Brownsville council seeks seventh member
BROWNSVILLE – Brownsville Borough Council is seeking a seventh member to fill the vacancy left by Councilman Walt Costello moving to California Borough. Council president Jack Lawver said Costello had given him a verbal resignation and would be following that with a written resignation. Council accepted the resignation, noting that Costello had served the borough well. Lawver pointed out that it was Costello who had spearheaded the borough’s building code project.
Council will be accepting letters of interest for the position until the close of business on Monday, Dec. 16. There will be a continued meeting on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m., at which time a new council member may be appointed. Council has 30 days to fill the vacancy.
Council at that time will also be reopening the budget.
“The tax rates won’t be affected, but some areas of the budget need to be adjusted,” Lawver said.
Lawver said Brownsville and Luzerne Township have been discussing the best way for the two communities to support Patsy Hillman Park, which is jointly owned by the municipalities. Lawver said one suggestion is for one municipality to pay for the park’s insurance while the other gives an equal amount toward personnel expenses at the park. No action was taken during Tuesday’s meeting, though it may be considered during the continued meeting.
Council Tuesday did vote to hire Alex McCann as a full-time member of the street department. One street department employee was injured in early November. Lawver said the additional person was needed to prevent any gaps in service to the community.
Several residents attending the council meeting complained about snow-covered roads following last week’s storm. Councilman Martin Redigan said there are problems in some areas because of vehicles parked on the street or parked too close to corners, making it difficult or impossible to get the snow plow down the street.
Lawver noted that shoveling snow from sidewalks and driveways into the street is not only illegal and punishable by a fine of up to $300, it is also dangerous. Lawver said hitting a pile of frozen snow with the plow can throw the truck several feet, or even cause it to spin.
“In a lot of these areas, we don’t have several feet. We’re dealing with several inches,” Lawver said.
Redigan said the borough actually had to hire several private plow operators to help keep up with the snow removal and to give the borough crew a rest.
Redigan also noted that the Brownsville Municipal Authority sent the borough a letter saying the storm sewer is running into the sanitary sewer line at York and Broadway. Redigan said the problem would be taken care of as soon as the weather permits.
In other business, council accepted the resignation of part-time police officer Lawrence Sabatula for personal reasons.
Council also passed a motion that officers must attach a copy of the dispatch order from Fayette County 9-1-1 to the daily police log any time they assist another department. Councilman John Hosler said that in addition, officers should not be using their personal cellular telephones to call for assistance or to receive calls for assistance from other departments. All such calls should be placed through the dispatching service.
Lawver said that the council is adopting the policies to protect itself from potential lawsuits resulting from incidents when the Brownsville police are outside the service area.