The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors,
held in the Township Building, was called to order at 7:35 p.m.
by Chairman Kenneth Miller; others in attendance were Supervisors
Zoe Perkins and Karl Brachwitz, Manager Allen Heist, and Solicitor
Allan Greenwood.
Dump truck - Two bids were received for a 1999 Mack truck with a dump body and plow, as well as other specifications indicated, as advertised:
Awarding of the bid will take place on Friday, April
17 at the workshop meeting of the Board at 3:00 p.m. at the Township
Building.
Unanimous approval was granted for the minutes of
March 6, 9, 20, 23, 27 as presented by motion of Mr. Brachwitz
and second of Mrs. Perkins.
Treasurer - General account balance, $239,765.12; state account balance, $9,281.43; total, $249,046.55. Kimberton sewer account balance, $10,714.44; Road repair loan account balance, $1,534.42; St. Stephen's Green water account balance, $1,084.82; St. Stephen's Greene sewer account balance, $8,080.25.
Tax collection - Received from Berkheimer Associates: delinquent, $270.21; debt service for road repair loan, $18.45; earned income, $12,769.84; total, $13,058.50. Received from Chester County real estate transfer tax, $16,985.36.
Environmental Advisory Council - Mrs. Perkins made a motion to appoint Jan Beale to the EAC to replace Ed Lodge, whose term would have expired Dec. 31, 2000; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and the motion carried unanimously.
Chester Springs Library - Brad Dyer reported that the expansion of the library has been almost completed and thanked the Board for their support in the amount of $6,800.00.
Other reports were dispensed with because of the length of the agenda, with the exception of the following:
Police - Chief
Ritschard was not available. Joyce Douglas of Pughtown Road asked
for data and follow up to an incident she reported. She noted
that there had been several incidents that same night in other
areas of the Township. Bruce Saunders reported that there is possibly
a homeless person living in his car on French Creek Road. Harry
Archinal stated that he has had to call State Police on other
occasions and the response time has been over an hour. He wondered
if the Board has considered a full-time force. Mrs. Perkins indicated
that this has been and is being considered.
Kimberbrae - In response to an ongoing drainage problem between Wheeler Aman's farm and Kimberbrae, which had been pursued by the Freenocks, related correspondence was distributed to the Board and Mr. Aman. Mr. Aman had recently been sued by the Freenocks because of water running onto their property from his. The matter was dismissed by the presiding judge. Solicitor Greenwood requested a copy of the document, indicating the judge's dismissal, for his review before making any determination of what, if anything, the Township should do.
Spirit of Gheel - In a letter dated April 6, 1998 Steve Siana, as attorney for certain Buttonwood Lane residents, brought out several issues being questioned. Manager Heist reported that Fronefield Crawford has had no response as yet to his letter of March 26 requesting additional information from The Spirit of Gheel as to the intended use of the property at 14 Buttonwood Lane. Since no representative of The Spirit of Gheel was in attendance, there was no further discussion.
Fraley - The Board acknowledged receipt of a 5-lot subdivision of 48.43 acres on Kimberton Road, submitted by Mr. Fraley's heirs. This action took place upon a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and a second from Mrs. Perkins.
Robert Kling - Unanimous approval of a 30-day extension of review time for the Robert Kling subdivision, upon a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and a second from Mrs. Perkins.
Hankin Group - Robert Hankin explained that his preliminary submission was for a by-right subdivision of the 298-acre plot at Ludwigs Corner (the former Hamilton tract), with a mix of LI and residential uses as currently zoned. He was expecting another plan, using a village concept, to be complete within 3 weeks. The Board acknowledged receipt of the preliminary plan with a motion from Mrs. Perkins and a second from Mr. Brachwitz.
New Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances - On Monday, June 1 from 7-10 p.m. at the Ludwigs Corner Fire Company hall, there will be a public hearing to entertain comments and/or questions relating to these new ordinances. Copies will be distributed to Township personnel and advisory boards. For others, it will be necessary to make a deposit of $20.00 for the Subdivision Ordinance and $25.00 for the Zoning Ordinance in its final draft form; deposits can then be returned upon return of the drafts or used to secure approved copies when they are available.
Wetherill Estates driveways issue - Solicitor Greenwood and the Board members met in an executive session at 7:00 p.m. regarding this issue. It was their decision not to enter into legal proceedings in this case for the following reasons:
Solicitor Greenwood explained that since the Township would not be interfering with contracts between developers and buyers regarding standards used and that in the new Subdivision Ordinance an amicable solution for future driveways will be in place, he felt it better not spending the money to pursue litigation against developers. The new specifications for driveways will fall somewhere between those required by Section 606 and the appendix of the present ordinance.
Hadley - Preliminary
drawings and mapping for building on the Hadley property on French
Creek Road have been received. Bruce Saunders of the French &
Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust requested that the Trust be
notified when formal plans are received. Joyce and Bryce Douglas,
neighboring property owners, also requested notification.
Township Building exterior painting - Manager Heist has gotten only 2 proposals for this work, as follows:
A.C. Johns was the previous contractor for this work,
which involved a change order to cover additional costs. After
reviewing the proposals, Mr. Brachwitz made a motion to accept
the proposal dated 3/2/98 from Bob Buck, it was seconded by
Mrs. Perkins, and carried unanimously.
Township Building relocation - Because of a need for more office space, the Board has been contemplating purchase of the 6.8 acre Evans farm at Rt. 401 and St. Matthews Road. One of the reasons for this interest is that the Township building would be located next to the Township park which will soon be under construction as part of the Matthews Meadows subdivision. Another is that we would be able to preserve the look of an old farm with rural character. A change of location may be necessary for voting precinct No. 2. No tax increase will be necessary if the sale should proceed. No decision has been made as to disposition of the present property. After discussion, Mrs. Perkins made a motion to present the agreement of sale drawn up by Solicitor Greenwood to the Evanses; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
Open Space Grant Program
- Round X of the Chester County Open Space Grant Program is open
for applications, which are due May 18. Manager Heist was authorized
to submit an application for possible purchase of a lot
in Upper Uwchlan Township owned by the Evanses which adjoins the
farm property with a motion from Mrs. Perkins and a second from
Mr. Brachwitz.
Peter Rodgers asked whether the vacancies on the Planning Commission would be filled prior to hearings on the new ordinances. Although the Planning Commission can have 7 members, they seem to work better with less but may be considering increasing again to 7 members.
George Burnley requested an update on a request for a stop sign on Horseshoe Trail at Pine Drive, where speeding is a problem, especially as that is a school bus stop. In the meantime, he requested that police be notified for extra patrol during school bus times.
Mr. Brachwitz made a motion to approve the bills
on the list dated April 13, 1998; it was seconded by Mrs. Perkins
and carried unanimously.
There being no further business, the meeting was
adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,