NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP SYCAMORE STREET COMMITTEE
A Reconstruction Project of Newtown Township
100 MUNICIPAL DRIVE
NEWTOWN, PA
TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2002
8:00 PM
Minutes of 5-14-02: Mr. Merjeski moved to approve the minutes. Mr. McLean advised the committee on one change to the minutes, on page 4, item #2 HARB would like the street lighting to resemble Yardley’s street lighting not Doylestown’s. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wilson and passed unanimously, with 3 members abstaining.
The
Sycamore Street Committee met on Tuesday, May 14, 2002, in the Newtown Township
Municipal Building at 8:00 p.m. In
attendance were Chairman Vince Lombardi, Vice Chairman Frank Tyrol, Members Joe
Merjeski, Jerry DeYoung and Shannon Wilson.
Planning Commission Member Karen Doorley. Newtown Borough Liaison Barry Dinneen and Terry McLean
representing HARB. Not in attendance
were Members David Burns and Daniel Faust and Planning Commission Members James
Bowe and James Ott.
Also present were Supervisor Tom Jirele, Tom McLearnon
representing Chandler Hall, Nelson Shaffer representing Pennoni Associates
Inc., Resident James Kurtz, Bob Bebon representing Newtown Presbyterian Church
and staff writer Jean-Paul Lautenschlager representing Focus on Newtown.
The
Meeting was called to order at 8:02 PM.
Special Announcements:
Mr. Lombardi advised the committee that the T-21 grant has been
awarded.
Minutes
of 4-9-02: Mr. DeYoung moved to approve
the minutes. The motion was seconded by
Mr. McLean and passed unanimously, with 1 member abstaining.
Additions
to the Minutes of 4-9-02:
The
committee discussed the Sycamore Street Project Schedule.
March 22, 2002 Submit Right-of-Way Plats and Legal
Descriptions to Township – Mr. Lombardi advised the committee that the Legal
Descriptions have been submitted. He
should be receiving the Plats by this weekend.
Mr. Shaffer advised the committee he has told McMahon to give him the
plans, as they are ready, not to wait until all of them are complete. He also told them to do the same for the
plats. Mr. Lombardi agreed that would
also work for the plats.
March 29, 2002 Submit Pavement design to Department -
Has been submitted – Mr. Shaffer advised he would track McMahon’s
progress. Mr. Lombardi advised he would
also track.
April 15, 2002 Preliminary PS&E (Plan
Specification & Estimates) Submission to Department. Mr. Shaffer advised the committee to have
McMahon submit the Preliminary PS&E now to get it into the PennDot
system. Any final changes would be made
between now and the final PS&E submission.
This would help keep the project going.
Mr. Shaffer felt the date might change to April 30, 2002. Mr. Merjeski asked when would be a good time
to schedule a meeting for the township residents and business owners to review
the plan. Mr. Shaffer suggested some
time in April or May. Mr. Lombardi
advised he wanted to wait until after meeting the April 15th date to
schedule a public meeting.
April 19, 2002 Submission to Bucks County
Conservation District – Mr. Shaffer advised the committee he felt if there were
any problems there would be enough time to resolve them. This date might also be pushed back to April
30, 2002.
Apr 15 to July 31, 2002 Coordination with Utility Companies –
Mr. Lombardi advised he has spoken with the Sewer Authority and they are ready
to sign off on the D-419. The committee
discussed the status of the other utility companies. Mr. Shaffer explained the process and expressed concern with
meeting the July 31st deadline.
Mr. Shaffer advised he would push McMahon to meet the July 31st
deadline.
May 17 to Sept. 1, 2002 Plan Revisions per PennDot review
comments – Mr. Faust asked what would be happening during this time
period. Mr. Shaffer advised this work
was to be completed by McMahon. The
reason for the big time gap is PennDot comments probably won’t be received
until some time in June or July. That
would give McMahon approximately one-month turn around to complete the
comments.
July 31, 2002 Project Utility Clearance (Form
D-419) – Mr. Shaffer expressed concerns with meeting this deadline. He advised he would push McMahon. He reassured the committee that the D-419’s
would be signed for the Final PS&E Submission.
Sept. 1, 2002 Final PS&E Submission (includes
easement and R/W Acquisition Documentation) – Mr. Shaffer advised the committee
this is the drop-dead date. The project
needs to be at this point or it may not meet the PennDot Letting date of
January 15, 2003. Mr. Lombardi advised
he was told at a PennDot meeting if this date is not met, they will give the
money to someone else and move our project to the back of the line.
Sept. to Dec. 31, 2002 Final revisions to quantities and special
revisions – Mr. Faust asked what would be happening during this time
period. Mr. Shaffer advised this is
when PennDot would be putting together the package to go to bid. McMahon would be assisting PennDot.
Jan. 15, 2003 PennDot Letting – Mr. Merjeski asked
how long after the Letting until construction would begin. Mr. Shaffer suggested construction possibly
starting mid March/April 2003.
1.
Pavement
Design – Mr. Shaffer advised the committee it has been submitted.
2.
Hydraulic
Design (Project Manager may not submit to Hydraulics Unit) – Mr. Shaffer felt
it would need to be reviewed again.
3.
Traffic
Signal Plans – Have been submitted – Jefferson has been approved, Silo Dr. is
still pending.
4.
Traffic
Control Plans – Have been submitted – still have one more review – Mr. Shaffer
advised the committee to make any changes to the roadway opening documents now,
so it can be submitted at the next review.
Mr. Shaffer advised a meeting with PennDot would be requested.
5.
Pavement
Marking and Signing Plans – Have been reviewed – but committee has made
changes. Mr. Shaffer advised a meeting
with PennDot would be requested.
6.
Construction
Drawings Approval from Brian Harle – Mr. Shaffer advised the committee on how
the process works.
7.
Erosion
Control Adequacy Letter and NPDES Permit (from BCCD and DEP) – Mr. Shaffer
advised the committee on how these processes work.
Mr. Lombardi moved to approve the additions to the minutes of
April 9, 2002. The motion was seconded
by Mr. Merjeski and passed unanimously, with 1 member abstaining.
Subcommittee
and Liaison Reports:
A.
Traffic
& Safety: Mr. Merjeski updated the committee on the status of the
road-opening document. Mr. Merjeski
advised the committee the current document is a work in progress. The committee reviewed the memo and
discussed changes. The committee agreed
the road could be closed from midnight to 5 AM with the exception of local and
emergency traffic. Members also felt
the road must be open from 6 AM until 11 PM.
The Traffic & Safety committee will make revisions to the
road-opening document and bring back to committee for final review.
The committee discussed the condition of the roadway
surface. Members agreed some patching
needs to be done. Members will speak
with Tom Harwood.
B.
Planning:
None
C.
Grants:
None
D.
Community
Relations:
Mr. DeYoung reported that he and Mr. Burns have
started meeting with the residents to review and sign the temporary
construction easements. He advised the
committee he felt things were going well.
Correspondence:
Mr.
Lombardi advised the committee on correspondence received from the owner of
Avalon Café in reference to a recent automobile accident at that location. He advised that the correspondence would be
forwarded to PennDot along with other documentation for reevaluation in
reference to a traffic signal at the Intersection of Sycamore & Silo. The committee discussed other possibilities
if the traffic signal is not approved.
Old
Business:
New
Business:
The committee discussed the enhancements. Mr. Lombardi advised the committee he wanted
them to review the enhancement items making recommendations to HARB. HARB would have the final decision. The committee members and public present
ranked the priority of each enhancement from 1 to 7 - 1 being the most
important. Mr. Lombardi would review
ranking at a later time. Mr. Lombardi
advised he welcomed any comments.
1. Attractive
Sidewalks – The committee discussed the possibility of pressed concrete. Members discussed using different
patterns. Mr. Shaffer advised the
committee they have until July 2002 to make a decision.
2. Period
Street Lighting – Mr. Shaffer advised he would review McMahon’s design for the
street lighting. Mr. McLean advised
that HARB would like the street lighting to resemble the Doylestown street
lighting. Mr. McLean provided Mr.
Shaffer with paperwork showing what fixtures HARB recommends. Mr. McLean advised the committee that the
poles have a ballard light, which lights the sidewalk at 180°. The committee liked the idea of lighting the
sidewalk. Mr. Lombardi provided Mr.
Shaffer with paperwork showing what fixtures where recommended through the grant.
3. Well
Defined Crosswalks – Mr. Lombardi advised that every crosswalk would be marked
with a signal light. The crosswalks
would also be pressed concrete. Mr.
Shaffer suggested using a different pattern or color than what would be used on
the sidewalks.
4. Pedestrian
Signals – The committee agreed the signals are an important item.
5. Street
Trees – The committee discussed the ups and downs of street trees. Members discussed what areas of the street
the trees could cause problems. Mr.
Shaffer asked if the committee preferred a specific tree. Mr. Lombardi advised the township has a shade
tree group for the Dept. of Parks & Rec. and he would like to speak further
with them. Mr. Jirele advised he would
speak to the shade tree group. Mr.
Shaffer advised he needed an answer by July 2002. Members agreed they would have an answer by the next meeting.
6. Other
Landscaping (Hanging Baskets, Sidewalk Planters, Banners) – The committee
discussed where the above items would be located. Mr. Shaffer advised the committee they should know what size
banners would be used. Ms. Doorley
recommended having the banners at the intersections.
7. Street
Furniture (Benches, Trash Containers, Bike Racks) – Mr. McLean gave Mr. Shaffer
paperwork showing where HARB recommends above items.
The committee discussed meeting with the Department of Parks
& Recreation in reference to Carl Sedia Park/Chandler Fields.
Mr. Lombardi advised the members that a maintenance fund
would be set up to pay someone to water plants and maintain trash collection.
Mr. Merjeski suggested having something to identify the north
and south entrances of Sycamore Street.
General
Discussion:
The committee discussed the possibility of using the ACME
site as a staging area during the construction project.
The committee discussed other areas that could be used as a
staging area.
The committee discussed prior traffic counts for the
roadway. Mr. Lombardi asked Mr. Shaffer
to review prior traffic counts.
The committee reviewed a rendering provided by Pennoni
Associates. Mr. Lombardi advised he
would like to commission Simone Jaffe Collins to do a rendering of an area on
Sycamore Street to be displayed at the township building. Members discussed the possibility of putting
it on the web site.
Mr. Lombardi advised the committee he is a member on the
board of directors with the Joint Downtown Newtown Corporation. He has spoken with them in reference to
setting up a Sycamore Street Committee that would go out and seek grant
money. He advised he would discuss
further at their next meeting.
Mr. Lombardi advised that Simone Jaffe Collins and Pennoni
Associates recommend setting up a 501C3 Corporation to collect contributions
for the maintenance fund. This would
allow residents and business owners to make a contribution that is tax
deductible.
Mr. Shaffer advised the committee they needed to start making
some decisions in reference to the enhancements.
The committee discussed the different grants that have been
applied for.
The committee discussed the status of the creek.
The committee discussed the possibility of a scenic overlook
along the creek.
Mr. Lombardi thanked the committee for a productive meeting.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 9:32 PM.
The next scheduled meeting is June 11th
Respectfully submitted,
_____________________________
Christy
Holley, Recording Secretary