SHENANDOAH - Borough Manager Joseph L. Palubinsky submitted his letter of resignation to the Shenandoah borough council during Monday's meeting to the surprise of residents.
Palubinsky, who is resigning for personal reasons, will not leave immediately, but will remain until Oct. 3, effectively ending a 26-year tenure in the position.
Borough Secretary Mary Lou Buchinsky read his letter of resignation, during which time the public sat silently. The letter was addressed to council President Donald E. Segal.
"At this time, I wish to respectfully inform both you and borough council of my intention to step down as borough manager effective Oct. 3, 2014. My tenure in Shenandoah has been challenging, but it has also proved rewarding. For those of us being involved in municipal government, things are not as quickly or easily accomplished as the general public may believe," the letter read.
Also in the letter, Palubinsky thanked the borough council and all those with whom he worked and the borough community that supported him.
Councilman Leo Pietkiewicz made the motion to accept the resignation, seconded by Councilman Paul Holland.
"I'd like to make a motion to accept Joe's resignation, pending his terms," Pietkiewicz said. "Thanks, Joe."
"I'll second it," Holland said. "Thank you, Joe, for all of your time and effort. I appreciate it."
Before the vote was taken, resident Marlena Buhl said, "Thank you, Joe, for everything. You were a good manager in this borough."
"A tough job," Palubinsky replied.
"I know it is, I know it is," Buhl said.
The resignation was accepted on a voice vote.
"Thank you, Joe, for your work," Segal said.
After the meeting, Palubinsky spoke briefly about his time as borough manager.
"I was hired as a borough manager in October 1988," Palubinsky said in his office. "I was hired as a result of when the borough was in severe, dire financial straits at the time. They were an Act 47 community. One of the recommendations in the recovery plan was to hire a borough manager."
Act 47, called the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act and adopted on July 10, 1987, empowered the Department of Community Affairs to declare certain municipalities as financially distressed; providing for the restructuring of debt of financially distressed municipalities; limiting the ability of financially distressed municipalities to obtain government funding; authorizing municipalities to participate in federal debt adjustment actions and bankruptcy actions under certain circumstances; and providing for consolidation or merger of contiguous municipalities to relieve financial distress.
Shenandoah was declared an Act 47 community on May 20, 1988. At the time, the borough was on the verge of bankruptcy.
"The borough was $350,000 in debt. They weren't paying their payroll taxes and things like that," Palubinsky said. "There were a lot of unpopular decisions that were made back then as far as staffing, personnel, equipment and things of that support. One of the good things was that state at that time worked with us and provided us with a blueprint of how to get beyond the problems we were having. Another good thing was Shenandoah was one of the first two municipalities to come out of Act 47 (on Apr. 16, 1993)."
When asked why Oct. 3 was chosen, Palubinsky said he wanted to get some things done before he leaves.
"It's going to give me an opportunity to still stay here and work on some things that I think still need to be accomplished," he said. "We're still working with the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau to tear homes down that are going through judicial sale. I'd like to see us put a comprehensive street paving program together. We still have some unfinished business."
When asked if he is looking down the road on what he may do, Palubinsky said his focus is his job as borough manager.
"I'm going to concentrate on what I'm doing here. This is my hometown," Palubinsky said. "And despite what some people may think, I still want to see this town do well. It's not as easy as the general public thinks. We're not private industry. There are a lot of hoops we have to jump through to get things done."