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MILESBURG -- Milesburg Borough Council continues to face challenges, with its newly installed president resigning this month before it could dig into its agenda.
Samantha Walker was appointed to the role on Feb. 21, following the ousting of council member Pete Delosa from the position.
During council's meeting on March 11, and during discussion on how to replace another member who'd previously resigned, Walker suddenly submitted her own resignation -- causing the meeting to come to an abrupt halt for lack of a quorum. Members Walker, Fred Kellerman, Ethel Kellerman and Plummer Davidson were present. Council members Greg Ritter and Delosa were absent from the meeting.
Others present were Mayor Clair Martin, Borough Manager Keith Russell and Solicitor Tracey Benson. About 20 residents also attended the meeting.
Walker's letter of resignation was not officially acted upon nor were many of the agenda items -- such as authorizing the payment of the monthly bills, approval of the minutes from the Feb. 12 regular meeting, the Feb. 21 special meeting and the March 6 special meeting and filling a council seat that was vacated by the resignation of Sandy Dieterle in February.
Leading into the discussion, Fred Kellerman and Walker spoke about the need to prioritize agenda items. Kellerman said he felt the order needed to reflect the urgency of the items.
Kellerman also said he felt council was "spinning our wheels" since they hadn't filled the borough's secretary/treasurer position yet.
Kellerman noted Russell has been performing the secretary-treasurer duties on top of his roadmaster responsibilities since being given the borough manager position earlier this year when he was hired.
Walker and Kellerman both serve on the personnel committee together and have conducted some employment interviews, but each felt that good candidates were not being found.
Walker reiterated that council should define the organization structure and create the description of job duties for borough employees (a secretary-treasurer, roadmaster, road worker) before advertising to hire could be accomplished.
A pivotal point during the meeting came as Paula Hall asked council members if her notary services would be needed for the appointment of a person to fill the council seat vacated by Dieterle, so council turned to that agenda topic.
A motion was made to make an appointment that night, which was carried. Walker voted against the action. She told council she felt it needed to give residents more time to submit themselves for consideration. The borough has until April 19 to fill the vacancy.
Three residents, Kirsten Lloyd, Bryce Taylor and Katlin Horn, who each provided Resident Appointment Forms to serve on committees as resident volunteers, were in attendance and given an opportunity to state why they would want to be appointed to become a council member.
Following their presentations, Ethel Kellerman made a motion to appoint Kirsten Lloyd to fill the vacated position.
Some members of council and others in the audience felt the position needed to be filled sooner rather than waiting until the middle of April before making an appointment, as Walker had suggested, simply because there needs to be enough council members present at meetings for a quorum.
It was noted Davidson is scheduled for surgery and will be unable to attend meetings for several weeks, and other council members have not attended the recent meetings.
If others were to miss a meeting, and a quorum of four council members is not gathered, then a meeting cannot be held.
Others in the audience stated their displeasure about moving towards a vote to fill the seat that evening.
Before a vote could be made, Walker excused herself to have a brief discussion with Benson. When she returned to her seat at the table, she announced verbally that she would be resigning from Milesburg Borough Council.
After receiving Walker's written letter of resignation and under the guidance of Benson, council was able to reorganize with the presence of Martin. Motions were made and approved to elect Fred Kellerman as council president and Davidson as vice-president.
Benson then advised that since a quorum of council members was not present, no action could be taken on the agenda items, including paying the bills.
In a written statement to The Express, Walker said she resigned to stop quick action in filling Dieterle's position.
"I prepared to sacrifice myself to stop them -- my lawfully gained elected position, my honest passion to serve and all of the ideas that are still burning inside me," Walker said of her decision to resign.
She further stated, much like she had during the meeting, that council needed to take time to review all potential candidates.
"All members of Council received their meeting packets three days prior to the meeting for review. It contained a proposal -- discussed at a special meeting less than a week before -- for a fair process that would allow time to fully inform the residents about the situation, so everyone would have the opportunity to declare their interest in filling the vacancy. The council has until April 19 to fill that vacant seat," Walker said in her email to The Express.
After Walker's written resignation and departure from the building, most of the audience left as well.
Prior to Walker's resignation and the abrupt end to its meeting, council did hear the following:
-- During the meeting, council heard from the president of the Milesburg Museum and Historical Society, Don Peters, during a presentation being called "Milesburg Beautiful."
Peters proposed to partner with Milesburg Borough in a door hanger project where residents could help their neighbors in ways to beautify the community. Some ways to help would include raking leaves, trimming shrubs or possibly painting a porch. Residents who may be elderly or not physically able to do these tasks on their own could ask for help and members of the community would team up and work together to complete the tasks.
Following the presentation, Walker asked her council colleagues their thoughts on creating "Help a Neighbor Day" (or a weekend) to foster community engagement and beautify the community.
The decision of creating a resolution to make this "Help a Neighbor Day" declaration a reality was tabled until more thought could be put into the idea. It was suggested during discussion with audience input that the day or weekend work days could be coordinated with the last Monday of the month being Brush Collection Day so that weeds or brush could be quickly disposed of.
-- During the Public Comment period residents on Turnpike Street inquired about the possibility of putting up planters or something to break the wind and create some porch shade since the trees had been removed. Council advised that residents could temporarily put out planters.
-- It was noted that the agenda topic of new sidewalks would be added to future meetings for discussion. Nick Witherite voiced that the sidewalk project would be a contracted job. To meet ADA requirements (for wheelchair use) the sidewalks would need to be four feet wide.