The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held in the Township Building, was called to order at 7:37 p.m. by Chairman Kenneth Miller; others in attendance were Supervisors Zoe Perkins and Karl Brachwitz, and Manager Allen Heist.
Unanimous approval of the minutes of October 12 and 26 regular meetings and October 7 combined workshop meeting as presented was granted on a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and a second from Mrs. Perkins.
Treasurer - Mr. Burnley's report showed: General account balance, $345,673.09; State account balance, $60,220.83; total, $405,893.92. Kimberton Sewer account balance, $18,498.79; Road Repair Loan account balance, $3,628.90; St. Stephen's Greene Water account balance, $21,264.56; St. Stephen's Greene Sewer account balance, $7,056.36. Mr. Burnley noted that 1) a check had been drawn for approximately $287,000.00 on Friday, November 6 when making settlement for the purchase of the Evans farm for the future Township Building site, which will be reimbursed when a loan is secured and 2) approximately $57,000.00 has been allocated to Robert Fetters and the blacktop supplier for recent road paving projects.
Tax Collection - Received from Berkheimer Associates: Delinquent taxes, $2,388.13; Road repair loan, $1,780.16; Earned income tax, $5,346.34; total, $9,514.63. Received from Chester Co. Real Estate Transfer tax, $23,941.62.
Building Inspector - Byron Law's report indicated: 25 building permits issued (9 new homes); 20 plan reviews, 34 inspections, and 4 Use & Occupancy permits issued, with fees amounting to $2,864.80.
Code Enforcement Officer - LTL's report indicated: 1 building inspection, 17 building plan reviews for zoning, and 8 zoning projects under way.
Police - 4 traffic accidents, 2 thefts (one of 21 pure bred puppies), Halloween patrol and activities, speed traps, and other minor incidents, including 2 9-1-1 hang-ups (one of which was a 5-year-old boy who had just learned about 9-1-1 in school).
Fire Companies - Ridge: 1 fire police call; Ludwigs Corner: 7 calls.
Planning Commission - October 15 meeting: Correspondence, reports, zoning projects, subdivisions (Borst, Schreiner, Schubert, Hankin, and Coscia). The Hankin Group made a presentation for the by-right and alternate plans.
EAC - November 2 meeting: Jane Gaffer voiced her concern about the loss of farmland and the density of development, which was followed by a discussion; Township Park, Hankin (both plans). A motion was made to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that they turn down the alternate plan and approve the by-right or a future plan in compliance with Township zoning and other requirements.
Chester Co. Water Resources Authority - In a letter dated October 28, 1998, the Water Resources Authority requested a letter of support from the Township that will be submitted to the PA Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources as part of an application for a Keystone Rivers Conservation Plan Grant from the PA-DCNR. With a motion by Mrs. Perkins, Manager Heist was authorized to write a letter of support; Mr. Miller seconded it; the vote was 2-1, with Mr. Brachwitz voting no.
Chester Co. Planning Commission - Mrs. Perkins noted that the Chester Co. Planning Commission would be holding a series of public workshops to hear municipal views on transportation issues, in preparation of a comprehensive transportation plan for Chester County titled "Connecting Landscapes". Manager Heist plans to attend on December 3 at the Government Services Center; Mrs. Perkins plans to attend on December 10 at the Owen J. Roberts Middle School.
Exxon - A request for extension of review time was not received for action at this meeting. If it is received by Monday, November 16 it can be acted on at the workshop session that morning. If it is not received, the plan will be turned down because the review time expires on November 22, one day before the next public meeting. Jane Gaffer noted that the Zoning Hearing Board's variance extension, granted on October 13, was relevant to the old plan only (the plan that received ZHB partial approval on Nov. 22, 1997). The plan under review at this time may be sufficiently different from the approved plan that a legal opinion will be necessary.
Wetherill Estates - Unanimous approval was granted authorizing the Township Solicitor to help expedite the First Amendment to the Declaration of Covenants of Wetherill Estates and the proposed agreement to connect the Rices to the water system of Wetherill Estates. This action was from a motion from Mrs. Perkins and a second from Mr. Brachwitz.
Bid award for 1998-99 Snow and Ice Removal - Mr. Miller (Roadmaster) reported that the Township roads will be divided into 3 sections as follows: D & L Fleck will clear the same roads as in past years, Rittenbaugh, Inc. will clear the roads that are south of Rt. 401 and west of Rt. 100, at the prices bid by Mr. Fleck and Mr. Rittenbaugh, respectively, and the Township road crew will clear the roads that lie in the central area of the Township. To Mr. Rittenbaugh's question as to why the whole bid was not being awarded to him since his prices were lower than Mr. Fleck's, Manager Heist and Board members all indicated that this had been the Township's method for a number of years, in order to get the roads cleared in the quickest time possible. Mrs. Perkins motioned to approve the bid award based on the lists provided for each of the three sections and at the prices bid; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
Township Building relocation - Loan proposals for borrowing $895,000.00:
Resolution No. 8 - 1998 states the Township's intention to reimburse its general fund from the general tax and related revenues of the Township in the amount of $895,000.00, which will be borrowed for the purchase of a future Township Building site. Mr. Brachwitz made a motion to approve Resolution No. 8 - 1998 for the above stated purpose; it was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried unanimously.
Village Café - A revised sewage agreement reflecting an annual vs. indefinite agreement has been received from Planning Solicitor Fronefield Crawford. Mrs. Perkins made a motion to approve the Amendment to Sewage Holding Facilities Agreement between the Township and Helen Wade Park as submitted on November 4, 1998 regarding the Village Café restaurant facility; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
Green Valleys Association is requesting a contribution of $1,000.00 for the implementation of Phase II of the Sustainable Watershed Management Program. A lengthy discussion was held, during which Mr. Brachwitz indicated that the use of stormwater recharge would essentially produce the same results without the expenditure of $1/2 million on Phase I of the study and Manager Heist indicated that since some of the Phase II implementation will be included in our proposed Zoning Ordinance, he felt that the information being used was worth the $1,000 contribution. Before committing to the contribution, John Hoekstra of Green Valleys will be invited to the November 23 meeting to further discuss their request; the issue was tabled until that time.
Chester County Intermediate Unit - Manager Heist reported on the two joint bidding choices available for electric service:
Polay - As a result of a meeting with a representative from our insurance carrier, Manager Heist reported that because of a threat of monetary damages should we lose the case presently in Chester County Court, the Township has the option of being represented by an Integrated Risk Management attorney in addition to Solicitor Fronefield Crawford, who will be representing the Township in this matter. If this option is chosen, a waiver will need to be executed. The matter was tabled until Manager Heist gets a copy of the waiver for Township review.
Flowing Springs Road - The road crew has indicated some uncertainty about the number of chevrons to be left at "Baird's curve". After a short discussion, the Board indicated that the 3 chevrons in place are to remain.
Mrs. Perkins referred to a newspaper article, which indicates that E. Bradford Township is using a dedicated tax for the preservation of open space. A discussion followed about the possibility of a referendum in West Vincent in order to obtain taxpayers' opinions of using this option to save land. If a referendum is pursued, there are a lot of things to consider and a lot of work to be done beforehand. It was suggested that before initiating a tax, soliciting gifts from landowners for this purpose be tried first. Mrs. Perkins noted that the Township is attempting to get a land trust going and is waiting for IRS tax exemption status. This would be a good conduit to pursue open space gift and referendum options.
Chester Springs Studio is applying for a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts $600 matching grant and has asked the Township to match the $600 as part of the Township's annual contribution. Mrs. Perkins made a motion to approve the $600 matching grant for the Chester Springs Studio's application for the 1999 grant; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
Clare Quinn presented a petition which had been signed by residents on election day. It contains 412 signatures asking the Board to turn down The Hankin Group's "preferred plan" for reasons of excessive commercial development, excessive population density, traffic burdens, school overcrowding, and planned use of public water. She was praised for her diligence in this voluntary effort.
Mrs. Perkins made a motion to pay the bills listed on the bills list dated November 9, 1998; it was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
Manager Heist presented the first draft of the 1999 Budget revenues. Expenditures will be discussed at the November 16 workshop.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,