Newtown
Township
Board of Supervisors Work Session
September 16, 2002
MINUTES WERE APPROVED at the regular meeting September 25, 2001. MINUTES OF WORK SESSION OF 9/16/02: Mr. Weaver moved to approve the minutes of the work session of 9/16/02; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Goren and passed unanimously.
Members Present: Scott R. Harp, Chairman; Tom Jirele, Vice Chairman; Richard Weaver, Treasurer; Anne Goren, Secretary; Raymond “Skip” Goodnoe, Member; Steve Harris, 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 matters of land acquisition.
REQUEST TO WAIVE APPLICATION FEES
Genesis Community Church, Inc. - Variance Extension for
place of worship in the LI District
Keith Brown and Pastor Don Schuler were present. In a letter dated September 10, 2002,
Genesis Community Church requested that the Board of Supervisors waive a second
application fee in order to extend the use variance for another term, and asked
that they receive a refund of $1,500.00 that the Church paid on July 25,
2002. Mr. Harp asked Mr. Pellegrino to
put this issue on the agenda for the regular meeting on September 25,
2002.
Council Rock High School North - Administrative Costs
for Building Permits for Major Renovations
Mr. Harp cited the letter dated
September 3, 2002 from Timothy Kirby, Superintendent of Council Rock Schools,
to Mr. Pellegrino requesting the waiver of administrative costs associated with
the building permit fees. Mr. Jirele
said that the township has been receiving a lot of “push back” from the school
district regarding the Newtown Trail through school property, and said he would
like to see the schools grant access in front of Newtown Elementary, Goodnoe Elementary and the Middle School in
exchange for fee waiver. Mr. Pellegrino
will contact Dr. Kirby.
Mr. Goodnoe asked about the plan for six requested modulars. The Planning Commission has reviewed them. Mr. Pellegrino will speak to Dr. Kirby for additional information.
Mr. Harp said that other
municipalities were discussing the impact of the teacher contract on taxes, and
distributed a list of possible questions to pose to the school district. He asked for feedback from board members,
and suggested sending a letter of concern to the School Board. Mr. Harp read the proposed questions, and
said that the School Board meets next Thursday night. Mr. Jirele questioned the appropriateness of becoming involved in
school district costs; Mr. Goodnoe felt it was not the board’s business to
become involved in this issue. Ms.
Goren said she would not be comfortable recommending that the board sign or not
sign the proposed contract. Mr. Jirele
said that the public should refer the issue to Newtown Township school board
representative Rick Abramson.
Ms. Goren moved to send a
letter to the Council Rock School Board, to President Bill Burke, copied to the
superintendent, covering the four questions distributed. Mr. Weaver seconded. Ms. Goren amended her motion to send the
letter to all School Board members; Mr. Weaver amended his second. The motion carried, with Mr. Harp, Ms. Goren
and Mr. Weaver voting in favor of the question and Mr. Goodnoe and Mr. Jirele
voting against.
Ms. Crescenzo said that there are
more than just these three issues involved, including the costs of the new high
school, and suggested that the Board contact township School Board
representative Rick Abramson; Mr. Harp will contact Mr. Abramson.
Mr. Iwaskiw asked how the Board
could vote on a letter not yet written, especially since the intent of the
letter is not spelled out.
PRD Variance - Elizabeth
Beasley-Hays - Signing of mylars
Mr. Harp moved to authorize the
signing of the mylars for the PRD variance for the Elizabeth Beasley-Hays
property. Mr. Goodnoe seconded the
motion. The motion carried 4-1, with Goodnoe,
Weaver, Harp and Jirele voting in favor, and Goren voting against.
ACME Visioning Committee Appointments
Mr. Harp presented a memo dated
9/13/02 from committee chairman Vince Lombardi listing persons recommended for
appointment to the ACME Visioning Committee:
Kathy Lesser, Tammy Sutton, Melva Vitoriano, Colleen Rees, and Gail
Laughlin.
Ms. Goren moved, with second by
Mr. Weaver, to appoint the names listed in the memo of 9/13/02 to the ACME
Visioning Committee. The motion carried
3 -2, with Harp, Goren and Weaver voting in favor and Goodnoe and Jirele voting
against.
Mr. Jirele said he was not
inclined to support some of the names suggested because of their lack of
involvement in other committee work, and questioned whether elected officials
should be appointed. Mr. Weaver suggested
that the committee chairman have the power to choose the committee. Mr. Jirele disagreed, saying that is not
usual to have the chairman appoint a township committee, and that it was the
responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to appoint committees. He noted that
there are some business people appointed to the committee, but that there is a
large group of business people in the township that feels that the Board is
unfriendly toward business, and that it might be prudent to include some
interested business people. Mr. Jirele
said he had submitted two additional names of interested business people that
were not on the suggested list: Paul
Salvatore and Linda Mitchell.
Walter Iwaskiw asked where the
Board had gotten the suggested list of names; Mr. Harp said from the
Chairman. Mr. Iwaskiw said he felt that
there were a lot of interested people who are not being appointed to township
committees, and asked the Board why they were not being selected. Mr. Jirele noted that the people he was
suggesting had volunteered early on in the process to be a part of the
committee, and said that the Board should have seen the list of names collected
and sent to Mr. Lombardi.
Ms. Crescenzo said she thought she
remembered discussion at a supervisors’ meeting that the Board would be naming
members, not Mr. Lombardi. She felt
that the names on the suggested list had a particular vision for using the ACME
site, but that others may help provide a broader view.
Mr. Jirele moved, seconded by
Mr. Goodnoe, to appoint Paul Salvatore to the ACME Visioning Committee. The motion was defeated 3-2, with Harp,
Goren and Weaver voting against and Jirele and Goodnoe voting in favor.
Mr. Jirele moved, seconded by
Mr. Goodnoe, to appoint Linda Mitchell to the ACME Visioning Committee. The motion was defeated 3-2, with Harp,
Goren and Weaver voting against and Jirele and Goodnoe voting in favor.
Mr. Jirele moved, seconded by
Mr. Goodnoe, to appoint Nancy Crescenzo to the ACME Visioning Committee. The motion was defeated 3-2, with Harp,
Goren and Weaver voting against and Jirele and Goodnoe voting in favor.
Municipal Complex Expansion
Project
Mr. Pellegrino gave a brief
background of the project to date. He
said that township staff worked with the architect over a 6-month period to
identify space needs for each department, developing a “wish list”. Facilities of comparable communities were visited, with special
attention to how the facilities worked and what mistakes to avoid.
Architect Joe Phillips of Donovan
& Associates presented the program, which had been developed by
departmental meetings. He presented
sketches that laid out building footprints, based on identified needs of each
department, and emphasized that the concepts were very preliminary. Mr. Phillips presented four plans, some of
which would require the purchase of adjacent property. He said that the site survey was complete
and existing facilities had been identified.
He said that after direction from the Board, designs could be developed
and then cost estimates calculated.
Mr. Phillips reviewed the four
site plan proposals, noting that the change in the placement of the addition to
the administration building was due to the increased demand for space and the
avoidance of construction in an area of major utilities, which would have been
quite problematic. Mr. Goodnoe said he
felt that all departments should be housed in the same building if possible;
Mr. Harris said that in most municipal buildings he has seen, police and
administration are not in connected areas.
Mr. Pellegrino noted that the police would like to keep the outdoor
shooting range. Mr. Phillips
recommended that any master plan should include the potential to develop what
might be needed and afforded in the future.
Highlights included:
Plan 1:
· Removal of police garage and removal or relocation of Martindell House
· Records storage in the existing basement
· An emergency management center in the technology area
· Extra police garage space
· Use of existing property
· Police and administration in same area
· Condensing of maintenance facilities
Negatives include:
· Construction very close to property line
· No room for possible needed future expansion
· Possibility of inadequate parking area
Mr. Phillips
noted that a second floor on the administration building could be planned
structurally, but that multiple level buildings can result in awkward
workflow. The Parks & Recreation
Department would be located with administration, and the existing block
maintenance building could be utilized for indoor recreation programming; Mr.
Phillips noted the community meeting buildings on the sketches. Mr. Smith noted, and Mr. Phillips confirmed,
that terrain changes might result in various levels in the one-floor
administration building.
Plan 2:
· Adds to police area, but expands in a different direction
· Requires additional land acquisition - two parcels
· Maintains the Martindell House
· Administration building would be located near the entranceway to 413, requiring additional land acquisition
· New entranceway would be more apparent
· Would keep traffic away from maintenance and truck areas; keep day-to-day traffic separated from maintenance traffic
· Administration would be separate from police
· Shooting range would need to be relocated
·
Includes 50 additional parking spaces
Plan 3:
· Requires additional land acquisition
· Maintenance building to be located off curve of entrance road, moving to the front of the site and primarily utilized for storage.
·
“Thin” side of the maintenance building would face
street, enabling easier buffering.
Mr. Harris asked
if there was any indication that the church would sell any land, and noted that
locating the maintenance building at the front of the property could block any
possible access to the church property.
Mr. Pellegrino said that the church has approved a proposal for the
purchase of two parcels of land (on the frontage); a third parcel has been
added to the proposal, but has not been approved. Mr. Pellegrino felt that they might be agreeable to the sale of
property. He said that even if the
maintenance building was not placed in front, the township might wish to
purchase the property for the future.
Plan 4
·
No particulars discussed.
Mr. Pellegrino listed some of the municipal facilities
visited: Middletown, Bensalem,
Towamencin, Montgomery, Upper Merion, Whitpain, Buckingham, and Warwick. Newer facilities were Middletown, Towamencin,
and Whitpain. Municipalities chosen
were similar size or had similar population.
Mr. Pellegrino said he would like to design the buildings to carry into
the foreseeable future; he felt that, due to the slowing in growth in the
township, municipal facilities should not need to expand again after this
project. Mr. Phillips noted that over
the last ten years the trend has been to increase space for administration. He said that the program he presented
reflects current and future needs; possible growth was considered.
Mr. Pellegrino said he favors plan #2, noting that the
buildings are spaced out well. He said
he didn’t think that #1 provided enough parking; the zoning code had not yet
been checked with regard to parking. He
said that #2 would preserve Martindell House, and he liked the placement of
Public Works in one area, out of the way and screened. He noted that community meeting rooms are
provided in all scenarios.
Mr. Pellegrino said he had appraisal numbers for the
church properties, to be discussed in executive session. He reiterated that he thought the extra
parcel of land (included in plan 3) was worth acquiring.
Ms. Crescenzo asked about the impact of expansion on
traffic and the relationship to the office development planned for across
413. Mr. Harris said that there has
been discussion about having only one entrance to the office complex.
Ms. Crescenzo asked about the possible expenditure of tax
dollars to purchase additional land in several plans presented, and how the
additional meeting space in an expansion might impact any proposed community
center. Mr. Harp said he would like to
accommodate some recreation programming space in the expansion, and that there
would be time for public input when the public meeting space is discussed. Mr. Harp and Ms. Goren said it was premature
to judge any impact on a community center.
Mr. Jirele said he would like to see the department wish
lists. Mr. Pellegrino noted that much
of the added square footage was in Public Works, which would include open space
not built out. He said he would get the
space program for Mr. Jirele. Ms. Goren
said she would like to know which plan/configuration the staff prefers. Mr. Pellegrino said that Public Works would
like their facilities together, and that there seems to be no preference by
administration or police for being in the same building. Mr. Pellegrino noted that the intent for the
old schoolhouse has always been to be utilized for community meeting space; the
old maintenance building could be used for Park & Recreation programming
space. He said that the larger proposed
meeting room would be multipurpose, with separating walls for dividing the
space as needed.
Mr. Harp said that the next step in the project is
budgeting. Mr. Jirele noted that the
Board needs to determine the use of space and what budget would be available
for the project.
Ms. Crescenzo asked about expenses thus far for the
project. Mr. Pellegrino said that
$25,000 has been budgeted for this year, and thought that approximately $12,000
has been spent to date. A site surveys has been completed. It was clarified that it is too early to
determine exact costs, or even estimates, of cost differences between the
various plans proposed. It was
clarified that preliminary estimates do not include furnishing costs.
Mr. Goodnoe expressed the desire to expand to provide
enough space into the future, but not to over expand. He said that the township should purchase the two parcels on
either side of the entrance driveway.
He thought that the proposed expansion looks too large, and questioned
space needs in some areas.
The Board members favored plans #1 and #2, which includes
land acquisition; discussion will continue in executive session. Mr. Harp recognized Mr. Pellegrino for his
work on the municipal expansion project.
Other Business
Mr. Harp reported
that a member of the International Celebration, planned for September 29, 2002,
has asked the township if it wishes to have a bocce team; there was interest
expressed. He will contact the
committee.
Historic House at Newtown Rental
Mr. Harp referred to a memo from Mr. Jirele regarding the
historic house on Newtown Rental property.
He said that few potential buyers have been found. Mr. Wilson has proposed subdividing the
property, so the new owner of the house would receive the property free with
the house and would be responsible for the cost of moving the house onto the
property. It was clarified that the
township would want a façade easement.
Mr. Wilson is looking for a change in zoning to LI and waiving fees for
some undefined expansion. Mr. Jirele
said Mr. Wilson feels that some situations, such as missed deadlines by the
township and procurement of easements for the Newtown Trail, have resulted in
extra costs, and he would like some consideration from the township.
Mr. Jirele suggested that the township should decide what
items requested by Mr. Wilson were negotiable and should enter into
negotiations with Mr. Wilson to determine what might be agreeable to both
parties. Mr. Harris asked what it was
worth to save the historic house, and said one issue is whether the township
can force restoration of the house.
Ms. Goren said she was willing to make it easier to move
the house, but would not be willing to waive fees unless they were related to
movement of the house. Mr. Harris noted
that there are two sets of costs to be addressed, the cost involved in moving
the house and costs involved with the undefined expansion. Mr. Goodnoe asked if there were any
utilities in the roadbed, on Old Newtown Yardley Road between Newtown-Yardley
Road and Old Frost Road; it was thought not.
Mr. Jirele will ask Mr. Wilson for sketch plans for his
proposed expansion, and discuss the issue with him.
Roberts Ridge Park
Mr. Harp reminded the Board of the grand opening of the
park this Sunday at 4:00 pm. There will
be a short ceremony and ribbon cutting.
Lakeview Estates
Mr. Jirele asked if the final dedication of roads included
the trail in Lakeview Estates. It was
clarified that the trail is not part of the Newtown Trail and is maintained by
the homeowners’ association. Mr. Jirele
noted that pine trees still needed to be moved back from the trail.
Clark Property
Ms. Crescenzo said she saw note of the Clark Property
“grand opening” and asked when this was planned. Mr. Harp said issues of access are being discussed now, and said
that the opening date has been set for October 26. She said she was not aware that there would be limited public
access to the park.
Work Session Agenda
Ms. Crescenzo requested that the work session agenda be
posted on the cable TV announcements.
School Board Reapportionment
Ms. Crescenzo felt that there should be more discussion
regarding the school board reapportionment, and if the Board had any new
information. Mr. Harris said a meeting
is scheduled for September 18, 2002.
Traffic at Acme Shopping Center
Mr. Iwaskiw said that there was a problem with green
arrows and green lights at the intersection at the entrance to the new Acme
shopping center. Mr. Pellegrino said he
had spoken to traffic engineer Phil Wursta regarding the creation of another
phase, and said he would follow up with Mr. Wursta. Mr. Iwaskiw also suggested moving the light further left, to
avoid confusion with the light for the center lane.
LaStalla
Mr. Iwaskiw asked if approval had been given to LaStalla
for the outdoor bar or the new canopy that has appeared. Mr. Pellegrino said he would refer the
matter to the code enforcement department, and that the issue of the statue
will be discussed by the Zoning Hearing Board.
Applebee’s signs
Mr. Iwaskiw asked if the signs at Applebee’s have changed,
in particular with regard to the new “take out” signage. Mr. Pellegrino said the Applebee’s would be
going to the Zoning Hearing Board to request approval for take-out use.
Adjournment
Without objection, the meeting was adjourned at 10:15 pm. Executive session followed.
Respectfully Submitted by:
_____________________________
Leslie Dunleavy, Recording Secretary