Oakmont Borough Council Notebook: July Work Session Meeting

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Oakmont Borough Council continued to discuss Knox Boxes, Riverside Park renovations, parking in the business district, road repair and paving and the mayor’s request for a new police car.

Knox Boxes

Council discussed looking more into for installing Knox Boxes on new structures so firefighters can access buildings easily with the building keys contained in these boxes.

Borough Manager Bruce Jamison and councilmembers Tim Favo, Nancy Ride and Kitty Vagley discussed how council would implement a rule requiring businesses—existing and new—to have Knox Boxes. They also discussed the necessity of having them and other ways for firefighters could enter buildings.

“The firefighters have the right to break in if they see a fire,” Favo said.

Vagley pointed out that firefighters can't always see a fire, and if they don’t, she said they might not break in assuming the alarm was false.

Council agreed to obtain more information on the issue and revisit it at its next meeting.

Vote on 30-day Trial Period for Changes in Business District Parking Regulations Next Week

Council agreed to vote on initiating a 30-day trial period for parking in the business district at next week’s meeting.

Changes include increasing the parking limit, defining parking spaces, designated merchant parking, a tiered penalty clause for parking violators and specifically defining the business district.

Oakmont Chamber of Commerce Director Summer Tissue spoke on behalf of the merchants and asked council to ensure the new regulations were enforced. She also requested that signs used include information on the definition of the business district.

Curb Repair Moving Slowly

Jamison said curb repair had begun in the borough, but was halted when the foreman of the cement crew walked off the job last month.

Another smaller crew has been working on the curbs, but Jamison said he wanted to obtain bids for the curb repair project in front of Riverview High School. Favo said that job could take four to five weeks and it must be completed by mid-August. 

“Not much has been done,” Favo said. “I’m concerned.”

Jamison said he thinks the current crew can do a good job, but a backup plan needs to be in place.

Council Member John Donovan agreed with Jamison.

According to Jamison, four companies are interested in the work.

Road Paving and Repair

Council received a letter last month from the Oakmont Water Authority's general manager agreeing to the shared cost of paving some of the borough’s streets. Some of the cost will be paid by the borough this year, and council is hoping to schedule payment for the rest next year.

Paving is tentatively set to begin the end of this month.

A sink hole on Orchard Street was repaired, and council is working with the resident affected on determining how much of the cost the borough should pay. According to a letter from the resident, he will not pay more than 50 percent of the cost.

Mayor Requests Council Approve Purchase of Police Car

Oakmont Mayor Robert Fescemyer requested council approve the purchase of a lease on a new police car this year.

According to Fescemyer, the new car would replace the oldest car in the police fleet. The sedan, which has over 110,000 miles, would be sold and the money would go toward the new car's lease that's estimated to be around $8,000 a year for three years.

Favo said council still needed to discuss this request more because a new car is not included in the 2011 budget.

Riverside Park Trees On Their Way to Mill

Jamison reported trees were taken down at Riverside Park and delivered to a local mill for processing.  The trees will be cut and dried and sent back to the park to be used in building two new pavilions.

In addition, Jamison said one pavilion had been torn down and demolition was set to begin on another Wednesday.

Riverview Grand Prix Canceled

The Riverview Grand Prix is cancelled this year. The bike race originally had been scheduled for May but was canceled due to a sink hole on Washington Avenue and Third Street.

Organizers had been trying to reschedule the event.