November Regular Meeting Brief

There was plenty of discussion at Ellwood’s regular meeting last night:

The Post family, owners of T&M Hardware, were invited to formally receive a commendation for 25 years of service, presented by council president Connie MacDonald.

Dr. Nanjunda was also recognized for his performance as a local physician for 34 years.

Aaron Bernstine publicly announced that his office is secured to be in the same location as the previous State Representatives’ office. He also thanked council for their continued support and cooperation in his endeavors to find an appropriate office location. Judy Dici asked if Bernstine will be employing Gibbon’s previous staff, Bernstine said they are currently interviewing for positions and some of the interviewees are previous staff members.

Ralph Chiappetta respectfully asked council when the last time Mayor Court attended a meeting was, MacDonald said he believed the last one the Mayor attended was in July.

Connie MacDonald stressed several times throughout the meeting that there are little ways that the Borough could-and should be saving money. For example, he stated that the Borough will be expecting to pay for some upcoming repairs and he exemplified that one of the repairs is an oil change estimated to cost $70, which he believes is too expensive and could be done elsewhere at a cheaper rate. Current advertising rates for the Borough were also discussed and agreeably could be less expensive. MacDonald encouraged the Borough Manager to continue pursuing less expensive options for the Borough.

Also, another topic of discussion for unnecessary spending was a “razor blade” contract deal between the Borough and the police force stating that due to the requirements that the officers must remain cleanly shaven the Borough should reimburse the officers for any razor blades purchased. Council and the Borough Manager agreed that the razor blade deal does not constitute as “necessary spending”.

Along with the police contract, the Borough will soon be purchasing new bulletproof vests for the police force and disposing of the expired vests.

Council did authorize the purchase of a new firetruck in the proposed amount of $599,999, and they authorized the proposals for the new Borough and electric building as well as surrounding properties to be utilized. Marilyn Mancini requested to know price estimates for the construction of the new buildings.

Work to commence on the Kitchen Cabinet’s proposed bike trail has been approved.

The motion to adopt a resolution to authorize free parking at all currently metered spaces located on Lawrence Ave., Bell Ave., Crescent Ave., 5th St., 6th St., 7th St., and Beaver Ave., parking lot for a maximum of two hours from Nov. 25-Dec. 31 2016 was approved. Bags will be put over meters.

There was a brief discussion regarding fallen leaves on the road- Dici suggested the Borough looks into the purchase of the appropriate attachment for street sweepers to sweep up leaves so residents could sweep their leaves in a pile onto the side of the road (like in Beaver Falls) as opposed to putting leaves in bags and throwing them out with the trash. Council agreed with Dici and will be further investigating the possibility of purchasing the mechanism. MacDonald further commented that in the meantime he wanted to ask Valley Waste to be more flexible in their hours to pick up leaves.