Town Council - Regular Meeting

to call to order meeting of the town of MCAS town council for May 2026. Will everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag it stands nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much. Um, we do have a pack agenda this evening, but as always, we'd like to start with a few announcements. And at this time, I'd like Mr. R to please read the National Police Week proclamation. This proclamation is to recognize National Police Week 2026 and to honor the service of fallen law enforcement officers and the sacrifices of the men and women killed in the line of duty in 2025 while guarding our communities and defending our democracy. We as the town of of the town council of the town of Mckllena County, Pennsylvania salute the men and women who do the difficult and dangerous work of safeguarding our communities. Police officers around the nation understand the tremendous responsibility bestowed upon them in protecting the freedom and liberty of all citizens. can't. Whereas the men and women of the the town of Mckameless Police Department are dedicated to protecting all city residents and visitors with respect and dignity against deception, violence, and disorder. And whereas the residents and visitors of the town of McCandless recognize the dangers of the law enforcement profession and understand the difficulties in performing the duties and responsibilities of a law enforcement officer. And whereas more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serve communities across the United States, including 31 sworn police officers of the town of McCandless Police Department. And whereas while officers are ever vigilant, 113 police officers died in the line of

duty in 2025, amounting to over 27,000 line of duty deaths since the f first death was recorded in 1786. And now therefore be resolved that the town of Mckanas or the town council for the town of McCandless call upon all people to deserve to observe May 10th, 2026 to May 16th, 2026 as National Police Week. It shows support to the law enforcement officers who devote themselves to delivering exceptional service to this community and in communities across this great nation. The above is hereby resolved by town council of the town of McCandless on the 11th day of May 2026.

Thank you Mr. Wall and thank you to our police officers. Thank you very much. And now moving toward uh the National Emergency Medical Services Week proclamation. Mr. Georgettes, would you like to share with us please?

I would love to. Whereas emergency medical services is a vital public service and whereas the members of emergency medical service teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And whereas emergency medical services has grown to fill a gap by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care, and access to tele medicine. And whereas the emergency medical service system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and other out of hospital medical care providers. And whereas the members of emergency medical service teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize the value and the accomplishments of emergency medical services providers by designated the emergency medical services week now. Now therefore, now therefore be it resolved that the town council of the town of McCandless does hereby proclaim the week of May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 as emergency medical services week. The above is hereby resolved by town council of the town of McCandless on the 11th day of May 2026.

Thank you. Thank you to all that. Okay. And because May is the time to appreciate so many people in our lives, I'm going to share a resolution uh recognizing a public works week. Um testimonial resolution 2026-05. public works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities and services that are vital vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities into the public health high quality of life and well-being of the people of the town of Macanas and whereas these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers managers and employees at all levels of government in the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders and children in the town of McCamas to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities. And whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Be it now, therefore, be it resolved that town council for the town of McCandless does hereby designate the week of May 17, 23rd, 2026 as National Public Works Week. I urge all citizens to join with representatives of the American Public Works Association and

government agencies in activities, events, and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals, engineers, managers, and employees, and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our national health, safety, and advancing quality of life for all. The above is hereby resolved by town council of the town of Mccandas on this 11th day of May, 2026. Thank you, Mr.

Thank you everybody. Um, once again, we're reminded of the wonderful people that work for us and serve us in our community. It's just some days we we don't have enough time to thank all of them, but know that you're appreciated. Um, moving on, we would like to announce that town hall is a polling location with regular business hours during the primary election next Tuesday, May 19th. Town Hall will be closed on May 25th in observance of Memorial Day. Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, May 26. And this is a a recommendation for all of us who uh maybe got our Mother's Day plants or our gardens. The time to think about deer control is now, just like every other day of the year. I'd like to remind everybody that the certified hunter program from the Pennsylvania Game Commission is an opportunity for me and qualified hunters to facilitate ethical and responsible deer management. Please see our website for more information. And if you have friends or neighbors who would like to participate, please encourage them to go to the website as well. If you as if you have neighbors that have some land, please go ahead and knock on their door and ask them to be a part of this program as well. It's going to take the entire community to make a difference and make an impact with this. If we had no further announcements from council,

um, summer recreation is back. Um, from ages, first grade through 6th grade, July 6th through the 10th at Ingamar Elementary School from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Signups are on the website. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wall. Any other announcements from council? Okay. Hearing none, we will move on to agenda item number four. Uh we would like to welcome public comment on agenda items only. If you would please come forward, state your name and address and um state your comments. Good evening. Um Barbara Richards, 305 Manor Court W. Um, I see on the town manager report under miscellaneous that there are some ongoing things that are still being discussed like ebikes. Um, I don't see anything about the public commenting ordinance. There have been several comments made here about residents not wanting to repeat their addresses if they have signed in with them already. I hope a revision is still a possibility and if not then an explanation will be given why the town feels we should put our addresses out on the internet along with our names and faces when we have already proven our residency by signing in. There have been cases of targeting the residents after appearances at these meetings in the past. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Ellen Wright, 9635 Oldkmer Road, Allison Park, PA15101. Um, I have several public comments. Good evening. Uh, on the congratulations to the people who are about to be appointed to the boards. Um, I'm curious who the interview committees are. It just said interview committees and the agenda materials. um for resolution 2026-10 um under the um materials that are to be disposed of. Are those records being kept electronically while the paper u materials are being disposed of? I'm curious what the miscellaneous documents of no administrative value are and how we determine if they're of no administrative value. And um when town hall was rearranged, were there file cabinets that were moved or is that part of the impetus for uh removing these documents of no administrative value? Um, my third comment is about resolution 2026-11, the greenways trail. And I'm curious where the rest of the grant application is and why the resolution is just authorizing the grant application without being able to see what's being applied for. And my last comment relates to the strategic plan. Um I'm I'm kind of sad that the um town committees were not involved in this

strategic plan. I think the people on the committees have a lot of insights to offer to a plan. Um just from the top of my head, planning commission, uh the environmental advisory committee. Um so I'm sad that they were not included in that process. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Any further public comments on agenda items at this time? Okay, hearing none, we will move on to approval of minutes. Would someone like to make a motion, please? I'll make a motion to approve the town council meeting minutes of April 27th, 2020.

Second. Thank you, Mr. We have a motion and a second. Any questions, um, corrections, observations by councelor before we vote? No. Hearing none, we have a motion and a second. All in favor of approval of town council minutes April 27, 2026, please respond by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Okay. Now we will move to reports of committees and we will start with our public safety committee. Um, Chief Pac, would you like to start us off, please, to the back report, please reports?

Yes, thank you, ma'am. Members, council, good evening. Uh, couple items of note for my April uh report. Um, touch on a few trainings. Uh, the department participated in an emergency vehicle operations training in the month of April. Um, we had a detective also participate in a crime scene investigation training. And we had three sergeants, two of which are relatively newly promoted sergeants um attend a critical incident uh managing critical incident training. Um so uh those were the highlights as far as training goes in the month month of April for the police department. Our social worker had 29 uh individuals that she referred to services or support. Uh Jenny also attended several trainings. It's in your report. You'll see the uh the um subjects of that training. Um, also I should call to attention that Jenny intends on being at Northland Public Library the first Tuesday of every month from 1 to three to engage the community, meet citizens, offer any assistance she can to the community. Um, also, uh, I'll I'll close with deer calls. Kind of a kind of a slow month as far as that goes. 13 calls that we logged regarding u whitetail deer and I think three carcasses picked up.

Thank you. Anyone in council have any questions? Yeah, a question from the constituents. For the record, could you tell us what our constituents should do when they see a carcass?

Absolutely. So, if it's uh on town roadways, you can call down to the police department. Business hours, you can you'll talk to a secretary. If it's after hours, you can leave a message, let us know where it's at. If it's on if it's on the roadway, we can have Big Daddy Wildlife, the town contracts with them to come and remove that that that deer. Uh if it's on a state highway, still report it to us. We will then report that to PendOt and they will uh pick that up. I don't know that PEDOT moves as quickly as Big Daddy, but that's how it's set up that the state highways Pendoc will remove them. If it's on your property, unfortunately, um, and you can get it, you need to probably get it to the road. That's where Big Daddy, they contract contract with the town to pick it up on the roadway. Um, so if you can do that, you know, and if if it's a problem and you, you know, have a disability or you're elderly, probably call and talk to us anyway and we'll see what we can, you know, maybe manage to do for for the folks.

Thank you, Chief. Thank you. I had a question. I'm excited to see that Miss Bar will be at the library. Um, I know I've heard from many residents they like to see our officers engaging more as well. or would it be possible like maybe even for our officer to be in the parking lot if somebody wants to if they're available obviously and not call or anything like that but at the you know if we know that Miss Fry will be there maybe we could say well maybe there going to be an officer there is Robin Gay

yeah if um obviously emergency call pending definitely we could certainly make somebody available to her um pending manpower and and call volume but absolutely and you know especially if we have a heads up that you know Jenny's looking for that in a particular Tuesday, we could try to make arrangements to have somebody uh up there to kind of answer some police related questions or, you know, be be support in any way they can. I think it'd be interesting for residents see how they work together. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. No coming no further questions from counselor. We will move on to um Marshall Wner's report.

This one. Yeah. All right.

Good evening everybody. Uh I know this a packed meeting, so I'll just give a couple highlights. Uh the firefighter medical evaluation program has is completed for the the year 2026. All looks good. Uh I'm still coordinating with West Water on the installation of the stores adapters uh for our public hydrants. Um they are moving along fairly well. I can tell you that as of this morning, um, we have, according to them, my sources at Westview Water, we have 190 hydrants that have been already outfitted with the Storz adapters. So, if we do the math, that's about a third of our hydrants now are actually upgraded to the STOs adapters, and they'll continue until it's completed. Um, I taught a couple fire prevention programs for the kids at the Memorial Park uh, church preschool. There were 75 kids total. And when you look at the fire call summary, you'll notice it's uh significantly higher than it was in the previous months. And uh if you guys I know we don't like to talk about the storms, but that was mostly because of the storms uh on March 13th into the 14th. There were third there were over 30 almost 40 runs just for the storm. Anybody has any questions? Be happy to answer.

Thank you. Any questions from parents or for Marshall Wner? Right. Hearing none, we'll move on to the building permit report for the month of April. U Mr. Schwend, anything to comment on with that? Uh, nothing out of the ordinary. If you have any questions, happy to answer them or Matt can answer them also. Okay. Okay. No questions from councelor. We will then move on to liazison reports and start with personnel board. Mr. Djetti, there was no meeting.

Thank you. Um, volunteer firefighter steering committee. There will be a meeting at the end of this month and I'm looking forward to um starting on that. Okay. And at this time, is there any public comment on public safety? Okay. Hearing none, we will move on to reports of facilities management. Uh we'll start with you, Mr. Inati. So, for the month of April, um we're about 90% done with our uh 2026 uh basin program for the paving. We removed the volleyball court across the street. Uh there was new trees planted at our Phil site and at Council Park. We installed new picnic tables at uh Wall Park. We started our side on mowing and our street sweeping. And we also started with our uh pond cutting for our retention ponds.

Um very busy. Any questions from council on public works? Okay. So we will move on now to liaison reports. Uh the environmental advisory committee. Mr. Herson.

Thank you, Madam President. Um I wanted to read the report from EAC chairman Jeff Petro. On Saturday, April 25th, the environmental advisory committee conducted their spring roadside cleanup with approximately 100 participants. This includes several council members, all EAC members, township staff, scout troop 9344, scout troop 1207, and representative Ardan Ben. In addition, scout scout pack 20279 conducted a cleanup of vessel fields on April 11th, which included 17 people and 21 bags of litter collected. I would also like to note three of the four in the pan list about the highway group participated participants were aided by five police details. Three fire volunteer fire departments and DPW staff. The EAC is pleased to announce that the day was a complete success as there were no safety issues and approximately 151 bags of litter were collected. The EAC is grateful for the cooperation of the McCandless Police, DPW staff, Peeles, Highland, and Inglemore Volunteer Fire Department, Township Management, and McCandless Town Council. The A would also like to thank Councilman Wall for supplying the Continental Breakfast. We feel this event enhances the community through beautifification, strengthening of the community spirit. We look forward to partnering with the community and staff for next year's event.

Thank you. It was a rainy day and I was really um pleasantly surprised to see many people come out in the rain to keep their community beautiful. I want to thank everybody. Um any questions for Mr. Hickerson on the EIC from council? Yeah. Okay. Uh moving on. Ad hoc storm water got our meeting Mr. Babage.

Yes. Thank you. That committee uh is a welloiled machine. Uh I will say they have a very firm grasp of like the triage of projects. Um, some that stood out to me that were particularly interesting. Um, dam inspections are forthcoming and to at least a layman, the process of having a human or an automaton do a televised walk through that. It's very very interesting to see the technology that the town can deploy. Um, so that that was a big that was a big highlight for me. Um, and then the most relevant now I think was discussion of a potential uh storm water feed event, not to steal uh a thunder, but we'll get into I suppose the

Okay. Um, any questions from Mr. Babage on Stillmore? Hearing none, we will move now and offer uh to meet for public comment on facilities management. Okay, seeing nobody coming forward, we'll move to services committee and start with liaison reports. Mr. Art, would you like to start us off, please?

Malis Township Sanitary Authority. I attended the meeting last Thursday, the May 7th at which the uh meeting minutes were approved for the April 9th meeting. Those minute uh minutes are in you received them earlier today on your email. Uh, one one thing that uh was discussed is the ruling recent ruling of the state of Pennsylvania on um storm water fees that they're considered tax. So, McCandless Sanitary Authority has been paying some of those fees to I believe Hampton, but um it remains to be seen if there'll be a refund or moving forward just those will go away because they're a a public entity. Yeah, I think this is also new. We're all looking forward to seeing how that shakes out.

Yeah, sure. Any questions for Mr. Council? Okay, hearing none, we will move to Mr. Georgetti. The MPFA operations are going good. And I will mention too in your packet um there was a ad for a event uh for veterans and first responders on May 22nd at uh the Big Cannon in North Park at six o'clock. Thank you. That should be a really nice um evening just to again honor those people who um g you know offered everything for us. Um any questions for Mr. Fjetti? Okay. And now the Northland Public Library Authority, Mr. Gavatis.

The gala was very successful. Um they discussed that at the meeting. Um they had a clean audit through 2024 2025 and it's been 50 years since their articles of incorporation. So coming up in March of 27 they will have to reinccorporate.

That's great. Any questions? Okay. Um at this time any public comment on services committee hearing? None. We will move to administration and finance reports. Uh we'll start with Miss Yvort please. Okay, perfect. Uh, good evening, council. I'll speak loud because I'm gonna pick you up. As of uh, enclosed in your packet for the general fund revenue and expenditure reports for April 26th. As of April, our year-to- date revenues total 3.58 million or 20.3% of budget compared to 4.1 million or 22.6% 6% at the same time last year. Our year-to- date expenditures total 5.8 million representing about 28.4% of the budget compared to 5 06 million or 25.5% of last year's budget. Overall, the revenues and expenditures are tracking as expected for this point of the year. And then I'll also go into enclosed in your packet is the checklisting for April 2026 in the amount of 1,634,7667. And then I would be happy to answer any of the questions regarding the checklisting or the finance.

One thing I did notice was our revenue seemed a little down from yes last year. Is there any possible explanations for that? Right now with our with outsourcing the tax our tax revenue is being processed um at a little bit slower of a rate. We were used to being able to take the payments in and process the checks immediately and that revenue would hit as soon as we did it. Um now it's just resolving in a little bit slower of a room in the town. Okay. So we expect a like a bigger

Yes. Okay, thank you. Um, any questions for Morocco before we move on to Okay. Can we have a motion to approve the checklisting, please? I'll make a motion to approve checklisting number four dated April 1st, 2026 to April 30th, 2026 totaling 1,634,7667 as submitted to each member of council and posted on the bulletin board and town website. Second. Thank you, Mr. Wong. Uh, any questions, concerns, discussion on the checklisting? Okay, hearing none. All in favor of approving checklisting number 04, please respond by saying I.

Any opposed? I am saying due to the Okay. Motion carries with 60 and one abstation. Okay. Uh next we will have a communications report. Miss Benazi Ben Nanzi, I'm sorry. Can you guys hear me? Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Good evening council. I have a update on the communications. So, starting with social, social's continuing to go strong as we put out more content and uh recap the events and other things going on in the town. One thing we'll be starting to do, we've started doing is incorporating the usage of stories on Facebook and Instagram for relevant updates and reminders. Instead of kind of posting the flyer more than once, we'll kind of post it on the stories. So, make sure to follow along there. And May is big on bird migration month. So, um, we'll be posting the bird migration information on the stories, uh, as we get updates. So, make sure to follow the stories. The remarkable tree challenge for the, um, that the environmental advisory committee has launched is on our website. And, uh, one of the requirements uh, for the form is to get the circumference of the tree. So, as of today, we ha uh we have two diameter measuring tapes available at town hall that can be used to sign out so that you can go and uh measure the circumference and enter that that challenge there that we'll be voting on um during community day. And we are continuing to post more videos. So, since our last meeting, we posted four more videos and we're almost at the 150,000 view mark. So, we'll continue to post video content for the website. We are continuing the routine web updates, but I just wanted to recommend that any residents and council uh reference the news flashash feature on the website for event pages, immediate updates, that's where all of those notifications are going. So, I recommend that we have a news flashash page on the site, but also that's what's on the homepage right next to the left of the calendar. The May McMail newsletter has officially landed in inboxes. So, I recommend that

anyone sign up for that. And that May McMail will also be up on the website tomorrow for anyone who isn't signed up to go and look at what what was referenced there. For print, the summer edition of the town crier is currently in development and I'll have more updates on that soon. Um, and lastly, the public relations and media highlights. I am just working with local and regional media, reaching out and particularly putting a spotlight on the upcoming Mckameless Bday 5K. Uh you'll be seeing a lot more about that and we highly encourage um registering.

Great. Thank you. Any questions from council? Okay, hearing none. Okay, we are um lost my place here. Okay, there they go. Uh the junior council members report um the junior council members have requested that they report on June 8th um because they're very busy with finals and end of wrapping up the end of the year and we want to make sure that they end their year with success. So we look forward to seeing them in June 8th for final report. Um moving to liaison reports uh Michael's Industrial Development Authority, Mr. Hickerson. Uh there was no meeting. We did interview a candidate for the position.

Okay. We look forward to hearing from them. Thank you. Uh North Hills Council of Governments, Mr. Georgetti. Um same as last um same as the last report, we talked about salt. Um there'll be a meeting this month and I do plan on mentioning at this next meeting um here because I think that there needs to be efforts to call deer, not just here, but in all of the neighboring towns. our state game mission can be hard to navigate through and the burden sadly falls on municipalities.

You know, I agree with you. As a matter of fact, we can call all the deer that we want to, but we're sitting at the biggest incubator of deer in Western Pennsylvania, Nordic Park. Yeah. Pine doesn't have a program. Hampton doesn't have a program. Taylor Ross. Taylor Ross doesn't have program. We're as well shoot up in the air because we're really not gonna we're not gonna do any good unless we have communication with these people. I am going to call on my fellow members of the call. I will do smooth

on the EAC. We're also working on having a regional EAC and one I think that we'll reach out and see if the other EAC's can lobby to get a deer call on there like for Pine Hampton etc. So that's something I will talk to the EC about. I I really think you need Alageney County. Definitely agree in order to get anything. Yeah. And you live you live closer to the park than anybody here. The park is bad and I mean that part's bad. Yeah. You drive up past the golf course on any evening and you're seeing 40 deer.

Yeah. I think I think um I think as a council it's unanimous that something needs to be done. Um I think you know we all hear the stories and we all understand the damage to our properties, the damage to my car just a couple months ago. Um yes. Um what's happening to you know our environmental resources here. So, um, anything we can do any, um, I think working with the county and our local municipalities because these here don't understand, um, municipal boundaries either. It's like expecting a call.

So, um, okay, moving to regional chamber of commerce. Mr. our area. You guys have the meeting minutes in your packets from the Michael's business alliance which is part of the chamber of commerce. I will be attending the chamber of commerce gayla. Um we have our volunteer celebration on the 17th. I'm going to cut my time short there and go to the gay and represent the panelist. Thank you. And um it was really good to have Miss Fagi at the last meeting. Uh hope we continue that kind of um cooperation with county on things like year two.

Um any questions from council uh at this time? Okay. Any public comment on administration and finance? I'm going I have several comments and I'm first going to start with I think it's really important the council have a liaison for administration in finance. The last council had a council member who was the liaison for administration in finance. I think it's really important while there aren't any problems that there's somebody specifically from council who's connected has that responsibility to be the liaison to budget and finance. Um so that's my first comment. My um and it's a well to continue that comment. It's a multi-million dollar budget and I know that everybody on council is responsible but to have a specific person. Um my next concern related to finances that as I read article 125.1 the audit and it says that uh the results of the annual audit in a certified financial statement of the fiscal affairs of the town shall be rep presented to council and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the town by April 1st of the year following the fiscal year audited. If I've misread that, let me know. But it it looks like it says April 1st that there should be an audit um have been completed in the information presented to council and a public announcement about that.

Um I'm also excited about all the things uh that are being communicated through the uh communications. Um, I do have a concern what is meant by outdated content and there is some content that's not up todate and I'm just worried about the things just disappearing and related to the communication. I don't know if this is something that falls under communication but um I'm concerned about sometimes it takes a while for the minutes to be posted and for the media to be reported. So, for example, right now the minutes that were passed on April 13th um as of 4:00 today were not on the website and they were approved on the 27th. Um there's been delays in posting the media for different meetings and um I are we still live streaming the meetings so that the media should be available the next day after the meeting to be posted on the website. So those are my comments related to um administration and finance.

Thank you for your comments. Any further public comments? Okay. Hearing none, we shall move to planning and zoning reports. Uh we'll start with Mr. Inis and the planning director's report.

Good evening, council. Uh to go over the updates for the planning commission. The May meeting was cancelled due to uh the applicant for PLC 2610 requesting more time to adhere to comments from the town engineering letter. That item will be heard at the June meeting which is on Tuesday, June 2nd at the regular meeting time of 7 o'clock. Um the items that will be heard at that meeting are the PLC 2610 Omni Manor Plan. Uh and then which is under old business and under new business we have four new items. PLC 2612 savings bank plan a revision PLC 2613 Burke consolidation plan a minor subdivision. PLC 2614 right Hyundai dealership combined preliminary and final land development and PLC 2615 LO plan uh minor subdivision for the zoning hearing update there was no um previous meeting the uh in April as reported in my last director's report the zoning hearing board for May will be at regular meeting time and the following items will be heard at that meeting appeal 2056 a request request uh for variance to the height less than 4 feet. Um appeal 2061 for a similar request um appeal 2057 a request for um allowing a public sign within the MN district. Appeal 2058 U which is a appeal for a sidewalk side setback of 50 ft in the special district. PL 2059, which is a variance to the um regulation for setbacks for chicken coops in the town, and PL 2060, a request um for multiple freestanding signs on a lot in the MN district. And those will all be heard at the May

meeting. Um and I'm happy to answer any questions regarding my director report. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Any questions from council or comments? Okay. Um hearing none, we will move to our leazison reports. We'll start with Miss Aling Commission. Very thorough report by um Matt. Um it was refreshing to see that the developer took the comments of the engineers seriously. Um I had no clue how they were going to be able to address everything in time for the May meeting. So, it was nice that they uh initiated that request to table the the uh information until June. Uh planning committee has quite a packet on their hand for June, so we'll be ready there with coffee. Maybe I'll bring some donuts or something. Yes.

Thank you. Okay. And uh I think it sounds like the next zoning hearing board meeting with the law is going to be the meeting. There will be a meeting at the end. the labor full agenda for the end of the month. Thank you. Okay, at this time we'll take any public comment on planning and zoning. Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to uh number nine, recreation reports. Mr. Plastic, if you'd like to give our parks and recreation director's report, please.

Good evening, council. Um, a couple highlights from my report include um our local government academy intern will be starting on Monday, May 18th. Um she'll be working with Matt and I to complete a project um left over from last year's intern as well as a scanning uh documentation project related to Macanas 175 um to help us celebrate um Macandas this year. Um as Mr. Goretti mentioned on Friday, May 22nd at the Canonet North Park, uh Michael Hulahan of MFPA has been planning an event um to celebrate um veterans as well as first responders. So, he has a bag piper. He's got the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, a chainsaw carved bald eagle. Um lots of activities um to honor honor those who have served. Um, so please join us at 5:00 next Friday, May 22nd. Um, the Heritage Center had a busy month last month. Um, and this coming month on May 21st, we'll speaker will feature a speaker from the Roberto Clemeni Museum about the Great One. Um, registration is open and there are some spaces left for that. Um, this Saturday the HCC will host a house history program to help people research historical info about their home um and providing suggestions for free and paid resources. Some other exciting things we have coming up um include a beer brewing day. Uh Liz and I will be going to Illusion Brewery in Vandergrift. Um Illusion Brewery has a tap house over in Duncan Manor and they are going to be brewing a very special Macandless 175 brew. So Liz and I need to go for quality control on Saturday. But yeah,

I think we need a council.

So more to come on that, but that's an exciting project that um has been in the works for quite a while. Um tomorrow the Ingamar Garden Club will resume their work in Council Park. They work every Tuesday morning um through the spring and probably through the summer um to maintain Council Park and their landscaping. And last week they had their annual flower sale at Macandless Crossing. And this coming Saturday is the Long View Acres Garden Club sale which is at Northmont Church on uh Perry Highway. So, lots of gardening to do. So, any other questions? We need to keep those deer under control. Exactly. Any questions for

I believe that um the last meeting the house history uh event came up. There's no pre-registration requirement. Correct. Not required, but just suggested just so we can gauge how many people um will be attending on Saturday. Okay. And people need to bring their own laptop or tablet. They should bring some sort of laptop or tablet. Um, we will have paper handouts for people to take home, but if they wanted assistance um, while the librarians are there, it'd be beneficial for you to bring your own uh, device. Okay. Thank you. I couldn't answer those questions the last meeting, so thank you for that. No problem. Thank you. And you had a successful um, hard to recycle event.

Yes, that was led by Diane um, and some other folks on the admin team. Um, but it seems like there was it was a successful day. Um, the the dumpster filled up by 12:15. Is that right? 10:15. Sorry. By 10:15. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Uh, we got the line moving pretty fast. It was nice and rainy. So, yeah. Thank you. Okay. Any further questions? Okay, we'll move on to liaison reports. Uh, Miss Al, as the liaison, I'm volunteering to be your designated driver on that. So, because if you're doing quality control, we don't want you driving around. It's going to be yours.

I would like to recognize Brad and and your team for the landscaping that you've completed at the uh Heritage and Cultural Center. The center is starting to be used more and more. And I think it's really good that when people throughout the community that haven't been there before, they come up on it and it it just looks absolutely beautiful. So, thank you for that. And um I can't say enough about Abby and her group's effort in finding new and interesting ways to make the cultural center relevant to um the town of McCandless. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further questions from counselor comments? Okay. Uh any public comment on recreation? Okay. Move on now to our town manager report. Mr. Schwent,

just a few brief highlights from the report. um police hiring process continues. Oral interviews are scheduled for this week. We should be in a position where we can have our personnel board uh review certifications at the end of May. We also completed interviews this month to fill vacancies on boards and commissions. Uh there are recommendations later in your packet for uh folks from the interview committees who should be appointed. I want to thank everybody who applied though. All of the candidates were exceptional. We appreciate their time and uh thoughtful uh comments that they made with the committees in each of the interviews too. Under finance, uh we met this month with our uh police pension advisor to invest uh to talk about our investments in the quarterly review. Uh as everybody knows who pays attention to the market, we struggled a little bit this first quarter. We were able to recoup some of those losses in April, though. Um and we're talking about getting something in front of you probably in the next month or two for a new investment policy statement. and it's been a work in progress for a while. Uh it kind of fell off of our radar at the end of 25. It's back on the radar now. It needs modernized and we need to uh need to pass a new one. It's been approximately 10 years I think since that was reviewed. Um nothing new really on the grant front in your packet other than the resolution that we'll see later on. Uh, I also had a note here to compliment our friends in public works with the work that they did on the grounds crew here at town hall and also at the heritage center. Everything looks really good. I want to make sure that the folks who did that work know it's appreciated and noticed by everybody as well as the work that's been done in-house so far in Devlin field. You can see that it's improved also since uh the winter was not kind to it. Under public works and infrastructure, one thing that we hear periodically from residents in different areas are requests for stop signs at certain intersections throughout the town. We do evaluate those first in house with our police and our public works departments and then if they warrant further

investigation, we send that to a traffic engineer. For a stop sign to be enforcable, an ordinance has to be passed in order to place that stop sign. Um, and there has to be justification for that. We can't just put stop signs up everywhere to slow down traffic. Stop signs are not used as a speed control. Uh they're used to prevent accidents and to make sure people stop at intersections where there are other hazards. We're also going to work on a line striping program that includes having a third party come and use thermoplast to update the lines where our crosswalks are and our speed traps as well as center lines and fog lines. Also, Nathan mentioned storm water issues. We talked about in our storm water committee. We're still reviewing certain properties uh and deciding what we can fit into the budget this year, what we can fit into the budget next year. As was mentioned briefly by um Nathan and Doug. Uh there was a Supreme Court ruling that has finally been handed down. It's been a number of years in the making on the storm water fee and whether that fee is considered a fee or a tax. Uh the implications of whether it's a fee or a tax important to nonprofits and other organizations who do not pay tax but did have to pay the fee. uh the court had a multi-point test. They reached only the first point and didn't even get to the second where they determined, I believe, that because there was no implication for a service, it was considered a tax. So, we will have to evaluate how we want to move forward. I know that we had discussed with our stormwater committee uh and had mentioned it at the last meeting that that might be an avenue for additional revenue generation, but I think that we will need to have further discussion on that.

That's enough for me. If you have any questions about the rest of the report, please let me know. Thank you. Any questions from council? Okay, hearing none, we'll move on to our town attorney's report. Mr. Corbal, thank you, Madam President. My uh report was in the packet and if you have any questions, you we can talk about it directly and outside of the public meeting. The end of my report. Thank you. Number 12, old business. There is no old business. Um moving to number 13, new business. Uh, can we have a motion for resolution 2026-10?

I make a motion to adopt resolution 2026-10 of autonomous, Alageney County, Pennsylvania. A resolution of town council of autonomous declaring the town's intent to destroy public records in accordance with the schedules and procedures for disposition of records as set forth by the municipal records manual approved on July 16th, 1993 and as amended. Thank you, Mr. Wall. We have a motion to have a second. second result. Okay.

Um, as we've discussed this before, I think this comes up every year, there are very strict rulings on how many years we need to keep these records and from what I I've asked Mr. Schwarz about and um I believe we keep them in excess of the required years and so that's what this is happening. Any further explanation, Mr. Po, on this law? That's absolute. Okay. Um, any questions or comments from council? Okay, we have a motion and second. All in favor of adopting resolution 2026-10, please respond by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. 70. Okay. Now, we will have action concerning resolution 2026-11. Would someone like to make a motion, please? I will. I move to adopt resolution 2026-11 of the town of McCandless, Alageney County, Pennsylvania. A resolution of the town council of the town of McCandless to request grant funds from the Commonwealth Financing Authority through the Greenways Trail and Recreation Program to undertake the wall park grant trail access project. Thank you, Miss Al. We have a motion in a sec. Do we have a second? Second, Mr. Anderson. Thank you. Okay. Um any comments on this, Mr. Schwand?

Yeah. would like to find out exactly what we're talking about as far as the access to Branch Trail. I'm very glad you asked. Right now, in order to get from Wall Park to the Branch Trail, you have to go out on the road. We don't like that. We want to have connection from the park to the Branch Trail, which will be part of the master connection all the way up to Tangamar. This is for a very nice and fill me in ladies who worked on this uh bridge crossing and the access to that bridge. Unfortunately, there's a little tributary you have to get over in order to get to that trail, and this gets you over it safely. So, this is going from Wall Park to the bridge. Picture where a new parking lot would be. It's not up in Engle.

No, this is at the bottom. This is to get you from where maybe a new parking lot would go at Wallpark across that little stream connection to the trail. And that's being done in in coordination with the park study. Uh yes, connectivity is all part of that. Okay. Thank you. Any further questions or comments from councel? Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Uh all in favor of a motion to adopt resolution 2026-11, please respond by saying I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. 70.

Okay. Um now we have um a motion an action concerning appointment of the building code official. Um, we have a motion and then we can discuss. Make a motion to appoint Mr. Matthew S as the town building code official. Second. Mr. Chetty. Okay. Mr. Sher, any comment on this?

Uh, as the director of the planning department, uh, Matt is certified as a building code official. The building code official is the person responsible for administering the code, not necessarily the person responsible for plan review and for inspections. A municipality can have up to two certified BCOs. We find it wise to have our planning director be considered a BCO. Thank you. Any questions or comments from council? Okay, hearing none. Uh I all in favor of a motion to appoint Mr. Matthew Inennis as the town building code official, please respond by saying I. I

and opposed. Okay. Motion carries 70. Okay. Uh we have a couple of appointments to make and um I'd like to ask Mr. Hickerson to start us off here, please. Thank you. Motion to appoint Mark Buzzon to the Macanas Industrial Development Authority for a term expiring on December 31st, 2029. Thank you. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you. Any questions, discussion from councel? Okay. All in favor of appointing Mr. Mark Guzan to the McCus Industrial Development Authority, please respond by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries. 70.

Okay. A motion to appoint Dave Smith to the McCandless Township Sanitary Authority for the term expiring December 31, 2029. Second. Thank you, Mr. Wall. Okay. Any questions or discussion um about this appointment? Council, I I do have a question. Um I watched the interview with Mr. Smith. What was his interest in the MTSA that he attended so many meetings prior to applying? He's was on council. Okay. And he was liaison for the township sanitary authority

and he really respected that board and basically attended uh every since he was liaison attended every meeting. Uh he's an attorney and uh I think very well qualified for the position. Any further questions or comments? Okay. Uh hearing none. All in favor of appointing Mr. Dave Smith to Mccandas Township Sanitary Authority for a term expiring on December 31st, 2029. Please respond by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries 70. Okay.

Mr. I make a motion to appoint Victoria Barnoski to the Northwind Public Library Authority for a term expiring on December 31st, 2029. Thank you. We have a second. Second. Thank you, Mr. Hickerson. Any comments or discussion or questions? Mr. Babage, you reported that and um that was one of the few that had several applicants to choose from. They're all excellent. Uh and they had varied skill sets. I think um Victoria's was particularly both broad and deep. She'll be a great asset. So too. Yeah.

Great. Okay. Um in favor of Victoria Bernowski to the Northland Public Library Authority for a term expiring December 31st, 2029. Please respond by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Opposed. Okay. Six. Okay. Motion carries. Do we need a roll call if we have Okay, we need a roll call vote, please. Um, start roll. Mr. Hi. Roll two. No. I um Mr. Hickerson I. Mr. W. Hi, Mr. Babage. Hi. And I board seven I. Uh, motion carries 61.

Okay. Okay. Now at this time uh we would like to welcome Miss Chelsea Puck to uh share a presentation on our strategic planning session. Right. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to present your strategic plan to you this evening. Over the past two months, council and staff have participated in a collaborative strategic planning process focused on identifying the projects and priorities that will guide the community forward over the next 12 to 18 months. This process was built on the town's 2019 comprehensive plan and focused specifically on implementation, turning ideas and long-term vision from the plan into actionable projects with clear direction, accountability, and most importantly, timelines for completion. Tonight, I'll provide a brief overview of that process, highlight those priority projects identified through this effort, and discuss the framework developed to support the implementation of those projects going forward. Michaelas has such a strong foundation. We've heard so many great things uh throughout the evening about the community. Dedicated staff, highquality services, and a community that people are proud to call home. At the same time, the town has experienced a period of transition. Uh a transition among council, among department leadership, among town management. Rather than allowing that transition to create uncertainty, this process created an opportunity to get everyone aligned around what matters most and identify the project priorities that the community can undertake under

the next year year and a half. This plan responds directly to where the town is right now. So before we dive into what is in the actual plan, I think it's important to clarify what the plan is and what it is not. This was a focused effort to clearly identify priority projects. So in that scope, it's a little bit more micro than certainly your comprehensive plan. Um, and then to identify those projects and move them forward. It's about aligning time, resources, and energy around what matters most to the folks in the community. Just as importantly, this isn't meant to be a long report that sits on a shelf, collects dust, no one sees, no one uses, and no one does anything with. It's designed to guide real decisions in real time. It's designed to be used by the folks sitting right here. So, what does this plan actually do for Macandas? We had the opportunity on our team to meet with the town manager, the assistant manager, um, in the executive assistant early on in this process to gain a better idea of what their needs and wishes were in terms of internal operations as well as community goals. And the one thing that we kept hearing was alignment. alignment, alignment with so many new folks on staff, with so many new folks on council, it was really important to get everybody on the same page, everybody on the same team. So, this process was built to get people aligned and resources aligned and identify what those priorities were and then provide a clear framework for decision-m throughout the process. Um, and then also strengthen governance and organizational alignment. There's that word again. And connect planning to budgeting because everything costs money. and establish clear and actionable priorities so that staff understands what their expectations are and council can go out and champion those efforts going forward. So the one question I get asked a lot is what is the difference between strategic

planning and comprehensive planning? Because I I hear comments like well we have a comprehensive plan. Why do we need to do a strategic plan? And most of you are familiar with the town's comprehensive plan and maybe even participated in developing that plan in 2019. The comprehensive plan sets the long-term vision for the town and where the town wants to go. I always say your comp plan is what you want to be when you grow up. The strategic plan is what you're going to do to get you there. So, the strategic plan builds on the work of the comprehensive plan, focuses on what to do next, and identifying specific projects that were outlined within that plan, maybe some that weren't. Um, and then moving those forward into reality. The comprehensive plan provides what you're going to do. This process defines how you're going to do it and when it's going to be done. So, we had a clear understanding of what the plan is, what it wasn't going to be, what it was going to do, and how it connects to the comprehensive plan. The next question is how are we actually going to get there? So, we turned to the International City County Management Association, ICMA, for all of us that do this work. It's rolls off the tongue a lot easier than the actual name as a guide. and they have a standard strategic planning process that communities can adapt all of and um get this work done for their communities. We followed that structured process based upon those best practices. Our efforts within Katherine Strategies began in that green highlighted area that you see there. But really the heavy lifting was done prior to us coming on board by the folks that you see sitting in front of you who decided that the plan needed to be done now and then pass the resolution to move forward with the plan. That work that we did included an initial kickoff meeting with staff where we discussed community vision and we developed a preliminary list of projects to move forward to advancement. A survey

to gather input from council and staff and then a strategic planning session where priorities were discussed at length sometimes uh refined aligned and then confirmed that day in that room collectively. What you see here in this chart is that progression from idea to work sessions to actual draft of the plan. And then in green you see us tonight presenting that plan to you. So we gathered input to find projects and then the most important part of any planning process. Planning is so much fun to do. I love to do plans. The best part of doing any planning is actually doing what is in the plan. And that starts tomorrow. So with this survey, we asked council and staff what matters most and here's what they had to say. So these focus areas come directly from your comprehensive plan. What rose to the top was public safety followed by green space and sustainability, community identity and public engagement. And it was really great and helpful that during our staff kickoff session, staff noted that public safety was missing and requested that it be added into consideration. And then sure enough, these folks here voted it to the top of that list to help us with the planning process going forward. This gave us a clear shared understanding of those priorities that you see there going into our strategic planning session and helped guide the discussion that followed. This ranking helped shape the discussion, but it wasn't the only step in that process. The survey also reinforced that McCandless has a very strong foundation to build from. Again, as we've heard all night, participants consistently highlighted the quality and reliability of core services, including public works, public safety, which we gave shout outs to earlier this evening already. So, reinforcing that, it also mentioned strong recognition for the town's internal operations, the collaboration, the organizational culture, as well as the community's investment in things like parks and

recreation and overall quality of life services for the community. Overall, the feedback received reflected the confidence that everybody here has to move these projects forward into the future. But as I mentioned in the strategic planning session, I like negative things because I think negative gives us an opportunity to really make improvements. Uh the survey also helped us identify areas that we can do better in here. Common themes included long-term financial sustainability, infrastructure and facility improvements, organizational capacity. So, do we have the right people on the right bus headed in the right direction? Do we have enough people to do all of these things that we want to do? And continued investment in public safety services. Participants also emphasized the importance of communication, alignment, um, and maintaining momentum for the township to continue to move forward. These themes directly informed the project discussions and there were many lengthy discussions about the projects you're about to see and the prioritization process that we undertook during the strategic planning session. We asked participants to choose five projects from the preliminary project list. That preliminary list had 17 projects on it. We asked folks taking the survey to choose five. These were the top 11. There were some ties. So there are 11 instead of 10. So it doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nicely, but these are the top 10. Um, this was a starting point, but this was not the final decision. So spoilers, some of these projects didn't make that final list after the strategic planning session. But you can see here there's a really good mix of land use, community services, public safety, internal operation related items. What we did is use this list to move forward into the strategic planning session. We took this vision and moved it forward into action. Moving from ideas to real projects.

You can go one more. Thanks. At the planning session, council and staff worked through the list that you just saw, reviewing what was already underway, what was required by law to actually do, and what would have the greatest impact moving forward for the community. We also incorporated several new ideas from the very robust discussion that we had in the room. Uh the projects were evaluated using a consistent scoring system with set criteria and then discussed again as a group. So we scored 15 projects that day. Um got a score for everything and then rediscussed what those projects would be and which would be the most impactful for the community. The result was a more focused and intentional set of projects to move forward to ensure successful implementation. These projects reflect a balance between community facing improvements and internal operational priorities for staff, ensuring the town can continue to deliver high-quality services that you're used to receiving while taking on these new efforts. What makes this plan different is that each of these projects has a clear path forward for implementation. Each priority project includes a defined framework to support accountability, responsibility, and progress, including project champions, which I just I do want to note these were volunteers in the room that decided to champion these projects to advocate to shepherd them forward to completion. no one had to be strong armed into taking this on. Um timelines were defined also in the session and then each of these projects aligns with those comprehensive plan focus areas that you saw previously and I want to say off the top of my head the every project aligns with at least four of those planned focus areas. So you can see that they hit a lot of different emphasis and a lot of different

priorities for the community. Also, project statuses were outlined. And not only did we outline all of these steps, we gave you the first three steps to make sure that staff understands what needs to be done to get these things completed and to gain momentum going forward. The final step of this process was developing the implementation timeline. Not every project begins and finishes at the same time. So the plan sequences efforts based on readiness, complexity, funding opportunities to get it done and organizational capacity to put manpower, woman power on it. Some projects are already underway as you can see there and others are ready to get going here shortly. This phased approach helps maintain momentum while ensuring the town can realistically manage implementation. So flexibility was key through all of this. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't have a crystal ball. I don't even have a magic eightball to ask it what should happen or what's going to happen. So if something does happen, this plan is flexible that the town can pivot if it needs to take care of whatever's come up and then pivot back to implementing these various efforts. This plan is again implementation focused about doing doing and it's a flexible roadmap for the community. This was a great project to be a part of. I live locally. I'm in McCandless all the time. So, this is really exciting for me personally to kind of see this come to fruition and I can't wait to see all of the great things that all of you will do for this community over the next several years. So, thank you so much and I'm happy to take any questions anyone has.

Thank you, Miss P. Questions from council. Thank you. That was a great summary. We had a very productive day, I thought. Um, just so our uh audience knows we we had I think 100% participation which I don't know if you all often get that shout out to my my friends here in Macandless that that we did have that everybody willing to take that day and care enough about their community to be there all day with you. Yeah, thank you. Much appreciated.

A compliment Chelsea and her team. They did a great job not only meeting with us ahead of time during the process and this report is exceptional. I think there's a lot in here. Thank you for your great presentation tonight. Uh you saw in your packet, this was the presentation on the strategic plan. So at the June 8th meeting, we can vote to adopt the plan. Next steps for us are to take any feedback we receive this evening, update the report accordingly, and get you a final version for that adoption. Good. Thank you. Thank you for your hard work. Appreciate it.

Okay. Thank you. Um, and now we will um move on to item number 14. Uh, we'd like to welcome any public comment on non-aggenda items. Uh, Ellen Wright, 9635 Oldkum Road, Allison 15101. Um, I just wanted to talk about the Sunshine Act for a moment here. Um, oftentimes on our agenda it says there's an executive session to discuss legal matters and I wanted to encourage the members of council to check out the Sunshine Act page. Uh, because um it the Sunshine Act says that that's not specific enough that um the reason given for an executive session must be meaningful. It must be more than some generalized term which in reality tells the public nothing. To simply say personnel matters or litigation tells nothing. The reason stated must be of sufficient specificity specific Oh,

thank you.

to inform those present that there is in reality a specific discreet matter or area which the board had determined should be discussed in executive session. When a board chairman tells a citizen he may not hear the board discuss certain business, he is taking liberties with the rights of that citizen and the reason given for this interference must be genuine and meaningful and the one the citizen can understand to permit generalized fluff would frustrate the very purpose of the act. And that's from the uh frequently asked questions on the sunshine act page. It's number 18 number 19. So, because council is responsible for the Sunshine Act, I would encourage you checking that out. Um, Sunshine Act, frequently asked questions. Um, number 19. And following along with that, well, following along with that, I think um you know, some of the questions that I ask at council, I'd like to hear council asking those questions and that those questions not coming from me. Um and that coming from council. So, um, I thought, you know, different nonprofits sometimes they have a parliamentarian who is familiar with different things that I bring up. And so, if there was somebody on council who was asking these questions like, and maybe you don't want to ask in the middle of counsel right now, but to have an awareness like where is the audit report or what is going on with the sunshine ask? And the man who spoke last uh time about race management and um outsourcing it, that gave me something to think about in the sense that it feels like council is outsourcing um do many things but as far as we

directly related to the governing and the budget um and the code it feels like that's being outsourced and if there could be somebody on council who has that um responsibility and it's just not me asking these questions that these questions are coming from council. Um I'd be more than happy to share what I look at and where I come up with but I I would like to see these questions coming from council and not just from me. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Okay. Is there any further public comment this evening? Hearing none. Uh, do you have a motion to adjurnn? So move. Okay. Mr. Georgetti and Wald Tai. All in favor of adjournment, please respond by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you everyone. Have a good evening.