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CANTON — Borough council voted unanimously to appoint Alex Schrader to the vacancy position on council at Monday evening’s meeting.
Schrader will begin on council once he is sworn in, but was absent from last night’s meeting.
He will be replacing the vacancy from David Groover, who officially resigned last month.
Visitor’s Comments
Resident Dean Vanderpool started public comment off by asking Councilman Christopher Schrader and resident Brian Koval to stop wasting time of the public and of council and start only reporting accurate information, with facts to back that information up.
“Everyone in the town knows or has heard about the issues... We’ve got it at these meetings time and time again,” said Vanderpool, “I would like to ask you to quit wasting the time of our borough employees on these things. If you have truthful allegations I’m all for that to come to light, but if you have nothing to back up your allegations, please just keep them to yourself so we can get through these meetings. Mr. Koval, we know everything he wants to talk about. We’ve heard it hundreds of times over and over.”
Brian Koval was not present at the meeting, but was scheduled for public comment on the agenda.
Councilman Christopher Schrader was the next to talk. First, he started off stating that resident Arla Moyer did not have information provided to her about the crisis station set up at the school during the power outage. President Michael Shultz and Brett Neely assured Councilman Schrader that there is a “Code Red” she can sign up for, so that she is alerted about information such as that.
Schrader then discussed the June meeting where he brought up allegedly “being called on” by someone to the elections board for alleged misconduct. Schrader then accused Administrator Seeley of having something to do with being called on, or knowing about the call.
“These are all assumptions, I do admit, but if the shoe fits, wear it,” said Schrader.
Next, Schrader spoke about former employee David Groover and his exit interview (or lack of), citing that he spoke with Groover who was sure he had asked for an exit interview in his resignation. This comment was made in response to Administrator Seeley stating at a previous meeting that she “cannot read David Groover’s mind about an exit interview.” Also, it was mentioned in a public meeting that Groover would not answer any questions to this newspaper until he had his exit interview.
“It has yet to happen,” said Schrader, referring to the exit interview.
For the next accusation, Schrader alleged that Police Chief Seeley drove by his home while he (Schrader) was mowing his lawn and said (addressing Police Chief Seeley) “You went by and then came back by with your window down, creeping slowly, watching me.” He then accused Chief Seeley of sitting in the office every day and asked him to “go catch real criminal druggies that roam our streets every day, as well as truckers using break retarders in town, people parking in handicapped spots in town or people not following traffic laws I see every day and do something productive to better Canton.”
Schrader then addressed last month’s meeting, when he tried to speak. He went on to say that he felt his “rights were infringed upon” when he was told he could not speak at the end of the meeting when he planned to.
He told council “I was interrupted by many in attendance, including council members, as well as borough employees,” and noted that there was a motion and second to go into an executive meeting before he could finish what he had to say.
“As a council member, I am entitled to speak on any matter of public concern, much of what I had to speak on was already stated in the meeting prior to my tying to speak. I do not need to put my name on the schedule nor do I need to give you any information ahead of time on what I will speak... My rights were impeded by as council,” he said, referring to two individuals specifically.
“Two council members broke their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Commonwealth. This is an impeachable offense,” said Schrader. “I request that due to their breach of their oaths of office, that Mr. Shultz and Mrs. Ambruch resign from their positions on council. If they do not, further action may be taken.”
Schrader concluded his speech by stating that in 21 years, there has “been two common denominators on borough council” that allegedly are causing issues within the borough, stating that he believes are both Police Chief Seeley and Administrator/Secretary Seeley.
“The way to get this borough on the right track and to get a better and brighter Canton, is to fix the common denominator.”
Administrator’s Report
Administrator Amy Seeley noted that she is still working with one resident on their sidewalk loan program.
During her report, she also discussed with council about funding for the backhoe. Instead of the original $40,000 council anticipated they were originally going to receive from the United States Department of Agriculture, council will now receive $84,500 in grant money towards the backhoe. Council will borrow $28,285 from First Citizens Bank towards the total. The total project was $112,785. It is a reimbursement program provided by USDA.
Seeley also needed to appoint someone as a first alternate for Bradford County Tax Collection Committee, since David Groover was no longer on council. Council voted to appoint Robert Johnson to the position, with Christopher Schrader as the second alternate, which was already established.
Administrator Seeley asked council about replacing the old 150th Anniversary banners that are hung throughout downtown. The old ones were purchased in 2014. Seeley noted that Joy Brann and Mary Beth Schoonover designed the four-season flags she presented council and asked council to motion to buy 25 vinyl sets from Rileigh’s. The cost to council will be $4,395 and Administrator Seeley noted they should last about 10 years and brighten up the town.
The Church of Christ asked council if they could close down part of North Minnequa on Sept. 25 for an annual event from noon to 4 p.m. Council granted permission.
Police Department
Police Chief Seeley noted that he met with District Attorney Ondrey about the county’s drug task force. He noted that though the county will head the program, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s office will fund the program. He asked council to agree and sign the policy memorandum of understanding, which states that the AG’s office will reimburse the borough council on all costs related to the program.
Street Department
Dave Wilson noted that he has been busy working on West South Avenue, fixing a ditch. Council also voted to hire Cody Hickock at a full-time position beginning this week at $14.01 an hour, with a probation period of six months.
Code Enforcement
John Raub spoke about the codes meeting that took place last week and the discussion of the SWEEP Appeals Hearing process. He told council that he feels the hearings are basically public meetings and that the hearings need to be formal and ran as such. Raub asked council if he could apply for his own ORI number which lets the FBI know what statuses govern a background check. Raub stated he needed this so that he could file at the magistrate level for a non-traffic citation.
“Code violation needs to be a summary offense, not a criminal,” said Raub.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Scott May noted that the fire board had a meeting Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. Fire board meetings are the second Tuesday of every other month at the social hall.
Emergency Management
Brett Neely has passed his background check and is now recommended by PEMA for the Emergency Management Coordinator position for the borough.
Other news
The annual Council of Governments annual dinner meeting is Monday, Aug. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the First Christian Church of Alba.
For the library, the summer programs are finished. Preschool learning will begin after Labor Day. School aged programs are in the planning stages and will be advertised soon.
The Rialto Theatre hired a new manager. They are looking at possible events for the fall but are in the early talking stages still.
Amy Seeley noted that the Canton Chamber of Commerce has officially been approved for purchasing what was the old Boyd Building next to the Main Street Park.
On Sept. 25 and 26, the Fall Foliage Tour of the Mountains Motorcycle Event and Classic Motorcycle Show will take place throughout town. The fire department will also host a poker run. Frank Watson noted that he and a few others have begun to do promotional videos on local restaurants and pubs for the upcoming event.
President Shultz noted that school is starting in a couple weeks.
Council then went into executive session over a complaint made by resident Brian Koval. During the executive session, they found that the complaint was not founded and did not act on it.
The next Canton Borough Council meeting will be Monday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. at the borough building.