SHIPPENSBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL
June 4, 2013
7:00PM
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: 7:04 PM
Attendees: Andrea Lage
Kathy Coy
Steve Brenize
Kerri Burrows
Earl Parshall
Joe Hockersmith
Bruce Hockersmith
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Council
PUBLIC COMMENT
Nathan Rush: I would like to thank the members of the Borough Council for approving my handy-cap space. It was very handy and back in January I do have a question, with regard to the painting of the square would I do that or does somebody have to do that.
Andrea Lage: The Borough will take care of that.
Nathan Rush: I would like to go on record to say Thank you.
Andrea Lage: You are welcome and we are glad that you are here with us tonight.
BUSINESS
PRESENTATION ON COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT BY SHIPPENSBURG COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER
Liz Fisher: I am board member of the Shippensburg Community Resource Coalition. This is an effort to provide some youth counseling services here in Shippensburg. We started to get organized about 3-4 years ago. Since July of 2012 we have worked quickly and had great efforts in terms of our strategic plan and some projects that we have been undertaking. One of them is to conduct a community assessment and in order to understand more about the priorities and the needs and direction for where our services and programs would go next. In order to do that we have a larger community assessment that we are starting this summer. On the next to the last page of the slides you will see; Community Assessment and the basic questions that we are asking is what are the community strengths and needs for social services. We are doing this through 4 different approaches. We are looking at existing data and census data and we are conducting several community forums. We are dong community surveys. One of the unique things is that it is a partnership between the Shippensburg Area School District, Angie Mackey and I work together. Shippensburg University, I teach in the Social Work Department at the University and the Villages Community and the business community. The reason that I am here tonight to let you know about it because you may be hearing about it. We define the area that we are trying to serve as anyone who lives within the Shippensburg Area School District. Our first step is to hold 3 community meetings. Community Assessment Kick off meetings. The first one coming up next weekend with Human Service Providers and Church Leaders at the University Grille on June 12 @ noon. There will be lunch provided. The second will be for local business leaders on June 19th at Premier Events. Premier Events will be providing the lunch. The General Public community meeting will be on June 20th @ the Firefighters Activity Center. These three meetings are being planned and organized by the students. We are asking all leaders to get a survey to residents. We will have a hard copy and an on line version of it also. Some people like the email. The surveys will be done throughout the summer and end in the beginning of the fall and then in the fall we will have some focus groups. I also want to introduce Linda Butts, she is the director of Head Start and is on our Board. If you have any thoughts or feedback about getting these out to the people.
Andrea Lage: Thank you!
Joe Hockersmith: I think it is great. Can we somehow link to this from our website?
Looks good, thank you.
Liz Fisher: Is there someone who would be best to follow up with?
Kerri Burrows: The Borough Manager and the Mayor would be.
CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE ENTERPRISE ZONE LOAN COMMITTEE TO GRANT A LOAN TO THE STUDIO SALON
Ed Goodhart: If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.
Steve Brenize: We are looking to make sure that we have enough collateral if the loan would be defaulted upon. Using what is currently owned on the house and what it was appraised on the house.
Ed Goodhart: I used 75% of the tax assessed value.
Steve Brenize: The business has enough revenue. We will be giving her $30,000.00 at the beginning of the loan and once the receipts are shown for the equipment and labor we will give her the remaining part.
Andrea Lage: The idea is that she has to spend up to $48,555.00 in order to get the total amount.
Steve Brenize: Right, we can only loan out 80% of the project cost. Once she shows us the receipts for the $38,555 then we will give her the other $8,000.00.
Andrea Lage: Okay
Joe Hockersmith: Do we do the follow up with this to see that the job was created?
Ed Goodhart: We request that we look at their employment through the unemployment report that they file with the state. If they indicate that they have added new employees then that is all we look at.
Joe Hockersmith: I move to approve this loan.
Kathy Coy: I will second that.
Andrea Lage: The motion is to present a loan in the total of $38, 844.00 for the Studio Salon. The Enterprise Loan Committee would present a loan for the first installment of $30,000.00 and then a further installment upon proof of expenditures in the amount of $8,844.00. Any further discussion? Motion carries, 5-0.
CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR COMMUNITY CENTER
Tim Murphy: Okay obviously this is subdivision for the Shippensburg Community Center property. As you folks know the tentative plan is to subdivide the property into two lots. Lot one will contain the Community Center building and most of the parking area. Lot two will contain the park. There is no development being proposed by this plan it is just a subdivision. Before we came to you tonight we had to go before the Zoning Hearing Board and they approved a couple of variances. One was for the impervious surface coverage on Lot #1 and in order to lessen the impact of that variance the Borough agreed to move 18,000 sq. feet of impervious surface in the parking lot now and place cover. Other than that Martin and Martin had no comments. We have to get you guys some copies of the plan to sign so they can be recorded.
Andrea Lage: Okay, thank you. Any questions?
Approve wavier of the preliminary subdivision plan.
Joe Hockersmith: I move to approve the wavier of the subdivision plan.
Kathy Coy: Second.
Andrea Lage: Motion and second to wave the subdivision plan. Any further questions? Motion approved 5-0.
Approve final subdivision plan.
Joe Hockersmith: Move to approve.
Steve Brenize: Second.
Andrea Lage: Motion to approve, any further discussion? Motion carries 5-0.
CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 144, ENTITLED “VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC”, OF THE CODE OF SHIPPENSBURG
Joe Hockersmith: This puts the parking back? This is for approval? Motion to approve.
Kerri Burrows: Second.
Andrea Lage: Any further discussion? Motion carries 5-0.
CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST FOR A HANDICAP PARKING SPACE FOR 115 WEST ORANGE ST AND APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 13-010.
Steve Brenize: Do we have the dr’s orders?
Earl Parshall: Yes.
Joe Hockersmith: Is she aware that this won’t be hers exclusively?
Kathy Coy: I will make a motion to approve the handicap parking at 115 W. Orange ST and to approve the resolution of 13-010.
Joe Hockersmith: Second.
Andrea Lage: Any further discussion? Motion carries 5-0.
Executive session: It may involve litigation and personnel issues.
Executive session started at: 7:30 PM
Executive session ended at: 7:52 PM No action taken.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Mayor Bruce Hockersmith: Trick or Treat Night is October 24th. Under 12 years of age and it will be from 6pm to 8pm. This is a unified Trick or Treat night, confirmed with Southampton/Cumberland, Southampton/Franklin, Shippensburg Township and Shippensburg Borough all on the same night.
Andrea Lage: Why is it not October 31st?
Mayor: It is always according to the established procedure that it is always the Thursday night before Halloween.
Earl Parshall: That is only in Shippensburg, the rest of the world celebrates it on October 31st.
Andrea Lage: I am going to interject at this point. If there is an opportunity to discuss, I know that there are some concerns about the Park and Rec Advisory Committee and the understanding exactly what we want from them. We hope to clarify all of this.
Kathy Coy: From our last meeting that we met with the Advisory Board there is still confusion as what their role is to Council. We would like for them to give costs and other things for their events. They do not feel that it is part of their role and that would be something that the Park Manager should be doing. The way I interpret their meeting is that they feel they should be doing the suggestions and things like that and that the other part does not come to them.
Steve Brenize: That is great but we can pull the minutes and every single one of them during the interviewing process was pointed out that you would be coming up with ideas and that a lot of times, because the Borough does not have money for things you would have to find ways to make these programs happen.
Kerri Burrows: That is a good point and in some cases they have done that. I think their issue is not, where do you draw the line with coming up with new ideas, finding the funding sources and finding how much it costs and then implementing. They way that we were throwing it back to them is that they feel like, this is not what we signed up for.
AL: I am with Steve as I see that it is not implementation to ask for that. If you want to start a new business you have to think it through as far as physical and financial.
SB: They have been basically ready to hatch so to speak. We are going to have a free day at the pool. It is open to everybody. Somebody is going to have to move tables for the band. What is it going to look like and how it is going be implemented.
AL: Who is going , where they are going to be, what kind of resources are needed. Are we going to need chairs? It will be the job of the Borough to figure out and actually do it. They may mean you have to say we need people or whatever.
JH: If you are asking them to develop a program that is going to require a budget and they do all the leg work and come with; this is what it will cost us in dollars. They we say, well we probably cannot pass that in the budget. That is a lot of work for not. We are charging them to develop programs but you can’t spend any money on it.
AL: No, we are not actually asking them to raise the money. It is looking at it like, can you do a fee structure. Will it be in the 10’s of dollars, the 100’s of dollars, the 1000’s of dollars? Could you implement a fee?
SB: Is this a program or an activity? Maybe we are looking for a business sponsor for it.
AL: Then I would think it would be the Borough that goes out and finds the business sponsor? But…. Help us. The one employee does not have the time, she is busy. We have all acknowledged that we don’t have the time that was the point of this advisory committee.
Kerri Burrows: I think it is just them not understanding, and I will be fair. I agree with Stephen and I remember him asking that question of every single individual. We don’t have money, so do you understand that you will have to get creative so to speak.
AL: Or, tell us how we can do it.
KB: Right, I think that they did get creative in a lot of aspects but that doesn’t necessarily to me or Stephen imply to me that we think this would be great because it will be low or no cost. The majority on that list were low or no cost.
Earl Parshall: I think you just asked for some additional information on what this is and what does it look like and how do we do it? What do we need? I don’t think that you asked them to do budgeting or anything like that.
Kathy Coy: I think we need a procedure and a process for them. The chairs for the bands, are they being taken care of? Is there a process or a person that it should have gone to? Is there a process for that type of situation so they know.
Kerri Burrows: This isn’t a process that they would have in the future. We were kind of making it up as we go because it was so close.
Earl Parshall: Because we didn’t have the details of the idea before it was approved. That is what you asked for was a few more details so that we can plan. I don’t think that we need to move all the tables, but we needed the details. That is what I understood that you asked them for was a little bit more of the details. So then we could cost it out and figure out what it was going to take.
Kerri Burrows: I understand what we are all saying here, but what they are hearing is not what we are saying. That is the issue. To me, it is very clear. “They” are saying that is not what we signed up for.
Kathy Coy: I know some of them that have said that. I have heard that from multiple people.
SB: I want the Park and Rec Advisory to be successful and I want it to lead to having a better Park and Rec system. We need to get the ideas back and then tell us how we are going to do them. Like Joe said, I don’t want them wasting their time, if they come up with an idea and then not being able to do it.
AL: We can only do so much , if it seems like we are clear all we can do is go back. If there is someone who is not happy with that mission, please speak up or resign. I do think Council has been pretty unified on what we are looking for.
KB: Here is my general idea, if we go to them and we say okay. We understand that we were flying by the seat of our pants and maybe you weren’t clear and we weren’t clear enough with you, this is the expectations. I think that part of the issue as it stands right now is that they give us a list of 25 items on that list. If you approach us in a way that we say okay, this is the situation, all of these are not achievable, give us a couple things. We already approved that list as a whole.
AL: We have already said all of that.
SB: Yes, we have already said we like these ideas now how are we going to do them.
AL: Because they are doing it on their time, we went back to say figure out the ones that you think are the top.
KB: Okay, the kite festival. This is the one that is coming to my mind. This is a no cost thing. You need to find a place, which they did. So they said, okay. Then what?
AL: Do they envision having music there, do they think they will have tents there? Is it just going to be an open field?
Joe Hockersmith: If everybody agrees to that then is it up to an Borough Employee to make it happen?
KB: That is what I am asking and that is what they do not understand.
AL: Okay, it is still not clear. Okay, kite festival, okay, what is a kite festival?
JH: When we had a fairly successful, when she did a program did Council approve it?
Mayor: No, because we were still under the Park and Rec Commission. They had the authority to operate.
SB: The Chief ran the basketball league himself.
AL: I don’t know what this board needs, what do they want her to do?
JH: So, are we saying that when you come up with the idea you own it? Who is going to implement it?
Kathy Coy: That is the issue.
AL: There are two parts that are missing. #1, what it the kite thing? Is it people in the park or is there stuff going on? Is there a vendor?
JH: They are asking, are we the idea people or are we supposed to implement it?
KB: This is what we want, we need 6 tents, 10 people to man it, 55 parking spots and that is implementing it!
Earl Parshall: No, what you just described is the plan. AT that point with those details is when you decide whether we are going to do it or not. What you just described out where they want it isn’t going to happen.
KB: Right,
EP: All that criteria that you just mentioned is not there.
KC: She just made that up. There is nothing came like that.
EP: Okay, this is what we are trying to get to. To answer Joe’s question, who is going to implement it? Maybe, nobody. The idea is to get the ideas and what they are and then to figure out what it is going to take to do it and can we do it or can we not do it.
JH: How many ideas do you give and then have them turned down because the most common answer is , we can’t do that and then you have your board walk out again.
SB: What have we gotten so far that we haven’t implemented.
EP: None.
AL: Again, you have to think about what is entailed before we get it. Let’s just pretend for now that we do have 55 parking spots and power and whatever. We say, good. Let’s see if we can staff it and how. We need people to help park cars, etc. It is not enough to know an idea. Until we stop to think about what is involved we don’t know if we can do it. I mean, a bike race is great but we don’t know what is involved.