By NATASHA BRENNEMAN
Staff writer
Clarion Borough will accept a payment of $20,751.20 from its insurance company to recoup money the borough says it lost when former secretary-treasurer and police chief Mark Hall allegedly gave himself unauthorized pay.
Hall was let go from his positions last November, and several requests that the borough take legal action against Hall have been made by citizens.
The payment will come from Traveler’s Insurance and is made possible due to the bond placed on all borough employees that can cause a loss to the borough, solicitor John Marshall said at Tuesday’s borough council meeting.
“This is not legal action,” said Marshall. “This is the borough getting money back that was lost.”
Council member Jason Noto said this bond claim to the insurance company is the first of its kind.
After council approved the repayment, the panel handled several budgetary transfers Tuesday. They included:
– Borough treasurer Todd Colosimo was given approval to draw down $550.50 from the general fund for a conference registration fee and expenses.
– Approval was given to transfer $11,992 from the general fund-public safety budget to general fund-administration.
– A transfer of $5,885.49 from the general fund-public safety budget to the general fund-parking meter budget was approved. The transfer will provide health insurance coverage to new meter enforcement officer Natalie Schmede.
– A total of $126,238.48, which is interest earned from a CD, will be transferred into the capital project fund
The purchase of a 2017 F-550 regular cab truck was approved. The truck will be purchased from Murray’s Ford Lincoln in DuBois for $35,589.
A stainless steel body for the truck will also be purchased. The body will cost the borough $25,513 and will allow the truck to perform specialized functions needed by the borough.
Two special event requests were approved. One was from Clarion Christian Preschool for a trike-a-thon fundraiser April 28, and the other was from First Baptist Church for a FunFest May 20.
The borough also adopted the county’s debris management plan.
“The county is allowing us to piggy back on their plan,” council president Carol Lapinto said. “If we had a major catastrophe and didn’t have this plan we wouldn’t be able to reclaim our losses.”
The borough believes it is owed $9,000 by Apogee Telecom, which is the company that took over the franchising agreement from Campus Televideo on the Clarion University campus.
In another matter, May 20 was established as clean-up day for the borough.
More information on the event and items that can be picked up can be found by calling the borough public works department at (814) 226-6721 or the borough at (814) 226-7707.