rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
CANTON — The Canton Borough Council had a rocky start to their March meeting, with meeting minutes from last month to be tabled for approval next month.
Councilman Brian Koval requested a motion for amending the meeting minutes from February. He wanted a sentence added to the minutes from the previous meeting. The sentence in question was “It’s in the policy,” referring to something Administrator Seeley had said to him during the police department portion at last month’s meeting. Councilman Christopher Schrader seconded the motion.
“When did you notice that? Today or last week or..?” asked Councilman Dave Preston. “Did you have time to talk to Mrs. Seeley about it and say ‘hey can you fix it for us?’ before you got it tonight? Or just wait until tonight for some special reason? Just a question. No response?”
“Mr. Preston...,” said Koval.
“You don’t have to answer me,” replied Preston. “That’s my question.”
“President Shultz, would you please address the gentleman that just spoke to me and tell him I prefer to discuss things in public at a meeting?”
“That’s what we’re doing,” said Preston.
“I know, Mr. Preston. Call for order!” said Koval.
“After there’s a motion, there’s discussion about the motion. He’s asking you a question about the motion, so that he understands it,” said Shultz.
“I respect that,” said Koval.
“So the answer is no answer then?” asked Preston. “After a motion and second we have discussion, am I right or not right?”
“Call for order,” replied Koval.
“Do you have an answer for him or not?” said Shultz. “All you have to do is say no answer.”
“Mr. President, I am just trying to just talk to you and let you relay the message so there is no controversy or conflict,” said Koval.
“No, we talk to each other. We don’t go through one another. He’s asking you a question. You made a motion. There’s discussion after the motion, Chris seconded it, there’s discussion to be had afterwards.”
A couple minutes later, Koval stated that the reason he wanted the sentence added “to be fair.”
“I don’t appreciate people putting stuff in there word-for-word trying to make me look bad. If you’re going to put word-for-word, I want everything. You know why? Because. There’s an Act. You know what’s required in the Sunshine Act? It doesn’t require verbatim. It doesn’t require picking certain individuals out and saying what they said. So I’m just asking, in all fairness, to verify this was said and if it was added to the minutes,” said Koval.
“That makes more sense to me,” said Preston. “If you had said that to begin with, we’d been perfectly clear and I appreciate your candor. It could have come earlier.”
“Mr. Preston, if I don’t directly talk to you, this is why. Because I don’t want to get into a conflict and argue. I would rather go through the president,” replied Koval.
Administrator Seeley asked why Koval wasn’t asking to change all of the meeting minutes, instead of just her verbatim.
“He’s selectively picking,” she said.
After heated discussion between the council members, President Michael Shultz asked for a 5-minute recess.
The council ultimately voted to table the meeting minutes and approve them at the April meeting to give Administrator Seeley enough time to review the recording of February and make the necessary changes, if applicable.
Councilman Koval discussed webinars and trainings and asked what the procedure was to sign up for them, and if council needed to approve purchases for webinars and trainings for a council person if that was not their assigned job (committee). Code enforcement officer John Raub noted to council that Councilman Koval allegedly left a street department meeting (his committee) early for another webinar that the borough had to pay for.
Councilman Christopher Schrader spoke some of his concerns at the meeting as well, first in the job performance portion of the Administrator’s report. Schrader feels that he does not get a fair opportunity to be placed on the monthly agenda, and was told that his items for discussion need to be presented to a committee first (a question Administrator Seeley asked at the beginning portion of her report). One of his discussion topics is about the police department and the hiring of new police officers. He also noted that he feels Administrator Seeley extends certain right-to-know requests, yells and interrupts her employers during meetings and avoids questions he asks her instead. He also noted that he had heard of her spending personal time on Facebook during business hours and noted that she, as well as Chief Seeley and Dave Wilson, spend their work time helping the Chamber of Commerce while they are on the clock.
He also feels that council is not properly adopting Robert’s Rules and he feels he is unable to speak or constantly interrupted. He also accused Councilman Preston of breaking oath of office “in record time.”
Police Department
Council voted to approve Solicitor David Brann to draft a contract for paying for Act 120, which states the borough will help pay for any training/schooling for a police officer, if the officer is employed by the borough after graduation. Council also approved advertising for officers in nearby police academies.
Next topic was the radar speed signs Mayor Vanderpool was researching. The brand he found was from a company in Georgia and will cost the borough $6,900 for two signs. The signs are PennDOT approved and don’t need calibrated.
Councilman Koval asked why Councilman Robert Johnson was not present at the last police department meeting.
Street Department
Council voted to approve the purchase of a 2022 load trail 7x20 equipment trailer, per Street Supervisor Dave Wilson’s request. The trailer will cost $7,895.
Councilman George Jennings, head of the street department, asked council to consider the department to work for private individuals, in which the borough will bill for time and materials to those they work for. He noted this will be for small projects and only if the street department has time, as they have a busy project schedule this year. Administrator Seeley will verify with insurance before the department moves forward with any private residential or commercial projects.
Council voted to approve 2022 street projects.
Finally, the street department asked council to advertise for a part time employee over the summer. Council agreed.
Recreation
Councilwoman Lynette Ambruch noted that volunteers from New Life Church’s youth group will paint picnic tables for the borough at War Memorial Park. The grant update was also noted in this section of the meeting. 2018’s grant work should be completed this year, and the 2022 ADA bathroom grant application will be submitted.
Fire Department
Scott May noted the April 12 meeting of the board of directors. He also noted that he is researching quotes on emergency lighting in the building. Finally, he concluded his report thanking Richard Porter and Brian Krise for the use of their bucket trucks to get Christmas decorations down.
Mayor’s Remarks
Mayor Vanderpool started his report by thanking Dave Wilson and the street department on the recent snow removal. He then went on to explain to council the shoveling program for senior citizens, noting that Impact Youth will be helping those who physically and financially cannot remove the snow on their own.
Next, he asked that business owners and renters in the business district to please not park in front of the businesses on Main and Troy Streets, and instead please park in the municipal lot, to save room for potential customers in the area.
Vanderpool concluded his report by noting to the council members that they are there to work together on council, not bicker amongst each other or cause strife.
Other news
• Spring cleanup is scheduled for the week of May 16. Administrator Seeley noted an increase in cost from Northern Tier Solid Waste Association. Council voted to charge $15 for a screen or monitor and $60 for a dump truck load.
• Council discussed and approved the purchase of Roberts Rules of Order books on Amazon for each council member and future members at $15/book. Roberts Rules was approved by council at last month’s meeting.
• Council approved Resolution No 2022-5 - Authorized Official Resolution Statewide Local Share, for purchase of the generator for the fire department and the street shed. The deadline for this grant was March 15.
• Council approved Resolution No. 2022-6, a 2022 DCNR grant application for the purchase of an outdoor restroom facility at War Memorial Park. They also approved a separate motion to pay Woodland Design a $1,800 fee for drafts. With a $60,000 grant and $30,000 match from Bradford County Commissioners, the project will be funded with $90,000.
Before closing the meeting, Administrator Seeley asked for clarification on a topic during the meeting, which was her asking council if a committee is appropriate to discus non time-sensitive items before bringing those items to a council meeting. She was answered with yes.
The next Canton Borough Council meeting will be on Monday, April 11, at 7 p.m. in the borough building.