Rental ordinance proposed for Montrose

BY PAT FARNELLI

Montrose Borough Council discussed a proposed rental ordinance and a Drainage Maintenance Agreement for SR 706’s Church Street section proposed by PennDOT during its meeting Monday.

 The council looked over the new ordinance for landlords and tenants, but tabled it, planning to advertise the proposal for next month’s meeting, and invite landlords with possible adoption by the mid-month meeting in March.

The ordinance includes a “Borough of Montrose Renters Registration” form to be filled out by landlords and tenants and filed with the Borough for a fee of $25. The form requires the names and contact information for the tenants and their employers, as well as start and end date for the lease, the names of children or other individuals who will reside in the same house or unit, their date of birth and relationship to lessee, the square footage of the rental area, the number of bedrooms, and the number of required smoke alarms.

The ordinance will apply to every rental dwelling unit and its premises, regardless of when such building was constructed, altered or repaired.

Joseph Bayer from Shumaker Engineering attended the meeting to introduce his company to the council. He is a partner of the firm, which is located on the second floor at 78 Public Ave. The firm does structural, environmental, and transportation engineering and land surveying.

Jeffrey Kyle of DGK Insurance and Financial Services attended the meeting to make a presentation on municipal insurance at the request of the council.

“Our responsibility is to get the most appropriate insurance at the best possible price- that’s why Erin called you to get the quotes,” said borough councilman Craig Reimel.      .

A letter from Sam Lewis was discussed. Lewis claims that in the latter part of January, a Montrose Police Officer knocked on his tenant’s door at an apartment building at 212 Church St. in the middle of the night, searching for a suspect at the wrong address, and in the process damaged the door frame and molding. He said he is having the door repaired and will bill the borough. The council members said that they would check the police log to see if any officer did visit the building in that time frame, and would conduct their own investigation from there.

A Drainage Maintenance Agreement with PennDOT was discussed, but no action was taken, as not all council members were present.

A speed limit sign on Prospect Street needed to be replaced. There are six signs along that stretch, which all are in need of repair. Council will address them at a later date.

The borough is phasing out round poles for street signs; they will be replaced with U channel posts with breakaway. Some can be located on top of existing traffic signs, such as stop or yield signs. This would eliminate the expense of an additional post, and is a common practice in other municipalities.

The Endless Mountains Health Services has requested cross walk signs for the hospital. There are already “Pedestrian Crossing” signs, but they are often ignored, and the crosswalk lines are invisible when there is snow on the road. The “Pedestrian Crossing” signs are about 500 feet from the crosswalk, and if “Crosswalk Laws Enforced” signs were installed, closer to the crosswalk on each side, motorists might be more aware of the crosswalk and need to stop for pedestrians. The borough will need to get PennDOT permission to install signs in the right of way.