The Tyrone Borough Council conducted routine business at Monday night’s work session.
Borough Manager Nathan George introduced a request from the Tyrone Area Historical Society for use of a room at the Tyrone Railroad Station located across from the Historical Museum. The request from the society states the room will be used for special programs throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2004. Council approved the request.
Council also granted a request to the Tyrone Women’s Club for the use of Reservoir Park on May 15. The park will be the site of an annual yard sale to help raise money for the library. Council was advised by George that Highway Superintendent Verden Latchford indicated he could arrange for the facilities to be available for the event. Council then passed a motion granting the request.
George also addressed council on a number of other issues but no action was taken by the borough’s governing body.
He suggested to council it might want to adopt a sign-in sheet policy for residents who attend meetings.
George was informed a sign-in sheet had been going around at recent meetings, but it was possible that the sheet had not gone around at all of the most recent ones.
George then suggested council might also want to address its public comment policy. He proposed council consider a policy regarding matters raised by citizens other than those on the agenda. The suggestion was made for such matters to be referred for a review or for a discussion at previous meetings. George was instructed to further shape the proposal and report back to council.
The borough manager also asked council to look into creating a written policy for private handicap parking spaces. He suggested the policy would incorporate all currently known policies. Solicitor Larry Clapper was instructed to prepare the policy for council to review at a later date.
The borough also received a request to provide a pager to David J. Lynch, who is the area fire warden. Lynch is currently not a member of either fire department and is not an employee of the borough, but rather the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
George brought the request before council who instructed him to meet with the town’s two fire chiefs and Jim Beckwith, the former chief and current fire marshall. Phyllis Garhart, director of administration, noted the borough is in possession of three pagers from the defunct Citizens Fire Company.
Council also heard from Code Enforcement officer Thomas Lang on two issues including one where a motion was made and passed.
The new Joshua House submitted a request to combine two separate parcels to eliminate an interior lot line. This would allow the parcel to be brought into compliance with the zoning regulations pertaining to building setbacks and parking requirements.
The issue was brought forth after Joshua House purchased the former Citizen’s Fire Station and the adjacent parcel presently used as a parking lot at 123 West 10th Street. A motion was made to grant the merger, and it passed unanimously.
Lang also updated council on the new state Uniform Construction Code. In his report, Lang noted he had already sent out an informational memo to council in early February about the new code. The borough will soon have to make a decision regarding either adopting the code or opting out of it. The issue was discussed but no action was taken.
Lang noted the borough would soon have to let the state know what its intentions are and if it decides to opt in, it would need to pass an ordinance within a time frame set by the state’s Department of Labor and Industry which is overseeing the implementation of the code.
