PALMER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING

JULY 16, 2007

 

      A general business meeting of the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors was held on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Palmer Library with four Supervisors in attendance.  Dave Colver was absent.  Also in attendance were the Director of Public Services, Police Chief, and Attorney Christy Schlottman.  The Township Manager and Township Solicitor were absent.  Vice-Chairman Lammi convened the meeting and led those present in the Pledge to the Flag. 

 

2.   APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS – JULY 16, 2007

 

      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 July 16, 2007.

 

3.      APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JUNE 26, 2007

 

      DISCUSSION

 

      On motion by Panella, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by three, the Board approved the minutes for June 26, 2007.  Lammi abstained since he was absent for the June 26th meeting.

     

4.   POLICE PENSION FUND STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT POLICY AND ASSET ALLOCATION APPROVAL

 

INFORMATION       

     

                  The Board needs to approve/disapprove the investment policy and asset allocation.

     

      DISCUSSION

     

      Panella said the Pension Board met with Smith Barney representatives and they reviewed their methodology of investments.  Panella said Smith Barney is a little more aggressive than our prior provider and they anticipate an 8% return each year.  Panella reviewed the investment percentages for each investment category.

 

      On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board approved the statement of investment policy and asset allocations as recommended by Smith Barney and the Police Pension Board.  

 

5.   PUBLIC COMMENT

 

      John Zachmann, 2625 Eldridge Avenue, said he has taken his dog to a dog park in the City of Bethlehem and it is very nice.  Zachmann said there is no dog park in the Easton Area and he suggested the township consider making a dog park.  Zachmann said the main investment is the fencing and water area.  Zachmann said the area behind the library would be perfect.  Lammi asked for the location in Bethlehem.  Zachmann said it is behind the ice rink on Illicks Mill Road.  Mitchell asked how large the area was.  Zachmann said there are two areas and each section is close to 100 yards long.  Zachmann also asked about paving on Greenwood Avenue.  Lammi said there is a cooperative project between the township and the state to repair the section north of Northampton Street to Green Pond road.  Adams said the road repair will start this coming Monday.

 

      Charlotte Mammana, Tamlynn Court, asked what needed to be done to get the garbage cans emptied on the bike path.  Mammana said there are overflowing cans behind Dave Colver’s business and also in cans going toward Milford Street.  Mammana said it smells and looks awful.  Lammi asked the Public Services Director to speak to the Parks Department to fix this problem.  

 

      Betty Jones, Tamlynn Court, said when their home was built the builder put all the rocks into a big area and we were told it would be cleaned up when the project was completed.  Jones said it’s still there.  Adams said later this fall another section of fence will go up and then they will be meeting with the builder to discuss finalization of the detention pond area.  Mammana said the smell at the detention pond is really bad and there are many mosquitoes.  Lammi asked if the pond doesn’t drain out after a storm.  Adams said it is cleaned out after every storm.  Adams said it will be addressed when the Township Engineer looks at the basin.

 

      Ron Grimsby, 337 Springfield Way, said his neighbor that lives at 336 Palmetto Drive is still in non-compliance with state and township codes.  Grimsby said he was previously told his neighbor would be issued a summons and asked for an update.  Lammi said the code enforcement officer told me today that the fence was brought into compliance.  Grimsby said it is still non-compliant.  Lammi asked according to whom.  Grimsby said according to him.  Lammi said two Labor and Industry representatives visited the township last week and met with the Township Manager and the Code Officer.   Lammi said they discussed with the Labor and Industry representatives the complete process that has taken place to date, the proposed fix to the fence, they went out and visited the site, and Labor and Industry told the township they were satisfied with the process and the repair and that they would be submitting a report to us in the near future.

     

6.   REPORTS

     

Solicitor

·        Attorney Schlottman said she had an extension agreement for Fairfield Development Associates requesting an extension until July 31, 2007.  On motion by Panella, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by all, the Board authorized the Vice Chairman to sign the agreement.

 

      Public Services Director

·        Adams said regarding the Penndot/Palmer cooperative repair on Greenwood Avenue, it will start on Monday and last about five days.  Adams said there will be a local detour in the area.  Chief Fretz asked if it included the intersection.  Adams said it is north of the intersection to Green Pond Road. 

·        Adams said after the storm last week the public works and parks department did a great job cleaning up.  Adams said the township has picked up a lot of tree limbs that residents drug out to the roadway.  Adams said this type of pickup is an exception due to the storm.

 

      Police Chief

·        Fretz said after seven and a half months central booking finally started today in he County.  Fretz said instead of taking the individual to a magistrate’s office all over the place, we will now either take them to Bethlehem or to the prison to be processed.  Video-conferencing has been set up with the magistrates.  Fretz said police departments will no longer be on the road to magistrates’ offices all over the region and should be back on patrol faster.  Fretz said the new system also includes faster processing for individuals filing a PFA.  Fretz said this all should work well with the new police computer system too.

 

Supervisors

·        Smith said he went out with Bob Anckaitis and Tom Adams after the storm last week and our road crew and parks department did a phenomenal job.  Smith said the police department also did a great job with directing traffic with all the lights out.  Smith said initially he was skeptical about the need to purchase generators for some of our traffic lights, but after seeing what happened last week he feels it would be beneficial for the Board to reconsider purchasing some generators in next years budget.  Fretz said it would be a big help to do it at the major intersections where you have multi-lanes accessing the intersection.

·        Smith said the 10-year old Palmer baseball team entered and won the Bushkill Township tournament over the weekend.  Smith said there is one more weekend of baseball and then in three weeks football will start.

·        Lammi handed out to the Board a draft of an emergency agreement very similar to the one the township recently entered into with the City of Easton.  Lammi said the Council of Governments asked that all participating municipalities enter into this agreement which would allow us to help each other out if needed.  Lammi asked if the Board was okay with the concept.  The Board agreed it was fine.

·        Lammi said at last weeks Planning Commission meeting Commerce Bank was asking for support from the commission for when they go before the Zoning Hearing Board in August for changing the way they come up with their 27 parking spaces at the mall.  Lammi said originally they were to be on the north side of the roadway at the Hackett Avenue entrance.  Lammi said to put the spots there it will require a lot of blasting and rock movement.   Lammi said he feels we don’t want to do any blasting on that hill with the homes above it.  Lammi said there were residents in attendance that also raised their concerns about the blasting.  Lammi said another option would be a parking deck or an extension to the Boscov’s lot out toward the pond.  Lammi said the Planning Commission will note in their minutes that they do not want to see blasting in the area. 

 

      On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Robert G. Anckaitis

Township Manager