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Uniontown council considers cost cuts

By Steve Ferris 5 min read

Uniontown City Council continued its efforts to reduce expenses Tuesday when the panel discussed eliminating the electrician’s position and unanimously voted to advertise for bids for electrical repair services. The possibility of eliminating the street painter’s position was also mentioned.

Mayor Ed Fike said the electrician’s salary this year is nearly $50,000, but that person doesn’t have work to do every day.

He suggested soliciting bids for electrical repair services and using the would-be contractor on an as-needed basis.

Councilman Marlin Sprouts Jr. agreed that bids should be sought if the electrician does not have daily work.

Councilman Gary Crozier said the issue should be studied before any action is taken because the electrician’s position is covered in a union contract.

Councilman Blair Jones Sr. said the electrician has seniority and would be eligible to take another unionized city job.

Fike said soon after he took office in January, he asked the electrician to fix the lights outside of City Hall on Penn Street and North Gallatin Avenue, but he said the work has not been completed.

Fike said he asked the police department to reduce the amount of overtime it pays officers to save money.

“Why keep the electrician if he’s not working full-time,” Fike said.

He said the electrician’s total budget is $75,000 to $80,000 a year.

“This is about we the people, not about hurting anyone. He can get another job with the city,” Fike said.

Solicitor Ricardo Cicconi said council could solicit bids to find out how much the move would cost before deciding whether to eliminate the position.

The salary of the electrician, Ron Varndell, is $41,934 this year, according to salary information obtained last year from the prior administration.

In 2007, his salary was $39,069 and he also received $6,815 in overtime.

After council agreed to advertise for bids for electrical repair services, Jones suggested eliminating the street line and curb painter’s position.

“I’m not for anyone losing their job, but if we’re going to look at one, we have to look at all of them,” Jones said.

He said he didn’t know if the street painter worked during the winter months.

The street painter, Robert Allman, is due to make $26,676 this year, according to the salary information.

Last year, he was paid $24,905 in salary and $191 in overtime.

A cost-cutting move council approved in February, advertising for bids for garbage collection, has not yet been done.

Fike said he wants to have a meeting with vendors and council to review the specifications before advertising for bids.

Cicconi said the bid specifications are complete and council may meet with contractors before advertising.

Fike said the meeting would not be advertised. He authorized the city clerk to contact vendors and schedule the meeting.

Council agreed to advertise for an outside garbage collector and sell the city’s garbage trucks after Fike was critical of the sanitation department. He said the department has too many employees and had too much overtime.

According to this year’s budget, the department’s operating costs are $877,254 and its revenue is projected at $854,400 with a deficit of $22,854.

Meanwhile, Jones provided some good financial news, saying the sewer department collected $180,000 in revenue in March and a total of $589,000 this year.

He said $30,000 in delinquent sewage bills was collected last month and $124,000 has been collected this year.

He said more than $50,000 in fees for various licenses have also been collected this year.

“We’re starting to come back,” Blair said, noting that liens are being filed against properties whose owners are delinquent in paying sewer bills.

Council discussed, but voted against providing discount parking rates in the Penn Street parking garage for jurors.

Fike suggested cutting the normal fee of $6 a day to $3. “My heart goes out to jurors. They don’t want to be there,” he said.

Treasurer Joseph Giachetti said he sees the garage from his window in City Hall and it is full when court is in session in the Fayette County Courthouse.

Crozier said there is no need to lower the price if the garage is full and the city needs the revenue to make the payments on the garage’s debt service.

Council voted 4-1 against the reduction. Sprouts cast the lone vote in favor of reducing the fee.

In a crime issue, Jefferson Street resident Robin-Hall Lancaster asked council to hire more police officers and create an ordinance that would limit the number of juveniles that can congregate.

She said she was attacked by three juvenile females who were in a group of about 30 that gathered in front of her house May 4 last year at about 10 p.m.

Lancaster said she went outside because her dog got lose and was attacked. She said the girls repeatedly kicked her in the head while she was lying on the street, and some males in the group attacked her husband when he came to help her.

She said her children were too afraid of the group to identify them to police or testify against them.

Another resident said a 13-year-old girl was attacked and beaten up by a group of juveniles Monday night on Connellsville Street.

Jones said there is a 10 p.m. curfew for juveniles when school is in session and an 11 p.m. curfew when school is not in session.

A former city police chief and officer, Jones said getting people to testify about crimes has always been a problem.

In unrelated business, the council approved the sale of six trucks that the city no longer uses, for a total of $6,490. Bids were opened at the beginning of the council meeting.

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