October 16, 2006

The regular monthly meeting of the Mahoning Township Supervisors was held this evening at the Township Municipal Building at 5:30 PM.

Members of the Board present:

Christine DeLong, Chairperson

William Earlston, Vice-Chairperson

Ronald Miller, Supervisor

Also attending:

Richard Shoch, Solicitor                     John Mazich, Township Engineer

Christina Mensch, Zoning/UCC         David Shope, Chief of Police

Henry Eyer, Group Leader                 Kevin Young, Fire Chief

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lenig                    Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bomboy

Thomas Campbell                               Charles Bankes

Jason Campbell                                   Bonnie Johnson

Damien Gensel, Danville News          John Eric, Press Enterprise

Mike Fisher, Seda-COG                     Cheryl Hornberger

MINUTES of the previous meeting were approved by the Board with no alterations or corrections, motion Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.

TREASURER’S REPORT for the month of September was approved, motion Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

SOLICITOR

GATEHOUSE:  Advised that he agreed with the attorney for the project, in that, there is an implied easement for the road, however, further stated that his recommendation to the Board would be that any vote be contingent on having a side letter or agreement placed on the face of the plans, which would reference same, and that the wording for this could be determined between the attorney for project and himself, the township’s legal counsel.

ZONING/UCC OFFICER gave her report of permits issued for the month.  The Secretary then advised that the agenda included an update to the current resolution for Building Permit fees for commercial fire service, and by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston, the Board resolved to adopt these fees, as part of the current fee schedule.

POLICE DEPARTMENT:  September report presented.  Due to the volume of calls, Chief Shope also requested the press advise that Trick or Treat has been set for Tuesday, October 31, 2006 from 6PM until 9PM, those wishing to participate should have their front porch lights on.

STREET DEPARTMENT report for the month was presented at workshop, however, Mr. Eyer also advised the press to remind residents that there was a 60 pound limit set on bags for leaf collection this year, so if the bag exceeds the limit, it will be left behind.

ENGINEER read from his October 16, 2006 report, Board action was required on the following:

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING & CARE CENTER:  By motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston, the Board conditionally approved the plans.  One the earlier advice of the solicitor, the first condition is to have a letter or statement on the plan regarding the implied easement or road access, the second is receipt of approval letter of Soil Conservation.

GEISINGER NORTH ZONE 1 PARKING:  Engineer recommends board approval, but also advised that although formal approval has not yet been given, nor any permits issued for this project, he did verify that the project is already under construction, and, therefore, requested  approval to draft  a letter advising that this is not proper procedure and reiterate our position, that all approvals and permits must be obtained before a project begins.  Mr. Lenig question why a letter would be sent, when, if he were in violation, he would be fined. Once the ordinance confirmed that a fine could be issued, the Board by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston granted approval of the plan as recommended by the engineer, and agreed to issue a fine for starting the construction without the final approval or obtaining permits.  This will be handled through the Zoning Officer and the District Magistrate.

BIDS

RED LANE CULVERT – (Contract 06-02)

Bids received are as follows:

All  Excavating & Paving       $70,075           G & R Charles Excavating     $59,994.97

Dave Gutelius Excavating      $43,918           HRI, Inc.                                 $99,000

Schlegel Excavating                $63,421.          Sikora Bros.                            $74,800

Zemco, Inc.                             $87,863

The Board accepted the recommendation of the township engineer to conditionally award the bid to Dave Gutelius Excavating, the apparent low bidder, pending review of all documents by the township, its solicitor and engineer.  Motion made by Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston. 

Mr. Bomboy questioned how soon the project would start and was advised that it would be almost immediately pending the review of the bid documents and receipt of an approved DEP Permit. 

The newspaper reporters were asked to also relay to the public that throughout this project, during an approximate two week period, this area of Red Lane would be closed to traffic.

VALLEY VIEW CUT OFF SWALE – (Contract 06-01)

Bids received are as follows:

Chilewski Enterprises             $  82,700         Dave Gutelius Paving             $  93,234

HRI, Inc.                                 $127,995         Mark’s Contracting                 $185,115

Schlegel Excavating                $  83,244         Schuylkill Paving                    $126,400

Zemco, Inc.                             $  93,460

The Board accepted the recommendation of the township engineer to conditionally award the bid to Chilewski Enterprises, the apparent low bidder, pending review of all documents by the township, its solicitor and engineer.  Motion made by Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT September report was read by the Fire Chief, who also requested that the Board sign the formal agreement between the Township, the Fire Department and the Fireman’s Relief Association to set forth proportionate shares of contribution toward the purchase of the new tanker and also insure the return of those proportionate shares upon the sale of same.  One the advice of the township solicitor, who had reviewed the document, the Board by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston voted in favor of approval.

OLD BUSINESS

ORDINANCES – LAND SUB-DIVISION – ZONING AMENDMENT – DRIVEWAY ORDINANCE & HIGH GRASS:  After having held public hearing as required by law, and with proper advertisement of same, all ordinances and amendments thereof, were accepted by the Board, motion was made by Mr. Miller and seconded by Mr. Earlston.

GMC PILOT GREEMENT:  After having held out for many months, beyond that of the School District and the County; and on the advice of their solicitor, who said, that, Geisinger’s Agreement for payment in leiu of taxes, as presented, could not be legally challenged and won in court, the Board reluctantly accepted the extension of the five year agreement, motion in favor Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.  A side letter of agreement between Mahoning Township and the Geisinger was prepared by the solicitor and approved by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.  The letter clarifies the meaning and intent of certain language in Section 3 of the PILOT agreement.

NEW BUSINESS

MONTOUR COUNTY SOIL CONSERVATION AGREEMENT:  Reviewed and recommended for approval by the solicitor, works in conjunction with all township current regulations and ordinances to provide that both entities work together on projects.  The Memorandum of Understanding was approved by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.

PLANNING COMMISSION:  The Board accepted the resignation of Lenna Molter, on the Planning Commission, as her current schedule does not allow time for her to attend the meetings,  motion in favor  Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston; and in turn, they appointed T. S. Scott to the Planning Commission to serve her unexpired term.  Mr. Earlston motioned in favor of the appointment, and Mr. Miller seconded.

ALLOCATION OF PENSION EXCESS INTEREST:  Police Department excess interest in the amount of $16,404 is set by contract to allow for 50% of the return to go to the township’s account, with the remainder going to each officer’s account according to years of service, and the Board by motion of Mr. Earlston, second Mr. Miller approved the allocation of same.

Non-Uniform employees received excess interest in the amount of $3,057, and the Board by motion of Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston agreed to allow those funds to be placed in the individual employees accounts based on years of service.  Mrs. DeLong abstained from voting on this due to a conflict of interest, as this would directly affect her pension as part of the non-uniform pension plan.

BUDGET 2007 was accepted as presented and the secretary was instructed to advertise same opened for inspection, with intent to adopt at the next regular scheduled meeting, motion in favor Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.  The budget proposes a decrease in property taxes by one half, taking the current mileage from .000767 for General Fund purposes to .000384.

TOWNSHIP BUILDING LOAN:  Because the interest rate on our loan for the building will be increased from 2.8% to 4%, and because there are ample funds to make the payoff of  an approximate $131, 000 the Board agreed to make the pay off, motion  in favor Mr. Miller, second Mr. Earlston.

PUBLIC COMMENT

ROAD INTO STRAWBERRY FIELDS:  Mr. Bomboy spoke on behalf of the Neighborhood Association, reminding the Board that, with Bob Welby paving the road in his development we are one step closer to the use of this new and very dangerous intersection, and that the residents and members of his group are afraid that their concerns about this have been forgotten.  He reiterated that he received a letter from the Board stating that Mr. Welby had agreed to level the mound of dirt to provide better sight distance, and to date that has not been done.  No one on behalf of the township could advise what had transpired since this was last discussed, but advised that the matter would be researched.

NEW HIRE:  Mrs. Lenig questioned if she had missed the hiring of a criminal investigator, as had been reported in the news, but was informed that this was an internal delegation of duties to one employee within the department under the direction of the Chief of Police.

Mr. Miller then motioned in favor of paying the bills and payrolls for October and also to adjourn, Mr. Earlston seconded.