MINUTES OF THE TUNKHANNOCK TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

 REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING MAY 7, 2008

The Tunkhannock Township Board of Supervisors held their Regular Meeting on May 7, 2008.  Those in attendance were Supervisor Maureen Sterner, Supervisor James Davenport, Secretary/Treasurer Maria Wieand, Solicitor Dan Lyons, and area residents.  Vice-Chairman Sterner called the meeting to order at 7:04pm.  Chairman Van Noy is absent. 

Minutes Presented:               April 9, 2008                 Regular Meeting

                                                April 23, 2008                Work Session           

Motion by Supervisor Davenport to approve the minutes and seconded by Supervisor Sterner.

There being no comments or questions the motion passed unanimously. 

Executive Sessions were held:  April 9 & 23, 2008 to consult with legal counsel regarding pending litigation. 

Comments or Questions on Agenda items: None 

Matters Arising: None 

Treasurer's Report:  

 Motion by Supervisor Davenport to accept the Treasurer's Report, and seconded by Supervisor Sterner. There being no comments or questions, the motion passed unanimously.

Bill List:

Maria Wieand presented the bills for $117,881.14, motion by Supervisor Sterner to pay the bills and seconded by Supervisor Davenport.  Comments and questions were addressed and the motion passed unanimously. 

Announcements:        May 16-19, 2008               Spring Bulk Trash Weekend

                                    May 26, 2008                    Memorial Day-Office Complex Closed

                                   August 9, 2008                     Tunkfest                        

Supervisor Sterner acknowledged meeting schedule and asked if residents were ok with reading the schedule themselves. The residents agreed they will read it individually. 

Old Business:

-  Camacho Joinder: Victor A. Camacho is requesting permission to join two (2) lots in Emerald Lakes: Lot 1707 Parcel # 20/1A/1/66 and Lot 1708 Parcel #20/1A/1/65 Section B-III.  The proposed deed was reviewed by the sewage and zoning departments, as well as the solicitor and all is in order.  Supervisor Davenport made a motion to adopt resolution 2008-131 approving the joining of two (2) lots as follows:  lot 1707-parcel # 20/1a/1/66 pin # 20634301294771 and lot 1708-parcel #20/1a/1/65 pin # 20634301295678 in section b-III of Emerald lakes. Seconded by Supervisor Sterner, there being no comments or questions the motion passed unanimously. 

- Stoltzfus Land Development review was given by Solicitor Lyons and stated the letter of credit was delivered from Ag Choice to Solicitor Lyon’s for the $77,715.00 for Phase I. The developer’s agreement will not be signed until the Township receives the letter of credit. Phase I will need to be completed before they can begin phase II and the proper letter of credit must be in place before moving forward. Supervisor Davenport made a motion to allow Stoltzfus minor subdivision to complete phase I by September 1, 2008 and phase II by June 1, 2009.   Supervisor Sterner seconded and after comments and questions, the motion passed unanimously.

- Sewage Enforcement Officer: The Township has advertised to fill the vacant position of Sewage Enforcement officer.  At this time, application has only been received by Hanover Engineering. Supervisor Sterner commented that they have been doing a great job since taking over as our alternate.  Supervisor Davenport made a motion to appoint Hanover Engineering, LLC as the Township Sewage Enforcement firm. The motion was seconded by Supervisor Sterner and there being no comments or questions the motion passed unanimously. 

- A public meeting for residents effected by the official map will take place on May 28, 2008 at 6 p.m. in the Township building to review and answer any questions they may have pertaining to their property as marked on the official map.

Supervisor Sterner would like to see the Ordinance that goes with the Official Map for review prior to 28^th meeting. 

- Memorandum of Understanding – Austin T. Blakeslee: This is being tabled now until we can check with our insurance carrier for our participation in coverage on insurance.  The question arose from item ten (10) on the memo of understanding. Supervisor Sterner recommended that we check with our insurance carrier to determine if we need to have our own policy or can we participate with the lead township and pay a portion to them for coverage and will this adequately cover us. Maria will check with our insurance carrier.  Our solicitor said since we don’t have record of ownership we may not be able to insure it.  A motion to table this was made by Supervisor Sterner, seconded by Supervisor Davenport, and carried unanimously.   

Announcement:

Solicitor Lyons reviewed the following:

Tunkhannock Trails II: Before the trial took place the case was settled as follows; there were three claims by the plaintiffs.

1. Attorney’s fees
2. Take over property and maintain as township roads
3. Improve it to the standards that were approved in 1989

The case settled with the agreement that the Township will complete the roads according to the standards that were part of the subdivision and we are given three years to do that unless there are certain conditions in our budget that wouldn’t allow us to complete, then we would have four.   This will be determined once our audit is completed from Kirk, Summa, CPA, sometime in late May early June.   This project will take three stages according to Kevin Harrison, Township Engineer.  The Attorney’s fees do not have to be paid nor do we need to take the roads over as Township roads.

Questions:

Mike Gillen- Did we check if our insurance would cover anything?  Yes, and no there is not coverage for a claim.

Peg Yencho- If we settle, can they come after us later? No, once we complete the project our obligations are complete.

Sean Stevens- Are the Supervisors who were here at that time held responsible?  No, and insurance denied our claims three times over a period.  Three attorneys previously placed a claim and all were denied.

Diane Smith- Thanked the Township for stepping up and taking this to completion, but when will the project begin?  Dan explained we don’t want to start any work that will be washed out over winter and we do need to wait for auditors’ determinations of finances before we can begin. 

Silver Company DCNR Grant Award has been awarded to our Township in the amount of $260,000 and we will continue to submit County grant applications.  We need to obtain all finances or the agreement of sale becomes null and void, and the deposit is refunded.  Dot Trauger is working on the two additional grants at this time from the county. 

New Business:

-  Tree Preservation Ordinance is being presented to the Board of Supervisors for review and are being asked to consider this Ordinance.  Supervisor Sterner commented on her views on the Ordinance and is suggesting we don’t schedule a public hearing at this time.  Supervisor Davenport commented that the Planning Commission and EAC worked very hard on this and the Ordinance isn’t as restricted as many of our neighboring Townships. We worked about a year on this and revised it several times.  Outside organization gave their opinions and agreed this is good mix and is not as restrictive as other Townships. Supervisor Davenport supports this Ordinance.  Supervisor Sterner made a motion to table, seconded by Supervisor Davenport and carried unanimously. 

-   Road Master Bruce Walder gave his resignation on April 16, 2008, and gave his two-week notice and advised his last day will be April 30, 2008.  Supervisor Sterner motioned to accept his resignation seconded by Supervisor Davenport and after comments and questions the motion passed unanimously. 

-  Road Department liaison, Supervisor Sterner is stepping down as Road Department liaison as she feels this should be given to someone who is readily available during the day especially with not having a Road Master. Motion to appoint Supervisor Davenport was made by Supervisor Sterner, and seconded by supervisor Davenport.  After comments and questions, the motion passed unanimously. 

Reports:

Supervisor Van Noy:     Joint Building Codes – minutes posted

                                    Pocono Mountain Regional Police Board – minutes posted

                                    Pocono Mountain School Board – no report

                                    Tunkhannock Twp. Vol. Fire Co.- no report

Supervisor Sterner:       

                                    Emergency Management- meeting scheduled for 5/17/08  

                                    Emergency Medical Services- no report 

Supervisor Davenport

                                    Dept. of Public Works (DPW) –no report 

Pat Kager                     Clymer Library- No report 

Mike Gillen                   Pocono Mountain Regional Police- no report meeting not held yet 

                                    Monroe County Task Force - no report 

Dot Trauger                  Township Planning Commission - minutes posted  

Public Comments:

Mike Gillen- Sign Ordinance what happened with it?  We believe that was passed in 2007 and the office will check on that.

Hank Dannecker- Will regional be setting up speed enforcement on Kuhenbeaker and Long Pond Road? When will we receive the $5,000 from MCMWA?

Sean Stevens- Windmill comments were to say ordinance is restrictive for residents and would like to see that changed, and questioned employee 401 and pension plans if they have them and who pays?

Peggy Yencho- Passed 

An executive session to follow this meeting for personnel reasons and for any other business deemed necessary to discuss. 

A motion to adjourn made by Supervisor Sterner at 8:20pm, seconded by Supervisor Davenport and carried unanimously.

Maria S. Wieand

Secretary