Pocopson Township
Chester County, Pennsylvania
 

7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Sellers called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. and opened with the pledge of allegiance.

Brutscher and Hubbard were in attendance.

Steve Conary and Larissa McNemar, PC members; and Bill Harwood, Road Master, were present.

Announcements:  Brutscher announced the KARPC are going to meet with state police and are considering conducting a regional police study.  Brutscher said Kennett Borough and New Garden Township would like to contract out some of their police force to other townships in the area.   

Sellers made the following two announcements:  The Supervisors, several PC members, and some residents had met at the Brenda White Farm 9:30 a.m. on May 21^st along with Tom Pancoast, applicant, and Jim Frtisch, Regester Associates to discuss different scenarios for driveways and road improvements.

Sellers reported he had met on May 14^th with Don Thompson and Steve Fromnick, Director of County Facilities Management, to discuss the proposed roundabout.  Sellers said he had also informed Mr. Fromnick on the intricacies of the intergovernmental agreement between the county and the township.

Sellers said he had met on May 15^th with Victor Banks, DCNR, and Sheila Fleming, Brandywine Conservancy, to discuss the trails grant application.

Supervisor Brutscher recused herself from the meeting at 7:44 p.m.

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to close the Regular Meeting at 7:45 p.m. and reopen the Conditional Use Hearing of Deanna L. Kretzschmar.  Motion carried.

This hearing had been continued from April 23^rd.

 Motion:  Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to hereby grant conditional use approval for Deanna L. Kretzschmar to have an accessory dwelling unit and garage on her property identified as tax parcel number 63-3-128 and located at 1880 Lenape-Unionville Road, so long as the proposed accessory dwelling unit and garage conform with the application, the testimony and exhibits presented at the hearing, and subject to the conditions which shall be complied with by the Applicant prior to application for building permit and during the use and occupancy of the accessory dwelling unit, as the case may be. 
Motion carried. 

The secretary will contact the solicitor in the morning to have the changes noted in the meeting added to the conditions of approval.  

Sellers moved, Hubbard seconded to close the Conditional Use Hearing and reopen the regular meeting at 8:01 p.m.  Motion carried.

Supervisor Brutscher reentered the regular meeting.

PR&T Committee:  Hubbard discussed the site preparation for the new playstructure.  Mrs. Retzlaff is going to supply Harwood with a site plan.

Historic Schoolhouse:  Brutscher asked Harwood to install a ‘No Parking’ sign at the schoolhouse.  Harwood agreed to have a sign installed.
Harwood reported the replacement glass for the schoolhouse is at the township garage, and the historic committee has found someone to install the glass into the window frames.  Harwood reported the road crew had dug out the driveway and sidewalk at the schoolhouse.  Brutscher asked Harwood to attend the Historic Committee meeting to discuss painting the exterior of the schoolhouse.  The Board agreed to allocate $1,000 from the General Fund for a new electrical box at the schoolhouse.  Harwood has permission to move forward with this project.  The Board discussed what improvements the schoolhouse grant can be allocated to.  It was noted that this will need to be further explored.

Wetland Study for the Roundabout and Route 52:  Sellers reported that Votex is conducting Roundabout and Route 52 wetland study; Andrea M. Teti, Inc. is conducting Bog Turtle study.  Both studies should be completed shortly. 

Township Roads:  Roadmaster Harwood reported the following:
A wash out at Haines Mill Road & Beversrede Trail is being repaired.

Davidson Road guide rail will be removed where it has collapsed.

Linda Drake from Bittersweet Road requesting permission to park cars at township maintenance building on June 10^th between 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. to accommodate a fundraiser she is hosting.  Sellers asked the secretary to get the request in writing. 

Courts at Longwood, inspected inlets and basins – satisfactory for maintenance bond release.

Mr. Dedel, Beversrede, a letter will be sent to the HOA stating the supervisors discussed with the roadmaster their request to install rip-rap around a drainage inlet and do not feel it is a township responsibility.

MS-4 requirements, Harwood said Don Lane, road crew employee, has the experience and knowledge to perform tasks associated with DEP MS4 reporting for the township.  The Board will discuss this further at a future meeting.

Tullamore storm water basin, a letter will be sent to the HOA stating trees need to be cut down on the eastern side of the basin by the downhill outflow inlet.  Harwood reported the basin is operating as it should. 

Bragg Hill Road - Closing:  Mark Thompson, resident Bragg Hill Road, stated that he is not satisfied with the legal agreement that was drafted by Ross Unruh, for the closing of Bragg Hill Road as it relates to his property. Thompson stated there is no legal description, only a map.  He expressed concerns that lot #03 of his property will become a non-conforming lot.  Thompson requested the township to survey, prepare a legal easement description, and design a hammerhead that will be affective in this location.  Thompson said the neighbors and himself are in agreement to close the road.  Thompson said the township should install permanent gate.  Thompson asked if it could be noted in the legal agreement the assumes the liability township liability issue of the trails.  Thompson requested the township improve the section of Bragg Hill Road that is to remain open.  Thompson said he would sign the agreement if the issues discussed today were satisfactorily addressed in the road closing agreement. 

Brenda White Farm:  Jim Fritsch, Regester Associates; Tom Pancoast & Mr. Weiss, BHO Investors, L.P.,  Carl Meister,

Jim Fritsch said they were here today to discuss options for the private road vs. common driveway option for the five lot subdivision.  Mr. Finley and Dr. Wingate, potential lots owners, would prefer the private road turn to a common driveway after the hammerhead.  Fritsch said the location of the hammerhead still has to be determined.  Sellers suggested that after the hammerhead, there will only be Lot 2 and Lot 4 to be served by the common driveway. 

Fritsch asked if a driveway could be changed to maximum 12% grade and reduce the K value.  The stormwater basins were discussed .  Sellers said road widening will be necessary at the entrance of the common driveway.   Fritsch said a large radius has been planned for emergency vehicles to have necessary access to the private road.  Sellers stated Bragg Hill Road will need some improvement at this location.   There will be a shared driveway agreement for the private street that will include stormwater handling and driveway maintenance.  Sellers said there should be a separate common driveway agreement between Lot 3 & Lot 5.  There was a discussion on the best way to asetically handle storm water for this community. Sellers said the basin could become a permanent pond; but, there has to be enough free board to handle for storm flow.  The Board agreed the common driveway and storm water basin will need to be shown on the final plan.  A detailed building plan can be shown at the time of building permit issuance.  It was discussed and agreed the driveway specs can be as discussed in the waiver. Sellers informed Fritsch he should start the application for a Conditional Use hearing as soon as possible to move this project along.

Other Business:  Hubbard reported that himself and Rick Hostetler, UCFSD, worked out the location of the trail easement on the Pocopson Elementary School property.  There are still several issues with the trail easements.  

Treasurer’s Report & Warrants:  Harwood requested payment for his comp time earned.  The Board discussed and approved the comp time request. 
The warrants were approved and signed as submitted. 
The secretary presented the Board with a preliminary 1^st quarter 2007 financial report.  The report is still being modified for easier understanding of the information. 

Employee Life Insurance – Harwood reported the employee’s life insurance, according to the employee manual, should be twice their annual salary.  Harwood asked if the township would consider increasing the life insurance as it currently does not meet that formula.  The Board discussed and agreed this will be addressed during the employee manual discussions. 

Meeting Minutes:  The meeting minutes of April 23rd, May 14th, and May 29^th were discussed and approval was tabled until the first Board meeting in June.   

Other Business:  Sellers expressed concern about dead trees overhanging township roads.  This should be taken care of by the township and/or property owners notified to handle the removal of the dead limbs.

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.

______________________                                                    _____________________
Karen J. Eckard, Secretary                                                       H. William Sellers, Chair.