CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING JULY 6, 1992 MINUTES

The Charlestown Board of Supervisors held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 6, 1992 at the Charlestown Elementary School, Charlestown Road, Devault.

Present:

Irene W. Ewald, Chairman; John C. Martin, Jr., Vice Chairman; Vincent G. Kling, Sr., Member; Surender S. Kohli, PE; James E. McErlane, Esq.; Ruth W. Buckwalter, Secretary; and those on the attached attendee list.

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 8:00 pm.

Announcements: June 16 - Mrs. Ewald attended a joint meeting of Tredyffrin, East Whiteland and Charlestown Townships for a presentation by Warner Quarry on the burning of alternate fuel in their cement kiln; June 22 - all three Supervisors participated in a joint meeting with East Pikeland and Schuylkill Townships re the proposed regional recreation and adaptive re-use of the VFCC; June 23 - Open Space Task Force meeting attended by Messrs. Martin and Kling; June 24 - Chester County Commissioners sponsored a meeting re 911 system; June 30 - special meeting of the Chester County Assn. of Township Supervisors re 911 system; July 1 - informal meeting of Supervisors and Planning Commission.

Mr. Kling moved to approve the minutes of June 15 1992. Mr. Martin seconded the motion, it unanimously carried.

Mr. Martin moved to approve the June 1992 Treasurer’s Report. Mr. Kling seconded the motion, it unanimously carried.

Mr. Kling moved to approve the July 6, 1992 Accounts Payable. Mrs. Ewald seconded the motion, it unanimously carried.

Zoning Officer’s Report: Mr. Kohli submitted a list of Building and Use & Occupancy Permits issued during June. He reported receiving complaints re. property on Pine Drive, but stated there was no violation; checked numerous times in Hollow Run Farm re. a complaint of dirt bike riders, but has never encountered any. Because of several false alarms, Mr. Kohli suggested that the State Police be given the Roadmaster’s beeper number that he may be contacted re the traffic light at Rt. #29 and Charlestown Road. Then, if there is a problem, the Roadmaster should contact Mr. Kohli. The Supervisors agreed and requested the Roadmaster to so notify the State Police by letter. Mr. Kohli reported a house at Merlin and Pikeland Roads has had the porch removed and is now in the process of having the stucco removed and the stone pointed. This house is on the Historic Registry and Mr. Kohli advised checking with the Charlestown Historic Commission. The Chairman suggested Mr. Kohl write a letter to the owner re. the matter. Mr. Kohli received a letter from the VFCC listing the items cited as violations and the action the College has taken. Mr. Kohli needs to know the owners of properties on the College grounds outside of Charlestown Township.

Planning Commission Report Mr. Kling updated the progress on the recycling program.

Roadmaster’s Report: Mr. Hiller submitted his monthly report for the Township files. He reported completion of the work on the Green Lane bridge project, mowing throughout the Township, the cleaning of drains and culverts. Mrs. Ewald noted that vegetation around signs need trimming and also requested Mr. Hiller to notify PENNDOT in writing about Foster and Bodine Roads. Mr. Kling reviewed the action of PENNDOT about this time last year - the spraying of roadsides which devastated the vegetation which was retaining and supporting banks. Mrs. Ewald stated she had contacted PENNDOT to see if the Township could obtain some of these contracts and at what rate. Mr. Kohl followed up on this by requesting the specifications and a copy of the contracts to see if this is feasible.

Parks and Recreation Report: Mark Connolly reported on the annual Charlestown picnic which he said was a qualified success. Items which need consideration for next year’s picnic are schedule, location and activities. He also reported that the PMYC football program will start on September 13. PMYC would like to block off the two roads bordering the football field for safety purposes. The placement of the score board, the lighting arrangement, the electrical lines, complaints of surrounding residents and parking problems were discussed. Mr. Kohl needs an updated master plan. In closing, Mr. Connolly stated that the Parks and Recreation Board is short by one member and are looking for a volunteer to fill this vacancy.

The Chairman called attention to the policy of Charlestown Township concerning all applications. She stated that all applications must originate with the Township office. Applicants are not to go through Township consultants nor indirect channels of delivery. Also, there have been occasions when applicants have gone to consultants directly asking for changes or redefinitions of a spoken review. Those kind of decisions are to come back to the Supervisors, policy decisions are not done at consultant levels. The Supervisors will work with the consultant to draft a policy letter to be made available to applicants as needed.

The Kimberton Fire Co. contract was approved at the June 15th meeting and the check for $22,000 was approved for payment under the July 6 Accounts Payable. Mr. Martin stated he has not heard from the Fire Co. in answer to his letter re. the omission of Charlestown Township in their 1991 Financial Statement.

[?]reviewed by the Supervisors and the Township Engineer. According to Mr. Kohli’s letter of June 23, 1992, the lowest responsible bidders were: Delaware Valley Paving Co. - $109,633, Great Valley Materials - $25,625 and Warner Co. - $6,650. Mr. Kling made a motion to approve awarding the bids accordingly. Mr. Martin seconded the motion, it unanimously carried.

After a brief discussion, Mr. Kling moved to approve the Development and Escrow Agreement for the Commons at Great Valley in the amount of $969,590. Mr. Martin seconded the motion, it so carried.

Bill Riggs, attorney for Mr. Rainer, stated that his client wants to purchase one of the upper lots of the Heatherwood Subdivision. At present, no building on the two upper lots is permitted until the storm water management system is proven capable and the four lower lots are developed. The Chairman noted that this Subdivision has never been approved by the Township. Sean O’Neill, attorney for John Samar, is seeking approval of the Subdivision/Land Development/Escrow Agreements. He explained that Mr. Samar needs the money from the sale of the upper lot in order to finance the escrow fund. For the information of Messrs. Riggs and O’Neill, Mrs. Ewald gave a brief history of the Heatherwood Subdivision, listing the numerous problems and violations which have occurred. At the conclusion of a lengthy discussion, the Chairman asked if there was a motion to approve Resolution #458-92 re. the Planning Module for Heatherwood. No motion was made and Heatherwood was tabled until the August 3rd meeting.

The update on Charlestown Hunt was tabled until the August 3rd meeting.

Andrew Stanley, representing Howken Corp. (the present owner of lot 3 of Rolling Meadows Subdivision on Mine Road), is basically asking for approval in principle to demolish the existing residence and construct a new residence. John Diament, the builder for the new residence on the 7 acre lot, gave a presentation showing the site plan, the building plan and a model of the residence. Mrs. Eleanor Morris, representing Elizabeth Bendiner of a neighboring home, protested the visual intrusion of such a large house. Mrs. Ewald suggested the proposed residence be moved down off the top of the hill. After further discussion, this matter was tabled until the August 3rd meeting.

The Chairman reported on a meeting sponsored by the County Commissioners to give additional information to the Townships on the 911 system. This was followed by an unprecedented meeting of the County Association of Township Supervisors expressing concerns about what had been proposed. The issues discussed were cost, emerging technology, no radio frequencies available, incompatibility and municipalities being left out of the process. At the close of the Association’s meeting, Commissioners Dinniman and Martynick addressed the concerns expressed at the meeting. Discussions on the 911 system are continuing.

The County Commissioners, the Supervisors and Mr. Kohl will meet Friday, July 10, 1:30 pm concerning Bridge #178. Mrs. Ewald read a letter received from the Charlestown Historical Society suggesting a joint public/private partnership with the. Township to assist efforts to secure this historical asset. A check was enclosed with the letter. The objective of the Society is to raise $5,000 a year for this fund. Mr. Martin feels the Supervisors should return the money to the Historical Society and let the Society open a special account for lonq term capital expenditures or maintenance expenditures. Mr. Martin does not feel this money should show as excess money at the end of each year causing residents to wonder why taxes are up. Mrs. Ewald will discuss this with the Society.

The Chairman called attention to Ordinance #63-92 which had been approved by the Board at the April 20, 1992 meeting. No fee schedule had been included at that time.

Mrs. Ewald moved that the Non-Residential District Use & Occupancy fee schedule should be $100 per permit. Mr. Kling seconded the motion, it so carried.

The last item on the agenda was the contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concerning the summer work to be done. Mr. McErlane reported that the contract had been approved, subject to several changes (see minutes of June 15, 1992). The revised contract has been sent to the Corps but Mr. McErlane as yet has received no word regarding the matter.

The Chairman made the June 1992 list of correspondence available to the public.

There being no further business, Mr. Kling moved to adjourn the meeting. Mrs. Ewald seconded the motion and it so carried. The meeting was adjourned - 12:07 pm.