MINUTES

STROUDSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL

APRIL 1, 2009

7:15 P.M.

1.         Council President Kim Diddio called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM.  Borough   Manager Barb ara K. Quarantello called roll.  Members present:  Ms. Diddio,        Council Members Joanne Kochanski, Jeffrey Ewen, Matthew Abell, Boyd Weiss,             and Vice-President Neil Allen.  Borough Solicitor Ralph Matergia and Mayor             Charles Baughman were also present.  Council member Eric Scelza was absent.

2.         The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

3.         Public Hearings

            a.   Public hearing to receive comments for the possible activities to be undertaken             and submitted in the F.F.Y. 2009 CDBG application.  Mr. Ray Guernsey       mentioned there are approximately $112,500 federal funds received in 2008.  Of    this, $92,000 can be spent on projects which involve acquisition and improvement             of public facilities, removal of architectural barriers such as handicap barriers,         residential rehabilitation of houses, preservation and special economic     development activities.  All of this is pointed towards individuals who are       considered low income living below the median household income within Monroe             County which is calculated as $60,800.  CDBG is pointed towards either <50% or    <80% of the median household income.  In the past this money has been used for      street projects and sidewalk improvements in the community.  There is an             additional amount available for $33,000 that the Borough can receive in     addition to its regular allotment that is out of the ARRA program adopted by            Congress.  We must have a project that meets the guidelines of the program ready       for signing the contract by August or September 2009 which is when they’ll           release that money to the municipalities.  We must submit it by this Friday so    they know our intent to go after that money.   Mrs. Quarantello will identify some   of the potential street projects for consideration under the Manager’s Report. 

            b.   Public hearing for an ordinance of the Borough of Stroudsburg, Monroe           County, Pennsylvania, providing for a Money Purchase Pension Plan for Non-        Uniformed Employees of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department.  No          comments, hearing closed.

4.         Consider adoption of an ordinance of the Borough of Stroudsburg, Monroe           County, Pennsylvania, providing for a Money Purchase Pension Plan for Non-        Uniformed Employees of the Stroud Area Regional Police Department.  Motion    by Mr. Abell, second by Mrs. Kochanski, to adopt the ordinance.  Motion passed             unanimously.

5.         Public Input:  Margaret Muser and other neighbors were present to request a sign   on the 600 block of Bryant Street “parking by residents only” and that the 25 mph         speed limit be enforced.  Mr. Ace will put up a 25 mph speed limit sign.  Mrs.            Quarantello indicated the ordinance requires a survey be done at two different             times during the day to see what license plates are parked there and to determine   if they are a resident of the area or not.  Once it reaches a certain percentage of        non-residential, then it would qualify as a residential district.  The Mayor added     that the corner realty office has collapsed into one office and has doubled traffic. The contact person for the neighbors is Carol Vigilante who can be reached at   421-4355.  Motion by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Ewen, to request staff to do   the survey and report back to Council.  Motion passed unanimously.

6.         Approval of the March 19, 2009 meeting minutes.  Motion to approve by Mr.         Abell, second by Mrs. Kochanski.  Motion passed unanimously.

7.         a.  Consider the subdivision application by Jeffrey R. Wert for his property on the             North side of Manor Drive .  Mr. Wilkins introduced Mark Robbins and presented            the plans.  He feels Mr. Robbins satisfactorily addressed all concerns.  They are          still waiting for a letter from the Borough regarding sewage.  Mr. Matergia asked     if they were eliminating the access to Phillips Street and if so, that it should be       noted on the plans. There is currently a car parked to block access to Phillips Street .  Mr. Matergia is satisfied with the modification.  Motion by Mr. Abell, second by Mrs. Kochanski, to approve with modifications to the plan to abandon          access to Phillips Street by installing and maintaining a landscaped, physical           barrier to that access.  Motion passed unanimously.

            b.  Consider authorization to enter into an agreement with CGI Communications, Inc. for a Community Video Tour Book.  Mrs. Quarantello was contacted by this company who actually puts together video clips of Stroudsburg that they can put            on your website that you can link to.  Mrs. Quarantello and Mrs. Heimbach were    given a demonstration of this with sample websites to review what other    communities have done.  They have 4 different headings that they put together:      schools, Mayor or another spokesperson from Stroudsburg plus two others we can       choose.  Perhaps a video clip could be done for Jacob Stroud Corporation discussing what they are doing down town.  There is no charge for this,        businesses in town will pay to be included to have their logo and a link on the             website.  East Stroudsburg is currently doing this and they contacted us. Motion   to table this until the next meeting by Mr. Abell, second by Mrs. Kochanski.  Motion passed unanimously.

            c.  Consider request of Northeastern PA Transplant Support Group, Inc. to             conduct a donor awareness walk on Saturday, May 16, 2009.  Mrs. Quarantello        said this is the same walk they did last year but they’ll start registration at 10:30         a.m., the walk will start at 11:30 a.m.  They’ll proceed on S 7^th Street to Main,             east on Main over the Interborough bridge to Dansbury Park .  No street closings    are needed and they do not anticipate the need for any police assistance.  Motion     by Mr. Ewen, second by Mrs. Kochanski, to approve the walk.  Motion passed unanimously.

            d.  Consider approval of a  Certificate of Appropriateness for the Borough of         Stroudsburg to replace two decorative street light pole fixture heads located at 700             Sarah Street .  Mrs. Quarantello said one ballast is more susceptible to the           elements.  The fixtures have the ballast raised and the HARB found them to be            appropriate.  Motion by Mr. Ewen, second by Mr. Weiss, to approve.  Motion        passed unanimously.

            e.  Consider request of the United Veterans Organization of Monroe County to     hold their Memorial Day Parade/Ceremony 2009 on Monday, May 25, 2009   between 10 AM and 12 Noon.  Motion by Mr. Weiss, second by Mrs. Kochanski,     to approve.  Motion passed unanimously.

            f.  Discussion of Act 32 – Earned Income Tax reform legislation to consolidate      the tax collection system from over 500 EIT collectors to 69 countywide tax   collections districts.  Mrs. Quarantello explained Council must appoint someone         by September 15 as their representative for this taxing district which will then        have a taxing committee.  The state has decided to split up taxing districts by        county.  Every taxing body, ie school districts, municipalities, will have one            member that would make up this district.  DCED stressed the representative should             have a good tax background.  Once the board is formed, they become a      district and they have their own structure.  They can either hire a company to act           as a tax collector or they can form their own staff and this would be decided by        the district.  Votes will be weighted based on revenues and population. The      weights should be available on the DCED website in May or June.  Our vote          may only be 3/10 of one vote compared to a full vote for a school district.  A             school district who has more population and a bigger budget should have more        say as to what happens in that district than someone who is smaller.  Consensus of             Council to have Mrs. Quarantello contact Mike Casey for this position.

            g.  Discussion of the Brodhead Creek Regional Authority NPDES application to   Discharge Sewage Permit (Part 1) and Joint Application for Pennsylvania Water          Obstruction and Encroachment Permit.  Mrs. Quarantello said this was given to      Council to review to see if we had any comments on it.  No formal action is            required.

8.         Solicitor’s Report:  Nothing to report.

9.         Mayor’s Report:  Representative Mario Scavello arranged a meeting last week        with Senator Rob Wonderling who is the new Chair of the Senate Transportation        Committee.  A discussion took place about the 7^th Street bridge not being      included in the stimulus package.  He was encouraging and said he would help             bump it up through the system.  We’ll continue communicating with him, giving    him minutes from any meeting as they occur.  Rep. Scavello and  Mayor took         the senator down to lower Main Street and back up 5^th Street to show him that           there is a lot of macadam missing from our road surfaces in this area.

10.       Councilmembers’ Reports:  Ms. Diddio met with Mrs. Quarantello, Mr. Wilkins     and Mr. Kimes met to prepare for the meeting on April 2 with Jacob Stroud           Corporation and other merchants regarding snow removal downtown.  Mr.        Wilkins and Mr. Kimes revised some ordinances to change times and penalties as   well as revise the garbage ordinance.  We also discussed issues relating to the     recent parade because garbage was all over the sidewalks and some businesses         were vandalized. 

            Mrs. Kochanski reported the article in PSAB magazine about Stroudsburg was      very nice.  Martha Loomis also had an article in Newsday Long Island with      photos of Stroudsburg and this was also well done.

            Mr. Ewen reported there are big holes on Rt 611 on the bridge and it would be      nice if these could be filled if they’re not going to replace the bridge.

            Mr. Weiss would like Mrs. Quarantello to write a letter to the Governor’s office,    PennDOT, and the Pocono Record stating that before we finish or pay anything           for the new Main Street , they correct the problems at the bottom of the handicap         ramp at the northwest corner of 7^th & Main Street .  With just a little rain, the           handicap ramp has a huge puddle at the bottom of the ramp.  This shouldn’t           be acceptable; it should actually be perfect.  We need to go on record so we can prove that we notified the contractor and they did nothing.  Mrs. Quarantello indicated she did not receive a bill for the work that was done yet.      Ms. Diddio added it wouldn’t be paid until this problem was fixed.

            Ms. Diddio added they had a meeting last week with Michele Lefevre of the PA   Historical & Museum Commission.  Ms. Diddio, Mrs. Quarantello, Mr. Weiss,       Mr. Abell, Solicitor Ralph Matergia and the HARB members were present at this workshop to discuss historic preservation throughout Pennsylvania .

            Mr. Ace reported that the levy was inspected in 2008 and received an acceptable   rating. This is the highest rating that can be awarded and Council congratulated          the Street Dept. on their efforts to bring the rating up from marginal to acceptable.

11.       Manager’s Report:  Mrs. Quarantello received a letter on March 31, 2009 from       PennDot regarding the timing of the traffic signal at 9^th and Main .  The request to   revise the traffic signal installation has been approved.  Mrs. Quarantello read the       following from the letter: “The department believes the queuing experience             during the day is caused by the actuation of the exclusive pedestrian phase.  When            actuated, the exclusive pedestrian phase reallocates 27 seconds of vehicular green            time to pedestrian walk time.  In order to reduce queuing on 9^th Street , a portion           of the remaining Main Street green time was given to 9^th Street .”  They also      approved the northbound 9^th Street no turn on red restriction.  Telco will come to   do the timing because these are new traffic signals and controllers.  Mr. Ewen        noted there are still backups even when there are no pedestrians pushing the           crosswalk buttons.  Mr. Abell thought there could be a delayed green on    northbound 9^th Street but Mrs. Quarantello said PennDOT claimed it didn’t       qualify after the timing counts that they performed.  There was no discussion about 7^th Street traffic.

            Mrs. Quarantello met with Tim Ace, Ray Guernsey and Nate Oiler to discuss         paving projects.  1) Scott Street drainage from Stone to 9^th Street at a cost of $100,000.  We have in the CDBG 2006 money $98,346 which must be used by          August 6, 2009 or we lose it.  2) McConnell Street from the Interborough bridge   to 5^th Street at a cost of $200,000 as soon as possible.  This will utilize the          remainder of the CDBG money already available to us.  Mr. Ace would like      to get this project done as soon as possible.  The Mayor thought we could tie this   in with the PennDOT project ½ block further but PennDOT is doing this project        next spring.  If we could tie these projects together, we could accomplish both this       year.  3) 1^st Street drainage that needs to be replaced and the work will be done in-  house because we already have the pipe and the outlets.  We need to buy stone      and pay for the rental of the excavator.  We have $3727.50 out of another CDBG         program that would cover most of this project.  4) 2^nd Street curb, mill, pave and      some ADA upgrades at a cost of $250,000.  5)  Brodhead Creek is updating some             water lines on the south side.  Ken Brown and Mrs. Quarantello would like to        work together when they do their final pave and get more paved.  Lee, Huston   and Stokes will be done this year and we should see what we can coordinate in            order to accomplish more together.  Motion to authorize Mrs. Quarantello to             move forward with projects 1, 2 and 3 by Mr. Abell, second by Mr. Ewen.             Motion passed unanimously.

12.       Approval of bills on Warrant #040109.  Motion to approve by Mr. Weiss, second   by Mr. Ewen.  Mrs. Kochanski asked for clarification on what the payment to NJ           Motor Vehicle Commission represented because it has no paperwork attached to          it.  Mrs. Quarantello explained that is our plate information replenishment fee.              She also read three bills into the minutes:  1) Butch cell phone for $37.10, 2) Fire   Dept. - Office Max bill for $39.97 for supplies and 3) Street Dept. - Flusher Sewer        Jet Vac first payment of $12,520.65.

13.       Executive session:  None

Motion to adjourn by Mrs. Kochanski, second by Mr. Abell.  Motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 8:13 PM.