PALMER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING

JANUARY 19, 2009

A general business meeting of the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors was held on Monday, January 19, 2009 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, Director of Public Services, Police Chief and Township Solicitor. Colver convened the meeting and led those present in the Pledge to the Flag.

Colver introduced and welcomed Ryan Gade from Boy Scout Troop 25 in Palmer Township, who is working on his citizenship and community badge. Colver said he met with Ryan prior to the meeting to explain municipal government.

2. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS – JANUARY 19, 2009

INFORMATION

The report will be provided at the meeting.

DISCUSSION

On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board voted to approve the disbursement of funds for January 19, 2009.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JANUARY 5, 2009

DISCUSSION

Lammi replaced “December” with “January” in the last paragraph of page 7.

On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board voted to approve the minutes of January 5, 2009, with the above change.

4. JOSEPH 1 L.P. SANITARY SEWER EXTENSION PROJECT DISCUSSION

INFORMATION

The Board needs to approve/disapprove authorizing treatment capacity to Joseph 1 L.P.

DISCUSSION

Mike Gavin, Attorney for the Joseph project, said they were before the Board previously and received approval for a pad site behind Applebee’s. Gavin said they have a tenant interested in the pad site but they are concerned with visibility from the road. The tenant requested they move up to a more visible position which moves them from a Palmer resident to a Lower Nazareth resident. Gavin said it moves us out of the Palmer Township sewer service into Lower Nazareth that would still require us to request service from Palmer. Gavin explained the “direct billing” process that would take place. Gavin said the tenant will be a bank with six employees. Colver confirmed they are moving about 100 feet to the west. Gavin said yes. Colver said the building is moving where the parking lot was proposed and the parking lot will be where the building was proposed. Colver asked the Public Utilities Director for his comments. Paul Hosking said the sewer authority is fine with the treatment capacity.

On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board authorized treatment capacity to Joseph 1 L. P., for the proposed bank pad, subject to the solicitor’s satisfactory review of the necessary agreements.

5. PENNDOT ELECTRONIC ACCESS AGREEMENT

INFORMATION

The Board needs to approve/disapprove the Penndot electronic access agreement authorizing the township to file required state forms electronically.

DISCUSSION

On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board authorized the Chairman to sign the electronic access agreement.

6. PENNDOT ELECTRONIC ACCESS RESOLUTION

INFORMATION

The Board needs to approve/disapprove the Penndot electronic access resolution authorizing the township to file required state forms electronically.

DISCUSSION

On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all, the Board approved the Penndot Electronic Access resolution.

7. POLICE PENSION ORDINANCE

INFORMATION

The Board needs to approve/disapprove the police pension ordinance.

DISCUSSION

Anckaitis said this was sent to us from our actuary, Conrad Siegel. Bruno said the plan document reflects the state pension laws and the Internal Revenue Code. Bruno said the primary plan provisions have not changed.

On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board approved the police pension ordinance.

8. ESCROW RELEASE #3 FOR PALMER NORTH INDUSTRIAL

INFORMATION

The Board needs to approve/disapprove escrow release #3 for Palmer North Industrial.

DISCUSSION

On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board approved escrow release #3 for Palmer North Industrial in the amount of $301,420.00.

9. PUBLIC COMMENT

None

10. REPORTS

Solicitor

· Bruno said we received the deed of dedication for the tot lot for Hay Terrace South. Bruno said the tot lot was called for on the approved plan. Bruno said our office sent the deed of dedication to the county tax assessor’s office and we were notified that the tot lot had been conveyed over to the homeowner’s association. Bruno said if the township decides not to take the tot lot it would not be a liability to the township or require township maintenance. Bruno said, however, there would be other concerns to make sure the playground is developed, open, and run as noted on the plan. Colver said the developer was credited for recreation fees related to the tot lot so we may need to go back to the developer to get recreation fees. Smith said if it does not come back to the township won’t the plans need to be revised. Bruno said the whole process wouldn’t need to be done but the plans would need to be revised. Bruno said we need to make sure the homeowners know about this. Bruno said he believes the developer will have it corrected because he spent the money to put the lot in so he is not going to want to pay a recreation fee too. Colver said what we approved is the way it should be. The Board agreed.

· Bruno had one real estate matter for executive session.

Manager

· Anckaitis asked the Board to authorize the solicitor to do the necessary paperwork to finalize the purchase of the properties owned by Mrs. Koons at the garden lots by Berks Street. On motion by Lammi, seconded by Smith, and agreed by all the Board authorized the solicitor to finalize the necessary documents.

· Anckaitis had one personnel matter for executive session.

Public Services Director

· Adams said at the last meeting a motion was passed to award the gasoline bid. Adams said the low bidder couldn’t get his performance bond within the time constraints of the law. We sent him notice his bid was no longer valid. The second bidder’s price is on a daily price and as of today the price per gallon is $2.54. One option would be to award the yearly contract at that rate. Second option would be to go through the Lehigh Valley Cooperative Purchasing Council at a fluctuation price, currently $1.35 per gallon till the end of April. Anckaitis said in this case we are not entering into a contract because the cooperative already has the contract. On motion by Smith, seconded by Lammi, and agreed by all, the Board agreed to go through the Lehigh Valley Cooperative Purchasing Council until the end of April and then re-bid at that time for unleaded fuel.

· Adams said the bids were opened January 5, 2009 for the tree trimming project to remove trees along Greenwood Avenue and Grandview Drive so utility poles can be relocated . Adams said he recommends we award the bid to the sole bidder, F. A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company in the amount of $23,785, conditioned upon the satisfactory review of the contract and insurance documents by the township solicitor. On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the Board awarded the tree removal bid to F. A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company, Dublin, PA, in the amount of $23,785, conditioned upon satisfactory review by the township solicitor of the contract and insurance documents. Lammi said regarding his comment at the last meeting about obtaining funding, if it becomes available, for shovel ready projects he would like to recommend the township manager send a letter to Congressman Dent’s office informing them that we do have a shovel ready project. Lammi said it may give our project priority if they know about it prior to the bill being approved. Anckaitis said there are also grant funds available related to storm water improvements. Anckaitis said he has asked the township engineer to break out the storm water costs of the project to see if we could apply for the grant funds.

Police Chief

· Fretz said they have a new intern starting tomorrow from East Stroudsburg University and are lining another one up for the summer months.

· Fretz said the two new K-9’s have arrived and are in the homes of the new officers. Fretz said their training starts in early March which consists of three weeks initial training and then two weeks for their specialty training.

Supervisors

· Smith said our zoning officer is retiring at the end of this month and he would like to say thank you and best wishes for a happy retirement to John Embardino.

· Lammi said he extends the same wishes as Supervisor Smith to John Embardino.

· Lammi said he attended a Lehigh Valley Planning Transportation meeting on Friday and there was a lot of talk about smart growth and linking developments for access onto major roadways. Lammi said they are also working on the highway occupancy permit application process and are trying to speed the process up to help match the timeframe municipalities face in meeting land development approval.

· Colver said the Fire Commissioner applied for a grant for air packs. Colver said the department got 30 new air packs for approximately $150,000. Colver said the department received a grant in the amount of approximately $128,000. Colver said the Fire Commissioner also had some improvements he needed to have done at station #2 and he applied for a grant through the state fire commissioner’s office. Colver said we received a grant for $10,392.57 to do those improvements.

· Colver said the Board received in their monthly department reports the fire departments 2008 statistics that show they had a total of 552 calls in 2008 with 4,225 man hours logged. Colver congratulated Delmar Grube on obtaining those two grants and wanted to thank the fire department for their volunteer actions and keeping the township safe in 2008. Lammi said this is one of the benefits of having a full-time person in the position of fire commissioner because a volunteer department would not have the time to submit for these grants.

· Colver said the Board received a letter from Mr. Ricci regarding the Park Avenue/All Seasons plan stating they will not be moving forward with the plan. Colver asked the solicitor if he felt it was appropriate to have someone reach out to Mr. Ricci to make sure he understands how far he is through the process. Colver said he believes maybe Mr. Ricci does not fully understand what he has achieved. Colver said do we owe it to Mr. Ricci to let him know he only needs to go a little farther and he has final approval that is good for up to five years. Bruno said he thinks maybe the planning director can reach out to him and let him know how far he is in the process. Supervisor Smith said he will reach out to Mr. Ricci and let him know where he stands in the process.

· Adams asked, regarding the gasoline award discussed earlier, if the Board needs to make a motion to reject prior bids received. Bruno recommended the motion be amended to include that they reject all prior bids received for unleaded fuel. Smith amended his motion to include that the Board rejects all prior bids received for unleaded fuel; the amendment was seconded by Lammi, and agreed by all.

On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. with one personnel and one real estate item for executive session.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert G. Anckaitis

Township Manager