yes.

Action Item     

Vote to Approve MOU for ReCloth Earth 2026

Motion to Approve MOU Jan-Dec 2026, with option to cancel with 30 days notice, by Andrea, Second bye Ken. All in favor.

Vote to Approve MOU for PRC Glass Bin

Motion to Approve MOU for 2026 with correction of spelling of Swarthmore by Heidi, Second by Ken. All in favor.

Vote to approve Sanitation Schedule 2026

Motion to approve schedule with amendments of Yard Waste collection dates and removal of Grass clippings from prohibited items. Second by Sue. All in favor.

Planning Commission

              2026: Joint Session with Planning Commission moved to January

Shade Tree Commission

Historical Committee

Historic Committee meeting is this Wednesday, 12.17.  Planning to have the first even on Monday, February 16. There will be a speaker series in the spring and scavenger hunts and similar engagement efforts leading up to the Fourth of July. Historic Committee members are interviewing long term residents about their experiences and lives in Rutledge. Residents can reach out with their topics if they would like to share their history in the borough.

Public Comment

Andrew Marquis, Sylvan avenue – Providing a plaque in thanks of service to Vaugh Johnson for his time on borough council.

Old Business/New Business

Old Business: Fire Report for November 2025 is read aloud.

New Business: 

Thank you from Rutledge Borough Council to Council Person Vaugh Johnson for his commitment and time served on borough council.

Thank you from Council Vice President to the Borough Council members for their service and time in 2025; we appreciate everything you have done for the Borough Council in this year and look forward to next year with you all.

Adjournment

Motion to Adjourn 8:41PM by Heidi, second by Sue.


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