Town of Wyoming
Council Meeting
Wyoming Town Annex
January 4, 2010
7:30 P.M.
                                               

REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

CALL TO ORDER - Mayor Marasco called the Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – led by Vice-Mayor Arnold

MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR OUR TROOPS

Council attending:  Mayor Mike Marasco, Vice-Mayor Butch Arnold, Secretary Georgette Williams, Councilman Terry Witt

Council absent:  Councilman Bill Spruill due to back injury

Staff attending:  Town Clerk Pamela Haddick, Police Chief Chuck Manuszak

Audience attending:  Richard & Joyce Stockslager, Elaine Bilow, Mike McFann, Glenn Neese

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

• Ms. Williams moved to accept the agenda.  Mr. Witt seconded the motion.  All in favor; none opposed.

ADOPTION OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

• Ms. Williams moved to accept both the December Council Meeting Minutes and the December Council Workshop Minutes as published.  Mr. Witt seconded the motion.  All in favor; none opposed.

TREASURER’S REPORT

• The Treasurer’s Report, Budget Update and Check Ledger were reviewed.  Ms. Williams moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report as published subject to audit.  Mr. Arnold seconded the motion.  All in favor; none opposed.

ANNEXATION REPORT

• There is currently no annexation activity.

PLANNING & ZONING

• Mr. Don Pommell was not in attendance to give the report.  Mayor Marasco stated that they will be working on the Annual Report at this month’s meeting.  The Comprehensive Plan is also still being worked on.  They plan to have it ready for its first public viewing in February.
• The next meeting is next Tuesday, January 12th. 

POLICE REPORT – CHIEF CHUCK MANUSZAK

• Chief Manuszak gave the police report.  He also explained a new system he is getting for the Town from a company called Nixtel.  There will be no cost to the Town.  This system will enable the police department to contact all residents of the Town for information on any emergency or non-emergency issue.  Hopefully it will be up and working sometime in February.  He also stated that between December 13th and December 31st the Department of Highway Safety made $1,500.00 available to Wyoming Police Department for DUI Patrols.

BUILDING INSPECTOR REPORT

• A list of open permits was provided.

CODE VIOLATION REPORT

• There has been no activity with this since last month.  Ms. Williams asked if a letter had been sent to the house on Broad Street with the collapsed shed that needed cleaning up.  Ms. Haddick stated that there had.

FIRE COMPANY REPORT

• Mr. Glenn Neese arrived from a fire on Asbury Avenue in time to give a Fire Company Report.  According to Mr. Neese several of our firemen were sent to the hospital and some of our equipment was lost at this fire.  He stated that the first mailing of the annual fund raising letters have gone out and although they need quite a bit more in donations than they have received, they are having a better than expected response.  There will be 2 more mailings.  It was discussed that the Nixtel system the Chief spoke about could benefit the Fire Company as well.  The Chief will look into that.

C/W SEWER & WATER REPORT

• Mr. Mike McFann thanked the council for the re-appointment of himself, Mr. Quinn & Mr. Stillson to the Sewer & Water Authority for 2010.  Mr. Stillson will be resigning in the spring as he will be traveling and won’t be available to attend the meetings.  The Town will need to find a replacement so if anyone is interested, please contact the Town.  Camden had an empty seat on the Authority that has been filled; however, Mr. McFann had not been formally introduced to the new person and wasn’t sure of the person’s name. He stated that there had been an error in the December minutes.  The party the S & W held last month in honor of Harold Scott was held the day after the last council meeting, not prior to the meeting as our minutes showed.  Ms. Haddick apologized to Mr. McFann and said it would be corrected.

PARK/STREET REPORT

• As Mr. Spruill was not available to report, Mayor Marasco reported for him.  The brush at Johnson Square has been burned.  The street sweeper has been repaired and returned.  Lew did an excellent job with the snow in our recent storm.  Quite a few residents have stated that the roads were kept open through it all and that was important.  The mayor thanked also the residents that had helped with clearing their parts of town such as Ray Hall and the Stockslagers as well as others.  Mr. Stockslager stated that people should park on just 1 side of the street when snow is called for.  It would make the plowing so much easier and a much better job could be done with it.  This is something else that the Nixtel system could be used for.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

• No one was available to give a report on the Charter/Ordinance Committee so Mayor Marasco reported that the final draft of the Charter should be ready the end of the week and he would get it to council as soon as Ms. King gets it to him.  Ms. King is typing it but she was hospitalized for about 10 days and it has taken longer than expected.  Ms. Williams stated that council was told last month that the rough draft was already completed and council would have copies by the end of that week.  Now Council is being told the same thing this month.  Mayor Marasco said he could not control the fact that Mr. Brown and Ms. King had both been sick.
• Ms. Haddick was asked to give the details on the Adopt-A-Family.  She stated that the Town had received $150.00 in cash donations as well as several pairs of girl’s socks and umbrellas for the two girls.  Mayor Marasco allowed her and Nicole to close the office on Friday, December 18th in anticipation of the storm in order to shop for the family.  Purchases came to about $529.00 which was a little higher than planned; however, three of the four children all needed new shoes, boots and coats which are higher priced items.  We were able to purchase all the children’s “needed” items but not many of their “wants.”  Everything was wrapped Monday morning and the family was notified.  Mom and Dad picked gifts up Monday afternoon and were extremely grateful for us giving their children a Christmas.

 
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

• None

NEW BUSINESS

• Mayor Marasco stated that there will be an election in February for two council seats, Ms. Williams seat is up for re-election; so is Mr. Witt’s.  Letters of interest must be received in Town Hall along with completed criminal background checks no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 29th.  This information is in the January newsletter and we will be putting it in the newspaper also.

CORRESPONDENCE

• All correspondence is on file at Town Hall if anyone is interested in seeing it. 
• Mayor Marasco read letter from Brian Bushweller regarding legislation allowing municipalities to add additional fines to traffic arrests that would come directly to the municipality.  Discussion ensued.  Ms. Haddick will place copies of letter in all council mailboxes and the Chief’s.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

1. Town Council Meeting – 2/1/10, 7:30 pm, Town Annex
2. Planning & Zoning 1/12/10, 7:30 pm, Town Annex
3. CWSWA – 1/12/10, 7:00 pm, CWSWA office
4. Charter/Ordinance Committee – 1/18/10, 2:00 pm, Town Annex
5. Council Workshop – 1/25/10, 7:00 pm, Town Annex

GOOD OF THE TOWN

• Mayor Marasco has been in touch with two engineering firms that supply on-call building inspectors for large scale projects that may be more involved than Richard Snyder is qualified to inspect.  He will try to have one of them, possibly both, to attend workshops with Council to discuss what they offer and the costs.
• Chief Manuszak asked Council if they would be willing to allow the police department until the end of 2010 to get the comp time/vacation time issue cleared up.  He has given up some of his own time to cover the time that should not have accrued for other officers.  He has given each officer the amount of time they need to use up and he will be giving them the options in order of seniority to schedule their time.  He will schedule his own last.  As soon as he gets all this info, he will be able to complete the schedules for all of 2010.  This build-up of time didn’t happen over night and it can’t be cleared up over night.  Mr. Arnold questioned the Chief about the COPS HRP Grant – whether there was federal money available to hire another officer.  The Chief said there is.  Funding for an entry level position would be available for three years, and then the municipality would be required to retain this officer on its own for one full year after the completion of the grant.  At that time, the municipality could do away with this position.  Ms. Williams moved to give the police department a year to get the vacation/comp time straightened out, with an update to be given to Council on June 30th.  Mr. Arnold seconded the motion.  All in favor; none opposed. 

Mr. Arnold moved to adjourn the meeting.  Mr. Witt seconded the motion.  All in favor; none opposed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Pamela Haddick, Town Clerk