HONESDALE, PA — At the January 11 meeting of the Honesdale Borough Council, President Mike Augello admitted that the previous week, the first ever of his council tenure, had been a learning experience more intense and surprising than he had anticipated. That admission set the stage for two disclosures: that much of the work he thought was handled by council is actually performed by borough employees and that reopening the 2016 budget had led to discovery of calculation errors.

By unanimous vote at its January 4 reorganization meeting, the council reopened the 2016 budget finalized on November 28. Augello said then that the chief purpose of a budget review was to find the funding necessary to fill a budget manager position envisioned by council in 2011. To that end, he requested two separate versions of the budget: one that included the borough manager position and one that did not.

While complying with that request, borough secretary Judith Poltanis and borough treasurer Karen Breidenstein found formula errors in the software program used to develop the budget.

To explain how those errors had caused inaccuracies throughout the budget, Augello turned the floor over to Poltanis, who then conducted two line-by-line reviews of the budget (one including a borough manager and one without that position) that noted inaccuracies and supplied corrected figures.

When Poltanis finished the reviews, Augello thanked her, acknowledging the invaluable assistance she and Breidenstein had provided. He also noted that, in the absence of a finance committee, council was especially indebted to them. The finance committee will not be selected until council fills its two vacant seats on January 18.

Until then, Augello and Jeremy Ebert will assume the duties of the finance committee, with assistance from Poltanis, Breidenstein and director of public works Rich Doney, who asked to be included in the budget review process. Citing the longevity of experience he shares with Poltanis and Breidenstein, Doney noted that each of them had more than 20 years of service to the borough.

Doney is acutely aware of Honesdale’s budgetary challenges. Earlier in the meeting, he had reported that repairs to the borough’s pool complex will cost approximately $258,000, a contractor’s estimate for total replacement of the main pool and repairs to the kiddie pool. Responding to a question from Augello, Doney said that the contractor would provide a 30-year warranty. Replacement of the main pool is expected to take one year and would mean one summer without a borough pool. Repairs to the kiddie pool will necessitate its closure for one summer as well. Per Doney’s suggestion, the council will seek grant money to fund the renovations.

In other business, the council changed planning commission member terms from their current five years to four years, to meet state regulations that limit planning commission terms to four years. Tina Pineiro’s resignation from the planning commission creates a vacancy for which former council finance chair Scott Smith would like to be considered, according to code enforcement officer Dan Hnatko. The council, however, decided to advertise the vacancy, seeking applicants from the general public.

Mayor Melody A. Robinson, borough police department liaison, announced that the department now has its own Facebook page and that all borough officers have been trained and equipped to administer opioid overdose antidote, noting happily that, to date, none have been required to do it.

For complete meeting minutes, borough meeting calendars, and additional information about borough government, see honesdaleborough.com.