donora
Donora council passed the borough’s 2023 budget and filled vacant municipal positions during a special meeting Thursday.
Members said the $2,792,513 budget is balanced and generally mirrors the 2002 budget while maintaining flexibility for unforeseen costs. The borough’s general tax rate remains at 6.512 mills, .125 mills for the fire department, .219 mills for parks and recreation and .031 mills for the library.
The borough established a flat $3 occupancy tax and $5 per capita tax.
The motion to adopt the budget passed 5-2, with council members Cindy Brice and Tom Thompson voting against. The tax rate vote passed unanimously. Resident Scott Nedrow voiced concerns about the budget during public comments, saying numbers raise more questions than they answer.
“I don’t know how you can imagine the people to trust anything — numbers wise — that you produce,” Nedrow said.
Nedrow listed a number of concerns regarding auditing firm Maher Duessel’s review of the budget, arguing the borough had no cyber security policy, no credit card procedure, no fraud policy and no financial statement regarding borough pension funds. Nedrow said the public accountants also found the borough’s 24 bank accounts to be excessive.
On credit card procedure, Councilman Gib Szakal said the borough does not currently use credit cards and outlining a procedure now is unnecessary.
When it came to allocated funds, Nedrow said the borough provided too little toward combating blight.
“Blight, $15,000 in the budget,” he said. “From Mellon Bank to the library, 65% of the buildings are boarded up. And you’re spending $15,000 on blight. You can’t tear a dog house down with $15,000. The only buildings torn down with that money are the ones that burn and get insurance money to get torn down. And if you ask anybody what the major problems in this town are, blight is the big one.”
Brice said she voted against the budget because she thought it continued poor money management practices.
“It’s no different than last year,” she said. “There’s $16,000 given to the police overtime fund. Right now, we’re at $70,000. They aren’t paying police with our understaffed department, they aren’t paying (former superintendent) Jimmy (Brice) anymore – they’re relying on residual funds. But sooner or later it’s going to run out.”
Councilman Joe Greco also pointed out that the budget was similar to last years, but said he approved because it accounted for future hires.
“It appears to me that it’s practically almost identical to last years,” Greco said. “But it makes room for future hirees?”
“Plus raises,” Councilman Gib Szakal said.
DONORA • A5 FROM A1 “Then my vote is yes,” Greco said.
Council set next year’s work session and public meetings for 6 p.m. on the first and second Thursday of each month.
Borough administrator hired
Council elevated current bookkeeper Louis Morrison to borough administrator Thursday. Morrison will fill the role through a 90-day evaluation period. At the request of Councilman Tom Thompson, council revealed Morrison will earn a $50,000 salary pay through 90 days and upon positive evaluation earn $50,000 to $52,000 a year.
Council honored Morrison by placing him at the center of their seating arrangement, where he sat throughout the meeting. Council approved the hire 6-1, with Brice voting against. Brice said the hire had only been brought to her attention within the last half hour during an executive session.
“Louis is a great bookkeeper. He’s worked really hard. I don’t have a problem with that,” she said. “But we had an executive session 30 minutes ago to talk about this. This wasn’t even on the agenda yesterday.
“We met 30 minutes ago. That’s what’s wrong here. Nobody talks anything out. It’s not a matter of whether he’s qualified or unqualified. We haven’t talked about it. So my vote is no.”
Greco jabbed back, arguing the executive session was enough opportunity for discussion.
“You know, she’s right,” he said. “We were upstairs and we talked about it and she sat there and she remained silent. She should have got her opinion out upstairs not down here. My vote is yes.”
Council President Mike McDowell said Mayor Don Pavelko brought the idea to council and that it had been previously discussed.
“Mr. Pavelko brought it to my attention to have this executive session,” McDowell said. “He was in agreement with it. We wanted an opportunity to ask Louis what he expected from it.”
Brice held her ground, saying the process should have been more deliberate.
“We should have asked him a month ago,” she said. “We should have sat down and talked it over. Not just one person — council.”
The borough hasn’t officially filled the role since former administrator Terri Petroske left in June. Mc-Dowell said since hiring Morrison in July, he’s unofficially taken on responsibilities of the position. “We talked about how he’s already doing a lot of the duties of administrator,” McDowell said. “He expressed interest in the job and we decided to give him 90 days to feel out the position and see if he’s up for it. I think he’ll be a good fit for the borough.”
Sewage authority appointment
Council voted to appoint Steve Walko to the Mon Valley Sewage Authority. The vote passed 5-2, with Brice and Thompson dissenting.
Council received two letters of interest for the position from Walko and previous board member Lewis Marraccini. Brice made an original motion to appoint Marraccini, but council majority said they wanted to consider both applicants.
Council voted down Marraccini’s appointment 2-5, with Brice and Thompson in favor of his appointment. After amending the agenda, council appointed Walko. Brice said she approved of Marraccini but also voiced concerns over lack of discussion.
“He’s been on there for the last five years,” she said. “He’s got the qualifications — he’s a great guy. I’m in agreement. But I really think we should have had a discussion, too.”
The agenda didn’t mention Walko and council had to amend it to include him. McDowell said the agenda should have reflected the interest of both candidates and that he and other council members felt it was time for a fresh face on the authority board.
“We had two letters of interest and the agenda should have reflected that,” he said. “Walko expressed interest in the job and it’s not a bad thing to get young people involved.”
Greco said he would have voted for Marraccini, but that he received an email from a council member prior to the meeting that encouraged members to approve Marraccini’s appointment.
“I think Mr. Marraccini is more than qualified for that position,” he said. “I would have supported it. However, the other day I received an email, from one of the council people here, requesting that we stand behind Lewis Marraccini. I’m not sure if that’s a violation of the ethics commission or not. “That’s like the back-door politics that everybody out there tries to accuse us of.”
Thompson took responsibility for the email.
“I’m the one who sent the email out. I vote yes,” he said.
Brice expressed doubt about the new appointment.
“For the future, if the Mon Valley Sewage Authority gets sold, and all you people have to start writing those checks, keep this in mind,” Brice said. McDowell said that though Walko lacks experience, a green hire isn’t unprecedented.
“We’re appointing someone to the seat,” he said. “Mr. Thompson didn’t have any background before he was appointed to that seat. And he’s done a good job so far.”
Walko lives in Donora and owns Chubs Pub in the borough.
Store clerk honored
Council praised Uni-Mart clerk James Trail for assisting in an arrest this month.
Borough Officer Michael Parry confronted an unwieldy suspect in the store on Meldon Avenue and the two became engaged in a scrum that broke out into the parking lot. Trail, smoking a cigarette outside, jumped to Parry’s aid. Together, the two successfully apprehended the suspect.
“If I did not have a short notice, I would have came here with a plaque for you, Mr. Trail,” Greco said. “If you decide to come next month, I will have a plaque for you. I commend you for helping our officers.”
The public and council applauded Trail for his action.
“It was really just instinct,” Trail said. “I was so confused at first. It was a crazy night, I’ll say that.”
Parry said Trail was instrumental in making the arrest.
“I guarantee the guy would’ve gotten away if he hadn’t jumped in and helped,” Parry said.