Masontown councilmen appoint new member to panel
MASONTOWN – Borough council got a new member Tuesday, after members unanimously voted to appoint Mark E. Snyder to fill the seat vacated by Sheilah McGalla three weeks ago. Snyder, 50, was one of three applicants for the council seat, but was the only resident who was registered to vote in the borough, according to councilman Tom Loukota. Snyder, a retired coal miner who has lived in the borough for nine years and had lived in the borough previously, said he would be able to give his time to the borough because he is retired.
“I look forward to working with everyone,” he said. “I feel that I can help.”
Snyder, husband of Fayette County Clerk of Courts Janice Snyder, will serve the remainder of this year and all of next year, but will have to run next year for the last two years of McGalla’s term, which would have expired at the end of 2005. Snyder said he is unsure at this point whether he will run for the last two years of that term.
Snyder will serve on the police committee, finance committee, ambulance committee and the personnel safety committee. After taking the oath of office from Mayor Walter Scarton, Snyder participated in several votes following a 90-minute executive session for personnel matters.
In other council news, council president Carole Daniels announced that she will not run for council president next year and may not return to council at all, citing her husband’s ongoing health concerns. Daniels took over as president at the beginning of the year, and said she has enjoyed her time in that role.
“I will miss it, but I hope to remain on council next year, ” she said.
“I ask council to decide who you would like for your president next year, I know in my heart and mind who I want to see up here.”
The terms of Daniels and councilmen Charles Popovich and Joe Volansky will expire at the end of 2003.
Meanwhile, former mayor and council member Kay Rendina said she had some concerns with the borough’s emergency management plan, especially in the area of preparedness for disasters. She asked how soon residents will be alerted and what resources people should have in their homes at all times to be prepared if something should happen.
“It would be nice if we had magnets to list the alert signals for disasters and the mass care centers,” she said.
“I think it could be mass hysteria if we’re not prepared at all.”
Police Chief Richard Barron said he and Ed Sutton, emergency management director for the borough, will meet with Rendina to discuss some of her concerns further.
Council also voted to award contracts for the replacement of two water lines in the borough and construction of a new backwash tank at the water plant. Borough engineer Russ Mechling said the tank should cost around $80,000, and the two lines will cost approximately $42,000.
Council voted to replace lines along Westwood Avenue from Redwood Street to First Street and on Blaney Street from East Church Street to the street’s end.
Mechling said as much of the work as possible will be completed by the end of the year, and the other lines in need of replacement could be done next spring.
Council also voted to begin taking pension deductions from the paychecks of police department employees, effective with the current pay period.
Daniels voted no, and councilman Frank McLaughlin left the meeting before the vote was taken.
– Voted to accept a five-year contract with CBF, Inc. to continue serving as the borough’s trash hauler from January 1, 2003 through Dec. 31, 2007.
– Announced that the 2003 tentative budget will be approved at the Nov. 26 meeting and a budget workshop will be held in council chambers on Monday, Nov. 25 beginning at 6:30 p.m.