Donora hires temporary borough administrator to help with budget
DONORA – A temporary borough administrator has been hired to help prepare the 2023 budget.
Donora council voted 6-0 to appoint Warren Cecconi, effective immediately, to handle the position on an interim basis with deadlines approaching to have a 2023 spending plan in place. Councilwoman P. Jane Ackerman was not in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.
Cecconi, who served stints as interim borough administrator in 2017 and 2019, will be paid $300 a day on an as-needed basis.
He is scheduled to be on board until just before Christmas, but if he is needed beyond that, Cecconi may stay a bit longer.
The administrator position has been vacant since June.
While that position has been filled temporarily, Mayor Donald Pavelko implored council to fill some other positions: code enforcement officer and two police officers.
“We need a code enforcement officer,” Pavelko said. “Please, please get to work on getting a code enforcement officer, and we definitely need two more police officers in this town. Before the end of the year, let’s get two new police officers in this town.”
Councilman Joseph Greco said physicals are tentatively scheduled for February at the City of Pittsburgh Police Training Academy.
“That’s the first open date,” he said. “We have advertised for the physical first and then we will give a written test shortly thereafter. As of now, we have no one certified with the Civil Service Commission to be hired.”
Council also approved a sanitation payment schedule for 2023 of $180 payable by March 31, $240 payable by June 30 and a penalty rate of $300 beginning July 1 processed by the magistrate.
The motion passed 5-1 tally, with Councilwoman Cynthia Brice voting no.
“I’m not in agreement with those payments,” Brice said. “I think we should leave it at $240. The majority of people at that $300 mark probably can’t afford it. That $300 penalty seems excessive for our economic situation here in Donora.”
McDowell said six months was ample time to get the garbage bill paid.
“I’m not trying to penalize anybody, but I would believe that six months is enough time to pay a bill,” he said.