As documented by David Jones

All members in attendance with the exception of Charles Persch.

Meeting was called to order by the President at 7 p.m.

The agenda was approved with the note of moving the Mayor’s report up to follow the Fire Chief’s report.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved without comment.

The Treasurer’s report was given and Councilperson Keen asked if council was going to approve the report and was told by the President and Treasurer that the report did not need to be approved.

The bills were presented at $75,152.63. Councilperson Marsh asked about the $755.00 Hepatitis bill to the county treasurer and was told this was for a police officer. The bills were approved unanimously.

The Police report was given, but it went so fast and I couldn’t hear the details.

The Fire Chief gave his report and I moved up to try to catch what he was saying, but all I could get was the averaged response time for the month was 3 and a half minutes. The Chief was asked about the movement on the merger and he said a vote was taken and the merger was approved, with two dissenting votes. He said bylaws have to be developed and a few more steps taken, but things are progressing. The new truck is nearing completion.

The Mayor read a Proclamation declaring July 29, 2012 as a day of celebration in recognition of Parkesburg’s 140th anniversary as a Borough. The Proclamation was then presented to David Jones for use in the celebration on the 29th.

There was a motion to approve Subdivision Bond to replace an Irrevocable Letter of Credit as security for completion of public improvements in Parkesburg Knoll II-B subdivision. Solicitor Carnes said he had only received the Bond statement an hour before the meeting and hadn’t had time to give it a thorough review. There was discussion about possibly holding an executive meeting to discuss it prior to voting on the motion, but a decision was made to table it until all of council can review the bond statement, then council will advertise the meeting to vote on the issue. The Borough engineer has reviewed the work and the amount for the bond has been raised slightly and approved at $370,016 which is believed to be enough to cover the remainder of the improvements for the subdivision.

Parkesburg Knoll Phase II-A –Motion to adopt a resolution to approve certain model units in Phase II-A if developed by Rouse/Chamberlain, Ltd. The motion carried with 5 yea votes and Council Person Keen voting against the resolution. It was also reported that Rouse and the Borough Manager had a meeting with residents that may be affected by the sale of the subdivision to Rouse/Chamberlain. The meeting was reported to have been well-received.

Bell’s Delights – Motion to approve Developer’s Agreement and Financial Security Agreement and the filing of a Continuing Offer of Dedication. This was approved unanimously.

A motion to advertise Ordinance No. 501 – Authorizing the Borough Council to enter an Intergovernmental Fire District Cooperation Agreement with Highland Township, Sadsbury Township and West Sadsbury Township under the authority of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. There was some discussion about how new members may be approved to join the agreement in the future and the current understanding is that new members would have to be approved by 100% of the members. There has been some discussion of changing this to a two-thirds majority approval, but the current language of the agreement states 100% of members must approve before a new member can be added.

Council passed the motion to advertise unanimously.

The following reports were given to council in written form without public discussion of their content:

The Engineer’s Report

The Zoning Report

Building Code Official’s Report

Solicitor’s Report Note: the Solicitor did report a property lien had been resolved in the amount of $956.00 and that he expected action on other liens in the future.

Manager’s Report:

Mr. Thomas reported that the water company project for 4th avenue is on schedule to start between the last week of July and the first week of Augusts. He also indicated he would be meeting with the Crystal Springs development group later this month to discuss their plans.

There was no Representative from PABA at the meeting to report.

Parks and Recreation:

Bulldog Construction presented the Borough with a check to be put towards maintaining the Minch Park.

Progress and Development:

Council Person Wolfe thanked all the volunteers that helped with the bike race and the feeling was one of a positive nature for the Borough and discussion will be held about holding the race again next year. A debriefing meeting will be held soon with the planning committee to review the race and make recommendations for next year. Feedback for the committee can be forwarded to the Borough Secretary.

Streets and property:

Committee Chair Dynesko reported the committee has taken back the new draft of the Tree Ordinance for further review and refinement.

Finance:

Councilperson Agen stated he hoped to have a tentative budget for 2013 ready by the end of July. He said 86% of the Real Estate Taxes have been received to date. Police salaries ended the first 6 months at 57% of budget. He further reported that there is a discrepancy between what was budgeted for income from the police contracts and what has been received to date. He will be looking into this in greater depth and still anticipates year-ending figures to be reconciled.

Police: No report from this committee.

Fire: No report.

Public Comments:

David Jones went over the agenda for the celebration on July 29th and asked members of council to be present for the opening ceremonies at 2:15 p.m. if at all possible.

Debbie Helms asked how she could get copies of all of the reports that were given in writing at the meeting. She was told she needed to file a Right-To-Know request specifying what reports she wants. Council Person Keen said the reports are not open to the public until they have been approved, at which time they become public documents. Editorial note: It has not been the witnessed practice of council to approve this reports at any previous meetings, so it is unclear where, when and how they are being approved and therefore ready for public dissemination.

Debbie Helms also spoke about the verbal confrontation she and her husband had with council Person Charles Persch and the June Meeting. Ms. Helms asked if council was going to censure Mr. Persch for his outburst and comments directed at Ms. Helms and Mr. McCabe. Council President and Vice President both indicated they did not approve of such an action as a censure. Ms. Helms asked about an apology from Mr. Persch. It was not clear what council’s feelings were on this matter, but it appeared as though council would not call on Mr. Persch to apologize.