FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
July 15, 2004
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Balsavage called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. The meeting was held at the Franklin Township Municipal Building located at 150 Century Lane, Dillsburg, PA.
ROLL CALL
Present were Supervisors Ed Balsavage, Naomi Decker, Larry Lambert, Don Lerew, John Shambaugh, Solicitor Ed Schorpp, Engineer Tim Knoebel, Secretary Linda Hansen. Visitors included: Rodney Decker, Art Bert, Allen Hoffman, Peg Williams, Keith Miller, Ted Pesano, Cynthia Jones, Robert Grace, Patrick Hephner, Todd Cook, Bob Eichelberger, Sandee Bitner, Tom Lucas, Barry Garber, Jane Alexander, David Lenox, Lester Greenfield, Andy Broden, Marilyn Broden, Bob Shelly, Ray Knaub, Brian Fahey, Rick Hoffman.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND PRAYER
Chairman Balsavage led the Pledge of Allegiance and gave the opening prayer.
Chairman Balsavage said the first order of business was to rescind an old resolution from September 14, 1993 that sets the agenda for the meetings. Larry Lambert seconded the motion. Naomi Decker feels public comment needs to be near the beginning of the meeting instead of making people sit through the whole meeting to ask a question. Ed Balsavage said having it at the end of the meeting gives the Board more incentive to not drag out discussions. Residents can request to be put on the agenda prior to the meeting. Vote: Balsavage, Lambert, Lerew, Shambaugh – Aye; Decker – Opposed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
June 17, 2004 – John Shambaugh made a motion to approve the minutes. Naomi Decker wanted it stated in the minutes that she opposed having the sewage enforcement office contact property owners for failed systems because a signed letter was not received. On page 5 portable should be “potable”. John Shambaugh amended his motion to include the above changes. The motion was seconded by Larry Lambert. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
June 30, 2004– John Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to approve the June 30, 2004 minutes. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
AGENDA AMENDMENTS
Tim Knoebel had a question about the letters submitted stating the Kimmel and Pottegier plans were incomplete due to the absence of the notary requirements. John Williams brought the notarized plans to the township office making the submissions complete. Naomi Decker wanted SEO added to Engineer Report. Solicitor Schorpp wanted bonding percentage added to the solicitor’s report.
ORGANIZATION REPORTS
Police –Larry Lambert stated there was no report since the meeting for July will be next week. The report will be on file in the township office.
Citizen’s Hose – Todd Cook was present. He stated there were 3 calls for the month of June in Franklin Township. Citizen’s Hose received a grant from the state fire commissioner for a thermal imaging camera. Had he known that Franklintown Fire Company also just purchased one, he would have applied for a grant for something else.
Franklintown Fire Company – Dick Blouch was present. He stated he did not know Citizen’s Hose was applying for a grant for a thermal imaging camera. For May there were 16 calls and for June there were 18 calls in Franklin Township. Mr. Blouch said the township should be concerned that there are no safe places to cross Route 15 in Franklin Township. Someone should contact Penn Dot about building a bridge to cross Route 15.
Dillsburg EMS – Tom Lucas was present. He also stated concern about no safe place to cross Route 15 in Franklin Township. There were 33 calls in Franklin Township for June. They went to the New Hope Center to get kids interested in fire protection. Traci Cook will be back in her office August 2nd.
DAA – No one was present.
Emergency Management – No one was present.
Planning & Zoning Committee – No report. Zoning will be discussed under the engineer’s report.
SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
John Crook – Engineer Knoebel said the outstanding issue is the easement for the remaining tract. Rodney Decker was present to represent Mr. Crook. Mr. Decker stated once the township is done with the road work on Harmony Bethel Road, Mr. Crook will construct two new driveways. John Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Don Lerew to approve the plan with the following conditions: Note 11 should be removed and replaced with a note stating the shared driveway will be physically removed by August 1, 2005, and the payment of the recreation fees. Vote: Balsavage, Lambert, Lerew, Shambaugh – Aye; Decker abstained due to professional involvement.
Joining Lots – Correspondence from Jane Alexander – Attorney Alexander and Attorney Lenox were present to ask for a waiver for the Reynolds property that was sold at public auction. The Reynolds have three deeds for their property. They are contiguous lots. A reserve subdivision is needed to join the lots. Since the sales transaction can not be completed until the lots are joined, they are asking for a waiver for submission of a reverse subdivision plan. John Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert granting a waiver for a plan. Naomi Decker wanted it noted that these waivers are on a case by case basis and the waiver is only for this property. Solicitor Schorpp wants the secretary to send a letter to Attorney Alexander indicating the submission of a reverse subdivision plan has been waived. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Sherwood Forest Planning Commission Comments – A plan for 5 lots on this land was denied in December 2003 due to steep slopes. Now there is a proposal for 182 condominiums. Naomi Decker asked why it is in the planning commission minutes that our engineer will work with their engineer on the steep slopes. Tim Knoebel stated the subdivision and land development ordinance requires that steep slopes are averaged out to compute the impervious area. Engineer Knoebel said this plan was brought to the planning commission and he was not going to spend the whole evening interpreting the ordinance to them. Naomi also wanted to know why the significance of condominiums was to be stressed when talking to Attorney Schorpp. The engineer stated it is important to know that condominiums are treated differently legally. Engineer Knoebel has been getting calls from potential buyers for this property and informed them he can not spend a considerable time on the sketch plans without a letter to the township requesting a formal interpretation. Solicitor Schorpp said detailed reviews are not required for sketch plans.
Notarized Owners Acknowledgement – John Williams wants to know if all 15 preliminary copies of a plan need to be notarized and if all revisions need to be notarized. The Board agreed that the first submission and the final submission need to be notarized. Any interim submissions do not need to be notarized.
Foxwood Storm Water Controls – The question is if building permits cannot be issued due to storm water control or soil and erosion control. Engineer Knoebel said bonding is in place for the storm water controls. Brian Fahey is holding 4 building permits because the Conservation District told him to hold them. Barry Garber was present. He is under time limits for building his house. The engineer will call York County Conservation District to get the issue sorted out.
Art Bert asked if the location of subdivision can be put on the agenda.
REPORTS
Engineer
Zoning – Engineer Knoebel had an outline stating the time line and steps for preparing a zoning ordinance. Naomi Decker wanted to know why a letter that was sent to Wayne Kober and copied to Ed Balsavage was not shared with the rest of the Board at the June 30th zoning workshop. The information would have been very helpful at the workshop since it states the procedure in which a consultant should be hired. Naomi thought Wayne Kober would bring the information to all the board members. Community Block Grant money will not be available since the procedure was not followed. John Shambaugh said he made the motion to have Tim Knoebel’s firm do the zoning ordinance because he is very qualified. Naomi Decker wants it noted that she did not state Tim Knoebel’s firm is not qualified but wanted to know how many zoning ordinances his company has written. The engineer said he has been involved with quite a few, generally as a sub consultant. Ed Balsavage stated he takes great offense to Supervisor Decker implying he is with holding information, he receives a lot of information at his house and he was not trying to hide this letter from the Board. The next zoning workshop will be a joint meeting with the planning commission and the board of supervisors. Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by John Shambaugh to have the work session on August 9, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. Allen Hoffman will get back to the secretary on availability of the planning commission to meet on this date. An advertisement must be placed in the newspaper. Vote passed by unanimous vote.
Andrew Broden Exemption – Since no soil testing had been done on his property, they are filing an exemption with DEP for a sewage module. John Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to send the post card exemption to DEP. Vote: Balsavage, Lambert, Lerew, Shambaugh – Aye; Decker –Abstained due to professional involvement.
SEO – Naomi Decker asked what the policy is about backhoe work when perc tests are being done. She wants the property owner to know they have a choice of who they want to use to dig the holes for the probe tests. The SEO does not recommend any individual, he gives them a list of contractors who do this type of work.
Solicitor
Subdivision & Land Development Ordinance - the ordinance has been properly advertised and was submitted to both the York County Planning Commission and the Franklin Township Planning Commission. Comments from both have been received. Larry Lambert made a motion to approve Ordinance 4-2004. The lot width needs to be addressed. The lot width must coincide with the acreage. Ed Balsavage seconded the motion. Engineer Knoebel stated that the lot width should be 275 feet to keep with the same depth width ratio.
Solicitor Schorpp said the changes must be advertised before action can be taken on the ordinance. The definition of dwelling unit needs to be changed. Section 514.C deals with density. The ordinance should be changed to state the density in areas of the township that do not have public water and sewer should be one dwelling unit per 4 acres. The section will be deleted that states row houses at a maximum of 8 per acre.
Loop cul-de-sac needs to specify number of lots and consider width. The lot size must be 4 acres and the width 100 feet. Currently the ordinance allows 2 tracts on a private road. The proposed ordinance does not allow any subdivision on private roads. John Shambaugh stated he would like to see the amendment stay as it is. The proposal is that if a public sewer main is within 1.000 feet, connection must occur. The solicitor advised that this can always be waived. Larry Lambert withdrew his motion to adopt ordinance 4-2004. Ed Balsavage made a motion to have the solicitor make the mentioned changes to the amendment, the secretary will advertise the proposed changes, and it will be put on the agenda for August 19, 2004. The motion was seconded by Larry Lambert. Vote: Balsavage, Lambert, Lerew, Shambaugh – Aye; Decker – Opposed because a workshop should be held to discuss the changes.
Appeal Board Ordinance – The ordinance has been advertised. Ordinance 3-2004 authorizes Franklin Township to enter into an intergovernmental agreement for a joint board of appeals with the county. Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to adopt Ordinance 3-2004. Naomi Decker does not know why Section 3.C needs to be in the ordinance. The solicitor said this statute is required. Vote: Balsavage, Lambert, Lerew, Shambaugh - Aye; Decker – Opposed. The intergovernmental cooperation agreement will be signed by all supervisors and sent to York County Commissioners.
Dillsburg Borough – Citizens Hose Workers Compensation – the solicitor wrote a letter to the supervisors with 4 options. The Board chose option 1 – ignore the matter. Franklintown Fire Company is first response for the Township. Citizens’ Hose is the back-up. Franklin Township pays the full amount of workers compensation for Franklintown Fire Company.
Resolution to Amend Building Permit Fees – Can not be done until York County sets the fees for the Appeal process.
Resolution to change cost for copy of Subdivision Ordinance – Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to adopt Resolution 2004-8 which sets the cost of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance to $25.00. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Maintenance Bonding Percentage – Our current ordinance states up to 15% bonding can be required. Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to amend the motion made at the last supervisors’ meeting changing the amount to hold for the Rodkey plan to 10%. Motion carried by unanimous vote. The engineer said one amount is usually the standard. The solicitor will make the bonding 15% in the subdivision and land development ordinance. Whether bonding is required will be determined by the Board.
Building Permit Officer
Brian Fahey was present.
Pottiegar Occupancy Permit – Mr. Fahey was given permission to send the letter regarding the occupancy permit.
Septic System Failures- The sewage enforcement office was at the one property and could not find a failure. The SEO has not been contacted by the second property owner. A written complaint must be received by the township before the complaint can be investigated.
Foxwood Estates – The bond is self renewing for storm water controls. The developer’s agreement is for one year from the plan approval.
42 Chestnut Hill Road – This property is out of compliance with the Junkyard Ordinance but they are working on it.
Laurel Run Road – Cephas Willis is using two driveways, one at 480 Laurel Run Road, the other at 155 Tuckahoe Road. He would like to close the one on Laurel Run Road. These are shared access driveways. The Board would like a sketch and a written agreement from Mr. Willis.
RAS Engineering – Bob Shelly was present. He stated there is no clean fee schedule. Adding $100 to the permit for administrative fees is not a good idea since it does adequately cover costs for multi-million dollar projects and is unfair for low end projects. Using $7/$1,000 value of construction is better. The cost is estimated by the sheet provided by RAS. The solicitor stated this may not be a good idea either. Mr. Shelly said there are holes in all fee schedules. A not to exceed statement could be added to the fee schedule. The fee schedule will not be changed at this time. It will be considered at the August meeting.
Roadmaster
Gary Ocker prepared a written road report
Greenfield Driveway Waiver Request – Mr. Greenfield was present and had previously given a written waiver request to the Board. At last month’s meeting a waiver was denied which was very similar to this request. The waiver was denied since there was room on Mr. Greenfield’s property to add more parking space.
Mr. Greenfield was told he would have to do a subdivision to add lots to existing lots.
Park & Recreation
Ponderosa Park – Naomi Decker called Cindy Dunlap from DCNR. She was told to go to Manchester Township to talk to Tim James and also went to Springettsbury Park. She signed a contract with Anne Yost, a landscape architect, to prepare a plan for Ponderosa Park. Ms. Yost was impressed with the Ponderosa and said it was money well spent. The plan will not be elaborate since you do not get much for $500.00. Ms. Yost will also be at the Park and Rec Board meeting tentatively scheduled for July 27th. All the supervisors were invited to attend. A plan that would be adequate to receive grant funding would cost $5,000.00 or more. John Shambaugh stated he had a problem with Naomi signing a contract without the authority to do so. Naomi Decker said she was told to spend the money on a plan at previous meetings. The garage doors are in place. Williams Excavating was contacted to set up a site investigation date. ECI gave a price to construct new bathrooms which was out of line with what can be spent. The plumber will be shutting off the leaks so the water can be tested. The pipes need to be winterized in late fall. Ed Balsavage said the park is a spectacular property. The building behind the restrooms has a fireplace and a kitchen. It can be used as a meeting room. Larry would like to allocate money to get the park open. Ed Balsavage said Gary should have the park opened immediately the same hours as the other park so people can come and walk. If work is being done, then the park should be closed at that time. There is a jiffy john so the restrooms do not need to be finished. The brush needs to be burned before the park can be opened. If the water is not tested, it needs to be turned off.
Rich Hoffman asked to have his side gutter cleaned. John Shambaugh stated he will discuss it with Gary.
Break 9:55 – 10:05
OLD BUSINESS
Insurance Quotes – The ordinance required to join the trust for HDH can not be signed at this time since it was not advertised. The agreement for the workers compensation insurance would be for 4 years. Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to renew the insurance with Brillhart Insurance for $19,427.00. This policy can be cancelled at any time. Motion carried by unanimous vote. The solicitor was directed to look into this agreement for a municipal pooling fund. The secretary was directed to contact Bill Pilconis from HDH to see if he can make a presentation to the Board at the September meeting.
Work Session for EMA Tower – Laurin Fleming asked that the supervisors attend the meeting on July 19th. John Shambaugh said he will attend the emergency management meeting on Monday July 19, 2004.
NEW BUSINESS
Quick Books Course – Ed Balsavage made a motion seconded by Don Lerew to send the secretary to the PSATS Quick Book course. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
CORRESPONDENCE
Agricultural Security Letter – A letter was received from Attorney Linsenbach stating his client recently purchased the David and Mabel Harbold property at 430 Capitol Hill Road and would like the property removed from the Franklin Township Agricultural Security Area. The secretary contacted Patty McCandless at the Agricultural Preservation Board and was told the letter was sufficient to have the property removed from the Ag Security Area.
Northern York Recreation Study – Sally Holbert wants to know if any other persons want to be on the email list. Supervisors Lerew and Decker asked the secretary to have the email sent to the office and give copies to them. John Shambaugh would also like to be on the email list.
Picnic – This is for Franklin Township employees and volunteers. Larry made a motion seconded by Don Lerew to have the Township provide drinks, hot dogs and hamburgers.
TREASURER’S REPORT
John Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to approve the treasurer’s report. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
APPROVAL & PAYMENT OF BILLS
There was a question about the RAS Engineering bill. This includes several hundred dollars of building code books. Shambaugh made a motion seconded by Larry Lambert to pay the bills. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Larry Lambert made a motion seconded by Don Lerew to adjourn. Meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.
Linda J. Hansen
Secretary