Borough Employees, Water Authority Employees and some guests enjoyed a retirement meal with Harry. Harry’s last day is October 30th. If you see him wish him a Happy Retirement!

There have been many questions about draft meeting minutes. Draft meeting minutes are not a public record according to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law Section 708(A) (see below). Once meeting minutes are approved by majority vote the minutes become public record. Unless meeting minutes fall under Governor Wolf’s Act 15 (see below), please note the Bold type. That is the only time draft minutes will be posted before a vote is taken to approve meeting minutes.

Approved previous month’s meeting minutes will be posted the day after approval on this website. Approved meeting minutes can be discussed at the next month’s Council Meeting and corrections if needed can be approved by Council then.

ACT 15 – signed by Governor Wolf

Local Government Meetings.

Section 5741 allows a borough council, authority, planning commission, zoning hearing board or other entity of the municipality to meet remotely by telecommunications device. A physical quorum is not necessary, however, a quorum must be established on the telecommunications device to conduct business. Telecommunication device is defined as any device which permits, at a minimum, audio communications between individuals.

Notice must be given of public meetings held under this section. Public notice includes either on the borough’s website or in the newspaper of general circulation or both. If you have a website you should post the meeting notice on your website and a newspaper of general circulation. If you do not have a website, notice must be placed in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice must include the meeting date, time, technology to be used, and how the public may participate. To the extent possible, the borough council, planning commission or zoning hearing board must allow for public participation through the telecommunications device or written comments.

Written comments may be submitted to the physical address of the local government or a designated e-mail address. Draft minutes from any meeting held under this section without advanced notice to the public to address issues related to the COVID-19 emergency must be posted within 20 days of the meeting or before the next regularly scheduled meeting, whichever is earlier. Posted seems to imply on a local government website. If you do not have a website, we suggest posting them in the borough hall or office to comply with this section.

Pennsylvania’s New Right to Know Law

Section 708. Exceptions for public records

(10) (i) A record that reflects:

(A) The internal, predecisional deliberations of an agency, its members, employees or officials or predecisional deliberations between agency members, employees or officials and members, employees or officials of another agency, including predecisional deliberations relating to a budget recommendation, legislative proposal, legislative amendment, contemplated or proposed policy or course of action or any research, memos or other documents used in the predecisional deliberations.

(B) The strategy to be used to develop or achieve the successful adoption of a budget, legislative proposal or regulation.

(ii) Subparagraph (i)(A) shall apply to agencies subject to 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings) in a manner consistent with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7. A record which is not otherwise exempt from access under this act and which is presented to a quorum for deliberation in accordance with 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 shall be a public record.

(iii) This paragraph shall not apply to a written or Internet application or other document that has been submitted to request Commonwealth funds.

(iv) This paragraph shall not apply to the results of public opinion surveys, polls, focus groups, marketing research or similar effort designed to measure public opinion.

(21) (i) Draft minutes of any meeting of an agency until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the agency.
(ii) Minutes of an executive session and any record of discussions held in executive session.

Please be advised that although work is being performed in the office and remotely, local County Assistance Offices are not open to the public at this time.  Phone calls to local offices are being answered and here is LIHEAP Client Hotline:  1-866-857-7095 for assistance with the program or to request an application be sent to them in November when the program opens.  All County Assistance Offices also have an external ‘drop box’ or mail slot in the door to drop off an application or pending information.

Catawissa Borough has a number of picnic tables that need new homes! Condition varies, but all are more than usable and have a lot of life left in them.

These are tables that formerly were in municipal parks throughout the Borough and have been replaced. Designed for commercial use, these are the heavy duty tables, not the kind you find at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

$50/each or best offer. No reasonable offers will be refused. Buyer will need to pick-up, no delivery.

Contact the Borough Manger to set-up a time to look at the tables.

FEMA has released revised preliminary copies, dated August 28, 2020, of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) for Catawissa Borough.  Copies are available for review at Catawissa Borough Hall, 307 Main Street.  Digital copies of both are available online at https://www.fema.gov/preliminaryfloodhazarddata.

Residents have until September 25^th, 2020, to provide changes or comments.  Please contact Borough Flood Plain Manager, Larry Kopp, with changes, comments, questions or concerns at 570-356-2561.

Please help keep Community Aid supporting our Borough.

• Do not place trash in the Community Aid bin.
• Do not place donations on the ground. If our bin is full please bring donations back another day. Any donations ruined by weather are considered trash.

When donations are left outside of the bin, donations go from gracious donations to wasted gifts the moment they are impacted by wet weather. All weather ruined donations become trash. This negatively impacts Community Aids ability to support Catawissa Borough.

If the Community Aid bin is full, please take your donation to your local Community Aid Donation Center at 1070 N Susquehanna Trail, Selinsgrove, PA 17870. Please give your community information so Catawissa Borough can receive proper credit for your donation.

**DO NOT LET ANY DONATIONS OUTSIDE ON THE GROUND!!

Brush pick up will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday (weather and work schedule permitting). If you would like to notify the Borough of your need for a pick up please call 570-356-2561.

Please make note of the following brush pick up guidelines:

• All brush must be place by the curb or alleyway. Public Works Employees will NOT enter your yard for a pick up.
• All branches must be stacked with cut end out and in the same direction for safe handling.
• Branches can NOT be longer than 6 ft. Please keep in mind these branches need to be lifted by an employee. If you feel the weight is too heavy for one person please cut the branches smaller in length.
• Large piles of limbs may have to wait a few days to be chipped. Please plan accordingly if you do not want your limbs laying by your curb/alleyway during a certain time frame.
• All loose vegetation (leaves, vines, weeds, etc) must be bagged.

The following link is a printable copy of the inspection list used for Catawissa Borough Residential Rental Property Inspections:

Residential Rental Unit Inspection Checklist

The fees for registration, licensing and inspection are as set herein below:

Amended fees for licensing and inspection are set herein under Resolution 10-2020

To schedule a Residential Rental Property Inspection click here.

If you would like to pay your water bill on the same check as electric or sewer the check must be mailed to First Columbia Bank and Trust 347 Main St. Catawissa PA 17820. As of 7/5/2016 the Borough no longer accepts water bill payments at the Catawissa Borough Office.