Borough hires collection service, seeks grantwriter
SHENANDOAH – Borough council approved Monday the hiring of a collection service to go after delinquent trash, sewer, and tax bills, and are seeking a grantwriter.
Portnoff Law Associates is being retained to collect delinquent bills owed to the borough.
Council President Joe Boris said they already service more than a dozen entities in Schuylkill County, including the Shenandoah Valley School District and Municipal Authority of the Borough of Shenandoah.
“A lot of people haven’t been paying their bills for quite some time, and it’s not fair to the people that have been paying their bill,” Boris said. “You see the garbage piling up on porches, things like that, and if no one goes after them, they don’t care.”
Councilman Joe Gawrylik said there are nearly 500 unpaid bills.
“That was one of the initial ideas to go and chase them,” Gawrylik said.
The contract runs through 2027, Solicitor Shane Hobbs said.
Grantwriter
Boris said that, following a seminar with the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, or PENNVEST, he believes the borough needs a grantwriter.
He said that a lot of funding has been left on the table that the borough could have gotten.
“There’s grant money available to the borough,” Boris said. “When you read the paper — when you get the paper — you’ll see Frackville’s getting all this money, Saint Clair’s getting this, this one’s getting that. I want a little piece of the pie too.”
Boris sought a motion to hire a grantwriter, though the motion was tabled regarding concerns that it may need to go out for bid.
“If we have to get a special meeting to get it moving, [we will],” Boris said, worrying about application deadlines.
Council did instead vote to pursue hiring a grantwriter.
“I don’t think we have time to start searching all over for these grantwriters,” Councilman Joe Gawrylik said. “Because time is running out and the clock is ticking.”
He said Mahanoy City and Frackville both received streetscape grants.
“We didn’t even get 42 cents because we didn’t go for grants,” Gawrylik said.
In other business, council approved:
- a correction of dates for the Polish American Rock the Block fundraiser for July 18, 19, and 20, with a possible rain date of July 21;
- a request from the Penn State Extension and 4-H to use borough hall for Migrant Ed for a summer camp;
- a zoning variance for 323 West Poplar Street;
- a handicapped parking request;
- the firing of an unnamed employee.
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