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MILESBURG -- Milesburg Borough Council met on March 6 for a special meeting to accept the resignation of one of their council members and to move forward with other business brought before the council.
Council members in attendance were President Samantha Walker, Plummer Davidson, Ethel Kellerman and Fred Kellerman. Pete DeLosa and Greg Ritter were absent. Also attending were Mayor Clair Martin, Borough Manager Keith Russell, Solicitor Tracey Benson and several residents.
In light of the letter of resignation submitted on Feb. 22 by council member Sandy Dieterle, council agreed to accept her resignation and will now work to fill the vacated seat.
Dieterle held a council seat since 2008 and had been council vice-president at the time of her resignation. Her term on council was not due to expire until 2026.
Dieterle has also served with other members of council on the budget and street committees as well as on the community and park committee.
Since Dieterle's resignation, Borough Manager Keith Russell has been appointed as the new Public Records Officer to handle 'Right to Know' requests and communications on behalf of Milesburg Borough.
Residents were encouraged to attend the upcoming meetings and to consider serving on council or as a committee resident volunteer.
At the start of the meeting two individuals requested permission to record the meeting and were granted approval on the condition that the recordings not be streamed, uploaded or posted in any form on the internet.
The Railroad Street Bridge project is moving forward after easement agreements have been signed and executed with the Dann and Hilliard property owners.
Benson will have the documents properly recorded at the Centre County Recorder of Deeds office.
With the help of a representative of SEDA-COG, the bridge project with an estimated cost of $1.3 million, is now on track for the next step - the bidding phase - to begin.
New drafts of the council's Mission and Vision Statements were read for the benefit of residents attending the meeting. Both drafts will now be posted on the borough's website (under the Forms tab) for the resident's viewing in the hopes that input will be presented to council before or during the next meeting(s) when the drafts would be considered for adoption.
Council is continuing their search for an office assistant through Express Employment Professionals to find qualified candidates for the interview process.
Currently, there isn't an office assistant, so Walker asked for the patience of residents during the times when the office door may be locked while the borough manager is out performing his roadmaster duties. Residents were urged to leave a message on the answering machine and can expect a call upon Russell's return to the office building. Interested applicants would be considered for either part time or full time employment in the hopes of filling the position soon and having regular office hours that would then be added to the website.
According to Walker, council plans to review and clearly define in writing the rules and procedures of the council president, vice president and the duties of the employees. More discussion will be held at the upcoming meetings leading to the eventual adoption of the written protocol.
Council agreed to investigate the possibility of utilizing a "Push Notification System" where residents could sign up to receive a phone call, text or an email providing important information that can be shared. Information pertaining to emergencies - like flooding conditions or street closures - or upcoming meeting dates and open positions that need to be filled would be some examples of the notifications that could be issued with this notification system.
Improvements are being made to the borough's website. Council would like to receive input from the residents on what they would like to see shown on the web page.
Under new business, there was a need for a Vacancy Board Chair appointment and that position has now been filled and approved by Lesa Weaver. Weaver lives on Turnpike Street and has been attending council meetings on a regular basis. She has also agreed to serve on the budget committee.
Milesburg Borough has committees that have three council members and a resident volunteer to serve on. Those committees are budget, personnel, streets, community and park and health and safety. Most of the committees are in need of a resident volunteer.
Interested volunteers should complete a Resident Appointment Interest Form which can be obtained from the borough's website or by stopping at the office to be considered for one or more of the committees.
According to Walker, additional special meetings are being held because there are a lot of things to work through and take care of, and the four week span between regular meeting intervals is just too long to let some of the issues go.
By adding special meetings, council members and those residents attending the meetings won't need to be here for several hours.
Milesburg Borough Council will meet on Monday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. for their regular monthly meeting.
A special meeting has also been scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m.