Borough Council Roundup - 2/1/2010

Sorry it's late folks - been very busy. In any event, the meeting for the most part was relatively uneventful. Some highlights:

1. I have decided to sit on the Residential Rental Property Inspection Program committee. While the program has passed and is now officially on the books, there are things that still need to be ironed out - so I thought it would be best if I sat on the board and offered, wherever and however I can, some assistance to ensure the success of this program.

2. We passed the ordinance designating several additional streets in the new developments (Tatamy Hunt and Fieldstone) as "Snow Emergency Routes". Please folks - when it's going to snow - remove your cars from the Snow Emergency Routes. I had the opportunity to once again ride in the plow with Frank Young, our road foreman on Saturday afternoon. What an eye opening experience. I have several photos of that adventure that I will share with you shortly. Please also remember that the guys driving the plow trucks are doing their jobs. Yes - I understand that it sucks when the snow gets dumped on your driveway after you've just cleared it. Unfortunately there's no other way. Frustrating? Absolutely. Does it merit getting yourself all riled up and swearing at us as we're driving by? No. Also - do NOT, under any circumstances, throw your snow into the street. This includes snowblowers. Please make sure that the snowblower chutes are aimed toward your property and not out into the street. If you're caught throwing snow into the street you risk getting a ticket. Thank you in advance for your support.

3. Help Wanted. The borough has two open positions:

- Borough Secretary. In case you haven't already heard, Joanne Keifer is no longer with the borough. We wish her well as she pursues other opportunities. This is a part-time position, maximum of 30 hours / week with no benefits. If you're a detail oriented, organized individual with office experience, please stop down the Borough Office and turn in you resume and fill out an application. I will be interviewing next week.

- Part Time Police Officer. All applicants must be Act 120 certified. If interested, please submit an application at the Borough Office. All applications must be received by 4:30PM on Tuesday, 2/23/2010.

That's about it for this month folks. Stay tuned - looks like more snow (and the fun that goes with it) is on the way!

Borough Council Roundup - 2/1/2010

I got an email from a reader (thank you) asking when I would have the roundup from the council meeting posted.

It's been a busy week, but I hope to take care of it this weekend (while it's snowing and I have nothing else to do).

Stay tuned . . .

Major Bread and Milk Alert in Effect

Don't say you weren't warned. Please remember to move your cars off the Snow Emergency Routes to allow our road crews safe passage to clear the streets properly. Once the snow is over, and the roads have been plowed curb to curb you can put your cars back. I know it's inconvenient, but we all benefit in the end. Thanks in advance for your support.

From the National Weather Service:

WASHINGTON...MORRISTOWN...BETHLEHEM...EASTON143 PM EST THU FEB 4 2010...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM FRIDAY TO 7 PM ESTSATURDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A WINTERSTORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PMFRIDAY TO 7 PM EST SATURDAY.A STORM SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO TODAY WILL PASSOFF THE CAROLINA COAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND THEN CONTINUE TO THENORTHEAST ON SATURDAY. SNOW FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL OVERSPREAD THEREGION FROM SOUTH TO NORTH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...THEN CONTINUETHROUGH MUCH OF SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 8 TO 12INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER THE WARNING AREA. STRENGTHENING WINDSFRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MAY CREATE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOWWHICH WILL CAUSE ADDITIONAL HAZARDS.A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AREEXPECTED. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

Borough Council Roundup - 1/4/2009

Well - the first Council meeting of 2010 was held this evening. Mayor Duignam opened the meeting, and swore in our newly elected officials, Hazel DeReamus (new to council), and Bob Hayes, who was re-elected to another four-year term. Unfortunately, due to illness, Mike Racz was unable to join us tonight, but Mayor Duignam will make sure Mike is sworn in properly in the next day or so.

The first order of business was to elect a council president. After much deliberation (well, there really wasn't that much deliberation - hell, there was hardly any discussion) I was nominated by Stuart Albert and elected by my fellow colleagues on council as your new Tatamy Borough Council President this evening. It's an honor that I do not take lightly, and I will do my best to make sure that, at the end of the day, we do what's right for the citizens of the Borough of Tatamy. Stuart Albert was once again re-nominated as Council Vice President.

Once that was completed, we had an executive session to discuss some personnel issues.

Coming out of that executive session, the following personnel changes were approved, effective as of January 1, 2010: The hours of the borough secretary and treasurer will be set at 30 / week, making these positions part-time. They will no longer participate in the full-time benefits program (e.g. vacation, sick, personal time). If they are scheduled to work on a holiday and the office is closed, we will pay them the hours for holiday pay. This will result in a significant cost savings to the borough. I have asked the finance committee (now headed by Hazel DeReamus and Bob Hayes) to report back to council next month with the amount that this change will save us moving forward.

Other appointments confirmed tonight include those of the Solicitor (Elviria LaBarre), Engineer (Hanover Engineering; Bob Mack and/or Brien Koecher); Building Code Inspector (Keystone Engineering); Zoning Officer (John Soloe). The only outstanding appointment remaining is that of the auditor. We have tabled that until next month at the earliest.

Other than that - it was pretty much business as usual. Some other highlights:

1. Dale Fern presented an update to the Residential Rental Property Inspection Program, to include announcing a public meeting to review the new program on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7:30PM. This meeting will be advertised. If this program affects you, as a landlord OR as a tenant, I highly recommend you attend.

2. We approved an ordinance increasing the mayor's salary. For the life of me I can't remember how much it was, but trust me - for what he does, it's not enough.

3. The mayor reported that the police department handled a total of 1,233 incidents last year. A special "Thank you" to the police department for taking care of us and making sure that we're safe.

4. Speaking of the police department, they had a great turnout this past Christmas with the "Visit from Santa" program. Collaborating with the Fire Department (we had two trucks on this year) - Santa was able to visit quite a few homes and put smiles on the faces of a lot of children.

That about sums things up. As always, please email me or drop a comment here if there's something that you need help with, or if there's anything that you have questions on.

Stay warm - according to the weather folks, it's looking to be quite cold for the foreseeable future. It is winter, after all.

Council Meeting - Monday 1/4/2010

2010 - wow -- it seems so strange writing 2010. In any event, enough rambling. Don't forget, tomorrow night, Monday, 1/4/2010 is our monthly Council Meeting. It begins at 7:30PM at the Borough Hall.

The meeting will open with the swearing in of newly elected councilwoman Hazel DeReamus, and the swearing in of Bob Hayes and Mike Racz, who were re-elected to new four year terms.

We will then begin the reorganization - a new council president and vice president will be nominated, and then we will begin the re-appointment of all the other folks who take care of us - solicitor, secretary, treasurer, engineer, road foreman, etc.

Following that, it's business as usual.

I hope to see you at tomorrow night's meeting. If you don't attend any others, please come and show your support for the folks who YOU recently elected, and witness their swearing in.

Happy New Year! Here's to a great 2010 (and beyond) for Tatamy!