The Board of Supervisors of West Finley Township held a special meeting on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 6:00 pm in the Township Office Building. All Supervisors were in attendance.
Township residents present at the meeting were, Tracey and Bobbi Shaulis, Brandon Gray, Deb Swart, Ian and Heather Martin, Melinda Duncan, Joe, Shannon, and Cecelia Burig, and Edie Minch.
CALL TO ORDER
The call to order was made by Chairman Martin at 6:00 pm.
READING OF PRIOR MEETING MINUTES
The Secretary read the minutes from the January Annual Organization meeting. The motion to approve the minutes was made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Chairman Martin. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Steve Emery gave the Board specifics about calls from 2023. There was a total of 176 calls, which was 24 fewer than the year before. The VFC also had a major equipment issue with their engine. The steering went out and the engine was unusable for two weeks, with repairs costing approximately $10,000.00. He also informed the Board that the rundown house in town is now gone, and garbage is being hauled away. It is a big improvement.
Deb Swart inquired about taking applications or interviewing people for Road Crew Foreman. Nothing has yet been decided by the Board.
OLD BUSINESS
The Solicitor, James Liekar, replied to the Board’s request for clarification regarding our Junkyard Ordinance. The Board would like some more direction from Mr. Liekar in respects to what we need to be enforcing according to the Ordinance. This item will be tabled until there is a response from him.
A proposed new fee schedule for 2024 was presented. There was discussion about each kind of permit and the associated fees. The Board adjusted the application fees for Removal/Demolition permits, Township/Building permits, Agricultural Exclusions, and Variances for Township/Building permits. For Building Permits, an additional application fee of $1 for every $1,000.00 over $15,000.00 in construction value will be applied. The Solicitor will be contacted to create a Resolution to add the application fees back to the Township/Building permits, as stated in Section 2 of Ordinance 6-2023. The motion to approve these changes was made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Chairman Martin. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
Township email addresses have been established for each of the Supervisors via our web domain. The directions on how to access the email will be sent to the Supervisors, as individual passwords will need to be created.
Verizon Wireless has been contacted regarding cell phones for Supervisors as well. As we will need a government account, it has been difficult to reach the correct department. An email has been sent and we are waiting for a response. The Secretary will inform the Board when more information is available.
The Township will readvertise for the position of Road Crew Foreman. The Secretary will send the Supervisors the previously used advertisement for editing before the notice is posted. The Township will advertise via FaceBook and the website for this position. The motion to readvertise for Foreman was made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Supervisor Collins. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS
The Board of Auditors published a letter from their Organization Meeting for the Supervisors to review. They set pay rates for the Supervisors when they work as Employees of the Township for 2024. There was an increase in pay of 3.2% making the hourly rate $20.64. The Auditors also set the Building Code Inspector wages for Chairman Martin. He will receive $20 per Township or Building permit that is issued, plus 100% of the inspection fees as they are completed. Audit dates for the equipment, tax collector, and treasurer were also set.
The Planning Commission needs to have their Annual Organization Meeting. They will meet at 5:45 pm on February 12, 2024 before the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting. Motion made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Chairman Martin. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
Shredding services will once again be needed. An email has been sent to Jake at Shred America, the previously used company, to verify price schedules. As long as the price stays comparable, a date will be scheduled to have unnecessary documents destroyed. The motion to approve the shredding services was made by Chairman Martin and seconded by Vice Chairman Pritt. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
Prepping for material bids will begin soon. Information will be sent out at the beginning of February so that the Board may open sealed bids at the March monthly meeting. The usual list of materials will be advertised in addition to 400 tons of #8s and culvert pipe. The Township will also utilize the county bid list to compare prices. Due to bid limits, these items must be advertised in the Observer Reporter. The motion to advertise for bids was made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Supervisor Collins. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS
The financial reports for all accounts were presented. The previous month’s bank statements with balances and QuickBooks reconciliation reports were reviewed. The motion to accept the financial reports was made by Vice Chairman Pritt and seconded by Chairman Martin. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
An itemized list of current bills was also brought before the Board. Specifics of the bills were discussed. Two items needed to be added to the list of bills. Cindy McCulley-Kuhn has requested to take the virtual Auditors class through PSATS for $35 and Chief Emery received the invoice for workers’ compensation totaling $8,062.00. The motion to approve payment of the bills, plus the additions, was made by Chairman Martin and seconded by Vice Chairman Pritt. All in favor, Ayes: 3, motion carried.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
– Washington County Sewage Council will hold a Full Council Meeting tomorrow, January 9, 2024 at the Canton Township Office at 10:00 am.
– The Township received a notification letter from Consol Coal Company regarding a coal refuse disposal site. We will need to contact K2 to find out if we need to address anything further with their permitting.
– A CNX notification letter for MOR 42 was also received.
ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING
Chairman Martin adjourned the meeting at 7:11 pm.