President Thomas E. Stinnett called the regular meeting
of the Riegelsville Borough Council to order at 7:30 p.m. Following the Pledge of Allegiance roll call
was taken. PRESENT: Edward Bartosiewicz, Thomas Stinnett, Kathleen
Weiss, Stephen Lance and Mayor David Gerstenberg ABSENT: Rich Strawn
E. Bartosiewicz motioned to approve
the minutes of the January 9, 2008 Council Meeting and S. Lance seconded. Unanimous.
CORRESPONDENCE
The Borough received the copy of the
Pedestrian Bridge application to DCNR right of way from Spotts, Stevens and
McCoy.
Riegelsville Planning Commission
gave the Borough a copy of each meeting minutes from 2007. These are to comprise their annual report to
the Borough Council on the activities for 2007.
Minutes received from the Riegelsville Enhancement
Committee for 1/23/08 meeting.
Borough Council and Building
Department received a letter dated 1/22/08 from Borough residents Kenneth D.
Nelson and Susan Perlman to request a new building permit for the property at
215 Ash Lane. Rich O’Brien and Phil Neas,
Borough Zoning and Building Inspectors, have already given them the Permit.
A Letter was read from William
Dudeck Borough Solicitor to Brian Monahan Esquire for Daniel K. Cook in
reference to request for hearing on a challenge to the Borough of Riegelsville
Zoning Ordinance and a Curative Amendment.
W. Dudeck sent a copy of the Boroughs revised fee schedule and stated it
indicates the fee of $500.00 and the escrow is $2000.00 in order to consider
his application. W. Dudeck also needs
the impact studies which were previously advised.
A letter was read from Robert Diegel
Sewage Enforcement Officer from Bucks County Department of Health in reference
to inspection of Permit Application #T078572 Easton Road Lot #2 Cook
property. The permit has expired since
there has been no construction on the site.
A letter was read from Bucks County
Commission James Cawley stating that last November 74% of voters endorsed the
borrowing of $87 million to continue the Bucks County Open Space Program. The bond will enable renewed funding to the
Municipal Grant Program to provide financial assistance to municipalities for
open space planning and acquisition.
Riegelsville Borough’s Share is $223,523.
A letter was read from Marguerite Quinn,
State Representative, that there are new grants available to municipalities
from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The grant is for recycling development and implementation
in municipalities.
Sherry
will contact Quinn’s office and get more information.
REPORTS
President-
T. Stinnett wrote a letter to
Joan Apple in reply to her letter to Council concerning the Borough Maintenance
employee working on private property. T.
Stinnett asked if everyone has read the letter and if they had anything to
add. All Council said it was fine. T. Stinnett also had Bill Dudeck Borough
Solicitor look over the Service Electric Cable agreement and Bill made some
minor changes and it will be on the Council agenda for March 2008.
Mayor
– None
Community Affairs
– Citizen’s
comments: None Expressed
The next Downtown Enhancement Committee
meeting is scheduled for January 23rd at 7 pm and they will discuss
the Daniel Cook’s Re-Zoning of his
property.
EMS News:
S. Lance reported that they have a New Chief and new officers. They are establishing lines of authority and
new business procedures. They have
applied for some grants.
Recreation Board News: Sherry reported that
they will start baseball and softball signups.
Basket Bingo Fundraiser will be in April.
Library News: E. Bartosiewicz reported they
are having a meeting next week.
Tom stated that the Cable Consortium will
meet on January 24, 2008. Tim
Himmelwright from Service Electric said we would get more PEG channels when
they go digital. They will be meeting
with Tim on February 7, 2008 at 7pm at the Borough Hall.
Allen Madnick has been doing some research on
the leaf removal. If the Borough would
purchase our own equipment it would cost about $28,000.00. Allen suggested maybe we could get a grant
for it. Allen will be meeting with a few
companies to give use quotes for next year.
Allen would like Matt to also go around with them too.
Zoning News: Rich O’Brien, President of
Keystone Municipal Services, reported that Phil Neas has replaced Bob
Bordeaux. Phil has been having office
hours here on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Rich feels the community needs the extra
attention right now. Council feels the
hours are fine. Rich handed in the
permit log and Sherry will make copies for Council.
PennDot will be closing Route 32 in both
directions from February to July for repair.
Utilities
–
Comments from the citizens: None expressed.
S.
Lance asked how Matt is making out with the line valves. Sherry said he has the list done and is only
working on the ones that don’t need any outside help at this point in
time. S. Lance asked that Matt update
the list as they are being fixed. Sherry
will let Matt know this.
Sherry
received a letter from PA Rural water asking if we wanted to still be a member
for $383.00 a year and Council replied no.
E.
Bartosiewicz stated that Matt has been checking to see where the storm sewers
are and where they drain to and make sure they are not blocked. E. Bartosiewicz said there is grants
available for storm drain covers this would help with flooding. Once we locate them we need to contact Carl
Dicker, Borough Engineer, to help with the locations of the drains in order to
apply for the grants.
Streets
and Properties – Comments from the citizens: Allen
Madnick borough resident met with 2 different leaf removal Companies to get
bids for fall leaf pick ups. He is waiting for one more bid and then he
will bring the information to Council for a decision.
Tammy received the approval from PennDot for
a 36x36 Well head protection sign. T. Stinnett stated that we only need 5
signs in Riegelsville and in Durham. We will contact Joe Kulick in
Council received a letter of concern from a
Borough resident in reference to our Borough employee performing work on
borough resident’s properties. The letter states the property owners
should be taking care of their properties not the Borough. T. Stinnett
will write a letter back to the Borough Resident how Council feels about this
issue.
Carl sent Council the right of way
application from DCNR for the pedestrian bridge, Council needs to sign it and
he will pick it up on Thursday.
Finance – Comments from the Citizens: None
Sherry received Scholarship
information from the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.
Sherry will contact the Borough Seniors and give them the
applications. R. Strawn said the
Riegelsville Kiwanis also has a scholarship but they have been having a hard
time getting through to the Easton Area High School. Sherry has a contact person in the guidance
department so she will contact them.
Remarks: Sherry contacted Ann Marie
Willson from the Easton Area High School and she said the Kiwanis does do a
scholarship but she is not sure if it should only go to a Borough Senior. She will contact Sherri Collins.
Sherry will contact the appraiser
for the Moll Property and ask him to separate the parcels and get them to Bill
Dudeck for review. Remarks: Sherry contacted the
Appraiser and we should have the revised appraisal by the end of this week.
Kathie received a letter from Tammy
Macaluso the Borough Treasurer with concerns with the Borough finances. There are a lot of bills to be paid and no
money to pay them. Tammy suggested that
the Borough cut back on our donations.
Tammy wants Council to be aware of her concerns when they sign bills to
be paid next week. S. Stinnett stated
that there is a lot of money that is outstanding to come in.
NEW BUSINESS- None
APPROVAL
OF BILLS
S. Lance motioned to approve payment of the
bills as listed. E. Bartosiewicz seconded. Unanimous.
Meeting
adjourned at 8:30 pm. Next Council
Meeting scheduled March 12, 2008 7:30 pm.
Sherry
L. Masteller, Borough Secretary