PALMER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

 

      A general business meeting of the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors was held on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Palmer Library with four Supervisors in attendance:  Bob Lammi, Ann-Marie Panella, Mike Mitchell and Bob Smith.  Chairman Colver was absent.  Also in attendance were the Township Manager, Public Services Director, Police Lieutenant and the Township Solicitor.  Vice-Chairman Lammi convened the meeting and led those present in the Pledge to the Flag. 

 

2.   APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS – AUGUST 25, SEPTEMBER 8 AND SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

 

      INFORMATION

 

      The report will be provided at the meeting.

 

      DISCUSSION

 

      On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Panella, and agreed by four, the Board approved the disbursement of funds for August 25, September 8 and September 21, 2009.

 

3.   APPROVAL OF MINUTES – AUGUST 17, AND AUGUST 27, 2009

 

      DISCUSSION

 

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Panella, and agreed by four, the Board approved the minutes of August 17, 2009. 

 

      On motion by Mitchell, seconded by Smith, and agreed by three, the Board approved the minutes of August 27, 2009.  Panella abstained since she did not attend the entire meeting.

     

4.   PENNDOT RESOLUTION – GREENWOOD AVENUE EXTENSION PROJECT

 

      INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve/disapprove the resolution.

 

      DISCUSSION

     

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the Board approved the Penndot resolution for the Greenwood Avenue Extension project.

 

5.   LETTER OF CREDIT – GREENWOOD AVENUE EXTENSION PROJECT

 

      INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve/disapprove the letter of credit for the Greenwood Avenue extension project in the amount of $784,645 as required by Penndot.

 

      DISCUSSION

Anckaitis said the bonding fee is 1% and the letter of credit fee at Lafayette Ambassador is normally 1% but they have proposed doing it for 8/10th of a percent.

 

On motion by Smith, seconded by Panella, and agreed by four, the Board approved the letter of credit for the Greenwood Avenue extension project in the amount of $784,645, as required by Penndot. 

 

6.      APPROVAL OF THE MINIMUM MUNICIPAL OBLIGATION FOR THE POLICE AND NON-UNIFORM PENSION PLANS

 

                  INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve the 2010 minimum municipal obligation for the police pension plan at $426,985 and for the non-uniform pension plan at $397,880.

 

      DISCUSSION

 

      On motion by Panella, seconded by Smith, and agreed by four, the Board approved the 2010 minimum municipal obligation for the police pension plan in the amount of $426,985.

 

On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the Board approved the 2010 minimum municipal obligation for the non-uniform pension plan in the amount of $397,880.

 

7.      POLICE PENSION FUND ACCOUNT ALLOCATION

 

      INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve/disapprove keeping the same allocations or revising the current investment objectives in the plan.

 

      DISCUSSION

 

Anckaitis said we received a letter from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney asking for any changes that could revise our investment objectives.  Anckaitis said if we don’t want to make any changes we don’t need to send the form back.  Mitchell said at the last pension board meeting we agreed to keep the current investments.

 

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the Board approved keeping the current investments in the police pension fund.

 

8.      NON-UNIFORM PENSION FUND ACCOUNT ALLOCATION

 

      INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve/disapprove keeping the same allocations or revising the current investment objectives in the plan.

 

                  DISCUSSION

 

      Anckaitis said if you look at the information we received from PSATS they are recommending we take some of the percentages and reallocate to other Vanguard funds. 

                 

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by all, the Board approved changing the allocations of the non-uniform police pension plan as follows:  from portfolio C (60% equity/40% fixed) to portfolio A (40% equity/60% fixed), subject to the recommendation being confirmed by PSATS.

 

9.   POLICE PENSION PLAN CONTRIBUTION RESOLUTION

 

      INFORMATION       

 

      The Board needs to approve/disapprove the member contribution resolution.

 

      DISCUSSION

 

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the Board approved the member contribution resolution for the police pension fund. 

 

10. PUBLIC COMMENT

 

      Frank Ferraina, 1 Brentwood, said he is not happy with what is going on in the whole Easton, Palmer, Forks, Wilson area.  Ferraina said there are too many murders, break-ins, etc.  Ferraina said there has to be a way to legally have a police officer stop someone wandering around the township to ask what they are doing.  Lammi said if you see something suspicious in your neighborhood and you call the police, they will stop and question the individuals.

 

      Ferraina asked the Board if they have ever considered testing new hires for drug and alcohol use.  Ferraina said he believes any official township employee should be tested once a year.  Anckaitis said all of our CDL drivers are randomly tested according to state guidelines.  Anckaitis said if an employee is in an accident they have to be tested.

 

      Ferraina said they planted beautiful trees on Crest Boulevard and Rocky Lane but no-one is taking care of them.  People are walking in the street instead of the sidewalks because they have to duck under all the trees.  Adams said street trees are the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain. 

 

      Ferraina asked if anything has been discussed about a traffic light at Route 248 and VanBuren Road, where the old fire house used to be.  Lammi said a traffic study will be done for a proposed future development in that area and that intersection will be looked at.  Lammi said we have been discussing options with Penndot regarding swapping areas of the state roadway.  Lammi said if we owned that intersection we would only allow right turn onto VanBuren and only right turn out onto Route 248.

 

      Maureen Miller, 9 Kings Avenue, said the September 30th deadline is coming up for the Knobhill neighborhood regarding improvements they haven’t yet completed.  Bruno said there has been considerable work done on the project but some still remains and this item will be discussed at the September 29th meeting.  Miller said the gates aren’t operational yet.  Miller said the builder asked our association if the roads aren’t finished is it the association’s responsibility for snow removal or is it the developers.  Lammi said in the township the developer is responsible until the developer turns the roads over to the township.  Lammi said that is between you and the developer.

     

11. REPORTS

       

Solicitor

·        Bruno had four litigation matters to report on in executive session.  One may require action so he requested the record remain open.  He also had one real estate item.

 

Township Manager

·        Anckaitis said Supervisor Mitchell will be on vacation November 13th to 18th and we had the preliminary budget meeting scheduled for the 18th of November with adoption set for December 21st.  The time period between those two meetings is 21 days and the budget is required to be on display for 20 days.  Anckaitis said we could move it to the 19th, that is the day Mike returns, and we would still make the 20 day requirement as long as there were no obstacles.  Anckaitis said if we move it to the week of November 9th to the 12th the Board would have a shorter time period to review the budget.  Anckaitis said he can’t get the budget to the Board until November 4th.  Mitchell said as long as his plane is on time he should be able to make the 19th.  The Board agreed to go with the 19th.

·        Anckaitis said there is nothing in our personnel manual that addresses an employee with a break in service and whether their prior service counts for vacation, longevity, pension, etc.  Anckaitis said we do have an employee that this applies.  Anckaitis said this person had a seven year break in service and he would recommend that time not count.  Panella said typically if the break in service is less time than the time period they worked they would get the prior service time.  Anckaitis said he will work with the solicitor on getting a policy together for the Board to review.  Anckaitis said in this case the employee worked full time for about a two year period so they would not get the prior service time.  Bruno said without a policy in place there is no entitlement.

·        Anckaitis said we also need to decide what to do with the summer playground program for 2010.  Anckaitis said we need to have a decision before we finalize the 2010 budget.  Anckaitis said as you discussed in the past with the community center director, we are going ahead with the community center camp program for 2010.  Smith said he thought when we discussed it last year that the playground program would be rolled into the summer camp program at the center.  Lammi suggested we put it on the agenda for the first meeting in October to make a decision. 

·        Anckaitis said he, Scott, Tom and Bob Smith went to the field house the other day and that building needs major work.  We feel there is no way it can be renovated and it would be cheaper to knock it down and build a new one.  Anckaitis said if we have money left over from the bond this could be another project.  Anckaitis said the Heil Park field house on South Side Easton was built for $147,000.  Anckaitis said he thinks this is a project that should be considered.  Anckaitis recommended the Board make a trip to the field house to see the building.  Lammi suggested the Board go to the field house at 6 p.m. before the September 29th meeting.

 

      Public Services Director

·        Adams said last year we started a project on Meadow Avenue and he wanted the Board to know that we are completing that work now.

 

      Supervisors

·        Smith had one personnel matter for executive session.

·        Lammi said he attended the Pennsylvania Council of Government’s (COG) convention last Saturday in the Lehigh Valley.  Lammi said some COG’s were there promoting doing business with them.  Lammi said DCED knows that their budget was cut significantly and they said the planning component may go away completely.  Lammi said we were told to expect very little grant money due to the state budget cuts.  Lammi said COSTARS also presented some good information. 

·        Lammi noted the Citizens Advisory Committee was going pretty well for awhile but we are down to about five or six people attending.  Lammi said we are bringing in good speakers and there are only four or five attendees.  Lammi said Virginia Rickert is sending out a letter to the membership to see what they are thinking about their involvement and we are going to put something in the next newsletter to try to attract new people.  Lammi said if we can’t increase the attendance we may need to cancel future meetings.

 

      On motion by Panella, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the Board agreed to break into executive session at 8:25 p.m. to discuss four litigation, one real estate and one personnel matter.

 

      On motion by Smith, seconded by Mitchell, and agreed by four, the meeting reconvened with no action necessary and the meeting was then adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

     

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Robert G. Anckaitis

Township Manager