Tyrone Borough Council met in a rescheduled meeting last night in the Council Chamber.
This was a meeting rescheduled after Borough Council was forced to cancel their June 11 meeting when there was not enough Council Members present for a quorum, or basically conduct business. There must be five of the Council Members present to do so and there were only four present on June 11.
However, Borough Council had enough members present to conduct business last night. All members were present, with the exception of Mayor Jim Kilmartin and Council Member Don Boytim.
The meeting was called to order by Council Vice President William Latchford at 6:30 p.m.
All minutes from the June 4 Council meeting and all financials were approved by Council.
There was one person present for the public comment portion of the meeting. Ellen Wallace, an owner of several rental properties in the Tyrone area, expressed her concern about the amount of crime occurring in the Tyrone area.
Wallace explained that she has been recently forced to deal with a number of different problems with her rental properties. She explained that she is concerned for the people of Tyrone and that her presence at the meeting was not to complain about Borough Council or the Police Department, that it was about the issue at hand.
Wallace complimented the Tyrone Police Officers she has dealt with when the various crimes were committed on her properties. However, Wallace said that she feels the officers seem burnt out and overworked.
She approached Council about the possibility of hiring a full-time investigator for the Tyrone Police Department.
She said that in a discussion with Police Chief Joe Beachem, she was informed that he currently handling 23 cases, not including drug cases, along with running the department and feels that a full-time investigator would take a great deal of the work load off of the officers so they could concentrate more on patrol duties.
Council Vice President William Latchford mentioned that another officer will be coming on board very soon. However, the only way the Borough would be able to afford to hire someone for a position such as this would be to increase taxes. Latchford added that he is a huge police advocate and this is also an issue that is important to the rest of Council as well.
In other Council business, Council approved a bid to replace 144 parking meters in the Borough. Many of the meters in the borough do not work properly. It was clarified that the meters will not look much different because only the mechanical portion inside will be replaced. Out of the two bids, Council approved the low bid from POM, Inc., from Russellville, Arkansas, with a bid of $14,688. All Council Members present voted in favor of this except for Council Member Bill Fink who voted against it.
Borough Council also a approved a low bid of $9,000 from Yenter Construction of Alexandria, PA for concrete work and improvements to the 23rd Street Water Tank. There was a total of three bids for this project. All Council Members present voted in favor of this.
Council also awarded bids for unleaded and diesel fuel. United Refining, the company that owns Kwik Fill, originally bid on both, but the Borough had to re-bid for the unleaded fuel because Kwik Fill is not open 24-hours-a-day. After it was re-bid, the lone company to present a bid to the Borough for unleaded fuel was Sheetz, with a bid price of $2.99 per gallon. Council approved the motion to award the bid for unleaded fuel to Sheetz. Council approved the motion that the bid for diesel fuel be awarded to Kwik Fill, with a bid price of $2.18 per gallon. All Council Members voted in favor of these motions.
Also brought before Council was the approval of the disposal of old and unused office equipment. Finance Director Phyllis Garhart contacted Reclamere, Inc. of Tyrone and received a quote of $324.50 to dispose of this equipment, which is various computers and electronic office equipment. It was also recommended to Council to approve the disposal of the old parking meter parts, which they will most likely take to Carraciolo’s in Antis Township. All Council Members voted in favor of disposing of the old and unused office equipment and the old parts from the Borough parking meters.
Council also awarded the bid to repair the roof at the Highway Department Building to Kimberling Roofing, with a bid of $2,168. All Council Members voted in favor of this except for Council Member Jennifer Bryan, who voted against it.
Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway presented an update to Council on the situation at Reservoir Acres that was brought to the attention of Borough Council at their June 4 meeting. She stated that the Borough mowed the grass of the portion of land that is located at the entrance of the development.
She also reported on the other concern residents had. Dannaway stated that the Borough talked with PENNDOT concerning the signs informing truck drivers about the Borough’s Jake brake ordinance that are posted along Route 453. Residents requested that if possible, the signs be moved further up Route 453. Dannaway said that PENNDOT reported to Borough officials that the sign is currently located at the Borough line and that a sign posting an ordinance for a one municipality cannot be placed inside another municipality. If the sign posting the Borough’s Jake brake ordinance were moved any further up Route 453, it would be placed in Snyder Township. The only way for this to happen would be to get special approval from Snyder Township.
The meeting was adjourned around 7:25 p.m. The next meeting of the Tyrone Borough Council will be held on Monday, July 9 at 7 p.m.
