PALMER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING
A
general business meeting of the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors was held
on
2. APPROVAL
OF DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS –
INFORMATION
The
report will be provided at the meeting.
DISCUSSION
On
motion by Mitchell, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board approved
the disbursement of funds for
3.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES –
DISCUSSION
On
motion by Smith, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board approved the
minutes of
4. DISCUSSION WITH
HERCULES CEMENT REPRESENTATIVES
INFORMATION
A discussion will be held with representatives
of Hercules Cement regarding the repair of township sewer line and roadway as a
result of sinkholes at Babbling Brook.
DISCUSSION
Joe
Pospisil and Bruce Keim were present from Hercules Cement. Pospisil said a week ago Hercules had to
submit a plan on how they would repair the hole and a timeline. Pospisil said two
years ago we proposed lining the Bushkill Creek and the consensus was the only
way to stop the sinkholes in the area was to line the Bushkill. Pospisil said then Penndot presented a study
that it would be detrimental to the bridge if we lined the whole creek. Pospisil said we were told the subsurface solids
would dry up and cause erosion. Pospisil
said they are currently trying to set up a meeting with Penndot but Penndot has
yet to respond. Pospisil said we
previously lined 500 feet upstream and it has stopped the sinkholes in that
area. Pospisil said we can go in and
repair the hole but in our previous repair we never found the eye of the hole because
we couldn’t get into the whole area because of the houses. Pospisil said we are ready to move on this
now but we need Penndot to agree with what we want to do. Pospisil added the final permit will come
from the Corp of Engineers. Pospisil said everyone wants to blame Hercules, but we are
just one small part of this problem. Pospisil
said shutting off the pumping in the quarry won’t solve the problem. Pospisil said as of this point we are waiting
on Penndot to say if we could line the creek or a section of the creek. Pospisil said we want to repair the sinkholes
and get rid of that problem.
Mitchell
asked how far downstream do you want to line the creek. Pospisil said down to the 2017 bridge. Colver asked what kind of liner. Pospisil said they excavate down to the bedrock
and then we segregate the material and put in a base of stone, impermeable
membrane is laid over, we put shot creek with wire reinforcements, before the concrete
hardens we place large cobblestone and put the original material back in. Pospisil said we are not allowed to go up the
bank of the stream but that isn’t a problem anymore because there is no
bank. Pospisil said then we replace all the
vegetation. Panella asked if Penndot has
offered any alternative. Pospisil said
no. Lammi said the Brookwood Group
thinks sinkholes will open up at the end of the liner. Pospisil said he hasn’t figured out the logic
they use to come to that conclusion. Pospisil
said he believes they base that on the recharge but records over the years show
the groundwater has always been below the stream. Pospisil said some people say the deeper the flow
of water the greater force of the flow.
Lammi said from what you’ve said the DEP mining office agrees with your
proposal. Pospisil said absolutely. Lammi said at the recent public meeting Sharon
Hill of DEP’s opinion was contrary to what you say
the mining office has said. Pospisil
said he believes they don’t want the lining in the area of the bridge. Lammi said this whole process may take some
time to come to an agreement but in the mean time we have a road and sewer line
that is affected. Lammi asked what they are
proposing on a temporary basis. Pospisil
said we could try to re-excavate and put in a big plug. Unfortunately, there
are no guarantees. Pospisil said the
reason the area is collapsing is because of the flow underground. Pospisil said there is also a risk of working
in the area. Lammi said he understands
there is no easy solution because it is a big, big project. Lammi asked if they have a feel for when they
will have a proposal on either a temporary or permanent fix. Pospisil said our geologists are currently
working on it. Pospisil
said we hope to have something this week that we can run by you and get moving
on a fix. Pospisil said we will now need
to get on the driveway to the west of the Sarkady home and it becomes more
difficult when we are dealing on private property. Lammi thanked them for coming in and briefing
the Board. Mitchell suggested the Board
send a letter to Penndot asking to expedite the process. Lammi said if need be we can always get Representative
Grucela involved too.
5. DOUGHERTY
PARCEL CONSOLIDATION
INFORMATION
Mr. Dougherty will
be present to discuss his request to combine 3502 and
DISCUSSION
William
and Nancy Dougherty were present and they said they currently own a duplex at
3502 and
On
motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board approved consolidation
of 3502 and
6. ORDINANCE
VACATING A PORTION OF
INFORMATION
The Board needs to approve/disapprove the
ordinance to vacate a portion of
DISCUSSION
Bruno
said this relates back to the situation with the Palmer Fire Company when they
requested the portion of
On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and
agreed by all, the Board approved the ordinance vacating the portion of
7. AUTHORIZATION FOR
SOLICITOR TO DRAFT
INFORMATION
The Board needs to approve/disapprove the
solicitor drafting and advertising a change to the Emergency and Municipal
Services ordinance
DISCUSSION
Anckaitis said when this was called the
Occupational Privilege Tax it was $10 per person and then the state changed the
tax to the Emergency and Municipal Services Tax. At that time governing bodies were allowed to
increase the tax anywhere between $10 and $52.
Anckaitis said the governing body could also exempt individuals who make
less money. Anckaitis said we were one
of the few districts that didn’t change it a year or two ago and kept it at $10. Anckaitis said he is recommending it be raised
to $52 per person exempting individuals who earn $10,000 or less annually.
On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella,
and agreed by all, the Board authorized the solicitor to draft and advertise
the ordinance changing the Emergency and Municipal Services tax from $10 to $52
and exempting individuals who earn $10,000 or less annually.
8. RIGHT-OF-WAY
RESOLUTION FOR PROPERTIES INVOLVED IN THE
INFORMATION
The Board needs to approve/disapprove the
resolution.
DISCUSSION
Bruno said this item can be deferred until
the next meeting.
9. PUBLIC
COMMENT
Robert
Gumlock,
10. REPORTS
Solicitor
·
Bruno had an extension request for the T & S
minor subdivision requesting an extension until
·
Bruno had an extension request from the
·
Bruno had a request for an extension to enter
into an improvements agreement by Mr. Cahill.
Bruno said Mr. Cahill got his land development approved but he is asking
for a 90-day extension. On motion by Lammi,
seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board granted the extension request.
·
Bruno had a request for an extension to enter
into an improvements agreement on behalf of George Seiple and Company from Mr.
Stitt. Bruno said the extension request
is until
Township Manager
·
Anckaitis said last week we discussed billing
the community center fitness center members quarterly instead of annually. Anckaitis said after discussing this further with
the director of the community center we would like to keep it as is. Anckaitis said it really wouldn’t benefit us
to change it. Anckaitis said they would
like to keep it yearly because they had a number of people pay after the delinquent
notices were sent. Colver said to maybe
consider raising the rate for people who wouldn’t pay up front.
·
Anckaitis said he is considering doing a
business privilege tax audit. Anckaitis
said he met with a consultant working for
·
One litigation item for executive session.
Public Services Director
·
·
·
Police
Chief
·
Fretz said Palmer and
Supervisors
·
Smith said the commissioner of soccer asked if
there is any way they could use the two fields at Villages at Mill Race for
their soccer tournament on November 3, 4, & 5th. Smith said the commissioner had heard a
temporary use was granted for the parking area over at Starlite and he thought
the same could be done with the fields at Villages. Bruno said it is for fields we don’t own
yet. Bruno said for LaBarre it was a
temporary easement for use of the parking lot.
Bruno said he believes that it could be pursued conceptually but there
are liability issues. Colver said as
much as we’d like to do it we can’t keep waiving off portions. Bruno said we’d still need to put paperwork
together to allow it.
·
Lammi said at the last meeting we talked about
the meeting at
·
Colver said the site work at the community
center is moving along as planned.
Colver said the new roofing contractor has been working on the roof
replacing the flashing. Colver said blacktopping
is slated to start Monday of next week.
Anckaitis said they held a craft show this past Sunday and it went very
well and was well attended. Lammi said
he complimented the community center director and said he feels the staff over
there is doing a great job keeping the place looking nice.
·
Panella said when Commerce Bank was before us
they were going to move parking places.
Panella said she doesn’t see any new spaces and with holiday shopping
coming they could be used. Colver said
the Zoning Hearing Board gave Commerce Bank until next spring to create the
spaces.
On motion by Mitchell,
seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at
Respectfully
submitted,
Robert G. Anckaitis
Township Manager