PALMER
TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
GENERAL
BUSINESS MEETING
DECEMBER 18, 2006
A general business
meeting of the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors was held on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the community room of the Palmer
Library with all supervisors in attendance.
Also in attendance were the Township Manager, Public Services Director, Planning
Director, Police Chief, Township Engineer, and Township Solicitor. Colver convened the meeting and led those
present in the Pledge to the Flag.
2. APPROVAL
OF DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS – DECEMBER
18, 2006
INFORMATION
The
report will be provided at the meeting.
DISCUSSION
On
motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board approved
the disbursement of funds for December
18, 2006.
3.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – DECEMBER 4, 2006
DISCUSSION
On
motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board approved the
minutes of December 4, 2006.
4. DISCUSSION
REGARDING DR. AMIN’S CONVEYANCE CAPACITY REQUEST
INFORMATION
The Board needs to confirm for the PTMSA that
they have no comments or objections regarding Dr. Amin’s requests.
DISCUSSION
The Township Manager said in
August Paul
Hosking,
Director of Public Services, sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors
regarding Dr. Amin’s request for an additional 12,000 gpd of wastewater
conveyance capacity. Anckaitis said we
wanted to confirm there were not issues or comments from the Board. Colver asked Hosking if this fits into the scheme
of things. Hosking said Dr. Amin already
went to the Easton Area Joint Sewer Authority requesting treatment capacity and
was approved. Hosking said this is just
for the conveyance capacity and there are no issues as far as the Palmer
Municipal Sewer Authority is concerned.
The Board was okay with the request for conveyance capacity.
5.
RIZZOLINO CHEERLEADING SCHOOL PLANNING MODULE
POSTCARD EXEMPTION
INFORMATION
The Board needs to
approve/disapprove the planning module postcard exemption.
DICUSSION
On motion by Lammi,
seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board approved the planning module
postcard exemption for the Rizzolino cheerleading school.
6. TOWNSHIP
ENGINEER CAPITAL PROJECTS UPDATE
INFORMATION
The township engineer will update the Board on the status of all capital
projects.
DISCUSSION
Dillman said they received notification
from the township insurance carrier that the insurance documents from Imperial
Excavating and Paving are satisfactory.
Bruno said the bonds are satisfactory in concept with one minor change
needed. Dillman said a preconstruction
conference will be set for the first week of January and then the contractor
will be able to start the project after that.
Dillman said UGI will be out to
relocate a portion of the gas line and we will be out marking new lines. Dillman asked if letters would be sent to
property owners regarding tree removals.
Adams said he could send a letter out to
residents. Dillman said they would also
be willing to coordinate a meeting with residents and the contractor to answer
questions residents may have. Lammi said
he thinks that would be a good idea. Dillman
said street trees will be replaced at the conclusion of the project. Chief Fretz asked to be notified of the
preconstruction conference so the police department will know the traffic
patterns during the project.
Lammi asked the
Public Services Director where things stood regarding removing rock for more
capacity at the Hobson Street detention
pond. Adams said tomorrow
they are putting up fencing and the 2007 budget includes money to remove more
material. Lammi asked the Township
Engineer about the light at VanBuren and Route 248. Dillman said they are working on the HOP
application and hope to have it completed in one month and ready to submit to
Penndot.
7. PUBLIC
COMMENT
Robert
Gumlock, 109 Berks Street, confirmed
the trees will come down first and then asked if they will start tearing up the
road. Dillman said sanitary sewer construction
will be first then the water line construction, followed by storm sewer
construction.
Ronald
Grimsby, 337 Sprinfield Way,
asked if the Board of Supervisors were going to enforce the violation of the
fence ordinance at 336 Palmetto Drive. Grimsby
said if there is legal action pending you should let the public know. Colver asked the solicitor to respond. Bruno said he would repeat what he said at
the last meeting. Bruno said the
situation is being responded to by the township. Bruno said there are other interests involved
and therefore will not comment further at this time. Bruno said he understands Mr. Grimsby’s concern
but at this time he is not an affected property owner but the issues he raised
are being reacted to by the township and staff.
Bruno said there may be a time in the future when Mr. Grimsby may be
notified. Grimsby
said so the Board is refusing to summons non compliance. Grimsby
said you hope the situation will disappear.
8. REPORTS
Solicitor
·
Bruno had an extension agreement for Parkview
Estates, Phase IV, requesting time to complete public improvements to June 20, 2007. On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella,
and agreed by all, the Board authorized the Chairman to sign the extension
request.
·
Bruno had an extension agreement for Colonial
Builders Inc., for the Lawnherst development requesting an extension of time
until June 30, 2007. On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and
agreed by all, the Board authorized the Chairman to sign the extension request.
·
Bruno had a request to enter into a maintenance
agreement with T & S Development. On
motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board
authorized the Chairman to sign the agreement.
·
Bruno said Mr. & Mrs. Oakley, 1011 Pike
Street, are the owners of the property the township needed to acquire as part
of the storm water management project at Pike Street and Grandview Drive. Bruno said it was agreed to do a property
swap. Bruno said the township property was
put out to bid and the Oakley’s were the only bid that was received. On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and
agreed by all, the Board authorized the Chairman to sign the agreement.
·
Bruno had a request from Nic Zawarski & Sons
regarding the development on Charlotte Avenue. Bruno said Zawarski has an approved plan but
are currently negotiating with Ashley Development to take over the project. Bruno said they are asking for a 90-day extension
beyond December 22, 2006. On motion by Smith, seconded by Panella, and
agreed by all, the Board authorized the Chairman to sign the extension request.
·
Bruno had two litigation matters for executive
session.
·
Bruno said the Board should have received copies
of the waste hauling contract bid specs and asked the Board if there were any
comments or concerns that he should incorporate into the documents. Bruno said he already received comments from
Supervisor Lammi. Colver asked if at
next Tuesday’s meeting the Board would be authorizing advertising. Bruno said that is correct.
Township
Manager
·
Anckaitis said in 1994 there was an agreement
signed with the Palmer softball league for improvements at Riverview
Park. Anckaitis said they fell behind in their
payments and we worked out a new agreement and adjusted the schedule in 2001. Anckaitis said with the decrease in the number
of teams and players they feel they will have a hard time paying the $1,820 a
year plus electric. Anckaitis said he
didn’t see a problem with extending the payments out further than originally
anticipated, since they will still make their commitment, it will just take
longer to pay off. Anckaitis asked if
the Board was okay with the idea. Colver
asked if they can’t pay what happens.
Anckaitis said if they can’t pay they can’t use the fields. The Board agreed to work with them and lower
the amount. Anckaitis said he’ll work on
the agreement and bring it back for signature.
·
Anckaitis said he wanted to update the Board on
the status of the banners and website video.
Anckaitis said the company contacted him a few weeks ago and were ready
to put up the banners. Anckaitis said
there are still a few poles that the township doesn’t own that will be used and
we are waiting approval and agreements from those pole owners. Colver asked how many poles are going to be
used. Adams said
he believes there are about 70 poles.
Anckaitis said the second half of the project is the video clip that
will go on the township website.
Anckaitis reviewed a topic list with the Board of potential topics. Anckaitis said they will take photos in the
township to go along with the website clips and they recommend taking the photos
in spring. The Board agreed to have the
Chairman and Township Manager come up with the list of topics.
Public
Utilities Director
·
Hosking said the Easton Area Joint Sewer
Authority was mandated by DEP to evaluate their interceptor facilities as a
result of building in Palmer and neighboring communities. Hosking said he and Kevin Shannon discussed this
with the DEP engineer regarding how to proceed.
Hosking said it would be cheaper to do the study in conjunction with the
EAJSA rather than do it on our own.
Hosking said he included the amount in the 2007 budget and it is based
on the percentage of treatment capacity in the treatment plant. Hosking said he would like the Board’s approval
to issue a letter to the EAJSA stating Palmer would participate in the
study. The Board agreed to give approval
pending review by the township solicitor.
Bruno said he should have an ordinance next week regarding this issue
for advertising. Lammi made a motion to
authorize Hosking to write a letter to the EAJSA stating we will participate in
the study; the motion was seconded by Smith, and agreed by all.
Public
Services Director
·
Adams wished everyone a
happy holiday.
Planning
Director
·
Jensen said she received an escrow release for Villages
at Mill Race, Phase II, for release #9 in the amount of $63,393.00. On motion by Lammi, seconded by Panella, and
agreed by all, the Board approved the escrow release.
·
Jensen said a letter was forwarded to Board
members from the Halligan’s that live on Canterbury
Lane where they refer to a wall on Corriere
Road that is part of the Glenmoor community. Jensen said in the summer we went out to look
at this and told the association there is a problem with the wall and
recommended they get with Traditions of America regarding a solution. Jensen said the wall was not approved by the
township or reviewed by the township.
Jensen said since then the developer asked us to participate on a team to
come up with a solution. Jensen said she
explained we can’t do that but we will review a revised plan with their
recommendation for a solution. Dillman
said Traditions of America will be submitting a revised grading plan and report
for review. Colver asked why the concern
from the residents. Jensen said they are
concerned about stability of the wall.
Lammi asked how we should respond to this letter. Anckaitis said he thinks a letter should be
sent to the Halligan’s explaining that the association and developer are
working on this issue.
·
Jensen asked if there were any questions
regarding the January zoning hearing board notice. There were none.
Police
Chief
·
Fretz gave the Board information regarding participation
in a Lehigh Valley
Regional Crime Center. Fretz said this is a feasibility study on the
concept. Fretz asked the Board to look
at the packet and let him know if there are any questions.
Supervisors
·
Lammi said he, Bob Anckaitis, and Cindy Oatis
went to South Whitehall
Township to take a look at their toter system. Lammi
said this is one option of our bid package.
Lammi said they can do about 1000 dwellings per day. Lammi said the system is very efficient, very
clean, and they can also do white goods pickup.
Anckaitis said it was a very quiet process and it eliminates, for the
carrier, about 90% of their workers compensation claims. Colver asked how they
do recycling. Lammi said it’s done with
a second truck and still done by hand.
Anckaitis said it also is aesthetically pleasing because everyone has
the same thing out by the street; there are no lids lying around or cans thrown
over.
·
Colver wished everyone a happy holiday. Colver said the Board will be meeting next
Tuesday night but there will be no planning items on the agenda.
On motion by Mitchell,
seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. with two litigation items for
executive session.
Respectfully
submitted,
Robert G. Anckaitis
Township Manager