Meeting Minutes – February 2022
| Borough of Yorkana Council Meeting Minutes |
| Location: | United Methodist Church Meeting Room, 7 Main Street, Yorkana Borough |
| Date: | February 7, 2022 |
| Time: | 7:30PM |
The February 7, 2022 Yorkana Borough Council Meeting was held at the United Methodist Church, in its’ meeting room, due to the boiler failure at our Borough Offices.
Attending Steve Daugherty, Christine Grosh, Don Daugherty, Ruthann Palacios, Marvin Henise, Lyn McElhenny and Al Sladek. Additionally in attendance were PA. State Trooper, Lt. Spengler and Chris Kraft, Borough Engineer of C.S. Davidson. Absent was Juanita Smith.
Vice President Grosh opened the meeting at 7:30 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance & Lyn gave an invocation.
Lt. Spengler of the Pa. State Police was present and provided the following report of service calls to Yorkana Borough during the previous twelve months.
3 Domestic, 5 non criminal, 5 suspicious, 1 theft and 2 welfare checks
A brief discussion was held regarding truck speeds through the Borough and Lt. Spengler explained how difficult it is to be on site to prevent this. He did mention that whenever a stop is conducted the truckers communicate with one another and that does slow them for a short time.
Marv brought the members up to date regarding Juanitas’ health status.
A motion was made by Ruthann and seconded by Marv to accept the minutes submitted for the January 3rd., 2022 Meeting. Motion was passed.
Chris Kraft gave a brief regarding our “American Recovery Plan Funds” grant application which his office is handling. Jess is the contact person within Chris’ office and she will make contact with Juanita for the needed information to complete the forms and application. Yorkana Borough is estimated to receive $24,000.
Chris Kraft informed Council the State DEP has extended the date for our Stormwater Ordinance. Chris will bring the ordinance to us at our next council meeting, March 7, to be reviewed. At completion of our review the ordinance will go back to Chris for its update and then council will have to vote to approve the ordinance.
Marv presented a brief of our Treasurers report, on behalf of Juanita. All bills are current and being paid by Juanita. Our General Fund balance is $58,803.06 while the Road Fund balance is $3,435.32. Additionally, Juanita has filed a Road Fund report with Jim Lesher for an amount greater than $5,000.
Juanita has filed a delinquent real estate taxes report with York County.
A motion was made by Lyn and seconded by Christine to accept the Treasurers report. Motion was passed.
Under old business, Steve discussed that he has not received a call back to him from Woods Excavating for repairs on Fry Road. Steve suggested we table this measure for the time being.
Steve discussed the quotes for removal of two pine trees on the Borough Office property. One, submitted by Smeltzer Tree Services was in the amount of $3,500.
A second quote from Cheap Tree Removal Co. was two fold. First, they will remove THREE trees from our borough property under the following conditions.
First, we must obtain agreement from neighboring owners, they will not hold Cheap Tree Liable for any damages to their properties during the removal process, while not being able to access the site with their “bucket truck.” For this option, pricing is $1,700.
Second option allows for Cheap Tree to bring their truck down to the tree locations. For this, pricing is $2,000.
A motion to accept option 2, for the quoted $2,000. Was made by Don and seconded by Ruthann. Motion was passed.
Under new business, Al introduced a refreshed copy of Yorkana Borough Ordinance 1984-01 along with the existing copy taken from our online website. The idea is to simply bring to Councils’ attention ordinances that need to be updated and renew them for presentation online for community members. No changes will be made nor ordinances removed without the approval by vote of the Borough Council.
After correction to the incorrect spelling of Mayor Henise name we will continue with this undertaking.
Christine will make contact with our website manager regarding Al making direct contact with her to continue refreshing the ordinances and submitting them directly once approved by Council.
Steve made a motion to accept and Ruthann seconded. Motion passed.
Christine lead a discussion regarding our Septic Pumping Ordinance Acceptance/Fulfillment. She advised there are approximately 21 properties not in compliance within our borough. Christine also told council there are ommissions from the list she has obtained regarding those who ARE in compliance but not listed in that way.
Council discussed the need to send letters to those who are not in compliance and those who may be in compliance but have inadvertenly been omitted from our records. Council agreed to reach out to a lawyer for the correct form letter we may use for this purpose.
Christine has agreed to take over the maintenance of a spread sheet to follow control of the enforcement of our Septic Ordinance.
Chris Kraft said he would have his office provide the GIS Excel Worksheet of the properties in Yorkana Borough showing owner name(s), street address, parcel number and appropriate mailing address for notices..
A discussion was held regarding a need to assist Juanita in her current duties of Secretary and Treasurer. During this past three month absence due to her health it was realized that a secondary system must be in place to insure the smooth continuation of the Borough’s business. To this end, Steve made a motion that we elect Ruthann as the Borough Assistant Treasurer. Don seconded and the motion was passed.
Steve and Ruthann are to inquire of the Bank what is required to add Ruthann to the Borough account as a signatory. Al made a motion to have Ruthann acknowledged at our Bank as Assistant Treasurer and eligible to sign Borough Bank Checks. Don seconded and the motion was passed.
The Council also discussed having the Official Mailing Address of the Borough changed to 56 Main Street from its’ current 71 Main Street. In accomplishing this change all mail will be delivered directly to the Borough of Yorkana office. This also was motioned by Al and seconded by Don. The motion was passed.
A discussion regarding the failure of the furnace in the Borough Offices on February 3, 2022 followed. As a result of the furnace failure, pipes throughout the offices burst allowing water to flow freely into all the spaces within the building. The situation was discovered by Skip McElhenny when he entered the office on that date. Lyn called Marv who responded to assist in getting the situation under control. Marv tells us there was between four and five inches of water throughout the basement.
On the next day, February 4, Lyn called our insurance company representatives, Robin & Kauffman, to report the situation. During that same day, Complete Restoration Co. responded to the office. They removed carpeting, pulled panels, set up fans and humidifiers throughout. They found PVC pipes cracked in the first floor ceilings.
Phil Smith our adjuster from Selective Insurance was notified at 800 685 9656.
It was suggested that we have two Mitsubishi “Mini-Splits” installed. These are combination heating/cooling units mounted on the interior walls. One to be placed in the basement area and the other in the meeting room on the first floor. Cost for the two units is projected at $7100. Opting to add a third unit would add an additional $1,000.
If we have estimates between $11,000 and $21,000 then a no bid purchase is acceptable. Estimates greater than $21,000. would have to be advertised for bids.
Council agreed that Marv would be our “Point Man” for this replacement/restoration process.
Council agreed that Lyn would be our primary contact person for the Eastern York Association while Marv will be our secondary contact.
Next Borough Council Meeting will be March 7th, 2022.
Motion to adjourn by Ruthann and seconded by Lyn. Motion passed.