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1 SCRANTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
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5 HELD:
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7 Thursday, February 1, 2007
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9 LOCATION:
10 Council Chambers
11 Scranton City Hall
12 340 North Washington Avenue
13 Scranton, Pennsylvania
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CATHENE S. NARDOZZI- COURT REPORTER
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2 CITY OF SCRANTON COUNCIL:
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MS. JUDY GATELLI, PRESIDENT
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6 MS. JANET E. EVANS
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MS. SHERRY FANUCCI
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9 MR. ROBERT MCGOFF
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MR. WILLIAM COURTRIGHT
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12 MS. KAY GARVEY, CITY CLERK
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MS. SUE MAGNOTTA, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK
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15 MR. AMIL MINORA, SOLICITOR
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1 (Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
2 MS. GATELLI: Please remain standing
3 for a moment to remember our service men and
4 women.
5 (Moment of silence observed.)
6 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Roll call.
7 MS. MAGNOTTA: Mrs. Evans.
8 MS. EVANS: Here.
9 MS. MAGNOTTA: Mrs. Fanucci.
10 MS. FANUCCI: Here.
11 MS. MAGNOTTA: Mr. McGoff.
12 MR. MCGOFF: Here.
13 MS. MAGNOTTA: Mr. Courtright.
14 MR. COURTRIGHT: Here.
15 MS. MAGNOTTA: Mrs. Gatelli.
16 MS. GATELLI: Here. We are going to
17 dispense with the reading of the minutes,
18 but before we start the regular business we
19 have a proclamation this evening and we
20 would like to ask Mr. Gary Francis to please
21 come forward.
22 (Mr. Francis comes forward.)
23 MS. GATELLI: WHEREAS, the COUNCIL
24 OF THE CITY OF SCRANTON, is desirous of
25 honoring "GARY FRANCIS", CITY OF SCRANTON
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1 EMPLOYEE, for his quick response during a
2 fire on December 16, 2006 in a trailer home
3 in Taylor, Pa.; and.
4 WHEREAS, "MR. FRANCIS" was at the
5 Taylor Neighborhood Tukey Hill Store when he
6 noticed flames coming from the home; and.
7 WHEREAS, "MR. FRANCIS" approached
8 the burning home calling back for the Turkey
9 Hill employee to call 911; and.
10 WHEREAS, seeing the front door was
11 in flames "GARY" proceeded to the back door
12 to gain entrance into the home which was
13 engulfed in flames, waking Mr. And Mrs.
14 Thomas Morais, their four children and a
15 family friend; and.
16 WHEREAS, "GARY FRANCIS" carried to
17 safety two of the children before going back
18 into the burning home to rescue the other
19 two children bringing them to safety; and.
20 WHEREAS, "GARY FRANCIS'" quick
21 decision to react to this dire situation
22 until emergency personnel arrived, showed
23 much bravery as he took the initiative to
24 maintain a calming force during what
25 otherwise could have been a catastrophic
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1 event; and.
2 WHEREAS, Scranton City Council is
3 very proud and grateful for "MR. GARY
4 FRANCIS'" unselfish act of courage.
5 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that
6 on Thursday, February 1, 2007, Scranton City
7 council wishes to honor "MR. GARY FRANCIS"
8 for his bravery and heroic actions during
9 this life threatening event.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this
11 Proclamation be made a permanent part of the
12 Minutes of this Council, as lasting tribute
13 to "GARY FRANCIS."
14 MS. GARVEY: THIRD ORDER, 3-A, CITY
15 OF SCRANTON ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE
16 YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005.
17 MS. GATELLI: Any comments? If not,
18 received and filed.
19 MS. GARVEY: 3-B. AGENDA FOR THE
20 ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETING TO BE HELD ON
21 FEBRUARY 14, 2007.
22 MS. GATELLI: Are there any comments?
23 If not, received and filed.
24 MS. GARVEY: And only have one thing
25 for clerk's notes tonight, the Comcast, they
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1 responded to council's letter regarding the
2 senior citizen discount that the citizen
3 asked about so I will read that letter in
4 response to that request. "Dear Ms. Garvey,
5 I am writing to response to your January 9
6 letter seeking information about discount
7 cable service for senior citizens. I am
8 sorry to hear that a resident was told that
9 a senior discount was possible upon city
10 council's request. That is not the case.
11 Comcast does not offer senior citizen
12 discounts, instead, Comcast makes a low cost
13 lifeline level of service basic available to
14 all customers regardless of age who need an
15 inexpensive alternative for television
16 entertainment. Our basic service is $12.05
17 per month and includes 19 broadcasts and
18 local channels as well as PCN and Home
19 Shopping. While this level was designed
20 with seniors in mind, it recognizes that the
21 ability to pay for cable service is a factor
22 of income and not age. If Councilwoman
23 Gatelli or other members of council have
24 additional questions or need more
25 information please give me a call," and she
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1 lists her number, "I would be happy to
2 attend a future council meeting to respond
3 to any of your concerns."
4 And that was signed by Elizabeth
5 Sterna.
6 MS. GATELLI: Thank you, Ms. Garvey.
7 I just have a few items, tomorrow evening is
8 the first Friday art walk. The trolly
9 visits all of the art galleries in the
10 downtown and you can call 842-4133.
11 614 River Street is a burned out
12 house that has been a problem for quite
13 sometime. Lackawanna Neighbors have called
14 and they going to rehabilitate the
15 structure. They are also doing another home
16 on Pittston Avenue that is coming along very
17 nicely. The director there, Jody Bayman,
18 used to be an OECD employee with Mayor
19 Connors and she is doing a wonderful job
20 with Lackawanna Neighbors.
21 I reported a house at West Parker
22 Street for Mr. Parker, it has fire damage
23 and is 43 years. 228 Pittston Avenue that's
24 been sold and it will be rehabilitated.
25 There were several houses within the
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1 last week that have been demolished: 2314
2 Pittston Avenue, 105-107 S. Garfield, 1021
3 1/2 Acker. 913-915 Greenridge Street. And
4 also, Kay, if you can send a letter I got
5 several phone calls this week on a house at
6 2519 North Main Avenue, it was the old
7 habitat for humanity house and it's been in
8 deplorable condition for several years so
9 see if they can't get that demolished.
10 MS. KAY: Okay.
11 MS. GATELLI: Potholes were repaired
12 on Hollow Avenue, 600 of Moore Court, 9 and
13 10 of Clay, 1800 of Pawnee, 1,000 South
14 Webster, 2300 Hamm Court, Quay Avenue, 500
15 of Briggs, 400 of South Edwards, 9th Street
16 and Meridian, the one, two, three of
17 Jefferson and 200 of Franklin, 300 of
18 Robert's Court, the 400 of Lackawanna and
19 the one, two three of Penn. There were some
20 trees trimmed up on Elmhurst Boulevard and
21 we had some snow removal on the 25th and the
22 26th of January.
23 One-hundred and twenty feet of drain
24 pipe was replaced on West Mountain Road and
25 they repaired drainage off of Fawnwood Drive
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1 and Newton Road.
2 OECD loans, someone had asked that
3 question last week, who monitors the loans
4 and they are monitored by Lori Reed of the
5 OECD office, she monitors them on a
6 quarterly basis and also HUD does their
7 annual audits on all of the loans.
8 I saw an article in the paper and
9 I'd just like to congratulate Nicole Capozie
10 of the Lavish Skin Care. We did give a loan
11 to her and apparently she was recognized in
12 House Beautiful magazine for her store.
13 Someone went there anonymously without her
14 knowing and gave her an award in this
15 magazine and there was some pretty nice
16 locales that had the awards too, Honolulu,
17 Palm Beach, Florida, Scottsdale, Arizona,
18 New York City and Los Angeles so we are very
19 happy for Lavish. I haven't been there, but
20 I understand it's a very nice store and we
21 are happy that they have gotten an award.
22 And that's all I have.
23 MS. EVANS: Mrs. Gatelli, may I make
24 one announcement?
25 MS. GATELLI: Sure. Absolutely.
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1 MS. EVANS: Thank you. The Scranton
2 Firefighters Auxiliary is sponsoring a
3 dinner dance to benefit the American Red
4 Cross on Saturday, February 10 from 6:00 to
5 11:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Parish Hall in
6 Minooka. The cost is $25 and includes
7 cocktails, dinner and entertainment. Please
8 support this very worthy cause. The Red
9 Cross steps up to the plate whenever a
10 family is displaced by fire and whenever our
11 city residents suffer from flooding
12 conditions, so, again, I urge you, please
13 help the firefighters auxiliary, help the
14 American Chapter of the Red Cross.
15 MS. GATELLI: What time is that
16 again the 10th?
17 MS. EVANS: Six to eleven.
18 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
19 MS. EVANS: You're welcome.
20 MS. GATELLI: Does anyone else have
21 anything? First speaker is Andy Sbaraglia.
22 MR. SBARAGLIA: Andy Sbaraglia,
23 citizen of Scranton, fellow Scrantonians.
24 On the agenda 7-A, this $250,000 does
25 anybody know who the Parkers are? The
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1 mayor? Could the mayor be a partner?
2 MS. GATELLI: No, he is not. I
3 heard from the owner of the property that's
4 selling it and she said that Mayor Doherty
5 was not involved in that.
6 MR. SBARAGLIA: I heard it was
7 something to do with church wine.
8 MS. GATELLI: Sacramento Wine.
9 MR. SBARAGLIA: Is that true?
10 MS. GATELLI: Yes.
11 MR. SBARAGLIA: Well, that's all just
12 that the mayor seems to be interested in
13 that type of line of business, it just made
14 me wonder because it's a limited partnership
15 so you have to know all of the partners,
16 some silent, some vocal, I wish you had
17 asked. The 5 percent is fine, the loan was
18 at 5 percent interest which is in line with
19 what's happening in the market today, just
20 that's too bad we couldn't borrow for the
21 city at that rate. It's too bad we can lend
22 it at 5 percent and borrow it at 8 percent.
23 If you ever -- I wish you would
24 sometime get around to get a hold of them --
25 well, I'm not going to get --that's getting
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1 off of it. That's all I wondered who the
2 partners in this enterprise and so forth and
3 so on. If you don't know okay.
4 MR. GATELLI: Thank you. Mr. Quinn.
5 MR. QUINN: Robert Ozzie Quinn,
6 president of Scranton and the Lackawanna
7 County Taxpayers Citizens Association, Inc.
8 I'm here today to speak on the agenda on 7-A
9 also, I want to pick up from last week, it
10 was my understanding that a letter was going
11 to go to OECD in regards to not just who
12 does the monitoring about the jobs, what
13 kind of jobs and etcetera, etcetera, okay,
14 and what this woman is telling you if that's
15 hearsay and that's all the more that's why
16 we should have a subpoena in regard to
17 what's going on with our money. Now, I
18 don't know if this lady has the credentials
19 for underwriting, you know? I haven't seen
20 the monitoring review and you know yourself,
21 Judy, when you were there they were always
22 opened and actually they were in the paper
23 and I haven't seen one in four years and how
24 do I know what's going on, the taxpayers
25 don't know what's going on with that money
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1 and it is taxpayers' money.
2 And the only way we are going to get
3 to the root of it is to subpoena these
4 authorities and OECD and find out what the
5 heck is going on and, I mean, I would be
6 glad to volunteer to look at it, I have a
7 little bit of knowledge on OECD, on
8 regulations. I know the $20,000 both at a
9 job so there should be 12 jobs created by
10 this loan tonight. Now, created when? And
11 are they actually going to be created, are
12 they going to be like minimum wage, are they
13 going to be like 30 hours a week or whatnot?
14 But I'm all for that subpoena and I'm hope
15 that we go along with that and council goes
16 along.
17 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
18 MR. QUINN: Thank you very much.
19 MS. GARVEY: Mrs. Gatelli, mya I
20 just respond? That letter that Ozzie is
21 speaking to that letter did go out this week
22 but not until I think maybe yesterday, so it
23 did go to Sara Hailstone asking all of those
24 questions that were asked last week.
25 MS. GATELLI: Thank you, Mrs. Garvey.
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1 Mr. Talamini?
2 MR. TALAMINI: Joe Talamini, resident
3 and taxpayer in the City of Scranton.
4 Again, going back to what we are talking
5 about the financial items I would like to
6 first of all clarify something, I believe it
7 was at my request during the council meeting
8 last week that the finance chairman, it
9 happens to be Mrs. Evans, asked for the
10 financial records of the city. I quoted
11 from Section 312 --
12 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Talamini, is this
13 on the agenda?
14 MR. TALAMINI: The agenda involves
15 financial matters, does it not?
16 MS. GATELLI: I don't think it's on
17 the agenda. I think you would have to wait
18 until the second participation. You have to
19 speak on either 7-A -- -
20 MR. TALAMINI: Well, 7-A refers to
21 financial matters and this what I was
22 proposing last week.
23 MS. GATELLI: Well, it's a loan, so
24 you would have to speak in regards to that
25 loan.
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1 MR. TALAMINI: Okay. Well, I'd like
2 to know more about the loan that's another
3 thing. I agree with Mr. Sbaraglia, you
4 know, we are giving out $250,000, we are
5 paying more money to borrow it than we are
6 to get it back if we get it back and I'd
7 also like clarification as to just who LLC
8 is, who it involves. Thank you. We'll be
9 back.
10 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Ms.
11 Shoemaker.
12 MS. SHOEMAKER: I, too, would like
13 to speak on 7-A this evening. Last week it
14 may be faulty memory and the minutes aren't
15 on line yet so I couldn't check my memory,
16 but I'm quite sure that someone said here
17 last week that this 408 Cedar Avenue LLC has
18 been in business for quite sometime serving
19 the northeast and now they wanted to expand
20 to the southeast. I went to the Secretary
21 of State's website and that entity was
22 created on January 17, 2007. It is less
23 than several weeks old.
24 Also, I looked at the guidelines,
25 the state guidelines, for enterprise zones
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1 which is a funding this effort and they are
2 only designated for a period of seven years,
3 so it -- and I did put a call into OECD and
4 no call back yet on this so I thought make
5 you could answer since you worked at OECD,
6 how can you give a 25 year loan for a
7 program that only lasts seven years?
8 Enterprise zones are only good for 7 years
9 or are we to believe that for the next 25
10 years we are going to be depressed and
11 therefore we'll keep requalifying every
12 seven years.
13 Also, the guidelines say that
14 requested easy funding should not exceed
15 30 percent of the total project costs. So,
16 therefore, is the total cost of this project
17 8.3 million dollars? Anybody have any
18 answers or do we just not follow the
19 guidelines.
20 MS. FANUCCI: I actually can answer a
21 few of your questions. The purchasing
22 company is not the company that has been in
23 business. The company they are purchasing
24 the Nonan Wine Company they were the ones
25 who were in business for years so they are
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1 purchasing an existing company that was in
2 business, so this new business is -- this
3 new company has been recently formed, but
4 what they were saying is they were
5 purchasing an already formed company.
6 That's what the mix up was there so it's not
7 them that has been in business for all of
8 those years it is the company that they are
9 purchasing that has been in business for all
10 of those years.
11 MS. SHOEMAKER: And what's the name
12 of the company?
13 MS. FANUCCI: I think it's Nonon,
14 N-O-N-0-N or --
15 MS. GATELLI: A-N.
16 MS. FANUCCI: Yes, Nonan Wine, Nonan
17 Altar Wines or something.
18 MS. SHOEMAKER: What about the terms
19 of the loan?
20 MS. FANUCCI: The terms of the loan,
21 and I agree and, in fact, I had just spoke
22 to Mrs. Evans before you guys all got up
23 here tonight that I believe I'm going to
24 table this tonight because I was not here
25 last week and I do want to check more into
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1 this to be able to get you facts that I do
2 not have tonight, so I am considering if I
3 can get a second on that tabling this.
4 MS. SHOEMAKER: And I would also
5 like to know if that quarter of a million
6 dollars is actually 30 percent or less of
7 the total project costs.
8 MS. FANUCCI: Right.
9 MS. SHOEMAKER: Look forward to the
10 answer next week. Thank you.
11 MR. COURTRIGHT: Mrs. Gatelli, if I
12 may?
13 MS. GATELLI: Sure.
14 MR. COURTRIGHT: I would like to make
15 suggestion because almost every time when we
16 have one of these loans come down everybody,
17 including myself, is interested in who the
18 people are that are getting the loans not
19 just the company, so maybe we can ask, Kay,
20 if, you could ask OECD to send the
21 individuals that are the owners of that
22 company in the backup, you know, in the
23 backup loan so every time somebody comes for
24 a loan if it's Bill Courtright that's
25 getting the loan put Bill Courtright's name
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1 on there because I want to know myself and
2 this way here there won't be any reason to--
3 any impropriety happening so if they could
4 do that we might head of the crowd. Thank
5 you.
6 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Jacowicz.
7 MR. JACOWICZ: Bill Jacowicz, South
8 Scranton resident. I also want to talk
9 about 7-A, this Nonan Altar Wine Company
10 they have been in 70 years I believe. The
11 Bowen family owned it and I guess they are
12 the ones who are selling it. Have they ever
13 asked for a loan during their 70 years and
14 have they ever received a loan from the City
15 of Scranton?
16 MS. GATELLI: Not that I'm aware of.
17 MR. JACOWICZ: Pardon me? I can't
18 hear you.
19 MS. GATELLI: Not that I'm aware of.
20 MR. JACOWICZ: Also, isn't this
21 located in the 400 block of Cedar Avenue?
22 MS. GATELLI: Yes.
23 MR. JACOWICZ: Is that not being
24 redeveloped and isn't that part of the South
25 Side project that we have already have
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1 federal and state money being poured into
2 that area to remodel those buildings? Is
3 that building not going to be one of the
4 buildings that is going to be remodeled?
5 MS. GATELLI: Not necessarily. It is
6 part of the Elm Street Project.
7 MR. JACOWICZ: Can you find out for
8 me by next week whether that building is
9 part of the projects and whether or not it
10 already has money allocated to it to be
11 remodeled because we don't want to give them
12 more money and I guess that's about it. Oh,
13 in today's paper I see that Mrs. Fanucci,
14 Mrs. Gatelli and Mr. McGoff get answers from
15 that mayor so that means from now on I guess
16 we're going to getting a lot of answers from
17 these three people because in today's paper
18 you stated that you have no problems --
19 MS. GATELLI: That's not on the
20 agenda, Mr. Jacowicz.
21 MR. JACOWICZ: I understand. That's
22 fine.
23 MS. GATELLI: Ann Marie Stulgis.
24 MS. STULGIS: I'm Ann Marie Stulgis.
25 I see on the agenda tonight that the city's
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1 annual financial report for the year ending
2 December 31, '05, might I assume that's a
3 typo and it's '06 because it's '07 now?
4 MS. EVANS: I'm assuming it's a typo,
5 but mine, too, states 2005 on the cover and
6 for the information which is dated within
7 2005.
8 MS. STULGIS: So it's '05 that we are
9 getting in '07?
10 MS. EVANS: I don't know.
11 MS. GATELLI: This is from the city
12 controller.
13 MS. STULGIS: Okay.
14 MS. GATELLI: This is a city
15 controller's report.
16 MS. STULGIS: I don't know if any of
17 you have had a chance to review it yet, I
18 know it's probably quite lengthy, but I do
19 have some questions concerning it. One
20 would be particularly if it is in 2005
21 because 2005 is when the city unions were
22 involved in binding arbitrations which we
23 have all learned the mayor doesn't know it's
24 binding and quite a bit of city money was
25 spent on attorneys to fight these unions and
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1 I'm wondering if we could have a total maybe
2 next week or the week after on how much
3 money was actually spent by the city on
4 lawyers particularly to fight the city
5 unions, that would be the fire department
6 and the police department because those are
7 the two that have been involved in this
8 arbitration from '04 through the current
9 date.
10 Also, I'm wondering if it would be
11 possible to know that the amount of money
12 that we have spent to settle lawsuits with
13 individuals who have sued the city for
14 injuries on the slide at Nay Aug. I know
15 that there are many cases involved in that
16 and that there are --
17 MS. GATELLI: The water slide?
18 MS. STULGIS: On the water slide,
19 yes, there are several cases involved there
20 where the city was sued for injuries on the
21 slide and I know that each one was thousands
22 of dollars and I'm wondering if we could
23 have a total on that, also.
24 Then I'm asking that you look at
25 workmen's comp because we have heard for a
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1 long time how expensive worker's comp is.
2 What I did discover, and I don't know if you
3 are able to get me a breakdown, is that
4 workmen's comp isn't exactly just the amount
5 of money we pay into the workmen's comp
6 fund, but it also includes an amount of
7 money that we pay a law firm in the city. I
8 don't know the name of the law firm, I do
9 know that it's the mayor's brothers firm,
10 but I don't know what the name of it is and
11 I'm wondering exactly how many money we pay
12 this law firm to oversee these workmen's
13 comp cases.
14 MS. GATELLI: Would that be in that
15 financial report?
16 MS. STULGIS: It should be, yes, in
17 the workman's comp should be broken down
18 into that and also included in that is
19 Pennsylvania Advocates, that's a company
20 from Clarks Summit that was hired by this
21 administration --
22 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
23 MS. STULGIS: Thank you.
24 MS. GATELLI: If you can't stay,
25 Mrs. Stulgis, you can write it down and give
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1 it to me later. Anyone else?
2 MR. MORGAN: I'll be really brief
3 and just say that I think that council
4 should take a recommendation from Mrs.
5 Fanucci and table this because there is just
6 too many questions and no answers and I just
7 hope that all of council will vote to do
8 that so that we'll get an opportunity, the
9 people that have interest, to read all of
10 this information and I just think that that
11 also proves just how important that this
12 council moves forward with their vote from
13 last week for the subpoena because we are
14 being mislead too much here. Thank you.
15 MS. GATELLI: Anyone else?
16 MS. KRAKE: My name is Nancy Krake
17 and I'd like to finish Mrs. Stulgis' last
18 remark. She would also like to know how
19 much we are spending on Pennsylvania
20 Advocates. Apparently there is relative of
21 the mayors in this company and these figures
22 should be somewhere in the comp total, but
23 she would like that all broken down.
24 I'd like to ask tonight about 7-A.
25 Last week I asked if this company had
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1 anything at all to do with the James A.
2 Doherty Company? So we don't have an answer
3 for that?
4 MS. GATELLI: I was told, no.
5 MS. KRAKE: And whom did you ask?
6 MS. GATELLI: I talked to the Bowens
7 that are selling it. They contacted me.
8 MS. KRAKE: So its' the people that
9 are selling it that said, no. Okay. I
10 would like to ask the administration since
11 they are authorizing this loan if they or
12 anyone in the administration has anything at
13 all to do with this company. And I hope,
14 and I think you are aware of these
15 processes, Mrs. Gatelli, who is monitoring
16 how many jobs are created with these loans.
17 MS. GATELLI: Lori Reed.
18 MS. KRAKE: Can we have a breakdown
19 of all of them since this administration
20 started.
21 MS. GATELLI: We asked for that.
22 MS. KRAKE: We did ask for that?
23 MS. GATELLI: Yes.
24 MS. KRAKE: And when did we ask for
25 that?
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1 MS. GATELLI: I don't know, a day or
2 two ago, Mrs. Garvey got a letter out.
3 MS. KRAKE: I believe that was asked
4 for in the past and we never got it.
5 MS. GATELLI: Well, we'll see.
6 MS. KRAKE: And I understand that,
7 but that's part of the reason that Mrs.
8 Evans is asking for all information. I
9 would like the names of all people involved
10 in this company, what are terms of the loan
11 and who is responsible if they default.
12 And, actually, I'd like to broaden that and
13 make it for every loan that's been issued by
14 this administration or been approved.
15 MR. MINORA: The loan documents are
16 attached.
17 MS. GATELLI: Yes, they are.
18 MR. MINORA: And they're guaranteed
19 by a fellow named Timothy Lavelle.
20 MS. KRAKE: Wasn't that one of the
21 names of the people in this company?
22 MS. GATELLI: Yeah, Timothy Lavelle,
23 that was the name.
24 MS. KRAKE: That's not the person
25 guaranteeing the loan?
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1 MR. MINORA: According to the
2 documents it is.
3 MS. KRAKE: The person requesting the
4 loan is the person guaranteeing the loan?
5 MR. MINORA: I presume they are
6 asking for a personal guarantee from Timothy
7 Lavelle to I would assume to be a principal
8 in the LLC, otherwise why would he guarantee
9 somebody else's loan.
10 MS. KRAKE: And naturally we checked
11 that all out.
12 MR. MINORA: The documents are there
13 to look at. I looked at them.
14 MS. KRAKE: And I'm assuming everyone
15 on council checked that out and everyone in
16 OECD verified it before we give out
17 $250,000. And before I leave this podium I
18 I'd just like to remind everyone that the
19 three council people that voted for the
20 mayor's budget which included a 25 percent
21 tax increase --
22 MS. GATELLI: That's not on the
23 agenda, Mrs. Krake.
24 MS. KRAKE: Yes, but it has been on
25 the agenda in the past.
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28
1 MS. GATELLI: No, you have to go
2 with what's on the agenda tonight.
3 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
4 MS. KRAKE: Well, I'd like you to
5 take a look at the motion you made because
6 it does not specify which agenda.
7 MS. GATELLI: Is that all?
8 MS. GARVEY: 5-A motions.
9 MS. EVANS: Good evening. As was
10 mentioned earlier, three of my honorable
11 colleagues have not experienced any problem
12 with requests for information, so it's my
13 hope that they would please share with all
14 of us the financial information you have
15 received and the supporting documentation
16 for each item.
17 Of himself and his department heads,
18 the mayor has stated for the fourth time
19 since I have been seated on this council,
20 "We will be happy to provide them with
21 whatever they need," yet I continue to wait
22 for answers to countless questions, some for
23 three years. For example, where are the
24 replacement fields for the south side
25 complex and where is the breakdown of all
.
29
1 professional services in each of the city's
2 departments? Some I have waited two years
3 for. For example, how does the mayor intend
4 to make the $5.6 million payment due to
5 American Water Services?
6 For the last six months I have
7 requested a list of all billings and
8 individuals who have received loans through
9 OECD since 2002, the terms and duration of
10 the loans and the delinquencies. Also, I
11 have asked OECD who is a responsible to
12 repay OECD loans when a business not a
13 property is sold and approximately 30 items
14 related to the 2007 operating budget which
15 were requested in November and
16 December 2006.
17 In addition, we are still waiting to
18 hear the truth about Hollowgate. Mr.
19 Parker, who was scheduled to appear before
20 city council in September with the mayor's
21 blessing, failed to appear, but he did
22 conduct an investigation himself and his
23 department and he passed himself with flying
24 colors. Meanwhile, Mr. Parker failed to
25 attend the Keyser Valley flood meetings to
.
30
1 answer questions posed from city residents
2 who suffered during recent flooding. A
3 state of the city address is annually
4 presented by the mayor at the Chamber of
5 Commerce to a group of select business
6 people by private invitation only.
7 Consequently, I would say that the mayor
8 treats some of the council like most of the
9 taxpaying citizens and that is with total
10 disrespect. Try contacting the mayor and
11 most department heads, see if they speak
12 with you, I imagine if you have the correct
13 last name they will, otherwise, we are all
14 out of luck.
15 As for the reckless comments
16 contained in today's newspaper I have to
17 ask, why the lies and the belligerence?
18 What is this administration and it's
19 obsequious loyalists hiding? Just answer
20 the questions. However, a motion was passed
21 at last week's council meeting three to one
22 and I do expect subpoenas to be issued. The
23 people have the right to know where their
24 money is going and because of the 25 percent
25 tax increase many citizens have requested
.
31
1 these subpoenas, not only Mr. Talamini, and
2 I listened to the people, this is not a
3 witch hunt. This is a checks and balances.
4 This is accountability.
5 With regard to the subpoena of 2005
6 council was able to examine all agreements
7 between the city and hotel developers.
8 Council examined the bills and payments from
9 the former Casey garage renovations.
10 Because of the knowledge I gained I could
11 not support the agreement which was
12 finalized in the Fall of 2005. The city
13 lost millions of dollars on that fiasco and
14 a majority of the council at that time
15 agreed with Mr. Doherty and so the deal
16 passed. It was a bad deal for the taxpayers
17 and the documents provided all of the
18 background information, but because of the
19 thousands of nonessential documents that
20 OECD had copied and delivered to council I
21 also learned that the mayor's sister,
22 Virginia MacGregor, was given government
23 information that also was appropriately
24 given to Attorney Greco. I would think
25 department heads and solicitors were the
.
32
1 proper recipients, but their names did not
2 appear on the documents, just Virginia
3 MacGregor and Attorney Carl Greco.
4 Was the subpoena effective? Yes.
5 We gained the pieces of the Hilton financial
6 puzzle, however, was it successful? The
7 information was not properly applied in the
8 negotiations that occurred and Mr. Doherty
9 and council both should have better
10 protected our taxpayers and insisted on an
11 agreement that benefited both the hotel
12 owners and our citizens. As a result, I
13 don't believe the city will ever see it's
14 3 million dollars and that is because
15 according to the agreement that 3 million
16 dollars cannot be recouped until the hotel
17 is sold and the hotel sale price is
18 astronomical. In fact, it is higher than
19 what the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan went
20 for, so I don't think we should hold our
21 breath waiting for the return on our money.
22 I also noticed recently in the
23 newspaper an ad for property for sale in the
24 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue. How ironic
25 that we have an empty building, but a few
.
33
1 yards away Buono Pizza must be removed.
2 Such nonsense. A vacant building seeking a
3 purchaser and multiple tenants and a viable
4 taxpaying business must be shut down? I can
5 only speak as one council person, but I will
6 not approve any legislation connected to the
7 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue development
8 project unless this project includes Buono
9 Pizza.
10 I have heard of the dissatisfaction
11 as well of some police officers with the
12 removal of their traditional badges and
13 their replacement by a cloth badge. They
14 tell me this change was made in an effort to
15 make all officers look the same and to
16 prevent their identification during the
17 evening hours. Though the consideration for
18 their safety is commendable, some officers
19 feel a loss of dignity and authority through
20 the loss of their badges. Could we send a
21 letter please to Chief Elliott and ask him
22 to reconsider returning the traditional
23 badges to all of the police officers?
24 And, finally, I have some citizens
25 requests for the week, but I'd like to first
.
34
1 apologize for any e-mails to which I have
2 not responded, my computer is down and will
3 be for the near future. The street sign for
4 Buonzelli Court is missing and needs to be
5 replaced. This court is located between the
6 1,000 block of Taylor Avenue and North
7 Irving and borders St. Peter's Lutheran
8 Church lot. Residents complain about signs
9 and advertisements placed at the top of
10 Meadow Avenue. They report near accidents
11 which occur at this location as drivers are
12 distracted by these signs. They also feel
13 the area presents an image of squalor.
14 Please include the 200 block of North Dewey
15 Avenue on the 2007 paving list. This is one
16 of the very few dirt roads that remain in
17 existence within Scranton.
18 Residents of the area of Price
19 Street and North Merrifield Avenue again
20 request the installation of additional stop
21 signs at this intersection. Little league
22 season is fast approaching and neighbors
23 fear for the safety of children. They
24 report that stop signs facing north and
25 south are often ignored. The corner of West
.
35
1 Market Street and Seneca Avenue a severe
2 icing condition exists on the easterly side.
3 Neighbors report that a pipe located under
4 the curb at 1011 West Market spills water
5 into the street. Please send the
6 engineering department to investigate this
7 problem and provide a solution. I was also
8 informed that PennDOT has already examined
9 the area in the past.
10 The corner of Muncy Avenue and Larch
11 Street there is an area that resembles a
12 private driveway but is actually a city
13 street, DPW measured it at one time and
14 filled potholes with stones. Several
15 businesses border this area, for example,
16 Jerry's Floral, Muldoon Aluminum Siding, I
17 think Krispe Kreme's corporate office, and
18 it is my hope that the city will include
19 this small area on their paving list, and
20 that's it.
21 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mrs.
22 Fanucci?
23 MS. FANUCCI: I have one issue to
24 speak on tonight which is the loan. I do
25 believe that we need no table this loan
.
36
1 because of the information that has not been
2 provided. Also, the fact that I want to
3 apologize to the sellers, I know that when
4 you are selling a business it's very
5 difficult, you are depending on the money
6 and you are depending on it going through
7 and you are trying to keep the business
8 going for the sale price to be, you know,
9 what it's supposed to be. I do think we
10 need to provide the information and find out
11 exactly what is going on with this loan, so
12 I will be asking to table this loan tonight
13 and that is actually all I have. Thank you.
14 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mr.
15 McGoff?
16 MR. MCGOFF: At a recent meeting at
17 the courthouse annex I had an opportunity to
18 speak with Mr. Parker and Mr. Hayes and they
19 informed me that the siren project for lower
20 Greendridge was begun. That they have
21 contacted and made contact with the company
22 that installed the other two sirens and that
23 they are asking that company to review sites
24 in the lower Greenridge area that would be
25 appropriate to the placement of the siren.
.
37
1 They also said that they were in receipt of
2 a request from Mr. Hubbard through the, and
3 I'm not sure of the name, the Lower
4 Greenridge Residents Association or
5 whatever, and that they were looking to move
6 on that request.
7 I have also talked to Ms. Hailstone
8 at OECD and she said that the funding is
9 available. I have said that I thought that
10 be it would be in the best interest of all
11 if that project could be moved along as
12 quickly and possible. Hopefully before any
13 spring -- before the spring time when, you
14 know, flooding would possibly occur again
15 and they, Mr. Hayes and Mr. Parker, agreed
16 that would probably be in the best interest
17 of everyone so that the project is moving
18 forward. I will continue to be in contact
19 with them and hopefully it will be in place
20 and, you know, be a step towards insuring at
21 least some warning for the people of that
22 area.
23 Secondly, I would like to say I
24 think that we as a council should start to
25 live up to the promises that we made at the
.
38
1 end of last year and start examining revenue
2 sources for the coming year to add revenue
3 sources that would help us to defray the
4 debt that we have incurred and hopefully
5 provide for a balanced budget in the future.
6 We have spoken I know about, and I came late
7 to the talks on the entertainment tax, I
8 think that we should start to examine that.
9 I think that we should also it was
10 mentioned perhaps a fee attached to students
11 out-of-state or out-of-city students
12 attending you the University of Scranton and
13 other schools within the city. I think that
14 maybe we should pursue that and any other
15 revenue sources that become available. We
16 all I think agreed that that was what needed
17 to be done. I think it's time that we start
18 to do that and that is all. Thank you.
19 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
20 Mr. Courtright?
21 MS. EVANS: Mr. Courtright, before
22 you speak can I just add something, two
23 things to what Mr. McGoff said? I was also
24 present at that flood meeting that was held
25 Monday evening and I wanted the residents of
.
39
1 Keyser Valley and lower Greenridge to know
2 that I provided the consultants and the
3 contractors with the lists that were
4 developed by Mary Alice Burke of the problem
5 areas in the Keyser Valley section of the
6 city and I added to that the streets in
7 lower Greenridge and, as I said, that
8 information was given to them, they were
9 most appreciative. That was the type of
10 information that they were seeking from the
11 participants that evening following the
12 presentation and as Mr. McGoff mentioned,
13 revenue sources, I do agree, well, naturally
14 because it was a staple of my budget that an
15 amusement tax should be pursued, but I was
16 very interested to note in the PEL summaries
17 that PEL appears to be opposed to such a
18 tax. They don't feel it will produce a
19 significant amount of revenue and, in fact,
20 they said when the initial recovery plan was
21 drafted they eliminated any possibility of
22 such a tax, however, I don't intend to allow
23 that to stand in our way and I agree 1,000
24 percent with Mr. McGoff we've got to move
25 ahead.
.
40
1 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Just for
2 the record, Attorney Minora is working on an
3 ordinance for an amusement tax.
4 MR. MINORA: I am.
5 MS. FANUCCI: And also picking up
6 where Mrs. Evans left off, Sno Mountain is
7 here and that is something that I think we
8 can really start picking up on. That is
9 something that's a big revenue and whether
10 PEL agrees or not I would agree.
11 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Courtright.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: All clear? Mrs.
13 Gatelli brought up, I too went and looked at
14 the lot on West Parker Street and hope they
15 hustle that up because that's a safety
16 hazard and it's physical right from Main
17 Avenue as soon you look out West Parker.
18 Last week I asked Kay to send a letter to
19 Mr. Parker about Davis Street where crossing
20 from St. Joe's parking lot to the church and
21 I did find one of those signs in the City of
22 Scranton so we know what they are. There is
23 one down near Scranton high school so if you
24 could tell Mr. Parker that's the type of
25 sign.
.
41
1 MS. GATELLI: I want to know what
2 you are talking about?
3 MR. COURTRIGHT: There is a -- in
4 crosswalks they have a sign that's square on
5 the bottom and black and blue and it's a
6 sign that's attached to it and it says,
7 "Yield to Pedestrians," and --
8 MS. GATELLI: It's in the street?
9 MR. COURTRIGHT: In the islands. I
10 believe it's right in the island down near
11 Scranton High, but sometimes they will put
12 it in the center the road with a line in
13 front of it in the center of the road in the
14 crosswalks so if somebody is crossing the
15 street the vehicle has to stop and give the
16 pedestrian the right-of-way.
17 MS. GATELLI: Because I travel there
18 frequently and there is a sign on the side
19 going east and west, oh, it's got to be six
20 feet high at least and it has a pedestrian
21 on it and it's flashing.
22 MR. COURTRIGHT: Right.
23 MS. GATELLI: So the traffic knows
24 those are crosswalks there, so that's why I
25 wondered --
.
42
1 MR. COURTRIGHT: Yeah, this goes
2 right in the middle of the road. There is
3 one down at Scranton High. I tried to look
4 throughout the entire city and I did find
5 one.
6 This issue has come up a couple of
7 times since I have been on council, a
8 handicapped parking spaces I know since
9 Mrs. Gatelli has been here she has brought
10 it up one time, and we didn't a make a
11 motion but we sent a letter to Dave Elliott
12 asking him to take a look at if an
13 individual is handicapped in the past and
14 they had a garage or a driveway they weren't
15 allowed to have a handicapped parking space
16 in front of their home and Dave Elliott sent
17 a letter back to us saying that they would
18 take a look at it and they did and they
19 changed their policy that it would be done
20 on individual basis. The traffic division
21 would go out and take a look and see if, in
22 fact, the individual maybe they have a
23 garage but it was in the backyard somewhere
24 and they were too handicapped to get there
25 in the winter if they could have a parking
.
43
1 space, but I would ask Mr. Minora, so I
2 think we can make it 100 percent correct I
3 think we need to amend the ordinance for
4 handicap parking signs, if we could take a
5 look at that stating that it would be done
6 on individual basis because the way it reads
7 now if you have a driveway or a garage you
8 are not entitled to a handicapped parking
9 space.
10 MR. MINORA: I'll have to look, I
11 don't know off the top of my head.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: Right, if you could
13 take a look at that. And while you are
14 looking at the other thing I believe the
15 gentleman passed away now, Mr. Romano, he
16 lived on Washburn Street he was also asking
17 me about this and I was asked again today, a
18 police officer asked me, that when we issue
19 a handicap parking space to someone that
20 doesn't necessarily mean that individual who
21 lives in the home out in front of the space
22 gets to park there. Anybody with a
23 handicapped parking placard or plate can
24 park in that spot, and it was asked to me
25 could it be made that if a handicapped
.
44
1 parking space is issued just that individual
2 in that home is allowed to park in that
3 space, I don't know if that's possible or
4 not. Probably not, but I was asked so I'm
5 asking you.
6 MR. MINORA: On the street?
7 MR. COURTRIGHT: Pardon?
8 MR. MINORA: Public street?
9 MR. COURTRIGHT: Yeah. Probably
10 not, right?
11 MR. MINORA: Private parking on a
12 public street.
13 MR. COURTRIGHT: All right. They
14 were talking about getting information and I
15 have been trying for quite awhile to get
16 information on this project that we want to
17 get done on Main Avenue in West Scranton,
18 several letters went out so much so I think
19 even Mrs. Fanucci suggested we make a motion
20 and we did make a motion and it passed five
21 nothing and no response. I went to the
22 mayor's office about two weeks ago but he
23 wasn't in, I believe he was at the
24 governor's swearing in and I asked the
25 secretary if she would ask him for me and
.
45
1 I'm sure she did, but still no response. I
2 was going to go this morning and was told by
3 one of the workers at city hall who told me
4 he is out of town, so I guess I'll just keep
5 going down until I get ahold of him. If he
6 has changed his mind and doesn't want to do
7 the project then he has changed his mind I
8 would just like some kind of answer.
9 Mary Alice Burke, I spoke to her.
10 She met with individuals from the state
11 about the flooding on Monday and I believe,
12 I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe she
13 met again today, I haven't talked to her
14 today so I think that's proceeding at a
15 rapid pace now, I think we are going to see
16 something done.
17 And I guess I'm the lucky one, I
18 haven't gotten as many calls about the
19 smoking ban as I was getting. I seem to be
20 getting more than most of you. I did get
21 one good call this week, one person that's
22 in favor of it, but now the only calls I'm
23 really getting now are from business owners,
24 and one guy told me that in December his
25 business was always really good and he saves
.
46
1 up his money and in the summer months when
2 his business isn't as good he uses that
3 money and said that he's used it up already
4 and another guy told me that compared to
5 last year of January and this year he is
6 13 percent off and then I was told I didn't
7 see Mr. Cosgrove on TV saying he lost
8 30 percent or so, and I think most of them
9 realize that, you know, I'm not saying I'm
10 not in favor of the smoking ban, I voted for
11 it, I think the smoking ban is good, I think
12 we did it for good reasons, for health
13 reasons, but I think that maybe we could
14 have taken a little bit more time and there
15 are some concerns now for people and
16 legitimate concerns because although we want
17 everybody to be healthier, I don't think any
18 of us want to put anybody out of business
19 and so I know we modeled this after
20 Philadelphia, so I called down to
21 Philadelphia City Council and I spoke to
22 them and I asked them, I said, you know, we
23 are having a little bit of a problem here
24 and she -- the woman I spoke to said they
25 have had problems also and I just asked
.
47
1 about amendments, and I don't know if you
2 have this, Mr. Minora, or not what
3 amendments they made and she faxed the ahold
4 one to me and she faxed the new one to me
5 and I'm just going to -- there is just two
6 in there and I'll turn this over to you,
7 Mr. Minora, if you don't have it? Do you
8 the amendments from Philly?
9 MR. MINORA: I think our draft was
10 on the most recent amendment that was under
11 consideration and just passed.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: All right, because
13 this here, and I didn't think it was,
14 because this one here says, "The maximum
15 percentage of food and nonalcoholic
16 beverages and sales necessary to qualify for
17 a waiver is increased from 10 percent to
18 20 percent."
19 I don't know if that was an
20 amendment from Philadelphia.
21 MR. MINORA: They may have amended
22 that further.
23 MR. COURTRIGHT: And I'll give this
24 to you and I didn't know if we had it or not
25 and another one was, "Any waivers granted to
.
48
1 a drinking establishment would be permanent,
2 not one year."
3 We didn't have a permanent. We had
4 one year and that was just some, and then I
5 would ask if you look at this and --
6 MR. MCGOFF: Excuse me, I thought
7 the exemptions were for a year, the waivers
8 were permanent because waivers were for --
9 waivers were for private clubs, that's what
10 I remember specifically that these private
11 clubs because I looked it up for someone,
12 waivers and exemptions were different.
13 MR. COURTRIGHT: All right, I'll hand
14 this over to you, Mr. Minora, and you can
15 take a look at it and the reason I bring it
16 up is because it was pointed out to me today
17 that it did pass in the senate in the
18 committee but then it was mentioned that
19 they don't anticipate any kind of a vote in
20 the near future and in speaking to some of
21 these people I can't hold off or four months
22 or whatever and I don't know, if I thought
23 it was going to pass very quickly I wouldn't
24 be bringing it up, but it appears that it's
25 going to be some time before the state
.
49
1 enacts it if, in fact, it does pass, so
2 that's why I say we take a look at this and
3 maybe I'll get some suggestions from some
4 more business owners and I don't think
5 anybody does anything perfect the first
6 time, so maybe we need to make some changes.
7 Hopefully, it will pass and I'm just looking
8 for a level playing ground for all
9 businesses because I think now we don't have
10 a level playing ground and I don't know, do
11 we know that our legislators in this area
12 are for the smoking ban, I haven't asked
13 them, do you know?
14 MS. EVANS: If you recall though
15 during the state representative debates I
16 believe that their answer was affirmative,
17 and I just wanted to add that I, too, have
18 been inundated though I haven't addressed it
19 at council with calls from businesses who
20 are suffering and that also includes in
21 addition to the small bars diners, a
22 doughnut shop, it seems that, you know, they
23 are experiencing quite a drop in their
24 profits right now and I'm very anxious to
25 entertain an amendment but I believe rather
.
50
1 than a permanent exemption it could be an
2 exemption until such time as the state
3 passes the smoking ban because that, you
4 know, I think that --
5 MR. COURTRIGHT: That supercedes.
6 MS. EVANS: -- is going to solve all
7 of the issues and then, indeed, create as
8 level playing field, but right now it is
9 very difficult. In fact, one of the
10 businesses even told me that a friend of his
11 who owns a similar business right over the
12 city limit has come and good naturedly
13 teased him about the fact that all of his
14 former customers are now down with him and
15 so, you know, as I said when the issue first
16 arose, my concern was a level playing field
17 for all of our businesses and that until
18 such time I believe I said it then as either
19 a countywide or statewide ban were passed I
20 was looking for an exemption for those
21 businesses and I think it's only fair to
22 them and I do believe, you know, like
23 Mr. Courtright I'm not going to dispute the
24 fact that it may not be tomorrow, but I do
25 believe a ban is coming down the pike, you
.
51
1 know, New York state exercises such, New
2 Jersey, and they're are neighbors and it's
3 more than possible, but until such time I
4 don't think we can financially cripple the
5 businesses within our city.
6 MR. COURTRIGHT: I think if we are
7 going to, and it appears that it's going to
8 be a long time before the state, in fact,
9 does pass it and we are going to look at any
10 kind of amendments, I really think before we
11 do any amending that we talk to these people
12 that have the concerns and get their
13 suggestions and what would make it palatable
14 for their businesses and still keep the
15 citizens of this city healthy because the
16 intent I think was a very good intent, I
17 just don't think -- I know I personally
18 didn't foresee a lot of the problems that
19 I'm hearing about and that's -- I guess
20 that's with anything, you know, you are not
21 going to be perfect the first time out of
22 the shoot so we will take a look at that.
23 And one last thing, Kay, if we
24 could-- if I'm here tomorrow I'll call but
25 if not maybe you could drop a note to Mr.
.
52
1 Hayes, I guess Engine 9 on North Main Avenue
2 has been without a phone service for about
3 four days, I don't know what the problem is
4 down there, I believe he is aware of it but
5 if we could try to expedite there and put
6 their phone service back in order and that's
7 all I have. Thank you.
8 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Miss
9 Garvey?
10 MS. GARVEY: Fifth order. No
11 business at this time. Sixth order. 6-A.
12 READING BY TITLE - FILE OF COUNCIL NO. 70,
13 2007 - AN ORDINANCE - AMENDING FILE OF
14 COUNCIL NO. 38 OF 2001, PROVIDING FOR AN
15 INCREASE IN THE VARIOUS PENSION BOARD
16 SECRETARIES SALARIES AS FOLLOWS: SECRETARY
17 TO THE NON-UNIFORM PENSION BOARD, FORM THREE
18 THOUSAND DOLLARS ($3,000.00) PER YEAR TO
19 FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS ($4,000.00) PER YEAR;
20 SECRETARY TO THE COMPOSITE PENSION BOARD,
21 FROM THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($3,000.00) PER
22 YEAR TO FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS ($4,000.00)
23 PER YEAR; SECRETARY TO THE FIRST PENSION
24 BOARD, FROM THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS
25 ($3,000.00) PER YEAR TO FOUR THOUSAND
.
53
1 DOLLARS PER YEAR ($4,000.00) PER YEAR; AND
2 SECRETARY TO THE POLICE PENSION BOARD, FORM
3 THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($3,000.00) PER YEAR
4 TO FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS ($4,000.00) PER
5 YEAR, SAID RAISES TO BE EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1,
6 2007.
7 MS. GATELLI: You have heard Reading
8 by Title of Item 6-A, what is your pleasure?
9 MR. COURTRIGHT: Move that Item 6-A
10 pass reading by title.
11 MS. EVANS: Second.
12 MS. GATELLI: Will this be going
13 into seventh order next week?
14 MS. KAY: Next week.
15 MS. GATELLI: On the question? I'd
16 just like for you to invite someone from the
17 pension board to come to the caucus next
18 week. My only concern is I have received
19 numerous phone calls this week from some
20 firemen that are retired and they are very
21 concerned that we are giving a 33 percent
22 increase to people when they have not
23 received an increase since 1999 and I'd just
24 like to hear from some of them before we,
25 you know, move on with this next week.
.
54
1 MS. KAY: Okay, who would you like
2 to come in from what pension board? Do you
3 want to --
4 MS. GATELLI: I'll talk to you
5 tomorrow.
6 MS. GARVEY: Okay.
7 MS. GATELLI: And you can tell me
8 whose on it and we'll see who is interested.
9 Anyone else on the question? All those in
10 favor? Aye.
11 MS. EVANS: Aye.
12 MS. FANUCCI: Aye.
13 MR. MCGOFF: Aye.
14 MR. COURTRIGHT: Aye.
15 MS. GATELLI: Opposed? The ayes have
16 it and so moved.
17 MS. GARVEY: Seventh order, 7-A.
18 MS. FANUCCI: I'm going to ask that
19 we table 7-A if we can? I'd like to make a
20 motion that we table 7-A.
21 MS. EVANS: Second.
22 MS. GATELLI: On the question. All
23 those in favor? Aye?
24 MS. EVANS: Aye.
25 MS. FANUCCI: Aye.
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1 MR. MCGOFF: Aye.
2 MR. COURTRIGHT: Aye.
3 MS. GATELLI: Opposed? The ayes have
4 it and so moved. Doug Miller?
5 MR. MILLER: Good evening, Council.
6 Doug Miller, president of Scranton Junior
7 City Council. On behalf of the junior
8 council I would like to invite everyone to
9 attend next week's meeting to celebrate with
10 us our one year anniversary. There will be
11 coffee and refreshments in the hall, so we
12 hope to see everyone there next week to
13 Honor this historic night. Thank you.
14 MS. GATELLI: Mario Picollino. How
15 about Giovanni? They are in the hallway?
16 We can come back to them if they come in.
17 Andy Sbaraglia.
18 MR. SBARAGLIA: Andy Sbaraglia,
19 citizen of Scranton. Fellow Scrantonians, I
20 brought up the Lackawanna bridge, does
21 anybody have any information as to why that
22 cost has ballooned so much?
23 MS. EVANS: Kay?
24 MS. GARVEY: Yes.
25 MS. GATELLI: She did send a letter
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56
1 about that on the bridge.
2 MS. GARVEY: No, we didn't hear yet.
3 MR. SBARAGLIA: You realize, of
4 course, that say the bridge costs a million
5 dollars in repairs, it's a little over a
6 million, our costs would have been $50,000.
7 At seven point some million are costs are
8 like $350,000, that's a huge jump, and if
9 it's only cosmetics it's not worth it.
10 We've spent too much money on
11 cosmetics. I mean, if you look at even --
12 you brought up this point about North
13 Scranton, well, I live in North Scranton,
14 all we got is fancy lights, that's all. I
15 mean, he has put a lot of money into
16 cosmetics. Thousands and thousands of
17 dollars into cosmetics. It's not worth it.
18 It really isn't. We don't have the money to
19 do that now. You've got to hold everything
20 down to the bear minimum what you actually
21 need and cut out these cosmetics. All the
22 cosmetics does is make the architect richer,
23 the contractors richer and the citizens
24 poorer. That's what it really amounts to.
25 I mean, you can come up with anything.
.
57
1 I mean, the mayor said you cut a
2 million dollars off the city I guess our
3 wish list, that didn't mean nothing either.
4 A wish list is a wish list. I mean, for
5 cutting a million dollars out of it you
6 really didn't make much sense because we
7 didn't have the money to fund it anywhere
8 and this is how it's always been with the
9 capital improvements, they are wish lists so
10 it's easy to cut a million dollars out of
11 it, I mean, if you have got a wish list of
12 building a dam across on the north to west
13 mountain, I mean, the south to west and then
14 cut it out you saved millions and millions
15 of dollars, but as far as the citizens
16 involved in those things it doesn't mean
17 anything.
18 I mean, you look for more oppressive
19 taxes on the people even with the smoking.
20 Now, I don't smoke, I believe in the ban,
21 but when he come up and said that a judge
22 said we are going to hold it for four months
23 on the line there I didn't hear any of you
24 say, "Let's hold it four months here, too."
25 If that judge said he wanted to hold
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58
1 this thing up for four months it would have
2 been more prudent for us to do the same, but
3 we didn't. We just keep going and going and
4 going and oppressing people that pay the
5 taxes. Like I say, I don't smoke, I'm in
6 favor of the ban 101 percent, but I believe
7 it should be a ban that's fair to everyone.
8 We are in such dire straights that we can't
9 oppress anybody either way either with
10 higher taxes or laws. It's not in the best
11 interest of the city.
12 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
13 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mr. Quinn?
14 MR. QUINN: Thank you. Last week
15 when I spoke here you said that you were
16 going to direct Attorney Minora to get an
17 opinion in regard to the sale of the
18 municipal golf course proceeds that -- I
19 said that they inadvertently might have been
20 misappropriated into the real estate line
21 item when they should have been in the
22 recreation line item and I feel that's
23 hurting the taxpayers because of the fact
24 that this money is for the taxpayers to have
25 recreation in the city. Is that opinion --
.
59
1 did you ask the gentleman?
2 MS. GATELLI: Would you like him to
3 tell you now?
4 MR. QUINN: Sure. This is your time
5 now?
6 MR. MINORA: I'm sorry?
7 MR. QUINN: This is his time?
8 MR. MINORA: My time?
9 MR QUINN: Yeah.
10 MR. MINORA: I didn't ask this
11 question.
12 MR. QUINN: Let's capsulize it then,
13 okay? I know you lawyers can, you know.
14 MR. MINORA: Would you like me to
15 answer your question?
16 MR. QUINN: No, send me a letter
17 please, okay? Thank you. Also, you know, I
18 looked at the Auditor General's audit today
19 of Scranton School Board, okay, I read it
20 last week as a matter of fact and then I
21 went over and looked at the independent
22 audit that was also over there, but the
23 Auditor General's audit was never made
24 public, all right, and if you read that
25 they're all over the findings, it's 28 pages
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60
1 long and for overspending and overspending.
2 Now, that money is coming back to boot
3 us the taxpayers, there is no doubt about it
4 because on certain programs they are going
5 to take it from this year and future years
6 what they overspent on certain elements in
7 the state. I don't know what the federal
8 government is, but there is overspending
9 there of over $500,000. The fact is that
10 the school board, the city's indebtedness
11 and the county's indebtedness with
12 Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak going ahead and
13 building these Taj Mahals which I don't
14 think we need like Andy said, we got to do
15 something. We've got to stop and really cut
16 this cosmetic stuff out, okay?
17 And I think that the mayor got and
18 received over there and talked to that
19 school board, he is the chief executive
20 officer of the city and he says he has a
21 good rapport with the school board so I
22 think he should really discuss these things
23 because we are really going down the tubes.
24 And the last thing I want to ask you,
25 Judy, is about that task force. We sent a
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61
1 resume in asking to be on the task force and
2 you said that the task force was already
3 formed and I want to know who is on the task
4 force and when was it passed by council?
5 MS. GATELLI: Mrs. Garvey will give
6 you that information.
7 MR. QUINN: Give me. Oh, she is
8 going to write me a letter?
9 MS. GATELLI: She will give it to
10 you.
11 MR. QUINN: Okay. Thank you.
12 MR. MCGOFF: May I respond to one
13 item?
14 MS. GATELLI: Sure.
15 MR. MCGOFF: Mr. Quinn, I read
16 through the documents pertaining to the sale
17 of the golf course, I read through the
18 meeting, the minutes of those meetings and
19 there is nothing in the ordinance or in the
20 agreement that states that the funds will be
21 used exclusively for parks and recreation.
22 There is no -- nothing binding anywhere for
23 the use of those funds.
24 MR. QUINN: Is that your legal
25 opinion?
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62
1 MR. MCGOFF: Excuse me?
2 MR. QUINN: Is that your legal
3 opinion?
4 MR. MCGOFF: I'm saying what's in
5 the ordinance.
6 MR. QUINN: Well, I'm asking for a
7 legal opinion, I'm not trying to be --
8 MR. MCGOFF: Well, it's not a legal
9 opinion, I'm just stating what's there.
10 MR. QUINN: I know --
11 MR. MCGOFF: There is nothing in the
12 ordinance --
13 MR. QUINN: I don't want, you know --
14 MR. MCGOFF: There is nothing in the
15 ordinance that -- -
16 MR. QUINN: God bless you. I don't
17 want a layman's opinion.
18 MR. MCGOFF: --states the use of the
19 funds.
20 MR. QUINN: I don't want a laymen's
21 opinion, okay? I'm asking for the solicitor
22 because I'm saying that it was
23 misappropriated.
24 MR. MINORA: I agree with
25 Mr. McGoff.
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63
1 MR. QUINN: Pardon?
2 MR. MINORA: I agree with
3 Mr. McGoff.
4 MR. QUINN: Okay. I'm sure you
5 would.
6 MR. MINORA: There is your opinion.
7 MR. MCGOFF: You asked for an opinion
8 and --
9 MR. QUINN: Give it to me in writing.
10 Give it to me in writing.
11 MR. MCGOFF: I'm trying to give you
12 something, Mr. Quinn, and now you are going
13 to argue --
14 MR. QUINN: I'm not arguing.
15 MR. MCGOFF: -- that you don't want
16 it.
17 MR. QUINN: You're the one that
18 brought it -- you are bringing it up.
19 MR. MCGOFF: I'm sorry. Thank you.
20 MR. QUINN: You brought it up.
21 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
22 Mr. Jacowicz. The Picollinos, would you
23 like to speak?
24 MR. PICCOLINO: I'm Mario Piccolio
25 from wonderful Buono Pizza downtown in
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64
1 Scranton for 40 years. I'm a taxpayer and
2 have a business in Scranton for 40 years. I
3 want to know why he has threatened me to
4 throw me out from my own place. I want to
5 know why?
6 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Piccolino, I don't
7 feel that I as a council person, and I can't
8 speak for anybody else, but I was involved
9 with the SRA when we acquired all of the
10 properties for the Steamtown Mall and we had
11 to relocate and put out of business 35
12 businesses and I know it wasn't pleasant and
13 when we did that we were not allowed to
14 discuss it in public, so I do feel for you.
15 I know you some of your children because
16 they went to school with my daughters and I
17 know you have a wonderful business, but I
18 cannot respond to you at this time because
19 it is in litigation. I don't know if anyone
20 else cares to, but my solicitor advised me
21 not to comment on the case.
22 MR. PICCOLINO: That's the only thing
23 I figured I was here, I come in Scranton
24 1966, I'm taxpayer. Everything is paid for.
25 I have three other people who have not done
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65
1 nothing wrong to anybody and I know why I'm
2 this over this now people say you got to get
3 out, taking my place, throwing me out and
4 build another building there and put another
5 restaurant and I have been here for 40
6 years.
7 MS. FANUCCI: Were you offered to
8 stay at all under any circumstance?
9 MR. PICCOLINO: I want to stay.
10 MS. FANUCCI: No, were you offered
11 by anyone to stay in your building at all?
12 Did anyone say to you: "You can stay and we
13 will do this for you or do that for you,"
14 that is the question I have.
15 MR. PICCOLINO: Nobody ever said
16 that.
17 MS. FANUCCI: Nobody ever said you
18 could stay there. Did they say that they
19 would relocate you to the same, like, the
20 same 500 block?
21 MR. PICCOLINO: No.
22 MS. FANUCCI: Nothing was ever
23 stated?
24 MR. PICCOLINO: Nobody ever said
25 nothing.
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66
1 MS. FANUCCI: That's something I
2 wanted to know. Thank you for answering
3 that.
4 MS. EVANS: So there is then
5 obviously either a lot of either
6 miscommunication or double talk going on in
7 this situation because as I said last week
8 to your nephew I remember the origins of
9 this project and I remember quite well the
10 statements that were made that no business
11 would be put out, that each individual
12 business owner would have