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Time in demand in Monessen
Council also wants more time to prepare for a hearing before a state Department of Labor and Industry panel regarding conditions at City Hall.
And Mayor Anthony Petaccia wants his colleagues to start making some "firm commitments" about the future of city operations.
But only time will tell what the future holds for the Mon Valley Community Health Center property and City Hall.
Attorney Al Gaudio, hired by council to handle the dissolution of the authority and the takeover of the Mon Valley Community Health Center, gave an update during Wednesday's business meeting.
Gaudio said authority officials believe they need more than 30 days to turn over their financial assets and more than 45 days to turn over the property - time frames requested by council.
Gaudio said he has been provided with numerous authority documents, copies of leases, and employment agreements.
Prior to the start of the business meeting, council met in executive session for an hour, discussing issues regarding the authority employee contracts.
Following the dissolution, the authority board during a July 21 meeting decided to approve severance packages to all authority employees, with the exception of executive director Larry Bender and building superintendent Tom Wilkinson. The package will provide one month's salary for every year of employment, with a maximum award of one year's salary for all of the other authority employees.
In addition to Bender and Wilkinson, the authority employs three full-time and three part-time employees.
Five years ago, the board approved a severance package for Bender and Wilkinson if the authority were to ever dissolve. That severance package will provide Bender and Wilkinson with one year's salary and one year of medical and dental coverage.
Bender makes $81,428 per year and Wilkinson makes $51,658 per year, based on figures obtained from the authority.
The Valley Independent obtained copies of the employment agreements through a request from the state's Right to Know Law.
Gaudio is in the process of studying all of the documents and said the goal is to resolve all of the issues without going to court.
He said the authority is predicting it will be ready to hand over the health center about mid-autumn, but that he would recommend asking city officials to have immediate access to the building so an inventory can be conducted.
While council waits to take over the health center property, problems remain at City Hall.
Solicitor Mark Shire got the approval from council to request a continuance for an Aug. 27 hearing before a state Labor and Industry panel, as the city needs more time to prepare. Shire said he didn't receive notice of the Aug. 27 hearing until Aug. 14.
With the recommendation of city engineer Roger Francis, council approved hiring Gerard Architects Associates to survey City Hall and prepare plans of the building to take to the hearing. The architect fee is $90 per hour.
Shire said the city will need to tell the Labor and Industry panel what it will do to correct violations at City Hall, and how it plans to have the work done.
Labor and Industry ordered the city to perform an air-quality test throughout the building - with the fire trucks running - as well as test the truck bays for sewer gas. The state also ordered the city to comply with the recommendations made Jan. 17, 2007, by Environmental & Safety Training Inc., which performed a mold study of the building.
Council agreed last night to have city employees complete seven items from the mold microbial report, and seek bids for six other recommendations.
Petaccia said city offices should leave City Hall and move into the health center annex.
"Once again, we're hiring someone that's going to cost the taxpayers money, when we should have moved six months ago," Petaccia said. "Now we're sort of stuck in the middle. I'm stuck in the middle, the city's stuck in the middle, and the taxpayers are stuck in the middle."
Councilman Wayne Doptis, who has been against leaving City Hall, brought up minutes from a March meeting when Councilman John Harhai said the city was guaranteed $100,000 from state Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, to remodel the health center annex.
Harhai and Petaccia have supported moving out of City Hall and into the annex, and unsuccessfully lobbied to enter into a lease-to-own agreement with the health and welfare authority.
Last month, Doptis, and councilmen Jeff Gagatko and Josh Retos voted to dissolve the health and welfare authority. The authority, in turn, agreed to comply with the city's decision.
Doptis brought up public accusations made by Harhai that he, along with Bernie Sarra, called Stout to try and stop the grant.
Doptis read a July 21 letter from Stout to Sarra.
According to Doptis, Stout stated in the letter, "indeed, there is no record of having contact with me, regarding a $100,000 grant to remodel the health center annex. Neither do I remember any conversation I personally had with you on this subject. On the other hand, city officials have broached this subject with me and I have agreed to assist them and identify appropriate resources for them to either move or remain where they are, if and when mayor and council reach a consensus."
Retos said Sarra is owed an apology.
"If it has to come from me, then I apologize for allowing that to happen," Retos said.
Doptis said Stout's letter proves the city can ask for grant money to fix up City Hall.
Harhai and Petaccia disagreed. Harhai said Stout won't commit to any allocation unless there is a firm commitment by council to move into the health center annex. They both said there is no state money for old buildings.
Harhai accused Doptis of refusing to sign a letter asking for the grant money.
"Sen. Stout did agree to give us $100,000 grant, but you have refused to vote. You will not sign or present that letter in order to get it because you don't want to move into that building," Harhai said. "That's the issue. So until you sign it, he's (Stout) not going to admit that he has the money or doesn't."
Harhai suggested they write two letters to Stout, asking for a grant to remodel the health center annex and another for City Hall.
Petaccia said City Hall is now on the National Register of Historic Places, which means the city can apply for alternative grants through Rivers of Steel and federal grants.
But he said the city won't receive any state money to renovate the municipal building, especially when officials are at odds over what to do with it.
"The bottom line is we can sit here and go back and forth but, until there are firm commitments on exactly what we want to do, we're not going to see any money," the mayor said.
"That has been the problem with Monessen politics over the last five or 10 years. If you map out a plan and say, 'Look, this is the direction we want to go in,' you'll get a lot more money. But if one side's going this way and other people are doing other things, then guess what? We're not going to get nothing. "
