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Penn Hills council approves minutes, expenditures and vacant-property disposition; schedules discussion on manager hiring
Summary
Council approved minutes, authorized January expenditures, passed a resolution to acquire a vacant Verona Road lot, and scheduled a Feb. 9 non-voting meeting to discuss the municipal manager search; council also aired several routine policy and community items.
The Penn Hills council completed routine municipal business and approved several measures during the meeting. Council approved minutes for Dec. 15, 2025 and Jan. 5, 2026; voted to authorize January expenditures; and approved Resolution 2026-1 authorizing acquisition and disposition of a vacant parcel on Verona Road under the county vacant-property recovery program.
On expenditures, a council member moved to approve January expenditures; the amount was read in the meeting record as "2,563,76510" and the council voted to approve. The transcript contains a typographical error in that figure; the intended amount read by the motion was $2,563,765.10 as rendered in the meeting audio. The motion carried on a unanimous roll call by the members present.
Resolution 2026-1, introduced and seconded by council members, authorized the borough to acquire and dispose of the Verona Road lot consistent with the county vacant property recovery program; council recorded a unanimous vote to approve the measure.
Council members also used the common comment period to raise local enforcement and program ideas. One member said the borough already requires a $1,500 permit stamp on so-called "games of skill" machines (found in laundromats and other small businesses), noted few appear permitted, and said any funds recovered from compliance enforcement could be routed to the library fund. Another council member proposed investigating deer population control options used by other municipalities and asked for a presentation.
Councilman Waldron urged a professional and transparent search for the next municipal manager, suggesting options such as using a third-party HR firm, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development resources, ICMA or the borough's HR counsel Campbell Durant. Council agreed to hold a non-voting meeting on Feb. 9 to discuss the hiring process.
The council also offered public recognition and condolences for municipal first responders: the meeting opened with a moment of silence and a tribute for a fallen patrol officer identified in the transcript as "Ryan Karski" (the transcript later shows alternate spellings for that surname). The council later asked for a moment of silence for a 54-year fire department member named in the transcript as Robert "Scotty" Scott and noted funeral arrangements were pending.
The meeting adjourned after those announcements.
