A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors was conducted on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 commencing at 7:00 p.m. Chairman, Mr. Reynolds called the meeting to order. Present was Supervisor Mr. Moore and Supervisor Mr. Taylor, Mr. O’Keefe, Township Solicitor, Township Engineer, Mr. MacCombie, and members of the community.
A moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance was observed.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Moore, to waive the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, to adopt the minutes of the previous meeting. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Police Report: Chief Ranck reported that during the month of September there were 3,742 miles patrolled and 360 incidents answered by Sadsbury Township police and 28 incidents answered by the Pennsylvania State Police. The Police incident report is as follows: assault with injuries 1, property damage crash 5, DOA or possible 1, alarm carbon monoxide 1, alarm fire 2, alarm police 6, animal complaint 4, assist to other police department 22, business check 113, credit card theft/fraud 3, criminal mischief/vandalism 1, depositing waste and/or litter 1, disturbance 5, domestic disturbance 6, DUI related crash 1, emotional disorder 1, erratic driver 3, escort person or money 1, extra patrol request 1, false ID to law enforcement 1, for police department information 7, house/vacation check 10, identity theft 2, medical emergency 25, misc police nature 11, noise complaint 2, Township park check 13, public service 3, public service call 1, police report 18, suspicious condition 7, suspicious vehicle 3, theft 2, theft from vehicle 1, traffic general hazards 10, traffic stop 22, warrant hit or service 1, and well being check 3. The September 2018 criminal arrests are as follows: 2 burglaries, 2 criminal trespass, criminal conspiracy, access device fraud, theft, receiving stolen property, false ID to law enforcement.
Public Works Report: For the month of September the Public Works Department spent the majority of its time maintaining Township owned properties with mowing and weed trimming, maintaining our storm water drain system, replacing or repairing several road signs, and basic maintenance of our vehicles and other equipment. Roadside mowing has been completed Township wide. Due to heavy rains this past month, we have experienced several sink holes in the area of either our storm or sewer lines. Two of these sink holes were by our estimation considered major and had to be addressed with urgency. The first sink hole is located between Belvedere And Spaulding Avenues within our sewer line at manhole #35 and the other is located in Quarry Ridge Development on Flagstone Circle in the area of the storm drain and pipe. Both have been filled in and caution taped off for safety purposes. We will continue to monitor both these sink holes until they are stabilized and safe. For the month of September, we have increased the frequency of checking and clearing storm drains due to an increase of heavy rains. We have also had a spike in illegal dumping this month. Such items as televisions, deer carcasses and bags of trash have been dumped. These illegal acts mainly occurred on Greenbelt right in front of the “NO DUMPING” sign. Methods to catch the perpetrators are under way. Also for the month of September, we have begun preparing plows for the upcoming winter season by inspecting, performing maintenance and replacing worn or damaged parts. We will have all plows ready to go to work by the end of October. The equipment hours were 10.9 and the vehicle miles were 625.7.
Mr. Reynolds stated that he has received numerous calls from Melinda Williams about a problem with a grassy lot at the side of her home. Jim Dickey is aware and has tried to contact an owner for the lot. Mr. Taylor stated the Public Works Department cannot go on private property to mow grass.
Emergency Management Report: Mr. Taylor reported that he has received many emails from the County about a “boil water” advisory at Lincoln Crest Trailer Park. Usually they will let me know when the advisory is lifted. The county is holding it’s “Winter Weather Coordination Meeting” on Wednesday, October 24th. The Public Works department will attend this meeting.
Keystone Valley Fire Department: For the month of September, the Keystone Valley Fire Department responded to 29 calls for: fire 15, rescue/medical assist 6, good intent 7, and fire police 1. The response by municipality is as follows: Sadsbury Township 0, West Sadsbury Township 11, Highland Township 2, Parkesburg Borough 12, and Out of District 4. The average response by personnel per call was 8 with a total of 213 personnel for combined response hours of 142.65 hours. The average dispatch time to on scene was 10.08 minutes. There were 2 in-house trainings with 29 members attending for 58 hours combined training hours. The fire units traveled 1,052 miles and used 190.3 gallons of fuel. The ambulance(s) traveled 2,750 miles and used 285.9 gallons of fuel. There were 28 total hours of maintenance on all apparatus with a total cost of $10,967.31. The Keystone Valley EMS Division responded to a total of 90 calls for: treated/transported BLS 38, treated/transported ALS 24, No services required 11, patient refusal 9, recalled on route 2, treat and release 2, treat and transfer 1, recalled on scene 1, and DOA 2. The municipal break-down is as follows: Parkesburg Borough 29, Sadsbury Township 33, West Sadsbury Township 22, Highland Township 2, and Out of District 4.
Sadsbury Fire Company Report: For the month of September, the Sadsburyville Fire Company responded to 16 calls for: 1 Building fire, 5 auto accidents, 6 automatic fire alarms, 1 public service, 1 carbon monoxide alarm, 1 house fire, and 1 electrical fire inside. There were 129 volunteer firefighters responding with the average of 8 firefighters per call. There were 143 miles traveled with an average of 8.9 miles per call. The time in service was 12 hours and 28 minutes with an average time in service of 46.75 minutes per call. The average response time dispatched to on route was 4.1 minutes and the average response time dispatched to on scene was 6.8 minutes. The response per municipality is as follows: Sadsbury Township 10, Valley Township 3, Parkesburg 1, West Fallowfield 1, and west Sadsbury 1. There were 205 hours of combined firefighter training hours.
Township Engineer Report: Mr. MacCombie reported he has an Engineering Escrow release of funds for Sadsbury Arcadia Associates, LP for Sadsbury Park Phase 3B in the amount of $884.37 for the Board’s approval.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Moore, to approve an Engineering Escrow release of funds for Sadsbury Arcadia Associates, LP for Sadsbury Park Phase 3B in the amount of $884.37 per Mr. MacCombie’s recommendation. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. MacCombie reported he has an Engineering Escrow release of funds for Rock Holdings, PA LLC for office/assembly & Manufacturing facility on Patriot Way in the amount of $1,950.62 for the Board’s approval.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Moore, to approve an Engineering Escrow release of funds for Rock Holdings PA LLC for office/assembly & manufacturing facility on Patriot in the amount of $1,950.62 per Mr. MacCombie’s recommendation. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. MacCombie reported he has an Engineering Escrow release of funds for CTDI building expansion land development in the amount of $4,781.87 for the Board’s approval.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Moore, to approve an Engineering Escrow release of funds for CTDI building expansion land development in the amount of $4,781.87 per Mr. MacCombie’s recommendation. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. MacCombie stated that Eric Carlson from Arcadia Land Company is here to ask for dedication of certain roads in the Sadsbury Park Development. Mr. MacCombie stated that Dennis O’Neil from his office inspected the roads that Mr. Carlson wants to dedicate to the Township and his recommendation was not to accept Folin Street. Folin Street is a dead-end street that ends in an alley. The other side of the alley there is a fire hydrant, electric bank, and telephone and cable lines. Mr. O’Neil doesn’t know how the plow truck would turn around and where will the snow go if there are a couple feet of snow. It is not a standard cul-de-sac, it is a dead end. Mr. Carlson stated he met with Mr. O’Neil and the Public Works Department. He says this is a standard road that the Township approved and true, the road ends in an alley. The Township trash disposal company uses the alley all the time to turn around. Mr. Carlson stated he knows there can be coordination between the HOA and the Township. The HOA will plow the alleys. Sadsbury Park has motorized side walk snow removers. Mr. Carlson stated they will remove the mailboxes and street signs on the street. He doesn’t believe the HOA should own the roads. He would like to resolve this tonight; if the Township doesn’t want Folin Street, it will be on the HOA.
Mr. Taylor stated when they did the test on the roads for emergency vehicles, they used Coatesville apparatus which has rear steering. Everything looks good in the summer but the winter time is tough. If the roads were wider, it would be a lot better.
Paul Chambers of Sadsbury Park feels it would be a good decision to take something that is not quite right and make it work.
Simon Jessey stated that if cars are not parked on the street, there is plenty of room for trucks to use it. The plow company plows as soon as it starts to snow, it is not a huge road.
Mr. Reynolds feels the Township needs to adopt a “snow emergency “ so that when it snows, cars are not on the street.
Mr. Carlson will move the mailboxes and place bollards and the end of Folin Street.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, to accept Folin Street and North Harner Boulevard in Phase 4C of Sadsbury Park and the portion of Fox Trail between South Harner Boulevard and Sadsbury Village and the portion of South Harner Boulevard that is between Fox Trail and Old Wilmington Road in Phase 2A of Sadsbury Park with the condition that the mailboxes are removed and bollards installed. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Township Solicitor Report: Mr. O’Keefe stated the sale of the sewer system should be approved by the end of the year. If there are any modifications that need to be done, it could be early next year.
Mr. O’Keefe stated that Edward Theurkauf will meet with Jamie MacCombie and David Biloon to see what he has to fixate on the Landscape Ordinance. Carol Menke will be contacted, also. The Township Planning Commission will be asked for ideas, too. Mr. O’Keefe would like to take this to the Planning Commission in November or December. Once the draft ordinance is prepared, it will go to the Chester County Planning Commission. This could take up to 60 days. It could probably be adopted in the spring of next year.
Mr. O’Keefe stated that the Sadsbury Associates would like to build commercial properties and residential over the commercial on the south side of Rt. 30 between Blackberry Lane and Octorara Road. They have been to the Planning Commission and have a recommendation from them. The Conditional Use will be scheduled for the Wednesday, November 7, 2018 meeting.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Moore, to authorize Mr. O’Keefe advertise the Conditional Use Hearing of Sadsbury Associates. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Township Planning Commission Report: The regular Planning Commission meeting was held September 12, 2018 commencing at 7:00 pm. Mr. Todd Wilson of 33 Octorara Road came before the Planning Commission with a concept of a subdivision and possible zoning change. It was suggested he contact a land planner and have a sketch plan prepared.
Randy White of Sadsbury Associates asked the Planning Commission to review his Conditonal Use Application. Mr. White is seeking to build a 37,000 square foot commercial building with 84 residential units over the commercial on the south side of Route 30 between Blackberry Lane and Octorara Road. The Planning Commission was concerned with the height and the scale of the buildings.
At the Planning Commission Special meeting on September 26, 2018, Mr. White came back with a revision to his plan. The new plan is to have 6 buildings instead of 3, have apartments over the retail business and take out the dormers on the buildings. The commercial will be reduced to 33,000 square feet with 76 residential units. A motion was made and seconded to send the plan to the Board of Supervisors for a Conditional Use Hearing.
It was also suggested that the Board of Supervisors need to finish up the Zoning Ordinance Update, and it should be placed on the budget for next year.
Chester County Airport Update: Mr. Roberts reported that the Airport Authority met today. The owner of the Whip restaurant is in the process of opening the restaurant at the airport. The control tower is on schedule. If the Township wishes to have fireworks in the future, they need to contact Gary Hudson a couple months I advance. He will need to know the height and the duration of the fireworks.
Payment of Invoices:
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, to pay the September 2018 General Fund invoices in the amount of $202,842.45. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, to pay the September 2018 Sanitary Sewer invoices in the amount of $119,601.83. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
New Business
Trick or Treat in Sadsbury Township will be held on Wednesday, October 31, 2018 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for children 12 years old and under.
Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, discontinue the cleaning service for the Township Building and hire Christina Hopkins to clean the Township building and the bathrooms at Bert Reel Park in the summer season. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting, “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Reynolds stated the Township has received a 2018 fire extinguisher price list from Biddle Fire Protection. He would like to have the same from Kessler O’Brien to compare with the Biddle list. Mr. Reynolds would like the Road Department to get an inventory list from Biddle.
Public Comment:
Mr. Moore stated he has received a complaint from a resident on Skiles Road about a pipe under the road washing away. Could Mr.MacCombie take a look at it? Mr. Taylor stated the problem is water coming out of West Caln. Mr. MacCombie stated there is almost no cover there and it would have to be reinforced concrete. Mr. MacCombie will take a look at it.
A Sadsbury Park resident wanted to know if the storm water facility at Chamberlain and Boyce would remain. Mr. Carlson stated it is a wet floodplain basin to collect storm water run-off. Once the water shed is stabilized, grass will be planted, and it will remain.
Mr. Jessey stated the snow fence on Washington Lane is in bad shape. He remembers it was gifted to the Township. Mr. Taylor stated that a business in Valley Township demanded Sadsbury Township put up a snow fence, so they could get their trucks in and out of Washington Lane. Sadsbury did not do it as it would have no effect to help the residents of Sadsbury Township. Sadsbury Township does not have the manpower to take the fence down.
There is a resident of Chestnut and Middle Street complaining of speeding. The road is posted at 25 mph and people fly down the road. Kids are riding their bikes and cars are going 50 mph and she is afraid someone will get hurt. 4 wheelers are also speeding on the road. Sergeant Imhoff will take the speed trailer to the area. The police will not chase 4 wheelers, but if anyone recognizes who they are, if the get caught; the police will take their 4 wheeler.
Judy Klingman wants to remind everyone to get out and vote on Tuesday, November 6th
Simon Jessey would like to thank both fire companies for participating in the Community Day events.
Mr. Taylor would like to thank everyone for their help.
Mr. Reynolds stated that because of election day on Tuesday, November 6, the Township meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 7, 2018.
With there being no further business, Mr. Reynolds made a motion, seconded by Mr. Taylor, to adjourn the meeting. With there being no questions from the public, the Board voting “aye”, the motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Linda Shank
Secretary