Power agreement, auditing, and record disposal among discussions

            The Quakertown Borough Council held their monthly work session on Monday, March 25th to discuss and approve municipal business for their voting meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd.

            Under revenue and finance, the council will be voting on entering a contract with Maillie, LLP for auditing services. The company will be handling the financial auditing of the Quakertown Borough and the Quakertown industrial area as well as the commercial development authority for the 2023 fiscal year.

            The disposal of outdated administrative records will also be discussed at the voting meeting next month. Some records need to be kept for a minimum of two years. However, records that can be properly disposed of will make room for recent documents to be stored. Vice President L. James Roberts, Jr. explained that the documents are records of "common things we do year by year."

            The 2023 EPPG power pool participant agreement between American Municipal Power, Inc. and Quakertown will be on the agenda for review and voting. The agreement between the agencies is a 51-page document that the council thoroughly reviewed.

            "The last agreement was in 2012 and a lot of changes have occurred," said Borough Manager Scott C. McElree.

            The agreement will not impact costs for the borough and has a positive financial impact because other groups will share the cost. In addition, language was updated and changed from the 2012 agreement document.

            Under the health, safety and welfare committee update, the council will need to vote on the disposal of outdated police records from the years 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2000. This topic will be discussed further and voted on at the April 3rd regular council voting meeting.

            A fundraising event, Pints for Pups, hosted by Last Chance Ranch on June 1, is in discussion. The organization will be responsible for providing volunteers for the 5K beer run as well as the appropriate insurance necessary to host the event. Approximately 50 participants are registered for the event.

            In other news, Council Member Mae Wear commented on the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new athletic field. "It's a beautiful facility," she said.

            However, despite the aesthetics of the newly constructed facility, there were issues with the sound system. It was noted that the volume was very loud and there seemed to be a lot of interference and feedback within the system.

            Borough Manager Scott C. McElree said that he and Doug Wilhelm, highway superintendent, will be meeting with the school district and the district's facilities committee to discuss the issues and find solutions to remedy the problem.