Forest Hills Council Approves Negotiations, Solar Initiative

Council Wednesday passed initiatives to move forward with inter-municipal contract negotiations and a solar energy assessment.

Council voted unanimously to send letters to neighboring Chalfant Borough indicating its intention to terminate contracts for police and public works services. Council member Bill Tomasic, who chairs the public safety committee, said council plans to negotiate new contracts.

“We have increased costs,” Tomasic said. “We’re feeling the pinch, and so we’re talking to them about a potential change in the contract.”

Under the current agreement, which extends until 2015 with the option of withdrawing at the end of each year, Chalfant pays Forest Hills for police patrol and some public works services, such as plowing and grass cutting, according to borough Manager Steve Morus.

Morus said the 2011 contracts for police and public works were $39,251 and $40,736, respectively.

Tomasic stressed that the termination letters are part of a formal step that council must take in order to negotiate new contracts and doesn’t signify a decision to end services.

Council also voted unanimously in favor of the SunShot Initiative, a project proposed by PennFuture and the state department of energy that would assess opportunities for solar energy in the borough.

The initiative requires that the borough contribute in-kind staffing to help with the assessment but does not include an up-front cost. Council will agree to provide up to 80 work hours to the project—which at $40 per hour would equal a contribution of $3,200.

Currently, the district magistrate has solar panels on its roof, and council member said there may be similar opportunities elsewhere.

Wood described the initiative as a partnership grant and said it would give council a better idea of how best to improve sustainability in Forest Hills.

“It’s really very much in keeping with our (overarching) philosophy about keeping Forest Hills sustainable,” Wood said.

Many grants for sustainability improvements require that a municipality has a detailed plan, Wood said, and she expects the SunShot Initiative will “make us more competitive for actual grants.”

While council approved the contract negotiations and solar energy initiative, it tabled a motion to repair the roof of the volunteer fire building after resident questioned whether the borough actually owns the building.

“If not, shouldn’t the volunteer fire department take care of it?” Meshanko asked council.

Morus and Tomasic said council had previously agreed to maintain the building’s exterior, but none of the officials could verify whether a policy to do so existed in writing.

Council postponed voting on the repairs, which would cost $1,240, until its public meeting in September, by which time members expect to have either located a policy for the repairs or drafted a new one.

Absent from Wednesday’s meeting were President Frank Porco and council members Steve Karas and Markus Erbeldinger.

When the meeting was scheduled to begin, only Mike Belmonte and Bill Tomasic were present. In order to conduct business, four council members must participate.

Councilman Bill Burleigh, who recently underwent surgery, participated via speaker phone, with a microphone situated nearby.