RICHLANDTOWN BOROUGH

COUNCIL MINUTES

December 14,2009

 

The regular meeting of Richlandtown Borough Council was held on December 14, 2009. Stanley  Weikel opened the meeting at 7:00 P.M. Matthew Scheetz was absent.

 

On a motion by Roy Schulenberg, seconded by John Calder and passed by Council, the minutes from the November 9 were approved as received.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

Nothing to Report

 

MAYOR’S REPORT

After serving over 30 years, the Mayor said that it was a please to serve the community.

 

SOLICITOR’S REPORT

HINKLE – The Equity action filed in the Court of Common Pleas is still pending.

SMITH – Mr. Goodwin has filed a complaint action in Equity in the Common Pleas court. He can not find Mrs. Smith to serve papers on her.

ORDINANCE #250 ZONING ORDINANCE AMMENDMENT - On a motion by John Calder, seconded by Floyd Bless and passed by Council, Ordinance # 250, updating the Zoning Ordinance to include provisions for cellular equipment was adopted.

 

MANAGER’S REPORT

2010 CENSUS – The Manager received a visit from the local US Census Bureau, requesting to use the office as a part-time facility to do office hours for the upcoming census. This could help the borough get a “better return” from the census questionnaires.

SNOW STORM REPORTS – the Manager will distribute reports on time and materials used to fight off wintry conditions.

OPEN SPACE MONEY – the funds have been received from the County.

BOROUGH DINNER – We will look to have the Borough Dinner in late January.

FEE SCHEDULE – we are working on a draft of the updated Fee Schedule for 2010.

 

FIRE COMPANY REPORT

NEW FIRE ENGINE - The Fire Company is currently getting the lettering done on the new engine, and hopes to take it on the Santa Run in about a week. They have also received notification from the state that they have been awarded the grant for the replacement of the roof. The amount of funds to be received is still unknown.

 

FINANCE

RESOLUTION #2009-10 – 2010 TAX LEVY – on a motion by Jim Bowman, seconded by Floyd Bless, and approved by all, Resolution # 2009-10, setting the property tax levy at 1.25 mills, was adopted.

RESOLUTION #2009-11 - 2010 BUDGET – on a motion by Jim Bowman, seconded by John Calder, and approved by all, Resolution # 2009-11, adopting the 2010 Budget, was adopted.

EIT RULES – The Richland Township EIT Office was wondering if we wanted to add some additional rules to the collection. These rules would bring our EIT collection rules in line with theirs.  The proposed rules are:

    1. institute a late filing fee of $10.00 per taxpayer’s if return not filed by April 15.
    2. 8% penalty on the unpaid liability for not filing and paying in full the quarterly estimates (if employer does not withhold the full 1.5%).

Council has decided to table the discussion for another time.

 

PUBLIC WORKS

WEST UNION STREET – Phoebe has offered to contribute toward having West Union Street paved. Borough engineer has drawn up costs for paving.  There will be a subcommittee meeting to discuss the options.

STORM SEWER CLEANOUT - some E-W laterals along Main St. are becoming clogged with sediment. Quakertown Sewer Dept. estimates it to be at least a full day’s work, at $350/hr.  The Manager may ask Quakertown Council to see if we can get a reduced rate. We will first ask PennDOT to look in to helping us out with this situation.

WATER SUPERINTENDENT REPORT – On a motion by John Calder, seconded by Roy Schulenberg, and passed by Council  the Water Superintendents report was accepted as written.

ARSENIC – The well is being brought back online at Pumphouse 3. We also need to come to a solution with regards to the backflushing of the filtering media, and will pay a visit to the BCWSA offices.

 

PARKS & RECREATION

NON-PROFIT STATUS – We may be interested in creating a non-profit group, to enhance our fundraising abilities, by obtaining a small gaming license.

 

PUBLIC WELFARE

 

NEW BUSINESS

FIRE INSPECTIONS – The Bucks County Fire Marshall sent a letter to see if we were interested in doing any fire inspections of commercial properties. We will look into the matter.

 

PAYMENT OF BILLS

On motion by Jim Bowman, seconded by Jim Bowman and passed by Council, the November expenditures were paid.

ADJOURNMENT

 

On motion by Floyd Bless seconded by Roy Schulenberg and passed by Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM

                                                                                                                Respectfully  yours,

 

                                                                                    Joseph Geib