Montrose brings on law firm to investigate police complaint

A complaint lodged against the Montrose Borough Police Department has prompted the borough to hire a southeastern Pennsylvania legal team to investigate the claim.

The move came after a lengthy executive session near the end of the Monday, Feb. 8, borough council meeting.

Council voted in favor of utilizing Siana Law, based out of Chester Springs, to investigate the complaint. Councilman Ed Herd, who also sits on the borough’s Civil Service Commission, abstained from the vote.

Council members did not elaborate on details of the complaint, stating only that it is a personnel issue and there would be no public discussion.

According to the Siana Law website, the firm has “extensive experience and depth representing local governments and agencies.” The website notes that the firm has experience serving as “special counsel advising public officials on both litigated and non-litigated matters,” including police departments.

Parking spaces, meters

Following a public hearing, council voted to remove parking spaces and meters on the north side of Maple Street, between Chenango and Pine streets.

The parallel parking spaces are opposite diagonal spaces on the south side of the street, situated along the county office building. Those spaces will remain.

The parking spaces and meters are being taken out in an effort to create space for vehicles traveling on the street. One member of council noted that an ambulance had difficulty navigating the narrow lanes when vehicles are parked on both the north and south sides of the street.

The meters will be removed, pending weather conditions, and no parking signs will be installed on the stretch between Chenango and Pine streets.

Crosswalk

Council approved options that they hope will address safety concerns for the crosswalk that runs from the southwest corner of Church and Public Ave. across South Main Street.

Crosswalk markings will be widened from 6-feet to 20-feet which would bring the markings closer to the intersection and make the crossing more visible to vehicular traffic.

The pedestrian signals will also be placed into a three-second advanced pedestrian phase. When the pedestrian pushes the button and receives the crossing indicator, all four vehicle approaches to the intersection would have a red signal for three seconds to allow pedestrians additional time to get across the crosswalk at the current locations.

The recommendations on how to address the crosswalk issue came from PennDOT.