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NE Borough Council Meeting Brings Surprising Comments

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The North East Borough Council meeting brought a few surprises along with normal council business.

Marina board

During the public comment period, NE Community Marina Authority Chairman Eric Urbanowicz asked council for a show of support for the authority board due to, what appears to be, increasing disagreement from some members of the public over how the board operates. Council President Amber Belson indicated that the authority is now a separate entity and council has no jurisdiction in the matter and beyond their personal hopes the marina succeeds, they cannot formally offer more support.

Urbanowicz also announced that board Treasurer Kara Haas had submitted her resignation and as a result, council will advertise for and accept letters of interest from members of the public who wish to be considered as a potential replacement. Letters must be received by October 31st and a decision will be made at the November 4th council meeting.

EMS response time

Also during the comment period, Attorney Denise Pekelnicky informed council of the very long response time after an emergency medical call for an employee at her office. The delay was a result of the current agreements concerning which medical responders can answer a call and which are qualified for ALS (advanced life support) or BLS (basic life support). She asked council to reexamine the issue and to come up with a better solution before someone has an emergency where response time is critical to survival.

This brings to the fore, the issue of funding for emergency services in Erie County. Discussions have already taken place about how municipalities can pay for EMS and whether funding responsibilities can be shared across municipal boundaries and if so, how.

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  6. Agendas should be posted online a minimum of 3 days before public meetings take place allowing interested citizens an opportunity to hear discussions and offer input on matters important to them.


Comments

  1. Maybe you should ask Attorney. Pekelnicky why she held us up from starting our paid EMS staffing program for four months. Why are people going to the Borough Council about EMS concerns without even asking the departments about how the system works? We have always had an open door policy to work with the community on any issues. There are a lot of pertinent details that have been left out by Attorney Pekelnicky in making these statements about the situation.