Adam Mallard, from True View Security Solutions was in attendance to pitch a proposal at the New Milford Borough Council meeting held on February 2nd.  Mr. Mallard previously met with the NM Recreation Board to find out areas of concerns where his security camera system would be the most warranted.  The system he proposed would be a cost of twenty-six thousand dollars, and Council President Rick Ainey thought it would be best to place their funds elsewhere for prior projects they hoped to accomplish this year.  President Ainey said he thought the system, and the proposal was excellent, but he would rather wait and see if they would be able to obtain grant funds to pay for it.  Councilman Ken Carey, Councilman Shawn Carey, Councilwoman Teri Gulick and Councilman Lawrence White all agreed the system would be an added benefit but not warranted at this time. 

Council accepted the resignation of Lynette Daniels from the Recreation Board, and spoke for a few minutes on the need to fill the empty slot.

Mayor Scott Smith was happy to announce the Municipal Authority found the water leak that was plaguing New Milford for three weeks, loosing over two million gallons of water.  The pipe is now repaired.

Residents are questioning Councilwoman Gulick about Main Street, and when is it going to be paved. Her response was it's up to PennDOT since it’s a state road.  Council discussed for a few moments the paving project and agreed it needs to be done soon.  President Ainey said they couldn’t even think about putting in curbs until the paving was completed.

Councilman White said Chuck Welch was obtaining bids to purchase a street sweeper.  He said Mr. Welch has three bids, that came in under budget and he also found a place to store the equipment.  Councilman White is hoping to have it in service by the first week in April.

New snow tires are on the plow, and he’s still trying to get a price from someone to paint the gazebo, stated Councilman White.  He said he’s been trying to get out with Mr. Welch to conduct the street plan.  They had it arranged for last Friday, but it snowed, so plans were canceled.  He said the next available date was Friday, February 3rd, and he’s hoping to have it completed soon.

President Ainey stated council is looking to adopt a Winter Parking Ordinance, and one was presented to Council for review.  Council discussed the contents of the document for a few minutes and it was decided to forward the document to the solicitor for review.  Council and the Mayor agreed there is a need for one since trying to plow around vehicles is dangerous for the plow driver, and by going around the vehicles the snow remains on the road, which creates a hazard.

Councilwoman Gulick stated the Recreation Board would begin plans for the Midtown Festival at their next meeting.  She stated calls have already been coming in from vendors, and they are very excited to start the plans for this years’ Festival, to be held on June 3rd from ten until three.

The Blue Ridge School Board chose an option at its business meeting on February 6th that hearkens back to the old days.  It took a fair amount of discussion, but the consensus always seemed to be to go back to the earlier tradition of beginning a new school year before Labor Day.  And with that, the calendar for next year is decided.

Well before they could get around to that, however, members heard from Sam Folk, president of the Blue Ridge Triplets and Cheerleading, who brought along some of his board members to reinforce his appeal to the board for support.  In this the Triplets’ 50th season, and with football, as he said, “in kind of a decline right now,” (a day after historic Superbowl LI) he asked to be allowed to “piggyback” on an assembly in the Elementary School for a few minutes to help make his program more visible to the youngsters.

Both Board president Chris Lewis and Superintendent Matthew Button said they were “all for it.”  Mr. Button said that the Boy Scouts used to make such presentations to publicize their program, and said that the Elementary School would try to work something out.

Mr. Folk also requested a slot in the schedule for the gymnasium next October to host a cheerleading competition.  Mr. Button suggested he contact the office as soon as possible with some dates so the event could be added to the schedule.

The Board then heard from 2 of High School Principal Peter Supko’s outstanding seniors.  Corbin French plays soccer and golf and expects to attend pharmacy school in Albany next year.  Bailey Shaw hopes to study respiratory therapy at Mansfield.  Elementary School Principal Danelle Decker introduced her choice for January, Carli Thornton, as someone who is “nice to everyone.”  Her other choice, Dylan Bradley, was not able to attend.

Outstanding seniors Corbin French and Bailey Shaw

Outstanding 5th Grader Carli Thornton with Elementary School Principal Danelle Decker

During the business session and following the routine preliminaries, the Board passed a 15-point agenda in a single motion, including 2 items in an addendum.  Notable measures approved include:

• Property tax exemption for a veteran.
   
• Property taxes declared uncollectable totaling $456,389.19.
   
• Per capita tax is once again elided.
   
• Agreement with Barnes-Kasson hospital to review ACCESS program submissions for the current year at the rate of $11.00 each.  From the state’s Department of Education site, “The School Based Access program is a system that can be used by school districts, intermediate units, state-owned schools, and Mutually Agreed Upon Written Agreement (MAWA) Early Intervention Programs to obtain funding for health-related services for special education students.”  The reviews ensure that services rendered are properly eligible for funding.
   
• The budget proposal of the North Eastern Instructional Unit #19 for next year; the budget total remains the same, but the Blue Ridge share will go up slightly.  Harold Empett will continue as the Blue Ridge representative on the IU Board.
   
• Austin Harper resigned as Boys’ Junior High Basketball Assistant Coach.
   
• Lori Zick will have the co-curricular position of Boys’ volleyball head coach for the current year.
   
• Katherine Kempa is designated Junior High Assistant track coach.
   
• Amber Turner is the varsity head track coach. 

The Board also adopted a retirement incentive program for the current year that offers 2 options.  Under both options, the retiree will retain coverage under the district’s health insurance plan until eligible for another insurance plan (such as Medicare), and will continue to be responsible for the corresponding premium payments.  The major difference between the incentive options are:

• Option 1 – an employee with at least 20 years of service may receive $10,000 per year for 5 years.
  
  
• Option 2 – an employee with at least 12 years of service may receive a single payment of $12,000.

The incentive payments under these options are, of course, in addition to pension payments through the state’s Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS).

As is often the case at Blue Ridge, the next year’s school calendar absorbs the interest of several on its Board of Directors.  In particular, members are interested in whether classes will begin before or after Labor Day.  Because of the area’s typical winter weather, a fair amount of slack has to be built into the calendar to account for snow.  The state requires at least 180 days of instruction time.  Then there are holidays and professional development time for the teachers.  Not to mention the first day of deer season.  Put all that together and a late start means a late finish in June.

Specifically, this time one of the options offered by administrators would put graduation on June 9, a full 8 days after the last day of classes.  Board members didn’t like that, but Superintendent Button said that the cushion was necessary for make-up days and for scheduling reasons, because the last day of classes is already on a Friday and graduation is always on a Saturday.

There were one or two other minor changes here and there, but since no one seemed to object strongly to the consensus to start classes for next year on Monday, August 28, 2017, that’s what it will be. 

The big binders that Board members were issued at the prior week’s workshop were fattened this time with new sections, including food services, maintenance, and tax collector expense.  Details were not made available to the public.  Business Manager Brian Dolan thanked members for their feedback.  More will be forthcoming as the budget process moves along. 

Student Representative Dane Beers reported on progress with his STEM team’s project to monitor movement through the schools by reading ID cards.  He said that various bugs and problems are being worked on enthusiastically.  He hopes to offer a demonstration to the Board at a later date.

That might or might not be at the Board’s next meeting, a workshop scheduled for Monday, February 27, 2017.  All meetings begin at 7:00pm in the cafeteria in Elementary School, except when they don’t.  Check the calendar on the district’s website for the latest information.

During the Susquehanna Borough Council meeting held on February 8th, Secretary/Bookkeeper, Margaret Biegert reviewed a proposal from Urban Research & Development Corporation (URDC) to create conceptual plans and illustration redesign for the downtown area. 

Mrs. Biegert said one major problem area is the wall by Schneider’s Market, which runs along Main Street. Initially identified were eight areas in the downtown but some areas have already been addressed.  She said URDC is very familiar with different programs for funding and they are looking to create a small design committee with local participants to work with them on this project.

Councilman Roy Williams said someone with design experience is needed, and this would be a necessary step if they were going to renovate their town.   Councilman Dana Rockwell agreed with Councilman Williams, stating a good plan needs to be in place.

Council motioned to move forward contracting with URDC, at a cost of eight thousand, five hundred dollars by a unanimous vote.

Glenn Eby from JHA Companies attended the meeting to provide additional information on services JHA provides.  Mr. Eby stated Susquehanna already contracts with JHA for zoning, with John Watts as the Zoning Officer, and he would like to inform them about the other services they offer.  He stated he is an engineer and a National Flood Plain Manager.   Mr. Eby said he lives locally and that JHA’s main office is in Montrose.  They service other municipalities and offer bridge replacement projects, GSI, Building Code Officials and would be able to help the Borough with DEP permits. 

Council President Joseph Varsik read a letter council received from a person who is interested in purchasing the property located at 1248 Main Street.  The interested party said he would like to put in a small business operation.  The American Legion already expressed an interest in this property.  Council will order an appraisal to be conducted on the property and once the property is valued, they will advertise it for a sealed bid.

The Erie Avenue and Prospect Street drainage projects will be advertised for bids as well.  Councilman Williams said they would be installing pipes and ditches with matching funds from the Soil and Conservation District.  He said this would take care of the issues facing those areas.

Mayor Nancy Hurley spoke briefly on the Susquehanna Community Assisted Recovery Program, the event that was held at the school on January 12th.  She said it was very successful; sixty or so people attended and four speakers shared their personal stories.  She said she would be working with John Fabiseski to set up more events in the future. 

Mayor Hurley said she is happy council is working towards preserving the history of Susquehanna Depot.  She said Jon Burdick shared a great amount of history of Susquehanna, which contained stories of the railroad and the Native American Indians, with them in December. 

Councilman John Hendrickson said he will be exploring an auxiliary power system for the building utilizing the current fuel, liquid propane.

There are currently five to six rental units which are unsightly, and have multiple problems stated Councilman Williams in his codes report.  He said he is currently working on rectifying the situation.  Councilman Williams said all the rental applications have been sent out, and the landlords have until April 30th to return the paperwork.  If the applications are not returned by that date, a citation will be written.  He stated all inspections must be completed by July.

Starrucca Borough's course has not always been clear. To set the borough on what appears to be a disciplined progression of steps toward goal accomplishment, a divided council pushed through a series of consequential motions at its Monday, February 6, 2017 meeting. Present for the longer than 100-minute meeting were Councilmen Kirk Rhone, Charles Levchak, Louis Gurske, Darl Haynes, Jason Heeman, Art Kopp, and Donald Haynes, Jr. Also present were Mayor Mary Ann DeBalko, Secretary/Treasurer Keith Payne, and an audience of five residents, two of which were auditors.

To explain the sequence of five motions approved by Council, a quick review of the key actions in the Haynes Federal Civil Rights lawsuit settlement is necessary. On May 25, 2016 Starrucca Borough and Darl Haynes, acting in his capacity as a private citizen, reached settlement of the afore-mentioned lawsuit in mediation. On September 19, 2016 Starrucca Borough gave final approval for the previously approved settlement. To fund the lawsuit's settlement and legal expenses, Starrucca Borough realized the necessity of obtaining a loan (in the neighborhood of $118,000) for what is known in governmental parlance as an unfunded debt. What has stymied Starrucca's procurement of that loan is uncertainty as to how to proceed.

Starrucca Mayor DeBalko, coordinating with the borough's solicitor, Jason Beardsley, succeeded in analyzing the situation, deciphering the applicable law, and determining the steps necessary to move from the borough's current position to realization of how the loan procurement process could rightly proceed. To that end, they determined that:

(1) The Settlement approved on September 19, 2016 had to be amended.

(2) A copy of the Amended Settlement will need to be forwarded to Starrucca's Attorney of Record, Robert Hanna.

(3) Attorney Hanna will need to use the Amended Settlement to go into Federal Court to obtain a Court Order.

(4) A copy of the Federal Court Order in Starrucca Borough's possession will be necessary for the borough to legally obtain a loan for unfunded debt.

(5) Solicitor Beardsley will be the point person to negotiate the intricacies of loan procurement for the borough's unfunded debt and present it to Council for approval.

(6) A point of contact for the borough will need to be appointed to ensure oversight and coordination until completion of loan approval.

Council approved four motions necessary to accomplish these six procedures. Every motion in the process garnered the same result: three Councilmen—Rhone, Kopp, and Levchak—voted aye; two Councilmen—Gurske and Heeman—opposed; and Donald and Darl Haynes abstained. The 3-2-2 vote tallies were the outcome for each of the following motions:

MOTION #1: “To amend the agreement made on the original date of September 19, 2016 applicable to the undersigned parties, Plaintiff Darl Haynes, heirs, and assigns, and Defendant Starrucca Borough, heirs, and assigns.” [Added to the language of the agreement are the words 'heirs and assigns' for both Plaintiff Darl Haynes and Defendant Starrucca Borough.]

MOTION #2: “To have Secretary send the 'Amended Kellogg Road Maintenance Agreement and Settlement Agreement and General Release' to Attorney Robert Hanna for the purpose of securing an Order in the Federal Court for Settlement Agreement, AND send a copy of the signed Court Order to Starrucca Borough.”

MOTION #3: “To authorize Mayor Mary Ann DeBalko to follow up with Attorney Robert Hanna to secure the signed Order from the Federal Court the Maintenance Agreement and Settlement Agreement and General Release.” [Mayor DeBalko verbally assented to voluntarily perform oversight as necessary.]

MOTION #4:“To have Mayor Mary Ann DeBalko follow up with Attorney Beardsley seeking funds to fund unfunded debt for Starrucca Borough, through completion. [Mayor DeBalko again agreed.]

The preceding motions may have finally clarified what had been a murky and tangled process for months. But Starrucca Councilmen had plenty of other motions on tap for heated discussion over the course of the evening. President Rhone having proposed the four motions already approved, added another, “I make a motion for the purpose of a Resolution for the purpose of securing Liquid Fuels on any and all of Kellogg Road that is not currently receiving Liquid Fuel money.” As with the previous votes, this measure too, was approved by the same vote of 3-2-2, each Councilman voting as might be expected. “We're opposed to the whole project,” noted Councilman Gurske, speaking for Councilman Heeman and himself.

At a later moment in the meeting Councilman Gurske had two motions of his own:

GURSKE MOTION #1: “Due to the volatility of Kellogg Road, and because Darl Haynes has a seat on Council, to keep everything open and above-board, that on his proposed cabin, or house, or whatever he is calling it on Kellogg Road—I'm not sure what he's calling it—that any and all contractors that are working on said property—driveways, septic, and house—show paid bills from Darl Haynes for all material and labor, and cancelled checks from Darl Haynes. We're going to keep this honest that he is not using all his documents to run his building in driveway, septic, and everything in building on our back.”

GURSKE MOTION #2: “We recently got a grant for Penn Hill. Darl Haynes and Charlie Levchak recently did extensive logging on their properties, tearing up portions of Penn Hill Road. I would like to see a copy of a contract from a logger Charlie Levchak and Darl Haynes used to repair Penn Hill after logging, which is not required by the borough to do.”

Both of the Gurske Motions failed to win approval. While Councilmen Gurske and Heeman voted in favor; three votes opposed and two abstained for each vote. Voting nay on Gurske Motion #1 were Councilmen Rhone, Kopp, and Levchak; voting nay on Gurske Motion #2 were Councilmen Rhone, Kopp, and Donald Haynes, Jr. In the discussion of Gurske's first motion Councilmen Rhone and Darl Haynes expressed vigorous opposition, on the grounds of privacy, discrimination, and that such an action would be cause for another lawsuit. After the vote on Gurske 's second motion Darl Haynes stated, “I would like to go on record that to my knowledge, I did not have any logging done. Not on Penn Hill. And I didn't have anybody else's property logged.”

Councilman Darl Haynes also had two motions—both were passed—to (1) “do a Resolution or Ordinance for Penn Hill Road to officially adopt it as a borough road, with the survey map attached; once completed send a copy to the Courthouse to be recorded, and send a copy to PennDOT;” and (2) “do a Resolution or Ordinance for Carpenter Road to officially adopt it as a borough road, with the survey map attached; once completed send a copy to the Courthouse to be recorded, and send a copy to PennDoT.” Both motions passed by a vote of 5-2, with Councilmen Gurske and Heeman opposing.

Under the topic of correspondence Secretary Payne provided a recitation of the municipal offices up for election this year, according to the the Wayne County Board of Election. Voters will be looking to fill four council seats, the mayor's office, and one auditor position. Meanwhile, the volunteer position of Emergency Management Coordinator remains unfilled even after 12 consecutive calls for a volunteer.

Starrucca Borough Council's next regular monthly meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 6th, at 7 p.m.