The West Vincent Township Board of Supervisors held their regular meeting on the above date at the Township Building. Vice Chairman Zoë Perkins called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.; also in attendance were Supervisor Karl Brachwitz, Township Manager Allen Heist, and Township Solicitor Allan Greenwood.

Mr. Greenwood announced the Special Events Ordinance advertised for public hearing would be incorporated into the meeting under "Old Business".

Correspondence:

• Manager Heist reviewed PennDOT's Twelve Year Program for Highways and Bridges. Projects which PennDOT intends to advance into engineering, right-of-way acquisition or construction within West Vincent Township include:

  Safety Improvements	Route 401 intersecting Chester Springs Road
  Safety Improvements	Route 401 intersecting St. Matthews Road
  Additional Capacity	Route 100: Black Horse Road to Horseshoe Trail
  Channelization	Route 100 at Route 401
  Municipal Bridge Replacement	Kimberton Road over Pickering Tributary
  Municipal Bridge Rehabilitation	Fellowship Road over Birch Run
  County Bridge Replacement	French Creek Road over French Creek
  County Bridge Rehabilitation	Sheeder Mill Road over French Creek

• Manager Heist will follow-up on the Sheeder Mill Road bridge rehabilitation project, safety improvements on Route 401 at St. Matthews Road and the reconstruction of Route 100 between Black Horse Road and Horseshoe Trail.

Chairman Kenneth Miller arrived at 8:48 p.m. and the meeting continued under his chairmanship.

Subdivision/Land Development/Zoning:

• An agreement for subdivision review extension to November 30, 1999 for The Hankin Tract (By-Right) was acknowledged with a motion from Mr. Brachwitz and second from Mrs. Perkins; the motion carried unanimously.
• Marc Jonas, Esquire, representative for Shirley and Paul Pitcher, equitable owners of the Hadley property, a 12.1 acre parcel on French Creek Road in the RC District, was present to review revised building plans and discuss a ridgeline setback waiver as permitted in the Zoning Ordinance under Section 2206 C.2. Mr. and Mrs. Pitcher are currently seeking zoning relief with the West Vincent Township Zoning Hearing Board in order to permit the construction of a single family detached dwelling within the prohibited slope area and within the required 50 foot wetlands vegetated buffer. Mrs. Perkins expressed her opposition to hearing a presentation or entertaining any discussion at this time without the presence of legal counsel, Fronefield Crawford (Mr. Greenwood having recused himself due to a possible conflict of interest); Mr. Brachwitz concurred. Mr. Miller was not opposed to listening to a presentation however, he would not participate in any questions or comments. Following a brief consultation with his clients, Mr. Jonas announced he appreciated the Board's concerns and withdrew his request to proceed with the presentation; a date will be scheduled at the earliest possible opportunity.
• The Board reviewed a draft Settlement Stipulation, which would resolve and settle the zoning appeal filed by Ludwigs Corner Professional Center Associates against the West Vincent Zoning Hearing Board and Nextel Communications. In reviewing the conceptual plan for the proposed tower and its location at the Ludwig's Corner Fire Company, the Zoning Officer noted that the tower complies with the Zoning Ordinance except that Section 2224B.18 requires communication towers within a visual resource area to be "camouflaged to either resemble a tree, farm silo, or similar method". Nextel agreed to camouflage the tower by painting the structure "City Lights" in order to try and blend in with the surrounding skyline, which was acceptable to the Board of Supervisors. A motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz to approve the Settlement Stipulation; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried unanimously.

Old Business:

• Board members reviewed an ordinance regulating the conduct of special events within the Township. A unanimous motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz and seconded by Mrs. Perkins, to table adoption of the Special Events Ordinance until language is added regarding proof of insurance by the event sponsor and Resolution No. 6-1999 (Establishing a Fee Schedule) is amended to include police fees for traffic control services.
• A motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz to adopt Ordinance 100-1999, restricting speed in excess of twenty-five miles per hour on French Creek Road between Pughtown Road and the East Vincent Township line. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried unanimously.
• To follow-up on the Township insurance carrier's request for a sign inventory, a price quote for sign inventory software was received from CartéGraph Systems. The Township Engineer reviewed the approved grant award, which translates to a 50% reduction in software cost and recommended that the technical support item not be purchased at this time; the total cost would be $1,800.00. Since the Township has recently hired an additional part-time road worker, it was suggested a quarterly inventory be conducted manually with the road crew recording signs and approximate location on a Township map. A motion was made by Mrs. Perkins authorizing Manager Heist to proceed with a sign inventory using the existing road workers; the motion was seconded by Mr. Brachwitz and carried unanimously.
• Two property owners in the VFSA Sewer Service Area are five months delinquent in their sewer assessment payments. A motion was made by Mr. Brachwitz, seconded by Mr. Miller, to authorize Solicitor Greenwood to file Municipal Claims against Sherry Rusinsky and James and Bonnie Misko and their properties related to the public sewer extension for the full accelerated balance if their accounts are not current within thirty days. The motion carried unanimously; Mr. Greenwood will send notification to the property owners.
• Clare Quinn, on behalf of Mrs. Eleanor Morris, requested speed limit restrictions on the dirt section of French Creek Road between Hollow Road and Pughtown Road. Speed enforcement on a dirt road would be impractical due to the number of signs required and the need to place white lines to record speed.

Business from the Floor:

• Wheeler Aman suggested a letter be written to U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon and U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum regarding Chester County drought relief for the agricultural community and the support of any bills under the PA Drought Emergency Proclamation. Upon a motion by Mrs. Perkins and second by Mr. Brachwitz, the Board unanimously moved to send correspondence to the federal representatives.

Bills List:

• Mr. Brachwitz made a motion to pay the bills on the Bills List dated August 23, 1999, with the exception of the R.W. Fetters, Inc. bill for road maintenance in the amount of $18,086.50, due to a possible mistake. The Township Treasurer is authorized to pay R.W. Fetters, Inc. subsequent to review of the invoice or upon receipt of a corrected invoice. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and carried unanimously.

There being no further business, Mr. Brachwitz moved the meeting be adjourned; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Perkins and the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. An executive session was held regarding possible litigation matters involving The Hankin Group and Robert Burch.

Respectfully Submitted,