Apr 15, 2022 3 min read

CHARLEROI – It appears that three members of borough council will not be fined for a statement given to the Observer-Reporter in February.

Councilman Larry Celaschi made a motion at the March 9 meeting to fine Jerry Jericho, Jeannine Motycki and Nancy Ellis up to $500 each. He said at the time the statement concerning their reason for voting against a separation agreement with former borough administrator Joe Manning violated confidentiality of executive session. The motion was eventually tabled for further investigation.

“It was illegal,” said council President Paul Pivovarnik after Wednesday’s meeting. “They could not enforce that resolution.”

When contacted Thursday, Solicitor Sean Logue agreed, saying the resolution was “unenforceable and worthless.”

In a related matter, council announced it has received four applications for the administrator position. The position has been vacant since January. Interviews will be conducted April 19 and 22, with the plan of filling the position in May.

Council also is continuing its efforts to recoup money from the Department of Community and Economic Development it is owed for a portion of Manning’s $60,000 salary.

DCED recommended the position during its early intervention with the borough to avoid a financial crisis. As part of the agreement, the state was expected to pay a portion of Manning’s salary through the Strategic Management Planning Program (STMP).

Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to submit an invoice to recoup that money, with Celaschi voting no.

Council has hired a third-party attorney, who Pivovarnik said is a retired judge, to investigate any potential wrongdoing. Celaschi felt submitting this invoice would compromise the investigation.

It has been said at past meetings that DCED would pay the money if a properly submitted invoice was received.

A salary for the new person in the position has not been determined, but it will probably be coming from the borough’s general fund. A motion on Wednesday’s agenda to approve a contract for that position, as well as code enforcement and paid fire truck driver, was tabled.

In other business, it was decided that Community Days will be held, albeit on a condensed schedule.

It was decided earlier this month that the event, which was scheduled for the weekend of July 8, would be canceled because of the lack of availability of council members to oversee the event.

Motycki, parks and recreation chairperson, said she heard from a number of people who were upset with that decision.

“There are a lot of unhappy people about Community Days,” she said. “Everybody wants Community Days. Maybe we can narrow it to one day. There are community members who want to start a committee and volunteer that day.”

After some discussion, it was decided the event would take place on July 9 beginning at 1 p.m., the same day as the fire department’s cash bash.

“If the businesses said they’re going to step up and form a committee to put on this event, we’ll work with them,” Pivovarnik said.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Motycki at councilwoman.jmotycki@gmail.com.