Town Council - Regular Meeting

Common needs includes patient care standards, safety, training, community involvement, medical care initiatives. That's great, Scott. Thank you. They cannot underscore enough how truly blessed we are to have not only a great service provider, but simply the best of the best. This was a statewide award. So this is through all the EMS services throughout the entire Commonwealth. So we are truly grateful for all of their tireless.

And there's over 400 ambulance authorities. So it tells you how special this award really is.

This is a very nice feather in their cap. Next up, we have a recommendation for Pride Month that I would like to read. The month of June was federally designated Pride Month to recognize and celebrate the LGBTQ plus rights movement as the town of Mechanalus celebrates LGBTQ plus family, friends, and business owners, all of whom help make our community great. As the town of Mechanalus, in a resolution in 2018, adopted the statement of equality, diversity, and inclusivity that establishes the town of Mechanalus as a place of welcome, hospitality for everyone, a country of origin, of peace, native language, religion, sexual orientation, and that everyone deserves to live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, violence, and hatred based upon gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. LGBTQ plus individuals in the town of McCandless deserve to know we fully support the right to live and live fully, authentically, and free of discrimination and hate. The third being proclaimed by the town of McCandless Town Council of June 2026 is hereby designated as LGBTQ pride in the town of McCandless. This pride means we recognize the valuable contributions of LGBTQ plus individuals across the country in the form of our commitment to standing in solidarity for LGBTQ plus residents, visitors, together for accepting the community. I just want to underscore that the seven of us are all LGBTQ allies that we have your back in the canvas, regardless of who you are. Thank you. Next up, we want to introduce our town of McCandless, LGA intern, Caroline Bridge. If you'd like to come up and tell us a quick few words about yourself and what you'll be working on over the summer here with us.

Good evening, everybody. Thank you for having me. My name is Caroline Bridge. I am currently in between my first and second years of my master's program at Carnegie Mellon. I'm studying public policy management. In the summer, I'm the LGA intern with the town of McCandless. So a lot of my work is with the 175th anniversary for the town of McCandless, including some historical revitalization and preservation of some of the records that we have. I also get to explore a lot of the other departments and just learn the inner workings of local government. And I'm very happy to be here this summer. Thank you guys. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up to the resolution and then we'll vote on it afterwards for the recognition and appreciation of McCandless Police Sergeant Christian Gutso.

You're on the line.

I just missed one, thank you. First off, do not say F. Recognize our junior council members who will be parting our ways with at least one will since he is a graduating senior. Christian Spirandino, did I pronounce that correctly? Christian Spirandino and Arjun, if you guys would like to come up and we'll say a quick few words. And we have a small gift for you too.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. So I was thinking about what I would say whenever I came up here, and if you'll let me, I want to tell a quick story. So two summers ago, when I first took on a similar role at North Allegheny as the chairman of the principal's advisory committee, I was having a meeting with the principals, and they asked me to come with a list of common student concerns. I had no idea in the middle of the summer how I was going to get a list of common student concerns that represented a lot of students besides just my close friends. So I went through the contact list on my phone and I pulled out every single current North Allegheny student I could find. And I sent each and every one of them a text message being like, hey, I'm having this meeting with the principals. Is there anything you'd like me to speak about? Any concerns you have about school next year? I didn't think I would get anything out of it, and I went to bed with little hope. And I woke up in the middle of the night to my phone blowing up, and I sat there in the dark looking at my phone at well over 100 text messages from my peers talking about the widest range of issues you can imagine, from concerns about teachers to managing homework to bullying and discrimination. These issues... A lot of these kids I didn't know particularly well. Some of them were my friends, some of them were classmates I had known in passing and gotten their phone numbers. But what was shocking was how excited they all seemed to realize that they would have a chance to have their issues heard by the principals, by the people who could make something happen. And I wanted to tell that story tonight because I wanted to remind you all that when I came on and I took this role, I said my goal would be to get better student involvement and awareness of what's happening on the campus. Because the problem isn't students don't care or students don't want to be involved with the issues of our local government. They do. They have those issues. They have problems, not just with their school, but with how they can get involved with their community. The problem isn't making them care. They do care. The problem is giving young people an opportunity to speak what's on their mind, to speak with their readers, to make them feel heard in terms of what their beliefs are and what their concerns are for their everyday life. And this year we made a lot of good progress towards that. We've made the opening moves towards getting a newsletter out to students about what's happening on the campus. We took the opening steps to, we had our first youth town hall at the school. We got council members to come to Nash to speak to students. And that's something that I know Arjun is gonna continue doing next year. and i just want to encourage all of you to continue taking the time and the effort to continue to engage with young people to engage with students because the issues and the concerns are there we just need to find a good way to reach out to them to make them feel heard and to kind of bring them into this great thing we have here because local government in my opinion is the most important type of local government because at the end of the day it's the only level young people can actually connect with their leaders to have a meaningful impact on their everyday lives. So I cannot express how thankful I am for all of you for all the time and all the hard work you put in and all the cooperation you've given Arjun and I this year and kind of working towards those goals. And I'm very excited to see where this program goes next. So thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Wonderful having you with us. Thank you. Thank you so much for being there. Except we want to recognize the retirement of Sergeant Christian Guzzo-Chief. I will call you forward in a second here. I will hand this to you and to him after I read it.

Whereas upon the occasion of the retirement of Sergeant Christian Gasser from the town of McCandless Police Department, effective May 31st, 2026, this regulation is presented as testimony of its loyal and dedicated service to the town. in where Sergeant Guzzo has served the town throughout 28 years, beginning on September 14th, 1998. In where Sergeant Guzzo has always professionally and courteously performed his duties as a patrol officer and so on. In where the contributions and sacrifices made by Sergeant Guzzo have left a lasting and positive impact on the town of McCandless and its residents. Sergeant Betso has consistently gone above and beyond the hall of duty, demonstrating exceptional leadership, courage, commitment to public safety, mentoring junior officers, and earned the trust and appreciation of fellow officers, local officials, and members of the community. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Town Council of the Town of McCandless that the Council this yearby honor Sergeant Christian Gesso for his years of service to the Town of McCandless and for providing peace, security, and the well-being of the residents in a diligent, serious, and professional manner. The law is hereby resolved by the Town Council of the Town of McCandless on the 8th day of June, 2026.

Thank you.

I just want to thank the Town of McCandless and the Council for recognizing my 20 years here. 20 years ago, I think this month, I was driving into McCandless for my interview, and it was right after a big microburst, and I was wondering if I was going to interview that night, because it looked like there were trees down everywhere that day. But I still got my interview. I got hired here. So... It's been a great run. I've enjoyed everything here with a great bunch of guys here, which made working here a lot easier. And, yeah, the town's always been very supportive. And I just appreciate everything. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Can we get a motion to approve 10th Amendment Resolution 2026? Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Next up, we have, I'm gonna say something.

Yes, absolutely. Wait a minute, gentlemen, I have something to say. Christine, can you exemplify? the greatness of everybody in blue here in McCampus. You had a direct impact on all these gentlemen that are standing here and beyond. You gave of yourself, not just on the job, but you gave to this community. We are proud of you. You will always be a part of the family here at McCamp.

Thank you.

Is there any public comment on agenda items only? If you have a comment, please confer, state your name and your address.

Ellen Wright, 9635 Old Comfort, Nelson Park, 95101. I am calling, usually I'll say table something, but tonight I'm asking for a strong resound on the strategic plan. But here are my reasons. One, the strategic planning violated the town code. Are to be held in town hall except for emergency meetings. That is section 185 to 05. Except for emergency meetings. are to be held in town hall. This is a special room that was held in a hotel. I don't recall if it was Cranberry or Oxford, but it was held in town hall. It was held in town hall?

I don't know what you're talking about.

For the strategic planning committee, was it held in town hall?

Is that public comment on agenda items? We'll just let the public comment.

Oh, and so my next comment That so to say that address down sufficient and that they had to follow the town code so section one. says that i'm. are to be held in town except for the emergency section of six says that all town call to have minutes from the strategic planning committee so those are two violations of the town code next the strategic plan it says that they're Some steps in the Comprehensive Plan, it's just not true. There are multiple steps in the Comprehensive Plan. The staff first decided what the issues for town council to vote on. That's not the way it works. The citizens of town council who then direct council, direct the department heads, direct the staff, it's not the staff telling town council who then tells the citizens of McCandless. So that's all very confusing. And then the last thing was I checked the Sunshine Act, but without any minutes, town hall, to take action on a strategic plan that is in violation of the Canvas and the Sunshine Act. The citizens have not had an opportunity to comment on anything that's problematic. And in anticipation of Mr. Corbett telling me, I respectfully disagree with you at this time. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Is there any other public comment on agenda items only? There are none. We will move on to the approval of minutes. Those meetings from the last meeting were in your packet. Are there any revisions that anyone has? Then can I have a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Second. Thank you. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed? Motion carries. Next up is reports of the committees, reports of the Public Safety Committee. Chief's report. Chief Hall.

Good evening, Council, members of the public. Probably don't need this, but I'll use it. It was a note for the month of May as you were finding your report in your packet council members. I always spend a little bit on training, but a time when training in the month of May, our canine team attended Peebles Elementary for their field day. They were accompanied by our retired canine Sergeant Madden and Joy. So there was a special treat over there for the students at Peebles. Our current and retired canine officers. also in the month of may mccandless officers have completed their annual taser recertifications also annually they began their firearms qualifications these are things that we have to do every year we certify every year other training of note in the month of may detective metzger completed a background investigation for police applicants which i think is timely because we are in the midst of a hiring process as we speak Detective Bock attended advanced crime scene investigations, which is valuable for any investigator. And Sergeant Grant attended a high impact supervision training. Also, in the month of May, myself, Lieutenant Agnew and Sergeant Ewing attended a leadership training at Nemecol and Woodlands. It included debriefing of major critical incidents across the U.S. A very valuable training that we try to attend annually. Also, later in the month, myself and Lieutenant Chair Baranchuk attended a tabletop active shooter training at the McCandless Franklin Park EMS building. It was hosted by them. Michael Walling put it together. Besides us, I believe the Northern Regional Police Department, Franklin Park Borough Police Department, North Allegheny Police Department, and the FBI Pittsburgh were all in attendance for this tabletop exercise. Very valuable training. Also in the month of May, social worker Jenny Fry had 38 referrals for service, support, or additional information as needed by the residents of the town. She also held her first monthly community engagement and outreach at Northland Public Library. That's the first Tuesday of every month, I believe, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. She's slated to be there at the Northland Public Library. Also, in May, we participated in two occupant protection details, that's seatbelts, if anyone's curious, and one pedestrian safety detail, where we enforce crosswalks and such. Those are usually supported by the state of Pennsylvania. Also in May, police candidates were currently in the middle of background checks for potential candidates for hire for the police department. And as you all witness here, Sergeant Christian Guzzo called it a career on May 31st. He was here as an officer for nearly 28 full years. And we wish him well and a well-deserved retirement. And I'll wrap up with letting you folks know that we had 27 calls relating to deer in the month of May. Thank you, Chief. Sir, any questions from Council?

I don't have any questions. The new law that went into effect regarding cell phones. What are your officers looking, how are they looking to enforce that at the beginning of this period?

So it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds. whenever those are written, how the local magistrates will handle them, ma'am. Honestly, I believe it would be like any other investigation, you know, what they perceive as they may be passed or see a driver sitting at an intersection. If they see what they believe is clearly a cell phone in hand, then I think they're going to initiate a traffic stop, probably do a little on-scene, you know, questioning of the driver uh their observations alone are probably sufficient to cite somebody um but if they're not quite sure they may ask them at the traffic stop you know this is what i believe i saw were you in fact using your cell phone um i'll be curious to see how these play out at the magistrate level thank you yes ma'am anyone have any other questions or comments for the chief and then we'll move on to the fire marshals report for the month of may 2026 the prisoner

Good evening, Council. So for the month of May, there were 17 fire inspections, 18 fire marshal call-outs with one fire investigation. We had a small electrical fire in a residential property. It was ruled accidental. I taught a few fire prevention programs to approximately 85 people. The two big things working on, which is no shock to anybody if you guys have been listening to these reports the last few months, but still working with the volunteer fire companies on their joint bylaws draft. And I have a little typo here. So the installation of our Storz adapters on our hydrants, it shows 200. But as of the end of last year, week we actually the new update is over 380 hydrants now storts adapters which is approximately 65 percent of our public hydrants so they are they're doing very well on the installation side of things so hopefully it won't be too long before all our hydrants have our storts adapters For the month of April, the fire report, there was 117 fire calls in the town with 30 responses out of town for a total of 147 calls for the month of April. That's all I have to add. If anybody has any questions, we're happy to answer.

Does anyone have any questions or comments? The building permit report for the month of May 2026 that was in your packet. Does anyone have any questions or anything to add? Right now we want to lose on the books for the first number that would be myself. We had a meeting weeks ago and we certified by a list. And we're in the process of hiring to move with officers. Any questions on that.

I know it's great things to think we're going to be down.

When you look for the Getting them hired. Next up was volunteer firefighters steering committee that was in this cleaning.

I don't know if the alternate was at that, but I don't know.

I'm sure if anyone has any questions, I'm sure we can send them out and she'd be happy to let us know. Is there any public comment on public safety? And then we'll move on to reports of facilities management staff report. Public Works. Mr. Newsley is not here with us tonight, but he did have a detailed report in the packet. Ron, was there anything you want to?

The report's in the packet. I'm not going to answer any questions that you may have. This is Brad's last meeting. Brad has taken a position with Aetna Borough as the assistant town manager there. So he will be departing us at the end of this week. We've begun the process to search for his replacement. So add is out in the paper and all our channels accepting applications until July 3rd.

We'd like to just add that Brad did an outstanding job during his time. He takes some pretty serious challenges throughout his time here. And last year, we had a pretty massive winter storm. And I will tell you, we had our roads in tip-top shape as fast as they could possibly be. He has an excellent work ethic, and he was an absolute delight.

You know what, Mr. Chairman? Brad did such a good job of managing a very bettering group of people. And sometimes when you come into a situation like that, you have people that tug, push and pull, as it were. These people really like working for him. He did a great job of communicating. He will be missed here. And I wish him all the best. Because this is a great opportunity for him to go out.

It's always good to follow your heart in life. And that's what he's doing. And we're happy for him. And we wish him the best. Moving on, Environmental Advisory Committee. Mr. Hickerson.

Thank you. We reviewed the applications for the vacancy and we did select someone to fill the vacancy.

Awesome. We're looking forward to voting on that later. Next up is ABHEC Storm Rider Management Committee. Mr. Babich.

Their 2025 audit was clean. Very few notes from the auditor, and they've already begun working on some of those. They're getting an improved accounts payable automation software that should help streamline their processes, which is good because they have a significant amount of delinquent accounts that they are debating about how best to pursue and tackle it. That's their next big step.

Awesome. Is there any public comment on facilities management?

I had a question of Mr. Babish with regards to the storm art. They had delinquent accounts with businesses.

So it ranges, they have two big chunks of several hundred each of the one that they are generally giving up as a loss are ones where the tenor, excuse me, the tenant and the owner are not current. So there's no real way to pursue those additionally. And so there's. wash their hands of it as clean as possible. But there are other hundreds that are people and I think probably a smaller amount of businesses and they are going through the channel of, okay, so they start with sending a letter. And I'm not an expert in the process.

Let me back up a little bit. So it's people that have stormwater retaining ponds?

No, not necessarily. Anyone who they will collect from in general. I don't think it's just routine.

Okay. Okay.

I would say check the minutes if you want. We're talking about MTSA. MTSA. MTSA is sanitary. All the stormwater functions will come through the town. Oh, so they're working on sanitary delinquent billings. Oh, yes. Okay. Public comment?

On right 9635 Old Coomer Road, Allison Park, PA 15101. I just wanted to add my voice to those thanking, and I'm not sure how do I say his last name? Iannuzzi. Iannuzzi.

Iannuzzi. One more time? Iannuzzi.

Iannuzzi. I just wanted to add my voice to complimenting him on the great work that he had done and sorry to see that he's leaving. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Are there any other public comment on facilities management? There are none. We move on to reports of the Services Committee. We move on to reports of Mechanical Township Sanitary Authority. Mr. Iowa.

MTSA, I attended a meeting Thursday this last week, and the minutes were approved from the May 7th meeting. They're not in your packet. They were emailed to you. So any questions, feel free to ask me. HAB-Jacques Juilland- Probably that's when I was at the preview.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Yeah, and I think I realized what you were trying to say now. And I mean, didn't mean to step on top of HAB-Jacques Juilland- You're talking about stormwater ponds who need maintenance. Right. Yes, yes, or the stormwater committee.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- Yeah, Nathan attended the MTSA meeting in my stead two weeks ago. HAB-Jacques Juilland- And they were delayed to meet you.

HAB-Jacques Juilland- How was the transition going with the new executive director.

Excellent.

Good.

Yeah.

Good to hear. Next up is McCandless Franklin Park ambulance authority. That is myself. They are doing great. They're in great financial shape. I will underscore one more time that they received the ambulance service of the year award, which is just a phenomenal accolade for them. And they also have a salute to service event this past month. I was not there, but I heard that it was a wonderful event.

I was there and Nathan was there. It was... It's actually very moving. You had a bagpiper that came in. You had presentations from veterans. You had the ambulance authority was there. The fire departments were there. It really hit a lot of people. So I hope that that is going to be an annual event.

That would be wonderful. It becomes something we do on a regular basis. Any questions or comments on that?

Yeah, the other thing about that is they held it on a Friday of the holiday weekend, and they still had over 100 people there. That was great.

That was remarkable. Sorry. Next up, Northland Public Library Authority. Mr. Babich.

The building and maintenance costs for this point of the year are a little bit high for them, largely due to the snowstorm that happened at the beginning. That's understandable. They're debating an increase in insurance coverage. That new building is worth a three-ten, I'm sure. They've hired four new employees, and summer reading has begun. Plenty of great programs for children and adults, so I hope our constituents take advantage.

Great to hear. Is there any public comment on services committee? Kelly Endo.

Hi, good evening. Marcia Kelly Endo, 10529 Abbey. As a former member of the board for the McCandless Franklin Park Ambulance Authority, I for one am delighted at the awarding of the EMS of the year. but it wouldn't be possible without our state senators, our state representatives for securing grants for new ambulances and for medical equipment that It's amazing what we can see from these days. But it also would not be possible without the financial and support and all other support we've received from the Canvas and our four other municipalities that we serve. It's critical. I am so thankful that we were able to secure that. And I just think that the proof is in the pool. And so I want to... As a former board member, I want to thank you still. But it's such a great honor. So thank you.

Marcia, don't step away. I feel that I would be remiss in not recognizing your part in this, as well as everybody else who has worked. Your passion for the ambulance authority just comes through every time you speak on their behalf. And I'm not surprised that you're not still feeling that passion, even though you have stepped away from official responsibilities. I don't think that you'll ever step away from supporting them and working for them and just cheering them on. So thank you.

Thank you very much. I will always be their cheerleader. It takes a village. And that village was everyone involved. So thank you.

Thank you for your comment. There really is an incredible team effort from all of our reps, senators, all of our board members, and all of the towns that it does service. So we are incredibly fortunate for all of the wonderful work.

So thank you.

Next up is own business, action concerning the town of McCandless, strategic plan. Is there any questions, comments from council regarding this?

Just two comments for a point of order. There was public notice placed in the Post Gazette run date of April 9th, announcing the time, location, and address for the meeting. It was held in a conference room with public seating available in Hampton, located at 4088 Alpha Drive, Suite 3. That was in the paper on April 9th. We also did have a presentation from our strategic planning or, yes, consultant, and we had voted to hire that person in the past. So I do feel that this had been discussed in a public meeting a number of times here, too, in town hall.

And, Mr. Schwinn, am I correct? And this may be a question for you, Mr. Cormorant. That an entire board can meet if it's in a work session. We're no actions being taken correct?

There was no action taken. All the action was taken. There will be taken tonight. The board discussed it at the last meeting where we had a. Public hearing and as Ms. Right. knows under the Sunshine Act, again, not admitting any issue here with what the town did, but by undertaking this activity in a public meeting, two consecutive public meetings, it remedies any violation of the Sunshine. Just want to make sure that's part of the record.

Thank you for the clarification.

So I ask a question. You, as our legal advisor, are telling us that we have no problem voting on this resolution tonight?

Zero problem. Thank you. Hearing that, can we get a motion to approve the 2026 Town of Mechanos strategic fund? Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed? Aye. Motion carries. Next up, we have two public hearings, and I will turn this public meeting over to our solicitor, Mr. Korbold.

Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. So we're going to call to order the hearing on tentatively identified ordinance 1568, which amends the town zoning map to reclassify block and lot 716-F-34, which is at 8613 Peebles Road from the RM district, which is the moderate density neighborhood. I always want to say residential medium, but that's not good. what it is to special district on the application of North Allegheny School District. This has been advertised and properly posted, et cetera. And I believe representatives for school district are present. If you'd like to make a presentation, I believe you have a presentation in the, yes, there it is. If you could take the podium and make your presentation.

Good evening, I'm Craig Bishop with HRG, and my address is 220 West Kinzinger Drive, Suite 100, Cranberry Township, 16066. And I'm here on behalf of North Allegheny School District. I do have Brandon, the Facilities Director, that is with me, along with Legal Counsel of the district. So thank you again for hearing us. And we're here requesting a zoning map amendment to parcel 716F34. So as you can see on the screen there, just to give a little context of where this parcel is located. So in red is the People's Elementary School. and the parcel that the district owns that they're looking to um zone is is the parcel there in the front which is highlighted in blue and it's adjacent to the existing people's elementary school entrance This was just a plot plan showing that we had surveyed the property and also just highlighting there in blue the person that they're looking to, requesting to be rezoned. This is just that you can see there's an existing residential house as well as a garage. And then we have also shown on this map and with the buildings that are within 100 feet of the property to meet the ordinance requirements. Good. Next. Yep. So this really is just the, the, from this zone and just highlight them right there, right within the now I'm sure that this, the parcel is located. So it's right there and that was in that circle. And this here is just a map there on the left showing the existing zone map. with the zoning special district for the Peoples Elementary School with the current auditing zoning that parcel. And then on the right would be if it is rezoned to SD to be consistent with the school district's other parcel, what that would look like. And we're requesting the rezoning because the district would like to consolidate this parcel with their overall track. And then this will be part of an overall main development project that we'll be submitting in the future just to improve the safety of the entrance of the school. I think that might be it. So I guess we're requesting your approval to resume that parcel and I'd be happy to answer any questions or if you have any questions for the district, just let us know.

Also any questions for the district or the representatives?

So the only thing that you guys are gonna do with the property is basically you're gonna tear down the house and the garage and make that entrance to the school safe for us, right?

Correct, yes.

We dealt with that with the previous council. You remember, Nick? Yes. We actually had real issues with people being able to pull into the school and fly to school safely.

Questions from council? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bishop. With that, I'll open it up to the public. Are there any public comments on this order?

On rate 9635 Old Coomer Road, Allison Park, PA 151 and 1. My concern is that the language of when the ordinance is to be effective does not align with the canless code. It says ordained and enacted into law this 22nd day of June to be effective in accordance with law. The canless code is very clear. The effective date of an ordinance is 10 days after advertisement or 10 days after it enactment if an advertisement falls to appear for reasons beyond council's control. It's section 117.11. And I would just ask that the ordinance be revised so that I thought we had already started to correct ordinances that were not correct. I would like to see this one corrected so that it aligns to McCandless' code. Thank you.

Just for the record, the town's position is that when you state that the ordinance shall be effective in accordance with law, it includes the, Ms. Rager,

I forgot to say I would respectfully disagree with whatever you said.

Yeah, well, that's understandable. I mean, we were in court on seven different lawsuits because we disagreed with me. When you say at the end of an ordinance that it's effective in accordance with law, if the McCandless Code says it's effective 10 days later, that's in accordance with the law. So we are complying. We have those words in the ordinance. And rather than make a mistake as to the exact date it becomes effective, et cetera, it is a typical practice throughout the municipal world that you use language such as that because some ordinances are effective immediately in the real world. Some ordinances are effective not immediately. And so that encompasses all of the potential outcomes And if there's an issue about an effective date, the administration and their legal team will discuss and determine when that date is. So I just want to make sure that that is part of the record as well. Any other public comments?

I have a question for you. Yes. Could you bear apart how much money in court we have spent on Ms. Wright's lawsuits?

I object. How much have we spent on Mr. Corbill's? only the code is costing the town.

I'll state for the record that Ms. Wright has... Do you abstain for that question?

Just like you abstain from paying the bills when it comes time to pay the bills?

So the fact of the matter is that... That's not how my last name is pronounced, ma'am.

And I don't know how you feel, but I know that... Chair, call the meeting to order. Just go ahead and say that.

You're not able to speak unless you're at the podium. There is not a back and forth here.

There is not. There is not a back and forth, ma'am. I would like the residents of McCandless to know that we have spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees on federal suits, and I think that McCandless taxpayer dollars would be much better spent going towards funding EMS, towards funding public safety, and towards supporting the town of McCandless.

None of these suits have been successful to date. I think that's also important. Thank you for knowing that, Mr. Colbert. You're welcome. With that, we will close the public hearing. All right. I think we're going to another public hearing. I will call to order the second public hearing, which is a public hearing on the report and recommendations of the 2026 Councilmanic District Commission. And I believe that Mr. Ennis has a presentation for the public as to the outcome of the commission meeting.

Thank you. One second. Thank you. All right. So we this presentation will be on the report overview. I'd like to start by discussing the members of the district commission as appointed Trish Green, Jason Singer and Paul Heckman. Myself as a staff liaison, and I'd like to just note that the, for the record that the purpose of pushing is to divide the canvas into 7 councilman districts as equal and population as practical. Just to go over a timeline, as has been stated, we are currently at the first public hearing for this commission report. The commission had met the meeting that was advertised two weeks ago and had discussed this report, put the report together, and The next steps are now to go through this item and eventually vote for potential acceptance. To give an update of kind of when and the reason we are going through this process now, in 2023 and 2024, the town had gone through the apportionment process and had sent the approved report to the county for review. The county accepted the review comments from the state from the town, and then it was sent to the state election divisions and the state elections division had similar to a town with the comments. So, I'm not. Town received comments from the state that include 2 different issues with the similar plan. Issue number one, census blocks. Lines were non-confirming. Essentially, we write a census block, which is what is used in proportionally of groups of people. It's what the standard was from the federal government. They were split. And then another, and that's a requirement. So requirement is that there has to be has to follow sense spot lines and it has to include boundaries. So can't split like a yellow or split somewhere that is definable clear. So you can see on the on my presentation. But census back known confirmed in districts for five and six. as well as a few map errors, districts four, six, and seven, which will be discussed. Talking about these errors, I essentially went through a showcase of the errors and how we corrected them. So you can see on the left, the census block error, you can see that census box and looking back through what had happened with previous staff that went through this process, the census box with different censuses actually do change a little bit. So the data that they had was inaccurate. So that's where a few of these errors came from. The census block they had split. So you can see where this census block follows a property line, is divided by a parcel, and that does not meet the standards of the state's comments. Pretty similar issue with River Fire. You can see how true that there was, there's a simple section of the, it's just a census block changed from 2010 to 2020. Same issue with Word 6. You can see it corrected here as well. is the only that had to be corrected with a solution that So the census block actually was divided completely incorrectly. It affected potential voters on this parcel here, or these parcels here. The thing that adjusts me is that potentially 20 members would be from 42 to 43. In strict, um, and actually would not change the districts and still saw the standards of, um, of deviation of what the town had processed. Um, so I just wanted to note that this is the phone that was approved in 2024. And this is just a cool. So now that the district is current. This is the basis of what the town had updated since 2000. There was an update in 2010 changing the actual location of the village to have a new map made. The tension and the town was to. These changes, so what I'm discussing is all of the information. Submission for this entire process, the town chose to go through this process and the creation of this commission is part of the town charter. So, according to the town charter to overview these updates. So to. It actually was changing. It was the movement of people from basically 2010 to 2020, there was an increase. So the population was 200. And this had to be which was a population that was not at the same even as one was. Excuse me, we're two. And that additionally occurred in two and three. Six and seven, you can see the changes here. And which took four, which is where that corrected error was. Suggested changes of this report adopted if accepted by the town and by the state elections division. So just to go, so giving this report at this public hearing. So this is the presentation. So our next public hearing is when the town council can vote on accepting this report. Then the town will proceed with all of the timeline items of submitting the report to the state or the county and state board. Design. So the way it works with the county's election division is that the county's election division is affected by any type of district change. It's actually on the county to do this of any updates of that to any property owner. So if this would go through and I said the county would basically go throughout the town with adjustments, notices, and also notified property owners. And as with the town of McInnes, for any affected property owners, we would send information just to ensure that anyone affected is aware of it. and that the location of what would be building. I think the biggest thing with a in addition to that notification as well. So those are the steps of what the commission went over and if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you, Mr. Ennis. Are there any council questions? for Mr. Evans? I have one. Yes, sir.

Mr. Babbage. Will the notice go out for the 2024 and 2026 changes at the same time?

So, that's a great question. Just to explain, the 2024 changes were denied. So, the 2024 changes were of the town the council but then denied those states that actually never none of those changes were actually in effect to the point where they're affected where people vote and um and where they're in uh so that would all come from the county everybody that's changed will get a notification from the county

And just to add to Mr. Ennis, the county, we have the county approved the plan and the court approved the plan and then the state rejected it. We thought we were at the finish line, but we weren't. And this is from, I'm sorry, 2020 census numbers?

Oh, correct. Yeah. 2020 census numbers. Um, so 2020 census numbers and the, the vote is always. Presented by the U. S. census. So it's all approximated anyway, to a certain degree. So we felt that looking at that. The community. survey for 2023 the american community survey which is what the standard is for redistricting uh the standard is to utilize the the decade censuses um we felt that obviously another census is a couple years away from us um but being that there we actually haven't changed in like 20 26 years we thought that um the least we're going to remember this you know what was intended to occur a few years ago And then look in the next few years, if there's any deficiencies in the 30 census, the town would then go through the same process of reapportionment.

So my question then would be, since the data is six years old, has there been any major, like for example, a large senior living facility that would have a large number or the closing of such facility that would maybe have those numbers not be 100% accurate?

Um, the approximations, um, census that was approximations. So there was some there has been some development 16 years that could be in the, uh, the, the, um, but the system. follow the other guidelines from the federal government for how you're supposed to adjust your words. And we're talking about redistricting. It's the town's position that the county is districts and typically the districts are what can change because that's what you're, what's typically affecting your voter numbers for your one-on-one meeting.

um so i'd say that the cycle would be with the actual districts um that's something that the the county would be in the better preview thank you welcome another question that is i want to thank you for your hard work on this we've been wanting to do this for years so i'm i'm glad we're pushing this across the finish line thank you thank you paul thank you jason

Okay. If there are no other council questions or comments, then I will open the floor to public comment.

I have a comment first, and then I do have a question. I received a text message from somebody who's trying to watch this online and said, They really couldn't hear you. And they're very curious about the word changes. So at some point in time before we had this public hearing, if we could just review the changes. So I appreciate it. I'm hearing you. My second question is, and I'm and I'm a little bit confused. I know that our job as a town is to draw the lines. And then it is the, hopefully the Elections Bureau to draw the precincts within those wards. I was a little bit confused when you were showing some, like within some district changes. So I don't know exactly where they came from. we can't draw the precinct lines, which is where we really see a lot of, I mean, anybody who's worked at a number of these polls can see that these lines need to be amended because somebody has no line and somebody has a ridiculously long line. Can we at least make suggestions as to how those precincts should be drawn out? So, you know, to them saying, so that they, hopefully it gives them the impetus to make the proceed changes that need to be made as well as the world changes.

Thanks. I'll just comment on your first comment. And I'll go back and pull it up on the map as well. Just to confirm, you said that they... changes. Okay. So from the previous, the previous maps, what they didn't hear? 2012 match sure what word sure so i'll just quickly just over that um then so what changed from the census is that and just a little bit of the highlights um was that 10 to 2020 significantly is out of balance and hopefully seven have had higher population numbers And six had been more. So what they had gone through was to adjust to essentially take a portion of the section that's shown just to . And so that's what the is to make that adjustment. The second adjustment was for two. 16 to 7, 7, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, as the actual errors that we can take. higher than 4.2 and 4.3. So it felt irresponsible for the commission to add them to So, that was the census tracks that that census tract had essentially split the districts and. So we weren't able to add the section into um into four uh into fourth three there so that's that i know it's a little bit um confusing but essentially it was because because of the the physical limitations for the census

I have been 105 to 9 Abby. Mr. Yes. Having been to court with you, we put the first one out. And being surrounded by the judge and ask for things out of place for a representing representative. Whether it's yourself or from the bird. To maybe suggest to the judge that he suggests to. The county that. they fix the words that are out of kilter because i think even with this change in four i think there are still a couple of precincts as judged by the lines at the polls that probably need more than just a little push one way or the other is there anything improper about

I would say not improper, but not the correct forum. But hey, if a judge tells you to do something, you might do it.

I remember him telling me to make this effective with the upcoming election. And when Marsha asked me about why can't we make suggestions, even though it's not our duty to make those changes, we could certainly do them a little single. But then there's some things that need to be fixed, and that's your responsibility, not ours.

I'd also encourage folks to talk to their county representatives about this issue and see if they can maybe push things along in that regard.

Okay, I do think it's a disservice to the voters in those precincts and it's not Matt's responsibility to make those changes that we give them some suggestions about look at these numbers and something needs pushed because it's just not fair to people that are standing in line for an hour when other people are walking by, casting their vote and coming out and maybe three voters have gone in from the other line. So thank you. Yes, sir.

I actually like just a column or two through the research of what had been occurred through the previous process. There was, I did see correspondence from Arjo Sesko regarding attempting to notify the county. Obviously, the county is aware of the number of people. But I can say that at least in the past that the town had attempted to push that forward and it didn't look like it ever came to fruition.

Nope.

I know we didn't bring it up to the time. Okay. Yeah. Thank you.

Okay. Any other public comment?

I'm going to write 9635. You know, the first set of drawings, I just wasn't really clear. I liked the next set of color. It was easier to see what was going on. The first set between the, and I don't know, I was hard to tell. And just what the maps were, which one was the, I didn't see a date on the big maps and maybe I just missed it. The concern with this also has an effective date that's in accordance with law. Mechanic's law is very clear that the effective date of an ordinance is 10 days after advertisement or 10 days after HAB-Masyn Moyer- magnet is advertisement fails to appear for reasons beyond council's control I didn't see anywhere says if. HAB-Masyn Moyer- That it's a fancy situation that you'd have to ask the attorney or ask the town manager what accordance with them it's very cool. HAB-Masyn Moyer- That the effective date and the cable company they change their ordinance so that the ordinance followed the canvas as ordinance and. And there's another point with that. But anyway, so thank you very much. And I look forward to seeing that the ordinance will follow McCandless's ordinance. Thank you.

Okay. Any other public comments? Okay, seeing none, we'll close this hearing. And just to note, both of these ordinances are scheduled to be on the June 22nd agenda for council's consideration. Mr. Vice President. All right.

Next up is new business. We have action concerning the resignation of Shelly Swanholtz from the Planning Commission. I think I heard she's moving. Is that right? So we thank her for her years of service to the Planning Commission and we wish her the best. Can we have a motion to accept her resignation?

I move that we accept the resignation of Shelly Swanholtz from the Planning Commission.

Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed? Aye. Motion carries. Next step, we have an action concerning a vacancy for the Environmental Advisory Committee. Mr. Pickerson, since you are our liaison, would you like to make a motion?

Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to appoint Carmen Ruby to the Environmental Advisory Committee for a term expiring on December 31st, 2026. Thank you.

Is there a second? Second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. Next up is public non-agenda comments. Are there any non-agenda comments in those in attendance?

Ellen Wright, 9635, Old Cameroon, Allison Park, PA 15101. Last time I talked about the importance of council being familiar with the Sunshine Act. And this time I will say that if anybody wants to talk about the town code with me and see what questions they have or what questions I have, I'm more than open to do so with the members of council. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Are there any other comments from those in attendance? Seeing none, can I get a motion to adjourn?

I'd like to request the council retreat to executive session immediately after the meeting for advice from legal counsel.

Can I have a motion to adjourn? So are we going to adjourn first and then go do?

Can we adjourn and then we'll go immediately after?

Can I have a motion to adjourn? Second. I suppose. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned.