CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP
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The Charlestown Township Board of Supervisors held their second meeting in November on Monday the 15th at the Charlestown Elementary School, Charlestown Road, Devault.
| Present: | Irene W. Ewald, Chairman; John C. Martin, Jr., Vice Chairman; Vincent G. Kling, Sr., Member; James E.McErlane, Esq.;Surender S. Kohli, P.E.; Ruth W. Buckwalter, Secretary; those on the attached list of attendees |
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 8:05 pm.
Announcements: The Chairman announced the following: Nov. 8 - the first budget meeting to begin the drafting of the 1994 Budget was attended by Mrs. Csete, Mrs. Ewald, Messrs. Martin, Kling and Sauser; Nov. 9 - 2 meetings having to do with the VFAH which dealt with their final remedial investigation report. their decision document and the Hodgkin Cluster The next step in process is a remediation plan; Mrs. Ewald met with Louise Wennberg and reviewed the RAM report on readdressing the Township; Nov.15 a.m. - Mrs. Ewald attended a meeting held by Representative Carole Rubley for Phoenixville, Charlestown, Schuylkill, East Pikeland and Tredyffrin to discuss Tax Reform and Growth Management, neither of which received a favorable review.
Under Old Business, the first item was the Ordinance revision proposed by Mr. Martin at the November 1St meeting, having to do with the number of houses on a shared driveway. Currently, the Ordinance provides for a maximum of 3 lots on a shared driveway. The modification being proposed is that, under certain conditions, an additional 2 lots may qualify. Mrs. Ewald read the proposed amendment aloud and then entertained a motion to approve sending the revision to the Chester County and the Charlestown Township Planning Commissions. Mr. Kling so moved, Mr. Martin seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
Citizens Forum: The Chairman opened the meeting to the public for anyone to address any issue. Marcia Solda inquired as to the present status of the Eastwick Subdivision. Mrs. Ewald replied that this Plan has been appealed to the Court of Common Pleas and the Township was served on November 10th. Mr. Martin said he feels the appeal is a protective appeal and another proposal has since been sent to the Eastwick’s Attorney. Mr. Colagreco, representing the Three Ponds residents, stated that he had made a request to John D. Snyder, Esq., who had agreed to his request, that he be provided with copies of whatever is being proposed as a settlement. He
has not received anything. Mrs. Ewald said that, in the re-draft, a number of items that were in the Order were deleted from the Order and moved to the Covenants and Restrictions. Two items added were 1)escrow for lots 1, 2, 3, 4 in the event of a single buyer, 2)what constituted maintenance on the open space parcel. Mrs. Ewald requested Mr. McErlane to send a black line copy of the above to Mr. Colagreco and to Mrs. Lubinski.
At this time, a date for the Ordinance revision hearing was brought up. Mr. Kohli said that the Charlestown Planning Commission recommended the change at their last meeting. The Chairman then requested Mr. McErlane to see that the County Planning Commission received a copy and to advertise the hearing.
Schulze Subdivision: Many of the issues discussed at previous meetings were again brought to the Board by Jordan Cox and Michael DiPiano, residents of the Horseshoe Trail. These included a set number of days for new residence to be completed, destruction of the Trail during construction, the present house which is unsaleable, the previous uncooperative spirit of the Schulze family in road maintenance, possible financial problems, the lack of communication from the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to Mr. Cox and Mr. Jordan when this subdivision was on their agendas. A lengthy discussion ensued. At the conclusion, Mr. Kling said that the Supervisors do not have the authority to require a residence to be completed within a certain time frame. Mr. Martin agreed and stated that most of these issues are between the two parties and not the Board. Following more discussion, Mr. Kling moved that this Project be approved. Mrs. Ewald added these conditions to approval:
- the road will be widened to 18 feet,
- at no time will this road be blocked to any vehicles,
- Mr. Schulze will inspect the road daily to identify and remedy damage caused by construction vehicles, Mr. Kohli will inspect the road if there is any dispute on this,
- escrow be established for road maintenance. Subject to these conditions, Mrs. Ewald seconded the motion for approval. The motion carried unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was Route #29. The Chairman noted there were 3 items for the Board’s attention. At this time, Mr. Kling said that Rt. #29 has been on the agenda so often, but if there was action to be taken, the Board should do that and that alone. The Chairman moved on to the next order of business.
Tim Townes presented the Preliminary Spring Oaks Plan to the Board and stated that, at the last meeting of the Planning Commission, the Plan was recommended for approval. Items discussed tonight were the placement of Rees Road and the buffer area, keeping in mind the impact of the neighboring Charlestown Brae Plan; nine plans of the nine lots of Spring Oaks will be submitted in the near future; other placement of berms and buffers; the placement of future buildings; list of 17 notes submitted by William Huganir, Esq.; relocation of the Horseshoe Trail; status of the contamination under the springhouse; traffic issues including the extension of Warner Lane and traffic signals; historic structures (form A of Planning Module). Mrs. Ewald said she would like to see the plans and supporting documentation, also, the off site improvements. Mr. Townes was requested to give a time extension in writing, which he did at the conclusion of this meeting.
Mr. Martin proposed the 1994 Budget be amended as follows: $300 to item #411.15 for a jacket and hat for the Fire Marshal, item #400.02 be reduced from $2,000 to $1,000 and the remainder of funds from these two items be added to road maintenance. The changes were discussed. Mrs. Ewald seconded Mr. Martin’s proposal and the amendments to the 1994 Budget were unanimously approved. Mrs. Csete will advertise.
The Chairman called attention to monies owed to Escrow Accounts by a number of developers. She would like to have this cleared up in the next 3 months. Mr. McErlane stated the Township can sue but cannot lien these properties.
The next item the Chairman brought up was the present lease with the Nature Center for the Township office. It was agreed to renew the lease for another year.
The Chairman stated that the issue of Bridge #178 needs to be dealt with by the Board. She noted that we have the proposed drawing and the proposed language and she asked Mr. Kohli to review the drawings and make recommendations. This will be on the December 6th agenda.
The option to regulate Cable TV will be on the next agenda for discussion.
The Chairman requested authorization for a check to be drafted to the Basketball Booster’s Club. The request was denied by Mr. Martin and Mr. Kling.
Mr. Martin brought up the Bonnie Rogers’ hearing. Mr. McErlane responded that there are some “house cleaning provisions” that didnt get picked up. He would like to do this before advertising and suggested the hearing be held on December 20th The Board agreed to this.
Mr. McErlane suggested setting a date for the LauraBrooke hearing. Mrs. Ewald stated that Mr. Mondzelewski’s check bounced after he submitted his application, does this change the date of the application? Mr. McErlane said the Board could take the position that the filing was incomplete. Mrs. Ewald suggested the hearing be opened on December 20th and then be continued in order to be covered legally on the time limit. Follow up dates will be January 3, 10, 17 in 1994.
Route #29:
The Chairman noted the following 2 items –- Representative Carole Rubley wrote a letter to Stephen Lester, PENNDOT, to try to set up a meeting,
- East Whiteland and the State Police were running a safety check on trucks last week in Charlestown Township near the East Whiteland boundary line.
All business completed, Mr. Martin moved to adjourn and Mrs. Ewald seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Ruth W. Buckwalter
Secretary