Newtown
Township
Board of Supervisors Work Session
AUGUST 19, 2002
MINUTES WERE APPROVED at the regular meeting August 28, 2002. MINUTES OF WORK SESSION ON 8/19/02: Mrs. Goren moved to approve the minutes of the work session of 8/19/02; the motion was seconded by Mr. Weaver and passed unanimously, with Mr. Jirele abstaining
Members
Present:
Scott R. Harp, Chairman; Richard Weaver, Treasurer; Anne Goren, Secretary;
Raymond “Skip” Goodnoe, Member; Dave Sander, Solicitor; Robert M. Pellegrino,
Township Manager; Gerald Smith, Engineer.
Call
to Order: Chairman Harp called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. He announced that the meeting would end with
an executive session to discuss personnel matters. Mr. Harp also announced that the Swamp Road/PennDOT resolution
was not on the agenda and would not be discussed at this meeting, as was
erroneously reported.
School District Matters
Mr. Harp
said that item #4 had been deleted from the agenda, as the school district has
withdrawn its request to use township fields.
He said he has asked Mr. Pellegrino to speak with Police Chief Duffy
regarding the upcoming traffic situation resulting from the split session
scheduling this fall at North High School.
Mr. Pellegrino said he has spoken to Chief Duffy, who is in contact with
the school district.
Mr. Iwaskiw
asked about the status of the reapportionment of representation on the school
board. Mr. Sander reported that no
decision has been made, and that involved parties have 30 days to develop
stipulation of facts. This is being
done to establish facts of record. Mr.
Sander said there is a conference scheduled for September 18, 2002 to meet with
the judge regarding the stipulation of facts.
Consortium Pipe Bid
Mr. Pellegrino explained that this bidding process for
storm water devices is done annually, and that the results of the bidding were
in the Board’s packet in a memo from Tom Harwood. The Board had no questions; this issue will be placed on the
agenda for the August 28, 2002 meeting, under Manager’s Report.
Linton Hill Road Box Culvert Replacement
Mr. Smith reported that the roadway work is completed, but
the road is not open, as all the components for the guardrail are not on
site. He said that the guardrail is in
transit and should arrive in a day or two; installation will take one day. Mr. Smith said that all inspections are
complete, and that the road should be open by the end of the week.
Mr. Pellegrino said that the first request for payment,
totaling $69,000, had been received from Professional Construction Contractors,
Inc., and would be included, along with two or three additional payment
requests, on the August 28, 2002 agenda, under the Engineer’s Report.
Intergovernmental Agreement - Discussion
Mr. Harp said that the draft of the letter to the Lower
Makefield Township Manager concerning the Intergovernmental Agreement is a
response to explain why the township did not take action on the agreement. Mr. Harp reviewed and the Board discussed
the draft:
· In item #4, Mr. Pellegrino suggested adding the possibility for a connection with CAU at the proposed Brandywine Rd. Ms. Goren thought there was township right of way involved, but Mr. Pellegrino was not aware of any. He will check, and if there is a township right of way he will bring the issue back to the Board.
·
In item #2, Ms. Goren said she was concerned with cars
traveling from the proposed Brandywine Rd. through the ICT property and onto Lindenhurst Rd. She felt there would be too much traffic and
that sight distance was a problem. She
said that the entrance to Lindenhurst should be closed. Mr. Goodnoe said that such a suggestion
didn’t belong in this letter and that the Township cannot force ICT to close
its driveway entrance. Ms. Goren said
Lower Makefield should be aware of the issue.
Mr. Harp said that the letter should be temperate and engender
discussion.
Mr. Pellegrino noted that this letter just described why
the Board objected to the agreement, and suggested that the letter mention that
there is a possibility of a connection between Road B (on the included map) and
Lindenhurst through ICT.
Ms. Cresenczo felt that the two issues of the letter and
suggestions of changes were different issues.
On the issue of Lindenhurst, Ms. Cresenczo asked about the benefits
and/or costs of the township taking back Lindenhurst. Ms. Goren said that if the township took back Lindenhurst it
would be responsible for liability and maintenance of the ½ mile of the road
that is in the township. Mr. Harp said
mentioned possible liability; Ms. Goren said that if Brandywine Road was built,
the traffic would increase and possibly liability as well. Mr. Goodnoe’s concern was that Lindenhurst
doesn’t function as a local street, but functions more as a regional road. Mr. Harp added the issue to the agenda for
the August 28, 2002 meeting.
Employee Performance Evaluation Policy
Mr. Pellegrino presented the policy revisions. He said that the process is moving more away
from self-evaluation toward department head/supervisory evaluation. Performance reviews would be done annually
in the fall, September or October, and the evaluation discussed in a formal
meeting. The employee would have an
opportunity for self-evaluation; the supervisor’s evaluation would become part
of the personnel file. Mr. Pellegrino
proposed two forms for evaluation, one for non-exempt and one for exempt
employees; he will refine the forms further.
It was clarified that pay raises for exempt employees are based on
performance reviews.
Mr. Pellegrino suggested the adoption of the new policy as
an amendment to the Administrative Code,
but the evaluation forms should not be included in the Code because they
could have more frequent revisions than the Code.
Ms. Goren was concerned with the appeal process. She asked whom an appeal would go to after
the Township Manager. Mr. Pellegrino
said that the appeals policy could be deleted.
The Board would hear any grievances brought by union employees through
the grievance procedure in collective bargaining agreements. Mr. Harp asked Mr. Pellegrino to check with
other municipal officials to see how they handle appeals. The issue will be added to the agenda for
the August 28, 2002 meeting.
Road Tour
Mr. Harp said that he would be looking for dates for a
road tour by the Board, to help re-familiarize the Board with township
roads. Ms. Cresenczo asked about a map
of the roads to be viewed. Mr.
Pellegrino noted that the Second Class Township Code had been amended to remove
the requirement for a road tour. Mr.
Sander said that the Board may need to advertise the tour, but he would double
check. Mr. Iwaskiw suggested that
residents could express their concerns and issues with roadways before the
tour, and then the Board could view the particular sites of these concerns.
Acme Building Committee
Ms. Cresenczo asked if there was a meeting date set for
the Acme Building Committee. Mr.
Pellegrino said that Bob White from the Redevelopment Authority would be
meeting with the administration to set meeting dates and said he would notify
Ms. Cresenczo of the dates. Ms.
Cresenczo noted that there were no women on the committee, and said she felt
that having some committee members who were also on the YMCA committee
presented a conflict of interest.
Adjournment
Without objection, the
meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm.
Executive session followed.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Leslie. Dunleavy, Recording
Secretary 8/23/02