Council Report February 2021

President Steve Tassaro called the meeting to order, and solicitor Daniel Conlon shared his report and discussed tax appeals. Conlon explained that the local school district drives much of the process for bringing appeals of taxable values of homes in the Borough, generally triggered by a recent purchase. He suggested the Borough may want to have representation in these appeals as the Borough has a separate, but aligned, interest in collecting and accurately assessing local taxes. Tassaro suggested there would be little utility in having the Borough involved as the district is likely in a better position to lead these appeals.

There was a short discussion of a board vacancy and a potential appointment to fill the position. The council will discuss later.

Concerns about neighborhood signs were shared again, and the council approved plans to engage a company to analyze whether some signs could be disposed of or whether some should be added in certain locations, like near the pool.

Mayor Jim Stover reported that an older couple was scammed out of $6,000 but that the police recovered the vast majority of this.

Secretary/Treasurer Dorothy Falk shared financial information including items like repairs to the Borough’s leaf vacuum and cost changes to insurance, employee benefits, and tax services.

Discussion occurred around website updates, code enforcement, and processes on issuing permits, reporting code violations, and regulating new buildings. A related conversation ensued around potential regulation of borough aesthetics via an architecture review board. General sentiment appeared to be in favor of continuing with the status quo of maintaining open communications with the Code Enforcement Officer and thorough review and application of relevant building codes.

Grants were discussed to make improvements to community facilities.

The new LED lights were discussed as well as the potential of wide-spread conversion. The LED lights are brighter and should pay for themselves in a few years. Duquesne Light has also been trimming and removing trees to protect power lines. If they remove a tree, they will issue a voucher to replace it.

The next meeting is scheduled for March 8th @ 7 PM. Zoom link available upon request.