Ellwood City Organizations Dismayed by Council Decision to Charge Events Recoup Fees

“I’ve been a volunteer since I was 19, and I’m choked up by what I’m seeing,” visitor Stephanie Muntean said to council during yesterday’s Ellwood City Borough Council agenda meeting. “As taxpayers, I want to have events, not bare streets. We pay taxes, give us something back.”

Muntean’s comments echoed those of over half a dozen speakers and over 50 visitors, all protesting a decision by council to charge organizations for the costs of events held in the borough.

In February’s meeting, council voted 5-2 to deny a request by the Ellwood City Relay for Life to hold their event downtown free of charge. Instead, council requested the organization pay an estimated $550 to cover borough expenses. George Celli and Michelle Lamenza voted no.

Council also announced that all events would be responsible for accrued borough expenses and must have proper insurance.

Addressing visitors, Council President Judi Dici said council isn’t targeting any specific organizations or charging for events. “This is simply to recoup what it costs the borough to put on events.”

At February’s meeting, council member Rob Brough said council shouldn’t exempt any groups to avoid showing favoritism.

Councilwoman, Lisa Guerrera

When asked directly by EllwoodCity.org why council felt it necessary to recoup costs, Dici deferred the question to Lisa Guerrera and Brough.

“It’s no secret we’ve wanted to reduce costs,” Guerrera said. “Nothing is free. Somebody’s paying for the events, and that’s the taxpayers.” Guerrera also indicated that council is working on reducing more significant expenses, and that these actions are supported by their voter base.

“I thought they were fees at first,” Brough said to visitors earlier in the meeting, “but this is what it costs for union workers to come in on weekends at overtime pay,” referring to labor performed by borough employees at events.

Guerrera also read the projected expenses for 12 requested events. According to Dici, the costs were tabulated by borough department heads, sent to Borough Secretary Linda List, then to Dici and subsequently council.

The projected cost for events, in dollars, are as follows:

1. Memorial Day Parade: 408.18 public works, 1,800 to 2,100 police = 2,508.18 total
2. Park Palooza: 309.50 parks, eight shelters 310.00 = 619.50 total
3. Earth Day: 710.75
4. Easter Egg Hunt: 259.12 public works
5. Boy Scouts: 55.90 parks, 70.00 shelter costs = 125.90 total
6. Storytelling Festival: 380.00
7. Let There Be Lights: 300 to 400 police, 429.88 public works, 6,865.28 electric = 7645.16 total
8. Fall Fest: 861.92 public works, 6865.28 electric, 800 to 1,000 police = 8,727.20
9. Aquatic Alliance: 830.96
10. Conservation Dist: 559.80 parks, 350 shelters = 909.80
11. Summer Concert: 3,206
12. Farmer’s Market: 2,297.10 [includes note “check on this”]
13. Total = 25,622.57 to 25,922.57

Visitor Jillian D’Amico, Ellwood City Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Assistant and Ellwood City Community Enrichment manager, presented council with a tabulation showing the estimated cost for each taxpayer. According to the table below, the twelve events would cost a property owner slightly over $4.23 annually and slightly over 35 cents monthly.

Source: Census.gov Ellwood City Borough

Part one of this series will conclude with a prepared statement read by Earla Marshall, Kitchen Cabinet member. Additional visitor statements, comments and questions as well as council’s responses will be included in sequential articles. NOTE: The following statement has been typographically modified for posting but no content has been intentionally altered.

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[I’d like to think that while we may have our differences, the bottom line is we all share good intentions of helping to continue to make Ellwood City a great place to live, work and play.

In the midst of the numerous emails that went back and forth, initiated by me on Feb. 7 for a KC meeting regarding ongoing projects we have with the borough, a new request, also initiated by me, with support from Ellwood nonprofits, addressed to Ms. Dici and Ms. Mancini, dated Feb. 22, was made regarding concerns for the $550 maintenance fee assessed Relay for Life. Upon my contacting several area service groups who hold events in EC, they agreed to send representatives to meet with Parks & Rec with the intent to draft a reasonable solution amicable to all parties regarding the proposed event fees.

Unfortunately, I received an email from Ms. Mancini, dated Feb. 27, five days after my request was sent, in which she stated a letter is going out explaining the reason for the charges and all organizations are welcome to attend a council meeting. That reply has brought many of us here this evening. To date, the KC has not received a letter.

The event fee assessments have now superseded the first request by the KC to bring council up to speed on our ongoing projects.

I have a few questions I would like to ask of Ms. Mancini as chair of Parks/Rec: (I will pass them out to all of you so that you can make note and Ms. Mancini can answer them either at the conclusion of my fiv minutes now or during the visitors comment section at the conclusion of tonight’s meeting.

As stated in her Feb. 27 email and I quote: “This is the perfect example of why we want all parties to come to the council meeting so all parties on both sides have the opportunity to engage in a question/answer dialogue. I hope you understand/accept our reason for wanting transparency in all aspects of borough government.”

1. What/who benefits if nonprofits, who freely market the city, are not able to hold their events because of these fees?

• How does the borough plan to make up for the potential lack of events as hosted in the past?
• What plans are in place for the borough independently to market EC?

2. Were neighboring municipalities contacted as to their policies while you were determining Ellwood’s new policy? [Beaver, Zelienople, Beaver Falls and Wampum]

The Ellwood City Kitchen Cabinet’s Earla Marshall prepared a statement for council Monday night. Their Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/eckitchenncabinet/

3. The motion made in February was only for the Relay event fee. I assume the following question will be answered according to Ms. Mancini’s email later on in this meeting, but in the meantime I will ask: Will there be an across the board criteria, with specific line items listing both duties, regular and overtime department fees and hours, to be met for each nonprofit and for profit event?

• With the potential above baseline criteria, will each event be assessed, again by specific borough tasks, line items and regular plus overtime fees, according to their particular needs/use?

4. I note in last month’s council meeting on Feb. 19, under Parks/Rec, Item 1, approval was granted for the for profit (note: not nonprofit) annual Ledger 10k race to be held on June 30th at 9 a.m. with additional use of the changing area at the pool and parking lot from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

• I believe in the past this event utilizes approximately six patrolmen for posting signs, barricades, directing traffic at key intersections, ect.
• Were fees imposed on this for profit event in the past and, if so, what were they?
• If not, were fees assessed under the new criteria for this year?
• If, so what are those fees?

5. The KC is grateful and fortunate to have received grants from outside foundations, specific to our hosting events, as well as private donations. All of those monies are put directly back into the community and also spent on advertising with various mediums within a 30 mile radius of Ellwood City for each events. Some other nonprofits here are also able to provide not only local but also out of area advertising.

• Historically, the nonprofits hosting events on borough property have always provided their own manpower to setup as much as they are able under borough union contracts and clean up their areas. Is there any consideration made when determining these fees for in kind services such as those provided by these groups?

6. Will the fees paid by the nonprofits be deposited back into the specific accounts?

7. What about events held before park season opens?

8. Lastly, and very importantly, Ms. Dici, what is the purpose of the line item in the budget listed as Dept. 555 and titled Civic Contributions with a dollar amount of $46,450 both in 2017 and 2017 earmarked for?

• Could those funds be used to alleviate the burden now being directly placed on the nonprofits?
• I understand $5,000 last year, possibly from this same line item, was budgeted for the borough to host a 125th anniversary celebration. As it appears the money may have been spent on a celebratory inflatable birthday cake balloon at Fall Fest (which may or may not have been donated by the company), what became of the balance of the money?]

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Marshall closed by adding that such financial decisions may make sense in a municipality in Act 47 Financial Distress, such as New Castle, but not in Ellwood City. “We have problems, but we also have money,” Marshall said.

Marshall’s questions were not directly answered by council during the meeting, as visitor remarks aren’t a question and answer forum. However, Dici offered to discuss any questions with any visitors after the meeting.

[This is Part 1 in a series of articles on Monday’s borough agenda meeting.]