Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

January 22, 2013 Middletown, PA 17057 The January 22, 2013 regular business meeting of the Middletown Borough Council was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Council President Christopher R. McNamara. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Councilor Robert Louer asked the agenda be amended to reflect the date of the meeting was January 22, 2013, not 2012 as was mistakenly printed. The following Council members answered roll call: Barbara Arnold, Donald Brooks , John Brubaker, Robert Louer, Christopher R. McNamara, Judy Putric, David Rhen, and Suzanne Sullivan. Mayor Robert G. Reid was absent due to illness, Council President McNamara reported. Also in attendance were Borough Borough Manager Tim Konek, Borough Secretary Chris A. Courogen, and Adam Santucci, of McNees, Wallace and Nurick, the Borough's solicitors. Prior to public comment, Council President McNamara invited Frank Intrieri, of Intrieri Construction, to make a presentation about a proposed subdivision plan. Mr. Intrieri told Council he represented the family of Bruce and Phyllis Lohr, whose home on Spring Street was heavily damaged in a fire. Mr. Intrieri said the family wished to demolish the damaged structure and to do a reverse subdivision to consolidate lots, then build a new single family home. Councilor Rhen moved the plan be referred to the Planning Committee. The motion was seconded by Councilor Putric and approved by a unanimous 8-0 vote. PUBLIC COMMENT Dawn Knull said she does not make public comment in meetings to be critical of Council, but to seek answers. She then delivered a critique of what she said were mistakes in the meeting minutes posted on the Borough's Web site. Knull also asked when she would get answers to questions she had posed in a previous meeting and commented on items discussed in meetings of the Public Works/Utilities Committee and the Administration and Personnel Committee. Council President McNamara told her he had answers for some of her previous questions at the last Council meeting, which she did not attend, and said he would retrieve those answers and get them to her later. Rachelle Reid also commented on matters that had been discussed at the Administration and Personnel Committee meeting. Michael Bowman complained about Council placing an executive session near the top of the meeting's agenda. Jack Still commented on one of the issues Knull had raised, saying she must not be aware of the payouts Borough retirees receive. EXECUTIVE SESSION

Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

At 7:17 p.m., Council went into executive session. Council reconvened publicly at 8:41 p.m., with Council President McNamara announcing matters pertaining to personnel and potential litigation had been discussed. Councilor Brubaker reported the Solicitor had advised Council of possible legal action questioning the posting of meeting notices in Borough Hall. Although Council did not agree with the potential allegation, the Solicitor had advised Council to take action to ratify all actions which might be impacted by the claims. Saying he felt it was prudent for Council to follow the Solicitor's advice, Mr. Brubaker made a motion to ratify all actions it had taken from July 1, 2012 through the end of the year. The motion was seconded by Councilor Rhen and approved by a unanimous 8-0 vote. Councilor Brooks made a motion to ratify the payment of all fees paid for professional services rendered in 2012. The motion was seconded by Councilor Putric and approved by a unanimous 8-0 vote. Councilor Rhen made a motion to seek the assistance of Dave Lowmaster to review the police policies and procedures manual, on the condition that Mr. Lowmaster sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to being given access to the manual. The motion was seconded by Councilor Brooks and approved by a unanimous 8-0 vote. At 8:45 p.m., Council President McNamara excused Mr. Santucci from the meeting. SECRETARYS REPORT Borough Secretary Courogen reported on the steps taken to advertise for the hiring of part-time police officers as authorized by Council at its previous meeting. Council President McNamara commented that all applicants must already be Act 120 certified, meaning that training would not be an expense to the Borough. Also, he said, the purpose of hiring part-time officers is not to replace full-time officers, but to help reduce overtime. COMMITTEE REPORTS Public Safety Committee Councilor Rhen shared the Civil Service Commission's annual report of its activities. Administration and Personnel Committee Councilor Sullivan reported the following items were discussed by the Committee, some of which are to be added to the February business meeting agenda: The Committee recommends accepting, with regret, the resignation of Police Chief Mark Hovan, who will return to the rank of detective The Committee recommends accepting the resignation of Michael Wetten, a System Technician II in the Public Works Department The Committee discussed the need for assistance with human resource matters and recommends exploring software which might provide needed HR resources. That review should include looking at the capabilities of software the Borough already owns as well as looking at other software.

Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

The Committee discussed the need for assistance with human resource matters and recommends exploring software which might provide needed HR resources. That review should include looking at the capabilities of software the Borough already owns as well as looking at other software. The Committee recommends appointing an assistant borough secretary. The position would be to fill in should the secretary be absent and would receive no compensation. The Committee was updated on the move into the renovated offices downstairs, which will take place January 28. The Committee recommends establishing a policy governing the payment to be received by management staff which opts out of the Borough's healthcare benefits. The recommendation is the payment be the same as non-uniform employees receive under their collective bargaining agreement.

Councilor Sullivan also read a letter from assistant finance director Linda Houser about the lack of any borough employee handbook or written policies, as well as the lack of a uniform system for employee evaluations. Council President McNamara commented on the letter, saying it was an example of the many problems with the Borough government that were inherited by the current Council. Councils in the past hired an HR director to develop policies and a handbook, but the project was never completed, Council President McNamara said. Costs to develop a handbook, and for other HR resources, might be covered by a state grant under the Department of Community and Economic Development's Early Intervention Program, which the Borough is enrolled in, Council President McNamara explained. Council President McNamara also discussed the lessons learned about the Borough's IT system when Borough Hall suffered a power outage Christmas Eve. He suggested the Borough might also explore asking the state for IT help through the Early Intervention Program. Our predecessors did not address these issues, Council President McNamara said. We are trying to fix what is broken. Councilor Arnold said she felt developing an HR manual is needed. Councilor Sullivan said she recommends the Borough look to get both HR and IT assistance from the state. Councilor Brooks made a motion to appoint Steven R. Wheeler as acting chief of police, effective February 11, 2013, pending a background check and the execution of an employment agreement, to become Chief of Police once the Civil Service Commission approves his appointment. The motion was seconded by Councilor Rhen. Councilor Brooks said Mr. Wheeler currently serves as Chief of Criminal Investigations with the state Attorney General's office. He also read a letter of recommendation for Mr. Wheeler written by Col. Frank Noonan, the state police commissioner and asked the letter, along with Mr. Wheeler's resume, be posted on the Borough's Web site.

Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

Council President McNamara said current Chief Hovan gave the job his all and thanked him for his service to the Borough, saying he was sad Chief Hovan was resigning, but the Borough will move forward from here. Prior Councils, and the Mayor, need to take responsibility for the state of the police department, and the fact that its policy manual is out of date. The motion to appoint Mr. Wheeler was approved by a unanimous 8-0 vote. Councilor Arnold reported the Borough has received grievances from the Teamsters challenging the use of volunteers in decorating the square. She asked the Community and Economic Development Committee be kept up to date on those grievances. Subcommittee on Labor Relations Councilor Brubaker reported arbitration with the police union is set for February 7. The next bargaining session with the Teamsters, who represent the Borough's non-uniform employees, is tentatively scheduled for February 12. Public Works Committee At the request of the Committee, Public Works Superintendent Ken Klinepeter was on hand to report on issues related to problems with utility bills. Mr. Klinepeter reported problems with Borough water bills were caused by a series of software related issues which have been resolved. All bills accurately reflect usage, though some residents received higher than anticipated bills due to delays in collecting meter data caused by the software problems. Councilor Rhen asked if bills would be adjusted going forward. Mr. Klinepeter said the adjustments would take care of themselves since residents who were billed for a longer than usual period of time would be billed for a shorter period on their next bills since the readings, which will be collected at the usual time of the month, will only reflect usage since the prior, later than usual, reading. Asked about minimum usage charges, Mr. Klinepeter explained that charge is really a customer service fee. He made the analogy that it is like cable television, a charge paid for being connected, even if you do not watch TV. Council President McNamara thanked Mr. Klinepeter for the report. Councilor Brubaker reported on the following utilities related matters: An opening exists for a part-time position with the sewer-water operations. He asked authorization to fill the position be placed on the February business meeting agenda A control valve on Well No. 5 is broken and not repairable. Councilor Brubaker asked that Borough Manager Konek direct Mr. Klinepeter to gather information on replacement costs. Councilor Brubaker also asked Mr. Konek to gather information regarding the replacement of a repeater in the vicinity of Frey Village Councilor Brubaker reported Mr. Klinepeter is getting quotes on the cost of replacing two utility poles Also, correspondence has been received from UGI inquiring about the Borough street replacement/repair plans for 2013. UGI seeks the information in order to

Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

coordinate its work in the Borough with that being done by the Borough, Councilor Brubaker said Council President McNamara directed staff to correspond with the Borough Authority regarding how to handle the Well No. 5 valve replacement. Council President McNamara also asked for an update on the Public Works Department's winter storm preparedness. Mr. Klinepeter reported the Borough's salt stores are full and the Borough has 12 CDL drivers ready for plowing operations. Community Development Committee Councilor Arnold thanked the volunteers from Penn State and the high school that helped take down Christmas decorations at the square and in Hoffer Park. She also offered special thanks to A.B. and Lori Shafaye for their efforts and leadership with the decorations. Council President McNamara said he was shocked nobody else from the community showed up to assist in taking down the decorations and thanked the Penn State students who helped. Councilor Arnold said there were two members of the general public who came out to help Michael Bowman and Jack Still, and thanked them, also. Council President McNamara commended the Shafayes for their efforts and asked for a round of applause to thank them. Finance Committee Councilor Rhen suggested the Borough examine its records retention policies with an eye towards getting rid of old, unneeded records. Council President McNamara directed Borough Manager Konek to look into the issue. Council President McNamara also reported Mark Morgan, the Borough's financial consultant, will present his next report on the Borough's Phase 1 Early Intervention Program activities in mid-February or March. Also, Council President McNamara reported the reason the Borough's 2011 audit report has not been completed yet is due to ongoing problems with the lack of a fixed asset list. Economic Development Committee No report due to Councilor Sites' absence. Rec Board Councilor Rhen reported the Rec board would be meeting later that week. GMEDC Borough Secretary Courogen had nothing new to report. NEW BUSINESS Councilor Brubaker pointed out the February Committee of the whole workshop would be held Feb. 19 due to the Presidents Day holiday on Feb. 18.

Minutes of Middletown Borough Council Workshop Meeting of January 22, 2013

Councilor Brubaker also said there were problems with repairs made to some storm water runoff drains in the Borough and asked the Borough Manager to consult with the Public Works Department about a fix. Councilor Rhen asked about the status of proposals for a new Borough Hall telephone system. Councilor McNamara asked Councilor Brooks to brief Council on the state of the current system. Councilor Brooks explained the current Centrex system uses old technology first developed more than 60 years ago. That system forces the Borough to maintain far more lines than more modern systems need. It also explains why the Borough has many phone numbers with both 902 and 944 or 948 prefixes. Council President McNamara asked if that was also due to the Borough using three different telephone service providers. Councilor Rhen pointed out Pa. Telephone Products only provides user hardware, Verizon and Frontier provide the Borough's phone lines. Council President McNamara said he had recently learned many of the duplicate exchanges are due to phones set up with remote call forwarding, which costs the Borough $18 per month per line forwarded. Other lines exist that are not actively used, but which cost the Borough $92 per month, a result, he suggested, of the Borough's systems having been pieced together by several departments and individuals. Mr. Konek reported he had received three preliminary proposals for new phone systems and is in the process of fine tuning the proposals and evaluating them. Council President McNamara suggested the proposals also be run by Mr. Morgan to see if it would be possible to have some costs covered by an IT grant under the Early Intervention Program. Mr. Konek also reported that effective February 4, concurrent with the move into the renovated administration and finance offices on the first floor, the Borough's new main telephone number will be 902-0706. Council President McNamara said the new number is being publicized on Borough utility bills and will also be posted on the Borough's Web site. Councilor Brooks moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Councilor Arnold and the meeting was adjourned at 9:51 p.m.

Borough Secretary