MINUTES OF MEETING
MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FEBRUARY 13, 2006
At 7:00 p.m. Chairman William Sarosky called the Executive Session to order. In attendance were Supervisors Greenberg, Kuhn, Prousi and Witmer. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Merle Ochrach, Leo Bagley of PennDOT, and Matt Johnston of Pennoni Associates. Matters of personnel and litigation were discussed. The Executive Session adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
At 7:27 p.m. Chairman William Sarosky called to order the Work Session. In attendance were Supervisors Greenberg, Kuhn, Prousi and Witmer. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Merle Ochrach, John Chambers, Richard Brady, Matt Johnston, Earl Armatage, Monica DeCaro, Gerald Grover, Leo Bagley, Matt Shelly of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, Andrea Collins, Kevin Costello, Marc Jonas, representing Montgomeryville Business Association, Robert Nappen, Allan Nappen, Luke Bergey of Bergey’s Incorporated, and Shirley Snyder.
Supervisor Kuhn provided information and background pertaining to the consideration of the possible extension of Hartman Road. John Chambers stated that any extension to Hartman Road should have been done years ago, before the adjoining properties were developed. Mr. Chambers also noted that the cost to complete the extension would be a minimum of $3 million. In addition, a traffic study and a feasibility study would need to be completed to see if extending the road would be warranted. Robert Nappen and Luke Bergey, property owners who would be directly affected by any extension of the roadway, stated that their businesses would not benefit from extending Hartman Road. Marc Jonas, representing the Montgomeryville Business Association, stated that unless the property his client is planning to develop were rezoned to a commercial use, there would be no benefit to his client. The consensus of the Board was that, at this time, there would be no significant benefit to the township, nor to the property owners by extending Hartman Road from Route 309 to Route 63.
Horsham Township has requested a liaison from Montgomery Township to serve on the Reuse Planning Committee for the Naval Air Station. After some discussion, the Board decided to postpone this matter until the time that more information and details are available from Horsham Township.
Under Monthly Reports, Monica DeCaro stated that the Board of Auditors had met on January 4th, Trish Gallagher has submitted the lien list for Montgomery Township, and the Pension Committees had met on January 19, 2006. Jerry Grover reported that the Fire Marshals office completed 35 safety inspections in January, and the Fire Department of Montgomery Township had responded to 54 incidents in January. Kevin Costello reported that Public Works Department would be using a material called “superpave” on some of the township roads. Chief Richard Brady reported that the Police Department had responded to 2,091 calls for service. The Department had applied to the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Grant Division for a grant for COPS Universal Hiring Program. After several submissions, Montgomery Township was notified that the grant had been denied, as there are no funds allocated for this program in 2006, COPS is unable to fulfill Montgomery Township’s request for additional officer positions. Jerry Grover advised the Board that the Fire Department of Montgomery Township and the Department of Fire Services have concluded that they no longer need a 1971 Mack Fire Truck that is in their fleet. It was recommended that the truck be donated to the Montgomery County Fire Academy to be used for training purposes. Merle Ochrach recommended that the township sell the truck to the Montgomery County Fire Academy for $1.00. The Board was in agreement with the recommendation.
The Work Session adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Chairman Sarosky called to order the regular meeting at 8:00 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Greenberg, Kuhn, Prousi and Witmer. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Merle Ochrach, Richard Brady, Kevin Costello, Gerald Grover, Andrea Collins, John Chambers, Matt Johnston, Rick Trailes, and Shirley Snyder.
There was no public comment on any items not listed on the agenda.
Merle Ochrach reported that the Board had met in Executive Session prior to the Work Session and matters of personnel and litigation were discussed. The matters of litigation discussed were the Montgomery Mall Assessment Appeal, Frank Rich vs. Montgomery Township and Montgomery Township vs. Frank Rich.
John Nagel stated that the Montgomery County Consortium is working with Cohen Telecommunications to negotiate a franchise agreement with Verizon. The Consortium has determined that it is in the best interests of the residents to cooperate in obtaining legal services for negotiation of a Cable Franchise Agreement. The participating Municipalities will share the cost of the project, with Montgomery Township’s cost expected to be less than $500. Resolution #1 unanimously authorized an intergovernmental agreement with other Montgomery County municipalities for legal services to negotiate a model agreement with Verizon.
Under the consent agenda, the minutes of the January 23, 2006 meeting and the bills were approved as submitted. Resolution #2 awarded the bid for the Police Digital Video Recording System to Video Technologies at a cost of $27,148. Resolution #3 awarded bids for 2006 curb and sidewalk projects to the lowest bidder, Drumheller Construction at a price of $157,711.91. Resolution #4 approved the extension request for Montgomeryville Business Campus and extension request for Commerce Bank was approved by Resolution #5. Resolution #6 approved escrow release for Indian Lake Farm and escrow release for Terrace at Montgomery was approved by Resolution #7. Resolution #8 authorized the Township Manager to advertise for public hearing for proposed Ordinance #06-207S – Amendment to Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance. Resolution #9 approved the request for a change in policy to allow the Director of Planning and Economic Development to waive fees for non-profit organizations, if the applicant can prove non-profit status. An agreement authorizing the application of Novachip, in accordance with the specifications provided by the Consortium (Whitpain Township), on township roads was approved by Resolution #10. Resolution #11 approved the City of Harrisburg Cooperative Contract. All consent agenda resolutions were approved unanimously.
Under other business, Supervisor Kuhn recommended that the sale of the 1971 Fire Truck to the Montgomery County Fire Academy for $1.00 be included in the approval of the consent agenda items. Resolution #12 unanimously approved the sale of a 1971 Mack Fire Truck to the Montgomery County Fire Academy for a price of $1.00.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m.