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Franklin Park Council completes 2026 reorganization, approves depositories and professional retainers
Summary
At its Jan. 2026 reorganization meeting, Franklin Park Borough Council elected leadership, designated official banks and newspaper, retained legal and engineering services with stated annual retainers, adopted several resolutions including recognition of the volunteer fire company, and made multiple board and commission appointments.
Franklin Park Borough Council completed its 2026 reorganization on Jan. 5, electing leadership and approving a slate of administrative and professional appointments that set the borough's organizational structure for the year.
During a nominations period opened by the presiding officer, the council moved and approved nominations for council officers. The presiding officer instructed the secretary to cast unanimous votes for the nominated candidates for president, vice president and second vice president. The transcript records the nominee for president variously as “Mr. Powell” and (in another line) as “Mr. Palad”; the council recorded Dr. Lee as vice president and Ms. Czekiah as second vice president.
In routine organizational business, the council authorized that in the president’s absence the vice president or second vice president be authorized to sign checks. It also designated the borough’s official depositories for 2026 as Charles Schwab Institutional; First National Bank; Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust; Pennsylvania Treasurer’s Invest Program; and Westview Savings Bank.
The council approved an annual retainer of $7,200 to retain Robert Max Juncker and the firm of Babs, Callan, Clements and Zomnair, PC as borough solicitor for 2026. LSSE Civil Engineers and Surveyors was appointed borough engineer at a stated retainer of $3,600 per year; Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. was appointed as stormwater engineer.
Council ratified a municipal expenditure policy adopted in 2010 intended to safeguard borough funds and authorized staff to distribute the policy to borough boards and commissions. The body also adopted a resolution recognizing the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 and authorizing distribution of foreign fire insurance premium proceeds to the company’s relief association “pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Other administrative actions included designating the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as the borough’s official newspaper for 2026; appointing Robert Salvatore to the Building Board of Appeals to fill an unexpired term through 2029; appointing Tim Portelli to the Environmental Advisory Council (term to 12/31/2028); and multiple planning commission, recreation board, scholarship committee and library board appointments and reappointments. The council also reappointed James P. McGraw to the zoning hearing board and approved alternate appointments for the zoning hearing board, among other routine personnel actions.
On financial controls, the council ratified Resolution No. 1413-2026 to file a real estate tax collector bond for 01/01/2026 through 01/01/2030 in the amount of $1,500,000.
Votes at a glance - Authorization for vice/second vice to sign checks: approved. - Official depositories (Charles Schwab Institutional; First National Bank; Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust; Pennsylvania Treasurer’s Invest Program; Westview Savings Bank): approved. - Solicitor retainer (Robert Max Juncker and firm): approved ($7,200/year). - Borough engineer (LSSE Civil Engineers and Surveyors): approved (retainer $3,600/year). - Stormwater engineer (Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.): approved. - Resolution recognizing Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company No. 1: approved. - Designation of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as official newspaper: approved. - Real estate tax collector bond ($1,500,000): approved and to be filed in Allegheny County court records. - Multiple board and commission appointments and reappointments: approved (one abstention recorded for a planning commission appointment due to an ethics conflict).
A council member who abstained from one planning commission vote stated on the record, “Tina Malkin is my lovely and talented wife, and so based on the ethics rules, I can't vote on this.” The meeting then was recessed to an agenda-planning work session open to the public.
What happens next: the council concluded the organization meeting and recessed to a back-room agenda-planning work session; no additional public comments were received for tonight’s session.
