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August 16, 2016

8/15/16 Council Brief: Motions and Concerns

Last night council had their monthly agenda voted upon. Before the motions were read, a few visitors had some concerns they addressed to council. Paul Dici brought to the councils attention that the Freedom Health Care company lot, in Ellwood, is not being properly kept up. He said there are “weeds four feet high”. Bob Villella responded to Dici’s concern saying that he had been in contact with the owner of the property already and it was supposed to be cleaned up last weekend, however if it wasn’t then he would get in contact with the owner again. Villella also…

August 16, 2016

Bernstine Statement on Conviction of Attorney General Kathleen Kane

State House candidate Aaron Bernstine issued the following statements on the criminal conviction of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane: “The past 24 months have seen a cascade of criminal charges against top officials, including two former state treasurers, a half-dozen members of the general assembly, and now the state’s top law enforcement official.” “The pattern of corruption, self-dealing, and the cynicism that it engenders has done incalculable damage to state government and deepened the chasm of mistrust between citizens and their elected officials. It is shameful that Attorney General Kathleen Kane now stands convicted of a nine counts stretching from…

August 12, 2016

Ellwood City School Board August Meeting Brief

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City Area School Board meeting held on Aug. 11: Awards/Recognition The following teachers received EcoLab Visions of Learning Teacher Grants for the 2016-17 school year: Jill Folino- $1071 for 72 sets of headphones for classroom tablets Dana Stelitano- $500 online computer program for speech Seth Rosenberger- $2287 materials designated for learning through kinesthetics Chris Costa- $3000 designated for use of the Mark lab Facility at Perry Megan Berty- $2987 designated for PA Common Core Standards Materials Brittany Severn- $2586 for reading resource books Sheery Shearer- $2100 hands on learning for reading,…

August 10, 2016

Mayor Presented with Gold Watch

Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court was recognized by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association for outstanding achievements in High School athletics in his 32 years of service. He was presented with a gold watch at the Awards banquet held at the Hilton in Harrisburg on August 6, 2016. Court has officiated numerous state play-off games including Western State finals and PA State finals in his illustrious 32 year career. Court is also in three Sports Hall of Fame, Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame for his softball playing ability, Lawrence County Sports Hall of Fame as a baseball and softball player and the Pittsburgh…

August 9, 2016

Letter from Standing Up to Ellwood Electric to Ellwood City Borough Council

At the Ellwood City Borough council agenda meeting on Aug. 8, Rob Brough, representing the citizen group “Standing Up to Ellwood Electric,” which has almost 1,200 members, read a letter requesting an informal meeting of citizens and council members to discuss the Ellwood City Electric Department. At the conclusion of the meeting, council president Connie MacDonald met with Brough to set the date, time and place. Because such a meeting would have less than four council members present (the minimum number required to pass legislation), the meeting doesn’t have to open to the public and press. The letter is included…

August 4, 2016

Standing Up to Ellwood Electric Resource Page and Right to Know Request

Standing Up to Ellwood Electric, a Facebook page created in response to larger-than-average electric bills in the Ellwood City Borough for July’s billing cycle, has grown to nearly 1,200 members. One of the group’s moderators, Dave Gulish, created a resource page available to anyone wishing to learn more about Ellwood’s Electric Department and borough government. On July 20, Gulish filed a Right to Know request with the borough for information including wages, wage increases, overtime wages and general information on the electric department. On July 27, Borough Manager Bob Villella responded with a letter to Gulish stating that the borough…

August 3, 2016

Eric Ryan Corporation’s Letter to Borough Manager

At Monday’s meeting, Borough Manager Bob Vilella read part of an email he received from Keith Venezie, CEO of the Eric-Ryan Corporation, an Ellwood-based nationally known utility auditing firm. After receiving a copy and permission from Venezie, here is the full email: “Back in March, I became concerned about the increase in the electric cost not only on my personal bills but the community billings as well. I exercised the “right to know” law and the boro complied immediately with my request for contract and billing information. My staff spent several hours reviewing the calculations. Based on the information we…

August 3, 2016

Gibbons Opens Campaign Office in Ellwood City: Announces Open House this Thursday, Aug. 4

State Representative Jaret Gibbons is pleased to announce the opening of his re-election campaign headquarters in Ellwood City. The campaign office is located at 317 Seventh Street and the telephone number is 724-824-1138. Gibbons will hold an Open House to officially open the campaign office this Thursday, August 4 from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Anyone interested in talking with Rep. Gibbons or learning more about his campaign is encouraged to stop by the campaign office. “With critical issues facing our community, I want to ensure that all voters have an opportunity to have any…

August 2, 2016

Borough and AMP Presentations as File Downloads

The following are the presentations giving by Borough Manager Bob Villella and AMP representative Pam Sullivan at the town hall meeting on Monday regarding the electric department. The borough’s is available as a PDF and AMP’s is a power point. Borough Presentation AMP Presentation  

August 2, 2016

Town Hall Meeting Leads to Potential Future Meeting Concerning Electric Department

Earlier this year, the Eric Ryan Corporation, a nationally-known utility auditing company, obtained information from the Borough’s electric department using Pennsylvania’s Right to Know act. At a special town hall meeting on Monday, Borough Manager Bob Villella read an email he received from Keith Venezie, ERC’s CEO. “Based on the information we were provided, we were able to validate that the borough is being billed correctly by the suppliers based on the contracts that were negotiated and executed, the borough is billing the customers (who’s bills we reviewed) correctly based on the current ordinance, and the PPA that is part…