Greg Porter resigns from Etna Borough council

After spending roughly a decade serving on the Etna Borough council, first ward councilman Greg Porter submitted his resignation due to conflicts created by his new job as director of Ross/Westview Emergency Medical Services.

At its Feb, 21 meeting, the Etna Borough Council voted 8-1 to accept Porter’s resignation.

Porter stepped in to fill a vacancy 10 years ago and was re-elected to twice to two four-year terms. He was promoted to director of Ross/Westview EMS last July 1. He will, however, continue in his role as chief of the Etna Volunteer Fire Department in which he has served since 1999.

“Over the last year my schedule has been increasingly challenging,” Porter said. “I received a promotion at work which requires me to be at my company board meetings on a monthly basis, which happens to fall on the third Tuesday evening of every month — the same time as the Etna Borough council meetings. I just didn’t feel like I was fulfilling my obligations any longer and it wasn’t sitting well with me. Something had to give.”

Porter was up for re-election this spring and said with others expressing interest in running for the position, the timing was right for bowing out.

Council is accepting letters of interest from first ward residents to fill the remainder of Porter’s term. Council will make an appointment to his seat at its next regular meeting on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building. Those interested in the position are being asked to submit a letter of interest by March 14. The successful appointee will fill the balance of Porter’s term, which ends on Dec. 31.

“He’s done a wonderful job,” borough manager Mary Ellen Ramage said. “He had a lot of expertise in budget setting and those kinds of things. In addition to public safety (expertise), he brought other assets that were more business management from an organization as large as (Ross/Westview EMS).”

Porter said he’ll miss having an impact on the Etna community.

“I really like the relationships I’ve built with the elected officials,” he said. “I really liked the problem solving. I found the budgeting particularly intriguing. Those will be the things I’ll miss the most, but I’ve also expressed to Mary Ellen and the council that I would be willing to help in whatever areas I can.”

In other business, council also approved a conditional use permit for CoStar Brewing to begin construction on a Brew Pub in the 300 block of Butler Street, next to The Shiny Bean Coffee & Tea.

CoStar co-founder Dominic Cincotta said construction will begin at the end of the month and the plan is to open later this year.

“We’ll know a lot more in the next four weeks,” he said.

Council also approved a motion to advertise an ordinance to prevent residents from leaving pets outside in extreme weather conditions, as well as prohibiting de-clawing of cats and leaving cats tethered outside where they can be vulnerable not only to hot or cold weather, but also to being attacked.