Monday, May 11, 2009
Chairman Michael Fox called to order the executive session at 7:00 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, McDonnell, Prousi and Sarosky. Also in attendance were John Nagel and Frank Bartle. Items of personnel, potential litigation and potential real estate acquisitions were discussed.
Chairman Michael Fox called to order the work session at 7:25 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, McDonnell, Prousi and Sarosky. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Frank Bartle, Pam Gural-Bear, Bruce Shoupe, Rich Roller and Shirley Snyder.
There was no public comment.
Pam Gural-Bear provided an update on the township's leaf waste pick up program. The township has a three year agreement with Allied Waste for this service, which consists of two curbside pick ups, one in April and one in November. In addition, a dumpster is provided for drop off of leaf and yard waste on a monthly basis at Windlestrae Park. The annual cost incurred is approximately $30,900 to offer leaf waste pick up for residents. The Township does receive annual funding from the 904 Performance Recycling Grant in excess of $70,000. The grant funding is contingent upon performance of both curbside pick up and drop off programs. Supervisor Robert Birch stated that 2008's fall collection took place in December, and he would like to see the date moved back to mid November. Rich Roller, who represents Montgomery Township with the Northern Montgomery Recycling Commission noted that in order to receive a check for our recycling efforts, a DEP compliant program must be in place. Other items discussed were the possibility of purchasing a leaf vacuum and adding an additional leaf pick up in the fall. For the present, Ms. Gural-Bear will contact Allied Waste and move the fall pick up date to the middle of November.
John Nagel gave an update on the new stormwater management regulations. The Montgomery County municipal managers and engineers have met to discuss this matter. The highlights of the meeting were that the DEP extended the deadline for comments to July 6th, which affords the municipalities additional time to respond. The municipal engineers have been compiling comments for submission to the DEP. The group will meet again on May 15th to further discuss this matter.
John Nagel provided information on public improvement guarantees. The Township receives collateral from developers to guarantee public improvements. This collateral is usually in the form of letters of credit. It is being recommended that the Township engage the firm of Maillie, Falconiero & Company to perform procedures to ensure that the financial instruments are intact and the issuing financial institutions are still of acceptable quality. There was some general discussion including what the auditors report will provide to the Township. Resolution #1 unanimously approved the proposal from Mallie Falconiero at a cost not to exceed $2,800.
The work session was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
At 8:00 p.m. Chairman Michael Fox called to order the action meeting.
Under public comment, Rick Vincent of Montgomery Ridge inquired about the lack of upkeep on a neighboring property. Bruce Shoupe responded that PennDOT has been contacted and the property has been placed on PennDOT's list for maintenance.
Pam Gural-Bear introduced the winners of the Arbor and Earth Day poster contest. Collin Staab was the winner in the 5 to 7 year age group, Matthew Shafer, the winner in the 8 to 12 year age group and Rebecca Fitzer was the winner in the 13 to 18 age group. Each winner received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond. Resolution #2 unanimously recognized Collin Staab, Michael Shafer and Rebecca Fitzer for their winning environmental posters in the Annual Arbor and Earth Day Poster Contest.
Chief Richard Brady stated that National Law Enforcement Week will be observed from May 10th through May 16th. There will be an outdoor display at Montgomery Mall on May 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will be held, weather permitting. Participants will include fourteen local police departments, PennStar medical helicopter, FDMT, VMSC, SWAT teams, and police bicycle units. County armed personnel carriers will be on display. An invitation has also been extended to the U.S. Military to join in this event. Resolution #3 recognized the week of May 10th through May 16th as National Law Enforcement Week.
Solicitor Frank Bartle announced that the Board had met in an executive session prior to this meeting for matters of potential litigation, potential real estate acquisitions, and personnel issues. Mr. Bartle indicated that these discussions were permissible in executive session under the guidelines of the Sunshine law.
Pam Gural-Bear provided an update on the Knapp Farm House restoration and renovation. This house was built in 1750. Some of the house renovations include refurbishing windows, removal of stucco walls, rebuilding the porch and a new copper roof. The barn has been dismantled down to the first floor and will be rebuilt. The original concrete floor and the cow stalls will be kept intact. Chairman Fox commended Mr. Roller and the Historical Society for the fabulous job they are doing. Mr. Roller, a member of the Montgomery Township Historical Society inquired about the delay in receiving checks from the Township once the bills have been submitted. Mr. Nagel commented that there were some discrepancies between the Historical Society's figures and the township's records. Mr. Gregan and Mr. Roller will be meeting to work on this matter. Mr. Roller was given the check for bills submitted. Mr. Roller also requested information on the amount of interest that the account has accumulated over the years. Mr. Gregan will provide that information to Mr. Roller.
Before beginning the discussion on transportation projects, Supervisor Prousi noted that he had just been informed that the bridge at Limekiln and Lower State Roads will be kept intact and will be refurbished. Supervisor Prousi also commented on the bottleneck of traffic on Horsham Road, just past the light at Stump, where the road narrows from two to one lane. He noted that according to PennDOT's five year road plan, there are no monies allocated for local road improvements to ease this congestion. Traffic Engineer, Phil Wursta noted that this stretch of roadway had been submitted to PennDOT for consideration and was denied, as it was not a high enough priority. John Nagel updated the 202 Parkway project progress, as a virtual "drive" down the Parkway was viewed. Work has begun on Section 701. Mr. Nagel noted that the existing drive from General Hancock Boulevard to Costco will be closed in the near future and will remain closed to traffic for the duration of the project. Other road improvements are scheduled for County Line Road and Horsham Road, which will take place during 2009 and 2010.
Richard Grier gave a presentation on the proposal and features of updating the Township's website. A Powerpoint presentation provided a look at a local municipality website, also created by eGov Strategies. The major advantage of this new program would be to allow each Department within the Township to update its information as needed, and make changes on site, rather than having someone else provide updates. Currently, all information is updated through Catapult Web. Another feature of the new program would be to provide a search feature, allowing residents easy access to the information they are looking for. The proposed new program would provide a "dynamic" website with an "active" screen, rather than a "still" page. Resolution #4 unanimously authorized the staff to enter into a contract with eGov Strategies to redesign and host the Township's website at an annual cost for three years of $8,144.45 in accordance with their proposal dated January 28, 2009.
A technology upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 presentation was given by Larry Gregan. This upgrade was provided for in the 2009 approved final budget, and would offer many enhancements over our current program of office suite, MS Office 2003. The cost to provide the software and license upgrades would be $11,828. Supervisor Birch inquired whether there are sufficient licenses provided with the upgrade and the reason for the upgrade. Richard Grier advised that the licenses are sufficient and noted a few reasons for the request for the upgrade, such as compatibility with other users of MS Office 2007. Resolution #5 unanimously approved the contract to upgrade to Microsoft Office Suite 2007.
Bruce Shoupe updated the Board on the postponement and re-advertisement of the public hearing for Proposed Ordinance #09-237Z - Amendment to R3B (Montgomery Walk and the Enclave at Montgomery). Richard McBride, representing the Cutler Group, has asked that the hearing be postponed. If the Board concurs with this request, the hearing can be scheduled for June 8, 2009. Resolution #6 unanimously approved the postponement of the public hearing for proposed Ordinance #09-237Z - Amendment to the R3B Age Qualified Residential District Ordinance until Monday, June 8, 2009.
Under the consent agenda, the minutes of the meeting for April 27, 2009 and the payment of bills were approved as submitted. Resolution #7 accepted the deed of dedication for Country Lane. Resolution #8 approved the compost agreement with Barnside Farms Compost Facility. Approval for submission of an application to the Act 147 Radiological Emergency Response Program in the amount of $5,000 to be used to provide enhancements for Emergency Preparedness Operations was done by Resolution #9. Resolution #10 approved the Amended and Restated Fire Services Agreement on the 11th day of May 2009.
Resolution #11 set Monday, June 22, 2009 as the date for a public hearing to consider proposed Ordinance #09-238 - Contractor Registration. Resolution #12 set Monday, June 22, 2009 as the date for a public hearing to consider proposed Ordinance #09-239Z - Home Occupation. All consent agenda items were approved unanimously.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m.