Charleroi reaffirms vote to part ways with solicitor
CHARLEROI – Council voted Wednesday to reaffirm prior actions taken to part ways with Sean Logue as borough solicitor and hire Dennis Paluso as interim solicitor through the end of the year.
Council initially approved the moves at a special meeting Oct. 25; however, the votes did not comply with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The Oct. 25 agenda was not amended to include those motions, and the public did not get a chance to comment.
“Because of that, it was more prudent to vote again on it, because it was at a meeting where there was no public discussion,” Paluso said.
No one in the audience commented on the matter Wednesday.
Wednesday’s vote to terminate Logue was the same as the one taken at the special meeting. Voting in favor of the motion were Council President Frank Paterra and fellow council members Randy DiPiazza, Nancy Ellis, Jerry Jericho and Paul Pivovarnik. Larry Celaschi and Joe Smith voted against the motion.
“I’m glad to help the borough,” Paluso said, adding that he talked to Logue about borough matters including two potential litigation issues. “He was a complete gentleman like he’s always been with me. He was opening up his records for Charleroi to me. He was open to discussion about activity that is going on right now that I’m not aware of to get me up to speed.”
Paterra said he was happy to have Paluso, a former borough solicitor who also is the solicitor for the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi, on board.
“It’s nice to have somebody from Charleroi, who grew up here, and cares about our community,” Paterra said.
The position was filled on an interim basis, which allows the new council that takes office in 2024 to approve a person for the position permanently.
Council also voted unanimously to appoint Paluso as the borough’s Right-to-Know officer, a task that had been handled by Logue. Roberta Doerfler, borough administrator/secretary, was appointed assistant Right-to-Know officer, also by an unanimous vote.
In other business, council voted to approve Brooks Fox as working foreman of the five-person street department. Fox had previously been crew leader, a supervisory position of the department, until he stepped down from that position in 2022.
Voting in favor of Fox were Paterra, DiPiazza, Ellis, Jericho and Pivovarnik. Celaschi and Smith voted for Sam Oravetz, another of the four applicants for the position.
“He’s been doing a very good job,” Paterra said of Fox. “He gets along with all of the guys.”
Finally, Celaschi presented a preliminary $3.075 million 2024 budget that does not include a tax increase.
“We wanted to make the numbers as accurate and realistic as possible,” Celaschi said. “We didn’t want to see (the future council) being burdened with any mistake. They have the opportunity now to analyze each and every line item. We’re very confident that you can pass that budget right now.”
This comes a year after council approved a budget for 2023 that included a three-mill tax increase.
A first reading of the 2024 spending plan is expected when council meets Nov. 8.