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CITY COUNCIL OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF NEW CASTLE Present: Council President William Blest Others Present: Mayor John Klingmeyer, City Treasurer Janet Carlin, City Administrator Cathryn Thomas, City Solicitor Roger Akin, City Engineer David Athey, Interim Director of Public Services Frank DiSabatino, Building Official Jeff Bergstrom Council President Blest brought the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. Council President Blest introduced Roger Akin, Esquire to the audience. Mr. Akin is the new City Solicitor. A Motion was presented by Councilperson Churchill to accept the following minutes: May 2 workshop and special meeting, May 7 two public hearings, May 7 special meeting, May 8 public hearing, May 8 regular meeting, May 22 workshop and special meeting, May 29 workshop and special meeting, May 31 workshop and special meeting. The Motion to accept the Minutes to Date was seconded by Councilperson Petty. The minutes detailed above were accepted as presented. APPROVAL OF TREASURER’S REPORT City Treasurer Janet Carlin reported that there was $400.00 in Total Petty Cash on Hand, $114,138.99 in Total Monthly Deposits, Total cash in the Wilmington Trust Accounts equaled $526,966.36, $773,086.34 in the Certificates of Deposit and De. Government Investment Pool and $1,300,052.70 Total Cash on Hand. A Motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented was brought by Councilperson Churchill. The Motion was seconded by Councilperson Gaworski. Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented. REPORT FROM CITY ADMINISTRATOR Mrs. Thomas stated that her report was in Council’s packet and gave a brief overview of the Western Gateway Project and informed the audience of the budget workshops the Council was conducting. APPROVAL OF STAFF REPORTS Lt. Brams attended the meeting in Chief McDerby’s absence and introduced Council to Gene Wood. Mr. Wood was recently offered a position with the New Castle City Police Department and has accepted. Lt. Brams also noted for Council that Ofc. Torres was not seriously injured in the altercation that occurred on June 9, 2007 and that he was back to work. Mr. DiSabatino and Mr. Bergstrom stated they had nothing to offer other than the reports in Council’s packet. Councilperson Petty gave a brief overview of the Summer Recreation Program and announced that council was lowering the program registration fee to $5.00. GRANT REVIEW There was no new Grant activity for the preceding month. COMMUNICATIONS President Blest read a letter from Kathy Tidball of the Arasapha Club thanking Council for their assistance with the May Market. Council President Blest also read a letter from Gene Dempsey asking for permission to continue the Annual Antique Show which will be held on August 26, 2007. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR Joseph DiAngelo informed Council that some members of the Planning Commission were concerned about Ordinance 451, specifically that if the property is vacant for 45 days or more that it would be considered vacant. Marsha Corcoran, Mary Rispoli and Tina Mascillia all spoke regarding the skate board park and that the children need some place to ride their skate boards. Ennio DiAlessandro asked about the Banks building and if the City did turn it over to the Trustees, would the City be compensated for it. Council President Blest read a Resolution recognizing City employee Charles Fleetwood for 25 years of service to the City. Mr. Fleetwood was presented with a plaque and the Resolution. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Motion and vote to place STOP signs at the intersection of 5th and Delaware Sts. Council held a Public Hearing regarding this matter on May 8, 2007 and Council President Blest read Resolution 2007-23. A motion was made by Councilperson Churchill to accept the Resolution. Councilperson Petty seconded the Motion and it passed unanimously. 2. Discussion to schedule a Public Hearing to consider Ordinance No. 451 governing vacant buildings. A Public hearing has been scheduled for 8/14/07 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss this matter. 3. Motion, discussion and vote on Resolution No. 2007-14 transferring ownership of the Banks Building to the Trustees. After a brief discussion a vote was taken to move forward with talks with the Trustees to come to some type of resolution. (Churchill-yes, Gaworski-yes, Blest-yes, Petty-abstained from voting.) NEW BUSINESS 1. Report on findings and discussion concerning development of a skate board park. Councilperson Gaworski shared his findings with Council regarding other skate board parks around the state including expense, maintenance and upkeep. Council listened to the concerns of the residents and Councilperson Gaworski will look into this matter further. 2. Motion and Vote to appoint a Public Information Officer for the City of New Castle. Councilperson Churchill requested that Council approve her as being named the Public Information Officer and after a short discussion Council voted unanimously that Councilperson Churchill is the City’s Public Information Officer. 3. Motion discussion and vote to approve a vendor license requested from Brian McClain. After a brief discussion it was decided that Council would approve the license once Mr. McClain receives his paper work from the Dep’t. of Health and with the understanding that a registered letter would be sent to the vendor who was previously given a license notifying him that since he has not used the license yet and it is already June, Council was giving his spot to another vendor. Councilperson Churchill made a Motion that Mr. McClain be approved for the vendor license. It was seconded by Councilperson Gaworski and passed unanimously. COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR Various audience members spoke again about the need for a skate board park or possibly changing the existing ordinance to allow skate boarding, with restrictions. A Motion was made by Councilperson Churchill that the meeting be adjourned and Council proceed to Executive Session. It was seconded by Councilperson Petty and the meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jill F. DiAngelo, |
