Borough Council Workshop Notes May 5th, 2011

Borough Council met for their workshop on May 5th, 2011 at 7:30 PM and discussed the a variety of issues. The highlights are:

SPCA Terminating Contract with local governments

The Delaware County SPCA has recently terminated its contract with local municipalities to board stray animals, leaving many local area governments in the lurch.

After June 30th, any strays found in Media Borough, and elsewhere in Delaware County, will have to be taken and boarded, yes, by the local police department; most likely in the jails. The issue with boarding strays is compounded  by the fact that licensing to board pets (that is, your local veterinarian) differs from licensing to board strays, so the borough can not use local veterinary boarding services to handle the animals.

That said, Media Borough Council and local governments are struggling to come up with a solution and an alternate vendor to handle any strays found within their local jurisdiction.

The current negotiations, outlined in the meeting Thursday evening, is working with a Chester County “alternative group” to take over the “stray” responsibility.

In related news, the SPCA requested a Mass Gathering permit application for their “Bark in the Park Dog Walk and Fall Festival” for Saturday, October 8th, 2011. Several Borough Council members expressed that they would likely vote against the permit.

Parking Garage

Inspection of the aging structure

The meeting covered several topics regarding the parking garage located at the corner of Olive and Baltimore Pk.

First, engineer Robert Johnson indicated that the structure needed inspection, and had located a company , High Concrete, who specializes in large concrete structures, who would do the inspection for $10,600.

Affixing a sign to attract drivers to State Street

Pete Alyanakian is also spearheading an effort to place a sign on the corner of the parking structure to attract drivers on Baltimore Pike to State Street businesses. The sign is 6 feet wide by 2 feet 8 inches tall, and will cost approximately $4000.

It was suggested that the cost be split 50/50 with the Media Business Authority, or even 100% by the MBA.

Discussion surrounding the sign led by Monica Simpson highlighted comments made by borough Code Enforcement Officer Jim Jeffries, who suggested that simply drawing visitors to State Street should be part of a larger traffic flow effort, and that they should instead consider getting them to the garage, or have some greater plan. In addition, discussion surrounded whether forcing the MBA to pay for something which didn’t come out of their own group was good to get “buy-in” from that group.

Dawn Roe retorted that we shouldn’t make a simple matter more complex than it is, and that adding the sign will draw traffic to State Street, which would be good for the borough. Monika Rehoric said that sometimes as liaison to the MBA that sometimes they needed ideas presented to them.

Upgrading the lights

Pete Alyanakian also discussed getting grants from Delaware County to replace existing lights in the parking structure with induction lighting which would pay for itself in approximately two years time, compared with older lighting technologies. LED lighting was investigated, but was cost prohibitive. In addition, the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) is investigating replacing the Christmas lights on State Street with either induction lighting or LED lighting.

Other discussions

Other business discussed was:

• Pave your street? Discussion about inspecting and paving roads and sidewalks in Media Borough. Engineer Robert Johnson has been sending his staff around town to inspect the state of the streets.
• Media Arts Festival: Discussion regarding the “Media Arts Festival“, brain-child of President Pete Alyanakian, to bring together the artistic communities in Media at the days exchanged with Media Theatre, paid for by borough monies in order to get a grant for restoration of the building. The various groups met and apparently agreed that they could possibly do a two-night event sometime later this year. No further details were given.
• New Borough Website: The Technology Committee is moving forward with the media borough website redesign, with training scheduled for borough staff later this month
• Media Farmers Market: First market will be May 12th, and have almost 20 venders, an increase from last year. Some issues regarding bathrooms have been worked out with the Media Theatre. Speaking of which …
• Media Theatre
  • A code violation on the bilco doors by the Media Theatre, marked with yellow tape by Jim Jeffries
  • The Media Theatre should be receiving the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for renovations, however, the grant has not been approved yet
• 

  Rendering of outdoor seating area at La Belle Epoque

  La Belle Epoque has applied to add an outdoor seating area (rendering at right) on Olive Street

• Litter: Discussions about litter on State Street and seeing if the MBA would sponsor an additional day of street cleaning using the borough equipment. In addiiton, Eric Stein is leading an effort to work with local businesses to get their assistance in cleaning up State Street, with cooperation with the MBA and the Environmental Advisory Council (EAC).
• Development Fees: Increases in Subdivision and Land Development fees to stay current with inflation (fees were last changed in 2005)
• Mass gathering permits
  • Veterans Legacy Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 30th
  • MBA’s 4th Annual Media Car Show on Sunday, July 17th

The meeting concluded around 9:00 PM.

There was no public comment at the meeting.