September 23, 2009
Part I –Call to order
Chairman Maureen Sterner called to order the work session of the Tunkhannock Township Board of Supervisors at 7:05pm on September 23, 2009 in the Municipal Building, Long Pond Road. Those in attendance: Supervisor Sterner, Davenport, DePiano, Secretary/Treasurer Wieand, Solicitor Lyons, and the general public.
Part II –Review Prior Meeting Minutes
Drafted minutes from the September 9, 2009 regular meeting were presented for review by the Board prior to the October 14, 2009 meeting.
Part III – Announcements
Tunkhannock Trails II road paving project was completed by Locust Ridge Quarry and inspected by Kevin Harrison Township Engineer at start of project and at the end. (Report from Engineer Harrison is pending for the file.)
Part IV – Action Items
Roof leak/insulation problem was researched and quotes were obtained by ATI insulation, Service Team, Mt. Insulation, and North Pole Insulation by Byron Witt from DPW. ATI and Service Team submitted quotes, the lowest was Service Team for $3,699 to supply ceiling batt, attic guard blow wool insulation. DPW will purchase the furring strips and screws to fix the existing insulation properly before blown insulation is completed. This will be placed on the 10/14/09 meeting.
SARP Auction (Stroud Area Regional Police) October 10, 2009 were reviewed and minimal bids were determined for certain items. This is ready to send to Bob Myers.
Complete Count Committee letter was reviewed and a liaison to represent the Township must be appointed and attend the October 7, 2009 meeting. The Board reviewed the counties request and suggested we appoint Kate Lambert. Supervisor Davenport will let Kate know that she will attend the meeting and relay any and all information to the Board on this issue. Since this meeting occurs before our next meeting we will appoint her at the October 14, 2009 Regular Meeting.
Part V– Old Business
Building codes Solicitor Lyons had a meeting last Friday with Pat Armstrong, Solicitor from Tobyhanna Township, and since he has done an Ordinance for a Building Codes Board of Appeals before, he will be the solicitor drafting the Ordinance for review by Tobyhanna, Paradise and Tunkhannock Townships. Secretary/Treasurer Wieand read the email from Bob Hutchins requesting we carefully reconsider leaving the Inter-Municipal Building Codes. He also asked if there was an interest in maintaining the current Appeals Board. The Board felt that’s what was considered by those parties leaving the Inter-Municipal agreement and forming only an Appeals Board with the existing Board. Those Townships participating in the Appeals Board Inter-Municipal Agreement will split the cost of Solicitor Armstrong’s fees to produce the document. This will be placed on the 10/14/09 meeting.
Road Master Position was offered to Troy Counterman and a regular meeting will follow this meeting to appoint Mr. Counterman.
Proposed E911 readdressing Resolution for street names was reviewed by the board and noted that the public roads owned by Tunkhannock Township are the only streets that we must adopt in section one (1) of the resolution and section two (2) will be the private road names. The Board is sending this back for correction by the planning department and Supervisor Davenport will relay this information and that it must be corrected and reviewed for next meeting and given to Secretary Wieand by Friday 10/9/09 for the 10/14/09 agenda.
Proposed E911 signs for property owners is still under review by Solicitor Lyons as per Zoning Officer Lambert. He will complete this and have it back to Kate before our next meeting.
Grants report was reviewed by the Board and Chairman Sterner indicated we need to have more detail to this report. Example: Tiger grant was submitted, the following should be noted on report when, amount, inclusions, decision date. 904 recycling grant submitted Board question when and amount.
Wren grant submitted but they ran out of money, we will be notified when it is available again.
Addendum to Natural Area Conservation Agreement reviewed and the Board would like to know if they can tell us what has been completed to date and what has been eliminated on the tasks/targeted dates. They are inviting Jenny Case to our next meeting to review these items with us and to bring us up to date on the tasks and target dates. Supervisor Davenport will have Dot Trauger of planning invite Jenny to the 10/14/09 meeting.
PMRP building grant request was reviewed at the end of the meeting since no one from PMRP showed up for the meeting to clarify some issues. After discussion the Board agreed that we cannot support this grant at this time. The Board felt financially there will be a cost down the road to the expansion of the building and cost of utilities, manpower, equipment etc. A letter will be drafted and Supervisor DePiano will take it to the special meeting on 9/24/09.
EMA review for major events Bill Byron EMA coordinator reviewed the need for a meeting with outside organizations involved to get input for designing a SOG (Standard Operating Guideline). George Ewald indicated that this is something that is already designed and in place by Dan Dougherty at Pocono Raceway. Bill should contact Dan to obtain a copy of this plan since it is already in place and being used by NASCAR. George will let Dan Dougherty know that Bill Byron will contact him for that information.
Part VI– New Business
2010 MMO obligation (Pension) a review of the MMO obligation and numbers prepared by Trustees was presented and will be placed on the 10/14/09 agenda for adoption along with the PMRP uniform and non-uniform figures.
Top of the Mountain Peer-to-Peer study project was presented the board would like time to review it and placed on the 10/14/09 agenda.
LST Tax research completed by Treasurer Wieand via Berkheimer and they indicated we could pick up $11,000 to $13,000 the first year and $15,000 to $17,000 year two for the reported 364 employees per quarter who work in the Township. Chairman Sterner indicated that if those who work outside the Township and their municipalities don’t have this tax then it will come back to our Township. So, in fact, those estimates would be even higher. Place this on the 10/14/09 meeting for advertising of public meeting.
Part VII –Pending
EAC vacancies need to be advertised and filled, place on 10/14/09 agenda for advertising. Seth from the Journal said get him the information and he will run it free in a public service notice.
IML e-coli was reviewed by Secretary Wieand and she reported that Chris Taylor from Hanover Engineering will begin his review sometime early October, weather permitting. She will keep us updated at the meetings.
Moyer title policy letter from Dan Lyons still pending, his secretary is on vacation and he will check on that when she returns.
Stoltzfus farmers market has no new information, but Supervisor Davenport asked if we have been getting any calls concerning this. Secretary Wieand indicated we had six (6) calls this week, from non-residents who want to know why we won’t let them stay open to sell their items. Dot, Kate and Maria have told those who called that we aren’t stopping them from selling their produce, we enforce the transient license permit maximum of three (3) months and those people must stop selling. If Mr. Stoltzfus would complete his land development plan as promised this wouldn’t be an issue. This has been going on for over eight (8) years and the Township has been very cooperative in accommodating him and granting extensions. Land development is essential and our Township has it for a reason to protect the residents of our Township. Following those guidelines for the safety and well-being of its residents is extremely important.
Windmill Ordinance, Outdoor Furnace, Stormwater Residential Lots, Tree, SALDO, Plot & Grading are all being reviewed with the Planning Commission (PC) along with the Board of Supervisors at the October 14, 2009 meeting as requested by the PC.
Heller’s Lane Guiderail has been submitted to both parties insurance for payment and we are awaiting final review.
Public Comments:
George Ewald why are we accepting brush, and why are we sending two guys at $200 a load a day to go? This will be reviewed and addressed by Mr. Davenport and he commented that only one person was in the truck yesterday.
William Byron asked if PMRP can sit at Toll and Mt. Road to monitor the stop sign, since there was another accident there last week. Supervisor DePiano will bring it to the next regional meeting to make that request.
Betty Terrell-Cruz no questions since she left.
Part VIII – Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 8:58pm.
OPEN REGULAR MEETING:
The meeting opened at 8:58 pm, those in attendance for the work session are those present for the regular meeting. Two items that were addressed during the work session need to be completed because of timing.
Supervisor DePiano motioned to appoint Troy Counterman as Road Master at a rate of $22.49 per hour and to grant him a leave of 90 days with a second 90 day leave with an additional $1.00 per hour after the 180 day leave. Seconded by Supervisor Davenport, there being no comments or questions the motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Supervisor DePiano to grant Lombardo & Lipe the bid for the electric lines being moved at the fuel tanks for a price of $2,389 and to be taken from the professional service category. Seconded by Supervisor Davenport, there being no comments or questions the motion passed unanimously.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9:03pm on a motion by Supervisor Davenport, seconded by Supervisor DePiano and carried unanimously.
Minutes submitted by:
Maria S. Wieand