Monday, March 09, 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, Frank Bartle, Richard Brady and Bruce Shoupe. Items of personnel, and two items of potential litigation were discussed.
Chairman Michael Fox called to order the work session at 7:47 p.m. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, McDonnell, Prousi and Sarosky. Also in attendance were John Nagel, Frank Bartle, Pam Gural-Bear, Bruce Shoupe and Shirley Snyder. There was no public comment. Pam Gural-Bear informed the Board that the Environmental Advisory Committee and the Shade Tree Commission have combined efforts to celebrate Arbor Day and Earth Day in one event to be held on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at Windlestrae Park from 9:00 a.m. to noon. During the event residents will have the opportunity to shred their unwanted paper and receive a tree for planting. There will also be a representative of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry present to offer advice on how to plant and care for the new trees. The Township will also be able to offer CFL bulb recycling in conjunction with Home Depot. It was suggested that the Township look for a sponsor for the shred event to defray the cost of the shredding equipment. Staff will look into this recommendation.
The Board then considered a donation request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra for the 2009 - 2010 season. A $1,000 contribution will provide the Township with five tickets for each of the five concerts. The Board recommended that the tickets be made available to Township residents through some type of raffle. Specifics on distribution of tickets will be determined.
The work session was adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
At 8:02 p.m. Chairman Michael Fox called to order the action meeting. In attendance were Supervisors Birch, McDonnell, Prousi and Sarosky. Also in attendance were Frank Bartle, John Nagel, Richard Brady, Larry Gregan, Bruce Shoupe, Bill Brightcliffe, Pam Gural-Bear, Kevin Costello, John Chambers, Earl Armitage, Ken Amey and Shirley Snyder.
There was no public comment.
Solicitor Frank Bartle announced that the Board had met in an executive session prior to this meeting. Updates were provided on police personnel matters. Also discussed were two items of potential litigation: a towing policy matter and real estate right-of-way acquisition.
Chief Brady requested approval to apply for a grant through the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Office (COPS) for the recruitment of three police officers. If approved, this grant would cover 100% of the officer's salary for the first year, and would cover 80% of the salary for the second and third years. Chairman Michael Fox made a motion that the Board approve the request. Motion #1 unanimously authorized the Township Manager to submit the application for COPS grant.
Bruce Shoupe stated that PennDOT has made an offer for Parcel #1, and is recommending that the Township have an independent appraisal completed on this parcel of 13.756 acres to the west of Joseph Ambler Inn to see if PennDOT's offer is just. Chairman Fox made a motion that the Board authorize the Township Manager to procure an appraisal on this property. Motion #2 unanimously approved the independent appraisal of Parcel #1 (13.756 acres), located west of Joseph Ambler Inn along Horsham Road.
The Board of Supervisors then took action on two matters that were discussed during the work session. The first item was to consider combining Arbor Day and Earth Day celebrations. Chairman Fox outlined the activities that will be part of this joint event. Resolution #1 unanimously approved the combination of Arbor and Earth Day Celebrations to be held on Saturday, April 25th from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Windlestrae Park. The second matter was the consideration of a donation to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra. For a $1,000 contribution the township will receive five tickets to each concert. Tickets will be raffled off and given to township residents at no charge. Resolution #2 approved the contribution of $1,000 to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, by a vote of 4 - 0 with Supervisor Sarosky abstaining.
Consultant and Land Planner, Ken Amey provided background information on the Cutler Group's request to revise the development approach for the Montgomery Walk/Enclave at Montgomery, by removing the age-restriction requirements on the Phase II and Phase III, thus reducing the unit density of this project. Richard McBride, Attorney for The Cutler Group has requested that a section of the property fronting on Route 309 be re-zoned by text amendment to allow for commercial development. A summary of Mr. McBride's request would be to remove age-restriction requirements on a portion of the project, reduce the total number of units, and allow commercial use along Route 309 frontage. All other conditions contained in the original plan would remain. There was some discussion concerning how the change would affect the number of school age children as well as the affect on the number of trips and general traffic flow. Earl Armitage of Pennoni Associates noted that any commercial use of this site would be accessible from Northbound Route 309 only, because of the median. Chairman Fox requested that both Mr. Armitage and Mr. Amey provide the Board with a memorandum summarizing the proposed change to the plan. Frank Bartle advised that this information would be provided by Mr. McBride and Mr. Amey as part of the public hearing on this matter. After further discussion, the Board requested that Mr. Armitage and Mr. Amey provide a memorandum by April 20, 2009 for their review, giving the Board an opportunity to consider all matters prior to the public hearing. Under public comment, Anthony Ruggieri of 127 Canterbury Lane inquired whether the park that had been a part of the original plan was still going to be built. Ken Amey stated that all original commitments concerning the park would remain. Resolution #3 unanimously approved the authorization of public hearing for proposed Ordinance #09-237Z for Monday, April 27, 2009, after 8:00 p.m. in the township building, as the date, time and place for public hearing to consider amending the R3B age qualified residential district, and further authorized the Township Solicitor to advertise for this public hearing.
Under the consent agenda, the minutes of the meeting for February 23, 2009 and the payment of bills were approved as submitted. Resolution #4 approved purchases, under the 2009 Capital Expenditures for two trucks for the Public Works Department and one Crown Victoria Police Vehicle. Resolution #5 approved the contracts for purchase of equipment to upgrade the government access channel equipment at a total cost of $10,019. Resolution #6 approved the Public Works Department Annual Road Materials to the lowest responsible bidders: crack sealer to Crafco, stone aggregate to Glasgow, Inc., lawn care treatments to Moyer & Son, Inc. and petroleum products to Sunoco, Inc.. Resolution #7 awarded the bid for the 2009 curb and sidewalk project to Drumheller Associates at a cost of $169,997. Resolution #8 approved the amendments to the Fee Schedule to include the spring and summer 2009 recreation program fees. Resolution #9 approved the traffic signal installation and maintenance easement agreement at Bethlehem Pike (Keystone Motors and Bennigan's Restaurant). Resolution #10 approved PennDOT's offer of just compensation for right-of-way in conjunction with the Route 202 Parkway project, Parcel #2 (6.493 acres), located along County Line Road, west of Stump Road. The compensation offered is $850,000. All consent agenda items were unanimously approved.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.