Jan. 18 Baldwin Borough Council Meeting Notes

The Baldwin Borough Council held its first regular council meeting of 2011 at the on Jan. 18.

Some of the highlights from the meeting are as follows.

Mayor Alexander R. Bennett Jr. did not attend the meeting, as council President Michael Stelmasczyk reported that he is on vacation.

One of the council’s first acts of business was introducing Luke Sedar, a newly hired patrolman for the . Police Chief Michael Scott introduced Sedar.

Later in the meeting, council member Bob Collet suggested a motion to hire a new police officer for the borough – Leo Gigliotti Jr. The motion eventually passed unanimously with only Collet abstaining from the vote.

Gigliotti and his family were in attendance, and Scott introduced them. Gigliotti said that he lives in the Township of South Park.

Solicitor Stanley B. Lederman spoke about a new bill (No. 01-11-01) for the borough, which he said provides guidelines and standards for lighting. Essentially, the bill is designed to prevent harsh lights on properties in the borough from disturbing residents of other properties in the borough (lights that are a “public nuisance,” as Lederman said). However, should lights already exist in the borough that are in violation of this bill prior to the enactment of this bill, the bill allows for a three-year grace period to have those lights brought into compliance before a citation is issued.

A motion to consider the bill passed unanimously, as did another motion to advertise the bill.

A copy of the new bill is available in the borough manager’s office at the municipal complex.

Council member John Conley said that the borough will not hold zoning hearing board or planning commission meetings this January.

Council member Larry Brown read the borough’s police report for December 2010 on behalf of the mayor.

Brown stated that the borough’s police counted 594 reports last month and answered 884 9-1-1 calls. The reported 28 incidents with 213 responses, the reported nine incidents with 60 responses and the reported 14 incidents with 134 responses.

The was the only one of the borough’s four fire stations to not submit a December 2010 report to the council. Stelmasczyk requested that Borough Manager John M. Barrett obtain Option Independent’s missing report.

Toward the end of the meeting, Stelmasczyk asked fellow council members to motion for drafting a resolution addressing concerns to state legislature that reassessment of Allegheny County property in 2012 is unfair to county residents.

“Allegheny County has been singled out by the courts,” Stelmasczyk said. “That puts residents of our county at a disadvantage with residents of surrounding counties.

“It puts our area in a non-competitive environment.”

A motion passed unanimously.

The floor was then opened for audience members to speak. One audience member accepted the invitation, but his reason for addressing the council was unclear to the public. The man speaking – Frank Pikutis of 1649 Streets Run Road – was told by Lederman that the two of them would speak privately after the council meeting.

After Pikutis and Lederman spoke privately, the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch spoke with Pikutis about their conversation.

Pikutis claims that 1653 Streets Run Road (near his home) is in violation of borough code. Pikutis said that the owner of the property (listed as Robert E. and Bernice A. Dryer on the Allegheny County Assessment website) is operating the property “like a junkyard.” Pikutis said that “Thomas Lockaton” owns the junkyard.

“I speak for all of the people in the 1600 block [of Streets Run],” Pikutis said. Pikutis claimed that Baldwin Borough officials have been “chasing him for years,” but that the owner(s) is/are “fairly tricky.”

Pikutis claims that the owner(s) don’t live at 1653 Streets Run and that he/they are instead running the property as a business.

“We [the 1600 block residents] want it cleaned up. We want things to change. We’ve been after him for years.

“It’s noisy. It’s dirty. He has so many cars in the front you can’t pull a fire truck in there to fight a fire.”

When asked why he accepted Lederman’s offer to speak privately, Pikutis said, “[The borough] is in the process of working on it. I can’t say any more than that.

“They’ve been working on it non-stop, too. This is a lingering thing that won’t go away.”

Before Pikutis’ private conversation with Lederman, the meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m.

For more information on this or other Borough of Baldwin meetings, call 412-882-9600.

The borough’s next regular council meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 15, at the municipal complex at 7:30 p.m., but a council agenda meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the municipal complex, also at 7:30 p.m.

A board meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 20, at the Wallace Building at 7 p.m.