MOUNT JEWETT — Three council members were sworn into office of the Mount Jewett Borough Council by Mayor Annie Jo Wolfe Tuesday night.
The council members included Tom Geer, John Keesee and Rod Danielson.
Once the meeting was in session and the new council members were sworn in, the council began voting on borough positions. Brett Morgan was nominated and retains the position of president, Rod Danielson was nominated and retains the position of vice president and Tom Geer was nominated as President Pro Tem.
Additionally, the borough appointed the position of secretary/treasurer to Barbara Harp and sewage enforcement officer to Todd Fantasky. There were no other vacancies to be filled and the borough voted to maintain their monthly meetings on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. and for any needed workshops to be held on the third Sunday of the month at 3 p.m.
Following these nominations, the council moved into the regular meeting agenda, starting with citizens wishing to address council. Resident and Mount Jewett Sewer Authority board member, Brian Sees, asked about the status of a grant that was sought at the end of the year for work on Oberg Avenue. Sees suggested the borough and authority coordinate the work to save time and money since the authority was also scheduling work on a section of the sewer system running through Oberg Avenue.
Harp stated that the grant only went out at the end of December and review wasn’t expected until the beginning of this month. Morgan agreed that coordinating efforts was the best option moving forward regardless of whether the grant was awarded or not.
Sees also brought up the lack of plowing at the sewer ponds, saying it had been done by the borough in the past. Morgan suggested the authority get a truck and have one of their workers do it.
Councilman John Hayduk asked, “What if one of the councilmen did it on their own time for free with the borough truck? I mean we’re trying to work together to save the community money, why should the sewer pay $75 an hour to snow plow the sewer when we’ve got two trucks sitting there?”
Morgan responded, “I appreciate that, but my opinion on this is that if the sewer authority doesn’t have enough money to have their own truck or pay somebody to do it, then something is wrong.”
Wolfe addressed council thanking the former mayor, Melissa McGuire for her service to the community. She also reminded people of the upcoming Mount Jewett Rotary’s Chocolate Indulgence fundraiser on Feb. 10 and the Swedish Festival Committee’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser on March 17.
Wolfe also asked for residents to be mindful of parking along streets and snow removal on sidewalks and around hydrants.
The next regular meeting of the Mount Jewett Borough Council will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Mount Jewett Borough building located at 1 Center St.
