Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Chairman Jeff McDonnell called to order the executive session at 7:00 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, Fox and Prousi. Supervisor Sarosky was absent. Also in attendance were Pam Gural-Bear, Robert Iannozzi, Bruce Shoupe, Larry Gregan and John Nagel. Items of personnel and litigation were discussed.
Chairman Jeff McDonnell called to order the action meeting at 8:00 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, Fox and Prousi. Supervisor Sarosky was absent. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Robert Iannozzi, Phil Wursta, Kevin Costello, Richard Brady, Bill Brightcliffe, Larry Gregan, Bruce Shoupe, Pam Gural-Bear and Shirley Snyder.
There was no public comment at this evenings meeting.
Solicitor Robert Iannozzi announced that the Board had met in an executive session prior to this meeting to discuss matters of personnel and potential litigation.
Jeanine Hurry was introduced and appointed to fill a vacancy on the Environmental Advisory Committee with a term ending in 2010. Resolution #1 unanimously appointed Jeanine Hurry to the Environmental Advisory Committee.
Chairman McDonnell presented a check to the Fire Department of Montgomery Township Fire Relief Association. Dave Wolfe, President of the FDMT Fire Relief Association, and Chris Mann, Fire Chief were present to accept the check. Resolution #2 authorized the presentation of a check in the amount of $250,825.37 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the FDMT Fire Relief Association.
Two township employees recently received promotions within their respective departments. Marianne McConnell of the Planning and Zoning Department was promoted to Deputy Zoning Officer and Victoria Zidek of the Finance Department was promoted to Accounting Supervisor. Resolution #3 unanimously recognized the promotions of Marianne McConnell and Victoria Zidek.
Madeline Fausto, PennDOT's Project Manager of the 202 Parkway and Eric Frary, PennDOT Consultant, presented a status report of the Parkway project, including videos which simulated both "fly by" and "drive by" views of the road. A groundbreaking ceremony is expected for early November 2008, and is planned to be held in Gazebo Park in Montgomery Township. The Board expressed their appreciation and thanks to Ms. Fausto, Mr. Frary, Leo Bagley and Secretary Allen Biehler for their dedication and hard work in bringing the project to this point.
Phil Wursta of Pennoni Associates provided the Board with the traffic engineer report. Mr. Wursta noted that the following five main issues are taken into consideration when traffic matters are discussed: reduce congestion, reduce vehicle emissions, utilize state of the art technology to monitor and improve traffic flow, increase capacity of roadway, and improve traffic flow along major corridors. Mr. Wursta also stated that along with the construction of the Route 202 Parkway, other road widening projects will be undertaken at the same time. The other projects include: widening of Horsham Road, from General Hancock to North Wales Road, to five lanes, and then tying it in with the improvements to the five points intersection; widening of County Line Road from Route 202 to Stump Road to four lanes; work on DeKalb Pike and Welsh Roads and widening Route 309. It is estimated that a total of $350 million will be spent on all the above combined projects, with work to be done between 2009 and 2013.
Leo Bagley, Assistant Director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission provided information on the highlights on the Transportation Funding Forum, which was recently presented by the Montgomery County Planning Commission. Mr. Bagley noted that with the economic trends of today, local municipalities will have to be creative and begin to take a more active role in road projects within their boundaries. Mr. Bagley promoted a "Control Your Own Destiny" approach to the matter. Federal and State funding for future road projects is an unknown, and municipalities and local businesses should begin to work together to improve traffic and road issues. Once areas needing improvements are identified, the issues become how much will the project cost, and how to pay for the improvements. Mr. Bagley also talked about reinstating regional rail lines like the Stony Creek branch, which runs from Lansdale to Quakertown, which would have the potential to provide freight service to industry along the line and cutting down on some of the truck traffic. The Montgomery County Planning Commission is seeking feedback from municipalities regarding transportation issues by the end of October 2008. Supervisor Fox complimented Mr. Bagley for a great presentation and summation of the Transportation Funding Forum, and urged the township to formulate a response which will be forwarded to the County. The staff will come up with "draft" comments, which will be presented to the Board at the October 27, 2008 meeting.
Environmental Advisory Committee members, Jeff Gibbons and Terry Wilson were present and provided the Board with an overview of the possibility of conducting a sustainability audit, which would determine baseline data for municipal use of water, wastewater, waste disposal services and energy and transportation fuel consumption. Once a baseline is established, the township will be able to track, measure and report performance improvements. The sustainability audit would help determine the feasible goal for performance improvement, as well as provide a tactical implementation plan for achieving the goals. Supervisor Fox noted that monies had been designated in the EAC's 2008 budget for this study, and recommended that the Board allow the EAC to move forward with gathering proposals. Motion #1 unanimously approved the request of the Environmental Advisory Committee to proceed with the sustainability audit at a cost not to exceed $30,000 contingent upon Board ratification for the proposal and the completion of review of proposal and agreement by the township Solicitor.
Under the consent agenda, the minutes of the meetings for September 22, 2008 and the payment of bills were approved as submitted. Resolution #4 authorized the Township Manager to Advertise for proposed Shade Tree Ordinance #08-232, proposed Planning Commission Ordinance #08-233, and proposed Park & Recreation Ordinance #08-234. Resolution #5 accepted the recommendation to allocate monies from the General Municipal Pension System State Aid to the Police Pension Plan and the Non-Uniformed Employee Pension Plan. Resolution #6 accepted the offer of just compensation from PennDOT for right-of-way and/or land owned by the Township in conjunction with the Route 202 Parkway project. Resolution #7 authorized the advertisement for a public hearing for liquor license transfer for Salsa's Montgomeryville, Inc. Resolution #8 approved the revised Drug and Alcohol Policy as revised October 14, 2008. The budget workshop scheduled for Thursday, October 16, 2008 was cancelled by Resolution #9. All consent agenda resolutions were unanimously approved.
Under other business, Solicitor Robert Iannozzi requested Board approval to oppose the Zoning Hearing Board Application request by Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. to install digital billboard on Bethlehem Pike, as discussed in executive session earlier in the evening. Motion #2 unanimously authorized the Solicitor's office to oppose the Zoning Hearing Board Application by Clear Channel Outdoors, Inc.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.