BoS 1/2/2007 - Interviews, Re-Org Meeting, & Regular Meeting

INTERVIEWS - Boards & Commissions - 5:30 PM

This evenings’ meeting schedule began at 5:30 PM with candidate interviews for the Recreation Board, the Planning Commission and the Zoning Hearing Board. A total of six candidates submitted letters of interest. Of them, 4 were reapplying for their expired terms.

Ray Guffy, ending his term on the Recreation Board, and David Billings, a newcomer to Forks involvement but not to Forks (and Easton area) sports, interviewed for the Recreation Board slot.

Dean Turner and Jim Wideman, whose terms on the Planning Commission ended 12/31/06, were interviewed as was newcomer to Forks, but not new to zoning, William Nicusanti. Mr. Nicusanti applied for consideration to both the Planning Commission and the Zoning Hearing Board. Also, interviewed for the Zoning Hearing Board was Peter Rossi, whose term expired at the end of December.

The Board left the room after the interviews and met in the Supervisors room to discuss the candidates. (This was not an announced Executive Session.)

RE-ORGANIZATION MEETING

This year, the Board avoided the impass of last year and tabled elections of Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Secretary Treasurer until the January 18 meeting when the full Board will be present. 2006 Chairman, David Hoff was absent. Joe Nixon (the Morning Call), Courtney Lomax (Express Times) and Jan Schott (The Easton News) were there. The only article appearing in an online edition was Schott’s. Please read it. We will try to fill in any blanks.

All of the elections and appointments were unanimous except one, a Planning Commission appointment. The vote on that was 3:1 to table the appointment and to re-advertise the vacancy. Howell voted nay to table. Solicitor Kline cautioned the Board that they only have 30 days from the date of the vacancy to fill the position.

The 2007 appointments:

• Chairman - NONE
• Vice Chairman - NONE
• Secretary/Treasurer - NONE

PNC Bank and PLGIT were voted in as depositories of Forks Township. Signatures of either 2 Supervisors or one Supervisor and the Township Manager are required for withdrawels.

• Township Manager - Interviews are ongoing
• Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer of the General Fund - NONE
• Solicitor - Karl Kline ($130.00/hr)
• Engineering Firm - Keystone Consulting Engineers (at fee schedule provided)
• Township Engineer - Fred Hay (at fee schedule provided by KCE )
• Auditor(s) - France, Anderson, Basile & Company, P.C.
• Earned Income and E.M.S. Tax Collector - Mary Ann Kessler
• Assistant Collector - Anne Bennett-Morse
• Mercantile Tax Collector - Sandi Rossi

The 2007 meeting schedules for the Board and for the Planning Commission were set also. The BoS will meet on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month at 7:30 PM with a possible 3rd meeting (if necessary) on the 4th Thursday. Thirty or 60 minute workshops may be scheduled before or immediately after the regular meetings.

The Planning Commission will meet on the 2nd Thursday at 7:30 PM and their workshop sessions, which will be treated in the same manner as regular meetings, are set for the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM. PEMA’s Emergency Operations Plan was adopted.

More Appointments:

• Emergency Management Coordinator - Tim Weis
• Assistant Emergency Management Coordinators - Greg Dorney & Richard Bassett (until a Township Manager is hired when this will be revisited)

The Board voted to approve payment of routine bills that may have penalties or interest if they are not paid before the next BoS meeting.

The Municipal Building's daily hours (open the public) were set at 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Office employees’ hours range between 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Hours for the Director of Public Works can vary from the standard hours (due to inclement weather).

Yet More Appointments:

• Vacancy Board - Henning Holmgaard (1 year term)
• Planning Commission - Dean Turner
• Planning Commission - Tabled - will be re-advertised (3:1 - Howell nay) - must be filled within 30 days
• Zoning Hearing Board - Peter Rossi
• Recreation Board - Ray Duffy
• Fire Chief - Bryan Weis
• Deputy Fire Chief - Charles Gallagher
• Zoning Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, & Code Officer - Tim Weis
• Flood Plain Permit Officer - Chris Noll (and alternate Fred Hay) - Keystone Consulting Engineers
• Assistant Zoning Officers - Loretta Fuehrer & Matt Miller
• Sewage Enforcement Officer - Chris Noll, primary with Lisa Kern & Fred Hay as alternates, Keystone Consulting Engineers
• Electrical Inspectors - David Shields, Keystone Electrical Inspectors

The Wages & Benefits Packages of the Collective Bargaining Unit for the police continues through 2007.

No agreement with the non-uniformed collective bargaining unit has been reached and wages will remain at 2006 levels until there is an agreement. The Re-Organization Meeting was adjourned.

REGULAR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING

Supervisors Comments - none

Standing Committee Reports:

• Public Safety - Bonnie Nicholas reported that the next committee meeting is scheduled for February 6th at 5:30 PM. (2007 2nd Supervisor - David Hoff)
• Public Works - John Ackerman had no report. (2007 2nd Supervisor - Don Miller)
• Parks & Recreation - Don Miller had no committee report but did note that winter sports are going full blast. He took the opportunity to thank the DPW and Ed Kleppinger, Parks Crew Chief, for the good job they did on the Christmas lights. (2007 2nd Supervisor - David Howell)
• Community Relations - David Howell asked that the Board vote on replacing Nunet, the current webhost for the Township’s website, with WSI. Howell said that WSI is offering up to 1 GB of storage for the same price as Nunet’s 100 MB and at approximately the same price, $365/yr. Nunet invoices annually and the bill is due now. WSI will invoice the Township monthly. Ackerman asked that a "case" be presented before the Board by both vendors. This was tabled in a 3:1 vote with Howell voting nay. (2007 2nd Supervisor - Bonnie Nicholas)
• Finance & Administration - David Hoff was absent. (2007 2nd Supervisor - John Ackerman)

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

GENERAL CODE CORRESPONDENCE/REVISED PRICING ESTIMATE - Kline reported that the $10-$12K price includes the entire new zoning ordinance and it runs 300 pages. He was advised that the price may be reduced if the document is submitted electronically. URDC will be contacted as they have an electronic version of the ordinance. This was tabled in a 4:0 vote.

DVR/REQUEST FOR PURCHASE - Nicholas explained that this unit will replace the fuzzy one and that that one will be kept as a back-up. The new one will cost $7000-$8000. Purchase was approved in a 4:0 vote.

NEW BUSINESS

WEIS MARKET/FORKS, INC/TIME EXTENSION - Kline said that he had a letter from their attorney offering a time extension to January 31, 2007. The Public Conditional Use Hearing for this project is scheduled for 6:30 PM before the January 18 Board of Supervisors meeting. The time extension was approved in a 4:0 vote.

EXECUTIVE SESSION - The session was held to discuss various personnel matters. No action was taken during the executive session. After the session, the Board voted 4:0 to:

• Raise (Zoning Hearing Board) attorney Michael Shay’s hourly rate to $100/hr
• Re-assign DPW Director, Gary Sandt, to the road crew. The Public Works committee will be in charge of the crew chiefs (per Ackerman) and a meeting will be held with them on January 5th at 7:00 AM to review their responsibilities.

The meeting was adjourned.

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