Village officials in attendance were Mayor Joe Surace, Councilmen John McMahon, Don Brown, Joe Soldano & Randy Allmon. Also there was Solicitor Andy Beech, Animal Control Officer Leslie Dean, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis & Acting Administrator & Zoning Officer Rick Williams, WPD Chief Joe Scarabino & Lt. Ed Wilson. Rosie Goss & Tony Cataldo were excused for being absent.
During the Public Speaking portion Mary Ann Cannon reported that three members of the Tree Board attended a recent awards ceremony in Doylestown. Wellsville was one of three communities in our district to once again be awarded Tree City USA status due to the committee's projects and activities. A new emblem for the award was added to the Tree City plaque hanging in Council Chambers. They were also awarded two new flags that they hope to put in Hammonds Park and on the north end of the village. One flag presently is in place at 17th & Main. The Tree Board is currently conducting a tree survey in the village.
Jack Cataldo speaking on behalf of American Legion Post 70 asked Council's permission to strip the pot-hole ladened asphalt off Mill Alley next to their building. He advised the Legion has the people & equipment to do the job of taking it down to the original brick surface at no cost to the village. They feel that would make the alley surface much more smoother. There was also discussion about repainting the yellow curve up there blue to make it available for use by handicapped individuals. Street Committee Chairman Joe Soldano advised he would check it out and refer both matters to the committee and get back to Jack.
Former Mayor Nunzio Lombardozzi reported on the Old Gray Mayor's Game on behalf of the Alley Cat Aid Brigade & the Revitalization Committee. Everyone agreed that it was a huge success. Nunzi also reminded members of council of the resolution admitting "humble defeat" that was agreed to from a challenge delivered at an earlier meeting by EL's Sherrie Curtis & Brian Kerr.
Secondly Nunzi advised the Clean-up/Fix-up Committee will get started this coming Saturday, May 9. Volunteers are asked to meet at Village Hall at 10 A.M. Nunzi will be there at 9 to get things lined up. Starting in June the committee will meet the first Saturday of every month up through September. Donations are being accepted at anytime. Suggested donations from any businesses, churches or organizations is $25. They'll take more if you can spare it. All donations are only used for supplies and materials.
One lady who did not identify herself got up and asked if the Police Manual was completed. That was answered in the affirmative.
For Administrative Reports the seldom seen at Council Meetings WPD Chief Joe Scarabino reported that the newly completed Police Manual was very much to the liking of Lt. Ed Wilson and him. He said it was not only good for the department it was also good for the village replacing out dated policies. The new manual will have to be finalized and they will meet with the mayor to adopt it. Scarabino thanked everyone that was involved in updating the manual.
Scarabino also mentioned that the department has long relied solely on donations from various organizations for their support. These donations have enabled them to acquire such things as new weapons for the officers, new radios and electronic devices. The department has been short one officer since 1998. He said that he & Dale Davis put a lot of work in working on the application for the DOJ COPS grant for additional manpower. He then implored council to "think long and hard" to budget more money for wages to keep the quality of officers now on staff and to adding more personnel. He said his officers have been "eating hot dogs long enough. It's time they get paid enough to afford a good meal". He mentioned that WPD was the only security on hand when NASA shipped rocket parts from the Port Authority facilities. The department has received commendation citations for their efforts from both NASA and NASA Security. The mayor added he also got a letter commending the WPD from the Port's Tracy Drake.
Acting Administrator Rick Williams reported that $15,939.24 was collected last month for past due sewage bills. Smoke testing the sewers in the village & Russell Heights will soon begin. New lights with motion detectors will be installed next week at the 18th Street play ground by Bench Electric. The lights were made possible by a generous donation from the Eagles. The Zoning Dept. took in $346 last month.
Animal Control Officer Leslie Dean submitted her monthly activity report. She advised she is averaging 30 calls a month. She has also began posting notices on doors of residents, where she has gotten calls, for people that are not home advising them of why she was there. Dean reminded us that all dogs, inside or out, are required to be licensed. Licenses can be bought at the County Dog Pound or the County Auditor's office. Owners of unlicensed dogs can be cited and fined.
Two of her calls last month was again for pit bull issues. Dean advised that under state laws pit bull or any mix of pit bull dog owners are required to carry at least $100,000 liability insurance. Also pit bulls must be contained within heavy metal wire confines with a roof. All dogs being walked must be on a leash. Side walks are considered public areas and it is not permitted for dogs to be able to reach a side walk if kept outside. Dean wrapped up her report by publicly thanking the Alley Cat Aid Brigade for donating an air conditioner to be used in the Village Dog Pound building.
For the Mayor's Report Joe Surace asked for and was granted council's approval to name two auxiliary police officers to part-time status for WPD. Approval was given to appoint Officers James Cannon and Danny Householder to the part-time positions.
Under Committee Reports Street Committee's Joe Soldano inquired on the cost of the lights for the play ground. Dale Davis advised they originally wanted $7,500 but agreed to $7,000 since that was the amount donated for the job.
Soldano also noted that many times when we get visitors in town one of the first places they stop is at the gazebo at the 4th Street Square. It is badly in need of repair and painting and he inquired if there was any way to get money from the Capitol Improvement Fund to fix it up. F.O. Dale Davis replied it mostly depends on what amount is needed before he can respond to that. Both Soldano & Don Brown remarked that for years band-aid repairs have been applied up there and those are deteriorating. Surace suggested checking with the CC Joint Vocational folks to see if they might like to take it on for a project. They are going to dig a little deeper and bring it back for a future meeting.
Water's Randy Allmon advised they in the process of adopting the new contract with United Water for the sewage plant. The village is currently working on a 30 day extension of the old contract and Allmon requested another two day extension to tack on the end of that. The new contract is effective June 1 and the 30 days runs out May 28. The extra days were approved.
Property's John McMahon advised it's that time of the year for grass cutting at the cemetery and commended the village employees for the job they are doing. He also advised the Jim Kenney Center matter is still up in the air and under discussion. He had nothing new to report on that.
Under the Legislation portion of the agenda, acting like they got their hands stuck in the cookie jar, Council approved Resolution 09-02 humbly acknowledging defeat of the Wellsville Alumni Basketball Team at the hands of the East Liverpool Oldies in the Old Gray Mayor's Game. Section 3 of that resolution reads "Council further looks forward to the opportunity of a rematch, at which time it is confident that the Mayor's Cup, and all bragging rights attendant thereto, will be returned to the Village of Wellsville".
With only four councilmen present there were two ordinances approved for first reading. Ord. 09-09 establishes two temporary part-time jobs of utility workers. Those jobs will be primarily for grass cutting. Ord. 09-10 authorizes the mayor to enter into an agreement with United Water for operation and maintenance of the sewage plant.
A Special Council Meeting is schedule for next Monday, May 11, at 2 P.M. If a majority of council is present they will vote to suspend the rules to adopt these ordinances.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:37 P.M. Next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, May 19.
ole nib
No comments:
Post a Comment