The 1998 reorganization meeting of the Board of Supervisors was called to order at 7:37 p.m. by Solicitor Allan Greenwood. Mrs. Perkins nominated Kenneth Miller as chairman; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and the motion carried. Mr. Miller then took charge of the meeting. Mr. Brachwitz read the following slate of nominations for appointments, after which they were seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried unanimously.

APPOINTMENTS

Vice-chairman                             Zoe Perkins
Secretary                                 Kay Segner
Administrative Secretary                  Linda Cleaver
Treasurer                                 George Burnley, Jr.
Payroll Clerk                             Paychex, Inc.
Solicitor                                 Allan B. Greenwood
Code Enforcement Officer                  LTL Consultants, Ltd.
Building Inspector                        Byron R. Law
Asst. Building Inspector                  Francis (Mike) Segner
Engineer                                  Castle Valley Consultants Inc.
Roadmaster                                Kenneth Miller
Road Foreman                              Mark Hughes
Police Chief                              Barry Ritschard
Zoning Hearing Board Liaison              Karl Brachwitz
Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor            Patrick O'Donnell
Vacancy Board member                      George Burnley, Jr.
Emergency Management Director             David Monteith
Emergency Management Liaison              Karl Brachwitz
Depository                                Downingtown National Bank and PLGIT
Voting delegate to State convention       Karl Brachwitz
Northern Federation representatives       Joan Michaelson,
                                          George Burnley, Jr., Karl Brachwitz
Environmental Advisory Council Liaison    Zoe Perkins
Township Building                         Karl Brachwitz
Planning Commission Liaison               Zoe Perkins
Zoning Hearing Board appointments         John Landan, Larry Shontz
Auditors                                  Anna May Houck, Veronica Monteith

WAGES

Township Manager                        $43,033.18/yr.
Secretary                                    12.33/hr.
Administrative Secretary                     11.28/hr.
Clerical                                      8.93/hr.
Treasurer                                   443.95/month
Road Foreman - Mark Hughes                   15.22/hr.
Road Worker - Steven Hughes                  12.38/hr.
Police Chief                                 13.71/hr.
Patrolmen -     Dobson                       12.33/hr.
                Jones                        12.12/hr.
                Swininger                    11.84/hr.
Township Solicitor                           75.00/hr.
Planning Solicitor                          120.00/hr. + expenses
Code Enforcement Officer                     38.50/hr.
Building Inspector                           52.00/hr.
Engineer                                per rate schedule
Zoning Hearing Board members                 20.00/hearing
Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor              100.00/hr. 
Board of Supervisors -  Miller            1,875.00/yr.
                        Perkins           1,500.00/yr.
                        Brachwitz         1,875.00/yr.

MEETING DATES/TIMES - Meetings will be held on the second and fourth Mondays (except for the Memorial Day holiday in May). All regular meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. 1998 meeting dates:

    January 5, 26           July 13, 27
    February 9, 23          August 10, 24
    March 9, 23             September 14, 28
    April 13, 27            October 12, 26
    May 11, 26 (Tues.)      November 9, 23
    June 8, 22              December 14, 28

Friday work sessions begin at 3:00 p.m.

Solicitor Greenwood suggested that the advertisement of meeting dates/times be worded to include the statement that the Board may conduct any business that may come before it at their Friday work sessions. The Board agreed.

OTHER BUSINESS

A motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz and seconded by Mrs. Perkins to readopt the West Vincent Township Disaster Operations Plan as revised June 5, 1997; the motion carried.

A motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz and seconded by Mrs. Perkins to readopt the West Vincent Township Radiological Emergency Response Plan for incidents at Limerick Generating Station; the motion carried.

Mr. Brachwitz read in its entirety Resolution No. 1-1998, setting forth the tax millage for 1998 at 0.49 mills for general fund and 0.56 mills for debt service reduction (road improvement loan); total millage, 1.05.

Manager Heist indicated that the resolution usually adopted at this meeting which sets forth fire and ambulance boundaries is not ready yet. He is waiting for some clarification from the County.

The minutes of December 8 and 22, 1997 were approved as presented with a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and a second from Mrs. Perkins.

Treasurer - Account balances as of December 31, 1997 were: General account, $204,654.90; state account, $29,631.54; total, $234,286.44. Kimberton Sewer account, $7,671.77; Road repair loan account, $6,825.32; St. Stephen's Greene Water account, $819.14; Sewer account, $2,583.94.

Building Inspector - December activities: 11 building permits issued; 5 applications reviewed; 21 inspections; 5 U&O's issued; fees, 1,962.00.

Zoning Officer - December activities: 2 building inspections; 8 building permits reviewed; 2 zoning projects.

Zoning Hearing Board - 3 hearings are scheduled for January 13: McClean, Birchrun Road - nonconforming lot; Presgrave, Saw Mill Road - nonconforming lot; Brown, Pottstown Pike - nonconforming lot.

Solicitor - December activities: 1) Reviewed the contract for Castle Valley Consultants Inc., Township Engineer and 2) researched possible actions regarding driveway waivers requested from 3 developers. Mrs. Perkins requested an update on the Cooks Glen Road project; Mr. Greenwood has now received the information he was waiting for and will move to complete this project.

Planning Commission - Mrs. Perkins reported on the December 18, 1997 meeting: Review of 2 resolutions, the draft stormwater ordinance from the N. Federation, the Ludwigs Corner Master Plan, the Polay curative amendment, 3 scheduled hearings in January for the ZHB, the Exxon Zoning Hearing decision, the Matthews Run and Liverside subdivisions, and concerns regarding Mill Road.

EAC - No minutes - meeting was today.

Matthews Run - Unanimous approval was granted for a 60-day extension of review time with a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and a second from Mrs. Perkins.

Driveway waivers - Manager Heist indicated that he had not received the information requested from Castle Valley Consultants on this matter. Solicitor Greenwood had researched the matter and found 1) that a subdivision ordinance change cannot be applied to an already approved subdivision plan; 2) case law that a municipality must rule in favor of the property owner when there is a discrepancy in its ordinances applies only to zoning and not subdivision ordinances. Due to the discrepancy between Section 606 and Appendix A-2, the Board must decide what action to take in ruling on the requested waivers. The Board and the Township Engineer will attempt to come up with a standard for driveways that may be somewhat less than required by Section 606 but more than Appendix A-2 requires, asking developers to comply with that standard in the future. If they are unwilling to do so, then the Board could insist on the Section 606 standards and let the court decide its merit. The decision was tabled until the January 26 meeting. Once the new standard is set by the Board and Engineer, Solicitor Greenwood will contact the 3 developers to seek their compliance with that standard in the future.

Forest Glen - A proposed sewage system maintenance agreement was distributed to the Board for their review; Castle Valley Consultants and Fronefield Crawford have reviewed it. The developer has requested a building permit prior to this agreement being finalized. The Board agreed that a permit for the foundation only would be issued subject to payment of past due engineering/legal fees.

Polay curative amendment - Geoscience Services has submitted a revised scope of work proposal for the evaluation of the Polay property regarding their potential spring water removal. Direct access to the Polay property has been prohibited by the owners. The original proposal was for $7300.00; that was changed to $1500.00. This proposal is for $3500.00 following input from Fronefield Crawford. Mrs. Perkins made a motion to authorize Geoscience Services to perform the stated scope of work in their December 31, 1997 letter, but not to exceed $3500.00; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and the motion carried.

P.S.A.T.S. - Information concerning the annual state convention in Hershey, PA in April was distributed. Attendees will be announced at the next meeting.

Michael Wozniak, who recently purchased a residential property on Pottstown Pike in the PC District, presented a proposed change of use to commercial. He plans to add to the existing house and operate a garden center, making deliveries of mulch and other garden-related items. A proposed driveway change has been submitted to PennDOT for their review and approval. Mr. Wozniak will submit a conditional use application for this project as required.

Mr. Brachwitz made a motion to pay the bills listed on the January 5, 1998 bills list; it was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,