CLARKS GREEN — At the Clarks Green Council meeting June 16, Dr. Terry Cochran, in his health and safety report, talked about a police contract that Clarks Summit submitted to Clarks Green Council. He said that the committee discussed it in the work session.
“We don’t believe in defunding the police, which we’ve been accused of,” he said. “We haven’t done anything without the authority of council.”
Cochran announced the provisions in the contract including a 0% increase in 2022, a 3% increase in 2023, a 3% increase in 2023, a 3% increase in 2024, a 3% increase in 2025, and a 3% increase in 2026. He mentioned that this totals to 12%.
“We would like to see that 12% go down to 10%,” he said. “But the committee has been quite happy with the service we’ve gotten from Clarks Summit.”
Council president Joe Barrasse added that the current contract is in effect through the end of December. He said that Clarks Summit would like to hire a full-time police officer, but to do so before July 1, there will be federal funding available.
“Before they (Clarks Summit Council) make the commitment and hire a full-time officer, they would like to have kind of a commitment from Clarks Green, which we think is fair and reasonable.”
Councilman Dave Rinaldi made a motion to accept the proposal for the next five years — Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2026. He said that the current amount will remain the same at $86,322.
Treasurer Alan Hughes proposed a counter offer with a 0% increase in the first year, a 2% increase in the second and third years, and a 3% increase in the fourth and fifth years. Rinaldi questioned the basis of the counter offer. Hughes replied that it is to save money for the Clarks Green residents.
Barrasse said that with the counter offer, the first three years would save approximately $860. He reminded council that they also have a contract with the Clarks Summit Fire Company, whom Clarks Green is participating with to help financially as well with contributions. Rinaldi mentioned that the state law requires council to provide one mil.
Hughes authorized the committee to negotiate with Clark Summit borough within the parameters of the proposal from Clarks Summit in the counter offer. During a special meeting held at the Clarks Summit borough building the next day, Clarks Summit Council voted to accept the original provisions of the police contract.
“They (Clarks Green) had us the last five years, and everything was very favorable,” Gerrie Carey, president of Clarks Summit Council, said at the meeting.
“And we just want to continue and give them five more years of service.” Clarks Summit also covers the fire department and ambulance service for Clarks Green as well.
In his public works report, Rinaldi announced that the advertising for bids was placed for the 2021 paving project. He said that the proposals are to be open for council to review them and to determine whether to accept them or not during the council meeting in July.
Also, Rinaldi said that the crosswalks, which intersect Abington Road and Fairview Road, have been painted recently. In his Abington Regional Wastewater Authority report, Rinaldi mentioned that the Internet provider of the sewer plant changed from Frontier to Lackawanna Wireless. He announced that the board accepted a proposal from Kohinski & Company for financial audits for 2021, 2022, and 2023 in the amounts of $6,800, $7,000, and $7,000. He said that a usage plan has been drafted and will be distributed to municipalities if they want to use ARWA’s camera system.
In his treasurer’s report, Hughes mentioned that the state funds account is down by $40,000 compared to last year because $85,000 was used for paving. He also said that the capital fund is down about $22,000 because payments of the truck were expensed by it. He said that the certificate of deposit from FNCB Bank matures on Wednesday, June 23, and $22,000 will be added to it. He mentioned that in the sewer checking account, the only expense was the quarterly payment to ARWA in the amount of $65,063. He also announced that the revenue for the year to date through May 31 is up $68,000. He said that $24,000 of that is the three miscellaneous revenues, which were realized earlier this year.
Council voted to accept the financial report as of May 31 and ratify the payment of bills for the month of May. Also, Hughes announced that council collected $2,071 of the sewer delinquencies that total $41,790 as of June 16. He said that the financial committee sent letters to seventeen residents and received full payments from five of them.
