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Cornwall Borough Council debated the pros and cons of licensing email addresses for council members at its meeting Monday.
In order to set up email addresses connected to the borough’s website domain, the borough would need to pay website overseer CivicPlus an additional $72 per councilperson per year, reported borough manager Cody Rhoads.
The website (which the borough pays $1,050 monthly plus additional charges for in-person services to maintain) only comes with five email addresses, Rhoads said. Those addresses are already in use.
Councilman John Karinch said official email addresses are important in the event of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning email exchanges. If a council person is using their personal email address for council affairs, all their exchanges — related to their council duties or not — could be up for review, he said.
Mayor Mark Thomas voiced opposition to borough-funded email addresses, recommending council members create free Gmail accounts specifically for borough business. He said he has been using a Gmail address for mayoral duties for several years and that it also provides benefits of free storage and searchability.
Resident Jeremy Zimmerman, who said he has worked with email addresses and website oversight for his church, said email addresses could be set up far cheaper than that. He said official email addresses could be obtained by a large web provider like GoDaddy for around $2 each annually.
Following a hearty debate, council directed Rhoads to look further into options and pricing for email addresses. They tabled action on the purchase of iPads for council members for the same reason.
Council also directed Rhoads to look into options for the website. Pricing for website maintenance has crept up over the years, with the borough originally only paying by-the-service before switching to a monthly fee of around $500.
Thomas also expressed disdain at CivicPlus’s recent charge for in-person services given that their monthly fee is meant to include maintenance. He advised Rhoads to look into the provider for the police department’s online services to see if they could provide a better price.
Zimmerman said that website maintenance companies have been raising prices to stay in business as more and more entities switch to in-house website maintenance.
“It’s not that difficult to run a website in this day and age,” said Zimmerman, though he urged council not to decide to run its own website without forethought. Website maintenance carries its own set of responsibilities and risks, he said, citing an instance his church forgot to renew its web address and it was bought out by an online entity that sought to sell it back to them for thousands of dollars.
Council also unanimously approved the purchase and installation of three 37.5-inch TVs for the meeting room for $4,701. Chairman Bruce Harris said the price seemed high, but said the inclusion of installation costs made it worthwhile.
Cornwall has long debated the installation of an audio/visual system for its meeting room to be able to show documents during the meeting, ensure speakers are heard through the room, and broadcast meetings online (though this possibility has been hotly contested).
While the A/V system was included in Cornwall’s 2024 budget, council has not acted on a $41,000 estimate for the purchase and installation of the system. Some council members have said the amount of equipment included is excessive for what the borough needs.
An older proposal for the system included around $4,000 in microphones, close to $6,000 in controllers for the system, around $19,000 in labor costs, and more. As a result, council has opted to gradually upgrade its A/V system and see what else is needed along the way.
Read More: Here’s a look at the details of Cornwall’s proposed $49,000 A/V upgrade (2023)
Council also unanimously agreed to purchase a $2,500 laptop for Rhoads to operate the TVs during meetings and conduct work on. While some council members hesitated over the price, Rhoads noted it includes setup, remote access to the water authority’s data, and programs.
“The only way to do that is to wear their phones out”
Cornwall mayor urges residents to contact PennDOT with complaints and concerns
Council unanimously agreed to apply jointly for a Scenic Byway Grant for improvements to SR 419 with PennDOT on Monday.
If grant monies are received, modifications to the state road will ultimately be up to PennDOT, including whether improvements are made to Cornwall Center or the intersection with SR 72 and Springhill Lane.
Chairman Bruce Harris said PennDOT has previously communicated that the speed of traffic is “too great” for a roundabout around the access to Springhill Acres.
Residents have long complained about the safety at this intersection where several accidents have occurred, though Harris previously said PennDOT considers it to be a “high-functioning intersection.”
PennDOT’s metric for determining whether an intersection needs improvements is generally the speed and flow of traffic, several municipalities have reported.
However, residents of Spring Hill Acres report often needing to wait 10+ minutes to get onto 72, and others report fear of accidents at the intersection.
Resident Jeremy Zimmerman voiced concern about the level of traffic during Renaissance Faire season.
Zimmerman also asked council whether paving or patching is planned for the road, saying that disrepair of the existing paving is contributing to safety issues.
Borough manager Cody Rhoads said PennDOT has been planning to pave the road for several years, and it was initially meant to start at the end of last year. However, he said he does not know the status of paving plans.
Mayor Mark Thomas urged residents to call PennDOT to voice their concerns.
He said that while the borough can give feedback to PennDOT, the department is not required to listen. However he said they may listen to residents if they make their voices heard.
“If you made them get out of their lounge chair and actually have to look at the situation, you might get a little bit of help, but the only way to do that is to wear their phones out,” said Thomas, agreeing that the intersection is dangerous.
In other news, council:
- Authorized the installation of a $12,500 generator and a $6,200 propane tank at the borough office, as previously discussed, with all in favor except Thomas Burton.
- Unanimously agreed to approve an amendment for tax collection, as the Lebanon County Treasurer’s office has increased the per-bill rate from 50 cents to a dollar.
- Unanimously agreed to conditionally approve the Tony’s Mining Co. Stormwater Management Plan assuming remaining comments are addressed.
- Tabled the hiring of a part-time police officer until a hire is selected.
- Unanimously agreed to apply to an LSA grant on behalf of the fire company.
- Unanimously agreed to set the contribution rate at 1 percent for the police pension plan, as is set out in contracts.
- Heard from Michelle Hawk of Lebanon County Library thanking them for a previous donation and asking that they consider another donation while drafting the budget.
- Unanimously agreed to approve the Sept. 9 meeting minutes.
- Heard and approved reports.
Cornwall Borough Council meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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