Sewickley Hills Looks to Fill Vacancies

took a step closer to solidifying its governing boards by discussing three different vacancies on the board at its Monday meeting.

Effective Jan. 1, current will resign. In addition, current councilman is resigning from his position on the planning commission. In addition, the council has an empty seat because current Vice President Cindy Phillips in the November general election for both the two-year and four-year council seats.

“It’s the same as somebody running as both a Republican and a Democrat,” said Phillips. “There may be political advantages, and at the time I didn’t know what they may or may not be. So I simply ran for both seats and it just worked out that way.”

Phillips now has the option to she would like to serve. Regardless of what she decides, the newly appointed council member will only serve a two-year term, and the seat will be put up for grabs in the next election.

All of the vacancies can be filled through council appointments, which means the council plans to advertise to borough citizens with a small postcard outlining the positions. Qualified candidates will then have to attend the Jan. 2 reorganization meeting, where more decisions may be made.

The borough is also debating whether to switch auditors after the borough checking account went five years .

Hermes cited an example where a check for road salt was written and posted in a certain account. It was learned afterward that the amount came from the wrong account, and was then recorded in the correct account without taking the amount off the original ledger.

Officials said the current auditor, Small, O’Connor, and Pagano of Pittsburgh, was to catch errors such as these, but never informed the borough. As a result, the borough  thought it had less money than it really did. If the council chooses to do so, officials say the auditor can be replaced because it is a professional service without a long-term contract.

Another item covered at the meeting was the decision to hire Wick Landscaping as the official snow removal company for Sewickley Hills this winter. The borough received two bids, but Wick was the only company to hand in the correct paperwork in a timely manner.

The borough will pay the company $63 per hour in quarter-hour increments to cover the use of its truck as well as the operator. Any salt that is used is an extra charge.