MINUTES POSTED HERE ARE NOT OFFICIAL.  THE MINUTES ARE POSTED ON THIS SITE AS A CONVENIENCE TO TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS.  THE OFFICIAL MINUTES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE TOWNSHIP OFFICE FOR REVIEW.

POTTER TOWNSHIP

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

MEETING OF APRIL 11, 2005

 

The second monthly meeting of the Potter Township Board of Supervisors was held on Monday,

April 11, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. at the Township Building, 124 Short Road, Spring Mills, PA with Supervisors Paul Zerby, Monty Strouse, Bob Corman, Richard Poorman and Tom Sharer present.  Also attending were Road Superintendent Budd Brooks, Solicitor Robert Rayman and Secretary Brenda Burd. 

 

Also attending were Fran Bradley, Cheryl Busija, Rick Bair, Sandra Rishel, John Zerby, Alan Decker, Ann Glaser, Charles Herr, and Mary and Charles Butler.

 

Chairman Zerby called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.

 

Minutes of the April 4, 2005 meeting and the Financial Report were approved as presented on a motion by Bob C. and seconded by Tom.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

Brian Long – Fire Company

  • Brian presented the Fire Co. 5-10 year plan.  Paul asked how the advisory committee was coming and Brian said he would like to have a meeting with the joint committee (Bob C., Monty and the Borough representatives) to discuss exactly what the Township wants.  He said the Fire Company had a couple new members as a result of the Township Newsletter.  The Board was asked how to handle purchasing gear for new members.  We will go half and half with Centre Hall. 

 

Rick Bair, Parente Randolph

  • Presented the Financial Statement for year ending December 31, 2004 which uses a new reporting as a result of Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No.34 (GASB) which is now in effect.

 

At 7:17 P.M. Chairman Zerby recessed the regular meeting for a Public Hearing on Adelphia Cable Franchise Agreement.

 At 7:40 P.M. Chairman Zerby closed the Public Hearing and reconvened the regular meeting.

 

Rich made a motion to accept the franchise agreement with the flexible percentage rate with 1% to start and the clause allowing 2-advancements, seconded by Monty, motion carried unanimously.  Agreement was signed.

 

Monty made a motion to accept Ordinance #1-2005, an Ordinance approving the Cable Television Franchise Agreement with Adelphia Central PA, LLC., seconded by Paul, motion carried unanimously.  Ordinance was signed and sealed.

 

Sandra asked if the cable users will be notified of this increase or if it would just show up on a bill.  Fran said they will be notified of the Franchise fee when implemented.

 

Citizens Concerns

  • Ann discussed the chapter on transportation in the new Comprehensive Plan from a regional perspective.  The regional meetings discussed the future alignment of Rte 322 as a concern for the whole valley.  They believe Land Use Planning will force an appropriate line for Rte 322 and Rte 45 to best serve the region.  Tom said Harry Roth advised Municipalities to voice their opinions as to where they want the realignment.  Because Rte 45 is a primary corridor through the valley it is also an issue at the regional meetings.  Regional Planning would like to stop all the single family homes that access driveways onto Rte 45.  Rte 192 is also starting to see high growth and traffic.  We should state and tie into other portions of the comprehensive plan, that Potter Township supports a more southerly relocation for Rte 322.
  • John Zerby asked the Board why they intend to purchase the 160+ acre farm.  He was advised that if we utilize the grant we requested, it would be for Parks & Recs.  John thinks the location is too out-of-the-way for recreation.  He asked if the Township would maintain the land themselves or jointly with Centre Hall and how the land would be divided with Centre Hall.  He was told it is all in preliminary stage and the decisions have not been worked out.  The Board has made no final decision to purchase the land, or whether to purchase the land jointly with the Borough, or how the land would be divided if purchased jointly, or who would maintain it or exactly how they would use it if they do purchase it.  John asked how much it would cost.  Bob R. told him the farm is appraised at $750,000.  The grant we applied for will pay for one-half; then if each municipality would take half the property, each municipality would pay one-quarter of the purchase price.  Paul asked if they could they still get grants for ball fields if the  Township decided to purchase the land all by themselves.  Bob R. said yes.  If we utilize a DCNR grant, we are limited to parks and we did apply for a DCNR grant but that does not mean we have to accept that grant.  We could purchase the land without a DCNR grant and do anything we want with the land.
  • John asked about Land Preservation. #1 Did we put money into it for 2005? (yes, $20,000); #2 can the Township use this money for anything other than land preservation? (no); #3 how much is in the fund now? ($60,000); and #4 he argued that the amount of money the Township puts in can never catch up to the value of a farm the way inflation increases.  He would like the Township to use that money for other purposes.  He was told the Township is not in the business of buying farms, we supplement County and State funds to purchase development rights.

 

Resolution #4-2005

  • Resolution #4 gives permission for the Chairman to sign the DCNR grant application.  Monty made a motion to adopt Resolution #4, seconded by Rich, motion carried unanimously and was signed.

 

DCNR Grant Application

  • Chairman Zerby signed the grant application as approved by Resolution #4.

 

Planning Commission Report

  • Monty said the Planning Commission is still unhappy with 3 or 4 items on the S & A list.  Paul said he would like to see 25% of the infrastructure done, as it states, before they begin any work.

 

Old Business – none

 

Solicitor’s Report

·         Reported that John Miller has not yet responded on the CCP Cooperative Agreement with the Sewer Authority.

·         The Income Tax Collector called him about certain deductions being made as a result of some changes mandated by the State in which people carried over to their local tax returns.  Bob was asked if the Township has any recourse to file with the state.  Bob said yes, and he will have the tax collector pursue this with the state.

                                                                           

Secretary’s Report

·         Presented bills to be paid list for review and approval.

·         Announced a reception honoring Martin Melville as Master Logger of PA.  Reservations can be made through me and are due by April 29th

·         Neil Korostoff sends his regrets as being unable to serve on Spring Creek Watershed Commission.  Ann Glaser will serve as representative.  Tom made a motion to respond to the Commission with Ann’s appointment, seconded by Monty, motion carried unanimously.

 

Correspondence

·         Centre County MPO meeting report

·         CH-PSA minutes of 2/15/05

·         CCATO Spring Convention on April 26 at 7:00 PM at Bald Eagle High School

·         2005 PSATS proposed Resolutions (distributed)

·         CET Engineering on Hanover Foods permit application

·         PennDOT workshop on model ordinances

·         Chuck Herr denying a permit application

·         Chuck Herr on Kathy Confer

·         Copy of PennDOT letter to Kerry Benninghoff (Route 45 speed limit)

·         Copy of HRG letter to PennDOT (Centre Hall Mt. sewer project)

·         Potter Township Planning Commission minutes of 3/1/05

·         Centre County Solid Waste Authority Recyclables Report for March

·         Official notice from Nittany Engineering & Associates of name change

·         John Eich on EMS tax

·         PennDOT projects map

·         Governor’s Center for Local Government Annual Report 2003-2004

 

Road Superintendent’s Report

  • Reported we have heard nothing on the Dirt & Gravel Grant
  • All the snow fence is now down
  • Intersections are all cleaned except Penns Manor
  • They are working on paving projects. They will have a pole moved from the Right-of-Way on Rimmey Rd.
  • The new truck will be completed next week (April 18-22)
  • Brush collection is April 25 and 26
  • Riff Raff is May 13 and 14
  • Received a letter from DEP regarding a Chapter 94 Report that needs completed for CCP.  The report has never been done for CCP but will now need to be done annually.  He spoke with Paul Krizan about doing the Report and got an estimate from him.  The Board gave approval for Mr. Krizan to do the report.

 

Tom asked if Penns Manor has a bond – yes.

 

Charles Herr, Jr.

·         He reported on the status of the complaint to DEP.  He told the Board the Butlers have been very cooperative.  His second investigation letter was distributed to the Board.  The tank was pumped and a dye test done.  He presented pictures of the site to the Board.  He and DEP have agreed that in the best interest of water quality, Butlers need to convert the existing tank into a holding tank.  The outlet pipe of the tank should be closed, a riser installed and an alarm installed to indicate 80% capacity.

 

At 8:35 P.M. Chairman Zerby recessed the regular meeting for an executive session on legal issues of this matter.

At 9:08 P.M. Chairman Zerby closed the executive session and reconvened the regular meeting.

 

Open Discussion

The Board decided it was time to do something about the web site and internet service.  Bob C. recommended calling Teresa Heiser at Centre for Web and suggested Mike be contacted about the domain.  The Board commends Mike for the outstanding job he has done for the Township.

 

Adjourn

·         At 9:12 P.M. Chairman Zerby adjourned the meeting.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Brenda K. Burd

Secretary/Treasurer

 

 

DCNR – Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

CCP – Country Club Park

CH-PSA – Centre Hall-Potter Sewer Authority

CCATO – Centre County Association of Township Officials

PSATS – PA State Association of Township Supervisors

DEP – PA Department of Environmental Protection

THE MINUTES POSTED HERE ARE NOT OFFICIAL.  THE MINUTES ARE POSTED ON THIS SITE AS A CONVENIENCE TO TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS.  THE OFFICIAL MINUTES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE TOWNSHIP OFFICE FOR REVIEW.

 

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