Although no official action was taken at Monday night's regular meeting of borough council, President Elizabeth Rocco announced the borough may be looking for a new council member.
Judy Sorosky, who joined council in January 2006, submitted her letter of resignation at Monday's meeting, although Rocco said she hoped Sorosky would reconsider the decision. Sorosky was present for most of the meeting, but did not return after council interrupted the agenda for a brief, closed-door executive session concerning personnel matters.
The borough will begin taking letters of interest from qualified candidates for the possible council vacancy. Unless rescinded, Sorosky's resignation will be voted on at February's regular borough meeting, at which time council will have 30 days to fill the seat. A new member could be sworn in as soon as next month.
Letters of interest may be dropped off at the borough office at 320 Point St., or sent to P.O. Box 104, Saltsburg, Pa. 15681.
A $5,000 borough donation to the Saltsburg Free Library, requested by the now-defunct library board, was tabled once more Monday, as it has been each month since September.
The library closed in late summer, with decreased funding and patronage to blame, according to library officials. Since then, the library's collection has been given a temporary residence at Saltsburg Elementary School.
Before submitting her letter of resignation, Sorosky reported on her recent discussion with school representatives about the library's status. She was told that a room had been allocated for the collection, but it is not yet operational. Shelving units need built and boxes need unpacked before the library can once again open to the public, hopefully by the end of January. When that happens, Sorosky was told, the library may be open two nights a week and for a few hours on Saturdays, although it is yet unclear who will man the library during that time.
The $5,000 donation that was requested is a line item in the borough's budget, and Rocco said it will remain a part of the spending plan. She suggested that the board table the issue "and revisit it when we need to," once the library has found a permanent home and is fully operational.
Since Campbell Oil & Gas finished drilling and installing a gas well on a 2.86-acre site near the borough sewage treatment plant close to a year ago, the well has frozen over a few times. As a result, council decided Monday night to reconnect to Dominion Peoples for gas service at the plant.
Council had come to an agreement with Campbell Oil & Gas for free gas of up to 200,000 cubic feet per year, in addition to a one-eighth royalty on gas and oil sold from the well site and a yearly lease rental of $1,000. Subsequent problems with the well prompted the borough to pay a monthly fee to Dominion Peoples as a backup plan, in order to ensure the plant would not be left without gas service for an extended period of time.
Rocco announced the availability of the Robert C. Edwards Foundation Scholarship, established by the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs (PSAB).
The scholarship is open to first-year freshmen attending college who are residents in a borough that is a member of the PSAB, as is Saltsburg. Scholarships in the amount of $1,000 will be presented to selected students in each of PSAB's six districts.
Qualified students can obtain scholarship applications at the borough office.
In other business, council:
⢠Approved Wayne Kablack as the borough solicitor, Gateway Engineering as the borough engineer, and Chris Pemberton as the borough secretary/treasurer for 2009.
⢠Authorized Andy Blenko to prepare necessary paperwork to renew the borough's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the sewage treatment plant. The permit, which must be renewed every five years, will expire in August. In addition to paying a $500 application fee, council agreed to compensate Blenko for the work, paying up to $1,750, and will grant him access to necessary files and photographs through Gateway Engineering.
⢠At the suggestion of Maguire, agreed to haul trees used for the town's recent Christmas light-up display to nearby trails operated through the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy. Maguire said the trees would provide refuge for wildlife along the trail.
⢠After its executive session, hired Herb Pizer as the part-time sewage plant manager, at a rate of $14 per hour for up to 20 hours a week.
