Pocopson Township
Chester County, Pennsylvania
 

7:30 p.m., Monday, January 3, 2005

  The meeting was opened with the pledge of allegiance at 7:32 p.m. by Chairman Sellers.  Supervisor Brutscher and Hubbard were present along with Bill Harwood, Building Inspector and Zoning Officer. 

Announcements:  There were no announcements.

Reorganization: 
Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to elect Georgia Brutscher as temporary Chair and Karen Eckard as temporary Secretary.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint William Sellers as Chair of the Supervisors.  Motion carried. 

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Georgia Brutscher as Vice Chair of the Supervisors.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Karen Eckard as Secretary/Treasurer at an annual salary as stated in the 2005 township budget.  Motion carried.

Hubbard moved, Brutscher seconded that a recommendation be made to the Board of Auditors to obtain a Treasurer’s Bond in the amount of $400,000.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded that William Harwood be appointed Zoning Officer at an annual salary of $1,200, plus 75% of court fines when attending court hearings and all other fees will be by resolution.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to appoint Ezekiel Hubbard as Road Supervisor.  Motion carried. 

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to appoint William Harwood as Building Inspector, Building Site Inspector, and Soil and Erosion Control Inspector at the fees established by Resolution.  Motion carried. 

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to table the Planning Commission appointments until the next Board meeting.  Motion carried.

Hubbard moved, Brutscher seconded the following re-appointments and election of officers to the Open Space Committee:
Thomas Bierl                                                Alan Johnson                                   
Peggy Conaway                                           Lynn Stevens-Co Trails Director
Jane Gifford-Secretary                                 Ricki Stumpo-Co Trails Director
Ezekiel Hubbard - Vice Chairman                Sandy Wetzleff - Chairwoman

Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Sellers seconded the following re-appointments to the Historic Committee:

Melinda Bloomfield                   Sarah Mims-Chairwoman
Pat Burnett                               Alma Struble
Peggy Conaway                        Nancy Tuvesson
Mary Beth Drobish                    Susan Woodward

Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded the following re-appointments to the Agricultural Security District Committee:

Judy Cousins                           Samuel Milliner
Harold Hoffman                      Alma Struble
Georgia Brutscher**

** As the Acting Supervisor on the Committee

Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Suzanne Breiseth and Meg Johnson as Pocopson Township’s co-representatives to the West Chester Regional Planning Commission along with Robert Woodward as alternate representative to the West Chester Regional Planning Commission, with his or her terms to expire on December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Hubbard moved, Sellers seconded to appoint Georgia Brutscher as Pocopson Township’s representative to the Kennett Area Regional Planning Commission along with Bruce Yelton as alternate representative to the Kennett Area Regional Planning Commission, with his or her term to expire on December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Ross Unruh, Esquire, of Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees, as Solicitor of Pocopson Township at an hourly rate of $160.00 per hour.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Vandemark & Lynch, Inc., John Fenn, as Township Engineer on a minimum basis subject to further review by the Board  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Sellers seconded to appoint Ezekiel Hubbard as the Emergency Management Coordinator, with his term to expire on December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to designate emergency service providers and establish the territories by resolution for response and support to Longwood Fire and Ambulance Companies and Pomarlin Fire Company.  Motion carried. 

Resolution #1 of 2005:  Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to accept Resolution #1 of 2005 that establishes the boundaries for fire protection in the township between Longwood Fire Company and PoMarLin Fire Company and designates Longwood Ambulance as the EMS provider to the township and Avondale State Police Barricks as the police protection for the township.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Randy Mims to Chairman of the Vacancy Board with his term to expire on December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Sellers seconded to appoint William Harwood as Director of Public Works.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to establish the pay range for the part-time road crew from minimum wage to $18.00 per hour, at the discretion of the Director of Public Works.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to establish holidays for the Township as follows:

            New Year’s Day                                  Labor Day
            President’s Day                                    Thanksgiving
            Columbus Day                                     Christmas – (Monday) December 26, 2005
            Memorial Day                                      Three Personal DayS
            July 4^th

Motion carried. 

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint PIRMA as the insurance broker for the township.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Berkheimer Associates as Tax Collector for the Emergency & Municipal Services Tax.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint Christopher Sperber as Tax Collector for the Township’s real estate tax.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to establish checking and savings accounts at First National Bank of West Chester and Money Market Accounts at Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust.  Motion carried. 

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to establish the mileage reimbursement rate as permitted by the IRS at 40.5 cents per mile.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to appoint H.William Sellers as the voting delegate to the PA State Association of Township’s State Convention.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to establish the following meeting dates for 2005:

            Board of Supervisors* 
2^nd Monday of the month at 8:45 a.m.
4^th Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

*            Except as follows:

Tuesday, October 11 at 8:45 a.m. (Due to Columbus Day)
Monday, December 12 at 8:45 a.m. (One meeting in December) 

            Township Planning Commission
3^rd Wednesday of the Month at 7:30 p.m. (No August Meeting)

            Open Space Committee
2^nd Tuesday of the Month at 7:30 p.m.

            Historic Committee
2^nd Wednesday of the Month at 7:30 p.m.

All meetings will be held at the Township Office at 740 Denton Hollow Road.

Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Sellers seconded to appoint Karen Eckard as the Planning Commission Secretary at a salary of $20.50 per hour.  Motion carried.

Brutscher moved, Sellers seconded to appoint Ezekiel Hubbard as the Township’s Fire Marshall with his term to expire on December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to appoint Karen Eckard as the PMRS - Pension Plan Administrator with her term to expire December 31, 2005.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to appoint Karen Eckard as the Subdivision Plans Administration Officer, salary established at 50% of fees collected for applications in excess of 20 units.  Motion carried.

Sellers moved, Brutscher seconded to table the Zoning Hearing Board appointments until the next Board meeting.   Motion carried.

Township Solicitor, Andy Rau, entered the meeting.

REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING:

Open Space / Trails Grant:
Sheila Fleming,Brandywine Conservancy, was present to discuss the trails grant that the County has awarded to Pocopson Township in the amount of $144,00. Fleming said the County needs the executed contract back by the end of January if the township wishes to accept this proposal and proceed forward with this project.  Fleming said the township has pledged $50,000 from township funds which leaves an unfunded amount of $94,000 that the township will have to match as required by the grant.  Hubbard suggested reviewing the contract to see if it specifies how soon the township will be required to match the grant and if the township is required to spend the County’s entire $144,000 to be eligible for the grant.  The Board discussed options for funding the additional $94,000.  Andy Rau, township solicitor, suggested allowing him to review the contract with the county and revisit this issue with the Board at their next meeting in January for further discussion.

Road Closing Discussion:  Solicitor, Andy Rau, reviewed the procedure for vacating a township road (permanent road closure).  Rau said this can only occur by ordinance.  Rau said the supervisors would like community feedback on this proposal.  The Supervisors would like to incorporate the township’s trail system with trail easements on Larkin-Baily Road and Bragg Hill Road.  Brutscher said Larkin-Baily Road has been temporarily closed for some time and has locked gates.  Brutscher said that Bragg Hill Road has been flagged where the proposed road closing would occur.  Mark Thompson, resident, asked the Supervisors what their plan was for the road closings.  Brutscher said the closed roads would be similar to Creek Road in the township with gates at both ends, perhaps a trash can, and benches to accommodate hikers.  The gates are always opened during emergencies.  Thompson asked about potential problems with cars parking at the gates.  Gilbert Sheck stated that he in favor of closing the roads.  Sheck suggested if the road was marked no through way, road closed, no parking that this should suffice and discourage people from parking. Doug Fern commented on the locked gates and asked if the roads would continued to be maintained by the township.  Harwood responded to Fern and said the neighbors would have keys to the gates, and the roads would be maintained by the township for wash outs and mowing if necessary.  In response to a question from Mr. Thompson, Sellers said the liability of roads like these versus the cost of paving them to PennDOT standards favors the township vacating them and incorporating them into the township trail system.  Sellers said the gate could be relocated to accommodate a new driveway at the time that Thompson’s lot was conveyed to a new owner.  Sellers said if this is done as part of a trail easement, it would be memorialized so that the gate could be moved at a future date.  Hubbard said the trails committee could look into designated parking areas and contact the map companies to alert them of the closing of these roads.  Thompson asked about the timeline of vacating the roads.  Rau reviewed the procedures for the meeting attendees and said it shouldn’t take too long and that all residents affected would be notified by mail, and it would be necessary for each resident affected by the vacation to execute an easement for the township to have trail access.   Harwood reviewed PennDOT procedures and said the costs associated with bringing these roads up to PennDOT standards would be extremely costly for the township, and it would benefit the township to vacate the roads.  The residents were in agreement that vacating Larkin-Baily Road and Bragg Hill Road was a positive action and asked the Board to keep them informed of the progress of this project.

Road / Building Report:  Sellers reported that PennDOT is currently reviewing Route 52 and Wawaset Roads for a potential round-about design intersection.  Sellers suggested adopting a resolution at their next Board meeting for the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as requested by the County of Chester, Department of Emergency Services.  Harwood reported that Mr. Stumpo had complained about loud noise coming from the Hipkin’s property on NewYear’s Day.  Harwood said he investigated the complaint, and there was no justification for citing Hipkins for noise violation.  

Olmsted-Phase 4 – Escrow Release No. 5:  Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to approve escrow release #4 in connection with improvements at the Olmsted, (Alan Johnson) Phase 4, project.  This release includes an inspection fee payable to Pocopson Township of $695.  Motion carried.

Minutes of December 13^th, 2004:
Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to approve the minutes of December 13^th as submitted.  Motion carried with all in agreement.

Minutes of December 27^th, 2004:
Brutscher moved, Hubbard seconded to approve the minutes of December 27^th  as submitted.  Motion carried.  Sellers abstained as he was not present at that meeting.

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. 
 

______________________                                                    ________________________
Karen J. Eckard, Secretary                                                       H. William Sellers, Chairman