March 5, 2013

The regular meeting of the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors was held Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 7:00 pm. The meeting was held at the Township Building on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, Westfall Township.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg, Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy, and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Treasurer, Scott Myer; Zoning Officer, Michael Rendleman; Bill Schneider, Chad Stewart, Tom Lamb, Luis Bocaletti, Rob Llewellyn, Beth Brelje, Lisa Mickles, and approximately 12 members of the general public.

AGENDA: The agenda was amended to add an executive session as well as adding a possible letter to the Matamoras Borough Council and a letter to El Paso Pipeline Company regarding using our roads to turn trucks around. Supervisor Flansburg moved to approve the agenda. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

MINUTES: Minutes of the February 5, 2013 regular meeting were approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

TREASURER’s REPORT: Scott Myer gave the treasurer’s report stating that January-February has been a slow month as far as income. Income today is $44,000. We have received our first real estate tax distribution. Expenses for the month were $167,000.  We have $118,000 in the bank so we will make it through the low point. Vice-chairman Fischer moved to approve report. Motion seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

POLICE REPORT: Police Chief, Chad Stewart gave the report for February. There have been 151 calls for service and 5,537 miles patrolled for the month. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if the sex offense charge was something that was pending. Chief Stewart said it was listed as offenses known to police previously and was charged this month. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the police report. Motion seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Tom Lamb gave the Mill Rift Fire Department report for February stating that on 2/3 they put the new truck in service and transferred equipment, on 2/6 they had truck maintenance on Engine 2, on 2/7 they had the drill with Matamoras, on 2/11 there was a structure fire in Westfall, on 2/12 they had their monthly meeting, on 2/ 13 they have hazmat training for eight members, on 2/20 they had Engine 2 training, on 2/22 driver training on Engine 2, on 2/24 standby in Westfall, and on 2/27 a pump drill on Engine 2; for a total of 198 man-hours and 14 1/2 equipment hours for the month. Supervisor Flansburg asked about the truck going to Huguenot.  Mr. Lamb said they let them take the truck and Huguenot has insured it and submitted a letter to the Department stating the Mill Rift Fire Department is not liable in any way. They will get the Truck back sometime in May.

Rob Llewellyn gave the Westfall Township Fire Department Report for February reporting 6 Motor Vehicle Accidents, 4 Commercial Alarms, 1 Residential Flooding, 3 Structure Fire, and 1 Mutual Aid Structure Fires, 1 Smoke investigation, 1 Mutual aid traffic control,  and 1 Mutual aid car fire. Total calls YTD 38, total man hours 204.83. Supervisor Flansburg moved to approve the report. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

HIGHWAY REPORT: Bill Schneider gave the report for February stating that they continue with equipment maintenance. They worked on road shoulders, repaired drainage problems for heavy rains, trimmed trees and brushes out of right of way for sight improvement on Blue Stone Blvd and Cummins Hill Road.  Mr. Schneider attended the Road Task Force meeting. The crew replaced stop signs on Rose Lane and Reuben Bell Drive. Repaired sander at Bonhams, ordered 113 ton of anti-skid and had 100 ton of salt delivered, checked roads for black ice. Cleared pipes and ditches for possible heavy rains. Mr. Schneider met with Tim Balch on January 18, 2013 regarding the right of way sight distance to be cleared on Cummins Hill Road and the issue of road repair along the streams. Spoke to Pioneer regarding the foot of Heaters Hill about bank stabilization. Set up an appointment with the Conservation District about road projects in and along streams. Will coordinate with Tim Balch representative of DCNR. There were 6 snow storms that required maintenance and 1 ice storm. Mr. Schneider stated he was in contact with Aileen Sullivan from Orange & Rockland regarding the poles in right of ways and they are not a high priority at this point. He will be speaking with her again when she returns from vacation. Mr. Schneider also took a road tour with Supervisor Flansburg. Supervisor Banach moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carried with all in favor.

BUILDING/ZONING REPORT: Michael Rendleman stated he did not have a report for February however there was limited activity. Supervisor Banach said there was one zoning permit issued with fees of $200.

CORRESPONDENCE: On dais for review.

OLD BUSINESS:

Reappointment of Doug Jacobs: Supervisor Banach moved to reappoint Doug Jacobs as Solicitor to the Zoning Hearing Board. Supervisor Banach stated that at the re-organization meeting Mr. Jacobs was appointed temporarily because he had previously represented individual clients before the Zoning Hearing Board and it was felt that Mr. Jacobs should only represent Westfall Township. He agreed to do that in the future and therefore he is being reappointed. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

NEW BUSINESS:

Jack Wertz – Paddlers Point: Jack Wertz, Developer of Paddlers Point introduced himself to the board. Solicitor Bernathy confirmed that Mr. Wertz is here in an informal manner without filing a formal application to the township or paying any fees, and that Mr. Wertz is here to test the waters. He is not to rely on anything that is said here this evening nor will the Township be bound by it. Mr. Wertz said approximately 5 years ago he received approval to build a 44 unit townhome development behind Kmart, however with the turn in the market the project as approved is not viable. Mr. Wertz is here tonight to pitch an idea that he feels would benefit both him and the Township and that would be to create garden apartments on the site. His broker seems to feel this type of project would work, and his engineer feels that the burden to the school district would be reduced as compared to the approval he has now. Mr. Wertz said this is very preliminary, he does not have all the details yet but he would like to have his Attorney get in touch the Township Solicitor and have his engineer send a more detailed plan to the zoning officer to see if anything can be resolved. Supervisor Banach questioned if Mr. Wertz had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Rendleman. He did and there were things that Mr. Rendleman pointed out. Supervisor Banach questioned what type of problems they ran up against. Mr. Rendleman said there were several issues with the zoning ordinance. Mr. Wertz is looking to put in several multi-story apartment buildings however the limitation in the ordinance is for eight units in each building and they are proposing nine buildings to hold 135 units. He also does not have enough acreage to provide 30% of the area as open space, and unless it’s a senior apartment he needs a 100 x 200′ grassy area as a play area within that 30%. Mr. Rendleman is not sure that can be satisfied. He does not believe the height restriction is a requirement; however the parking does not meet the ordinance. The ordinance also requires 15,000 ft.² of land area for each unit which would be approximately 48 acres and there is only 10.5 acres available. Supervisor Banach said then it would be an extreme high density use for what we have. Mr. Wertz said that is correct.

Mrs. Green said Mike Gable, Mr. Wertz’ Engineer was in today and suggested a friendly curative amendment however she does not have the details. Supervisor Flansburg questioned what the difference was that they’re going to get the senior apartments on that property. Mr. Rendleman said there is no difference they received a conditional use for that project. Chairman Ewbank said Mr. Wertz would like to put up the same number of buildings just a different use. Supervisor Banach asked for an impact study on the school district commenting that with 135 apartment units as opposed to 44 townhomes the impact could be significant. Mr. Wertz said his engineer did preliminary details and felt that the impact on the school district would be less.

Solicitor Bernathy they said this is not a conditional use approval process, this is a change to our ordinance. Further commenting that a curative amendment is adversarial and we don’t want to be adversarial. They’re going to need to change our ordinance by amendment, rather than saying the ordinance is unconstitutional. Solicitor Bernathy questioned who Mr. Wertz’ Attorney is. It is Jason Ohliger. Solicitor Bernathy said he knows Mr. Ohliger and can reach out to him.

Supervisor Flansburg asked if it has to be 135 units or if it’s possible if he can reduce the number. Mr. Wertz said in order to make this a viable project he would need 135 units. Mr. Wertz explained the plan to the Board and Solicitor. Discussion followed regarding ingress and egress, school district impact, fire department satisfaction, and sewage availability. Discussion was held on the acreage. Mr. Wertz said he owns the whole parcel and he is in contract with Mr. Mandelbaum to sell five acres. Solicitor Bernathy felt that Mr. Mandelbaum had Stormwater detention and a picnic pavilion that could possibly be on part of the property that Mr. Wertz is speaking of.  There were no further questions or comments for Mr. Wertz. He will have his Attorney reach out to Solicitor Bernathy.

Mill Rift Fire Department Audit: Supervisor Banach said this was tabled from last month’s meeting and he believes this is a time to request an audit of the Mill Rift Fire Department for the past five years. Solicitor Bernathy questioned at whose expense stating that this would be very expensive and if they are requesting a forensic audit that would be even more expensive. Supervisor Banach said it should be at the expense of the fire Department. Scott Myer confirmed that the cost would be approximately $3-$4000 per year and a forensic audit could double that. Mr. Myer also stated five years is a long time to do an audit on. Supervisor Melvin questioned if the District Attorney’s office performed an audit. Solicitor Bernathy said he does not want to comment on what the District Attorney may or may not have done. Commenting that he is just concerned with the expense. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if this is the right time or if we should wait for the District Attorney. Solicitor Bernathy said this is prudent but he goes back to who is paying for it. Supervisor Banach said if the township pays for it then it would come out of the portion of contribution that we give them. Mr. Myer said nonprofits do not have to be audited. Tom Lamb said they are audited annually and he can give the supervisors the information. Supervisor Banach questioned who is doing the audit. Mr. Lamb could not remember his name. Supervisor Flansburg requested copies of the past few years as well as a copy of the current year once they get the records back from the DA. Supervisor Melvin said he agrees that something needs to be done. Mr. Lamb questioned if this is for all fire departments or just Mill Rift. Supervisor Flansburg said it is just Mill Rift due to the recent problem that they had and questioned whether or not Westfall Fire Department is audited. They are not; they do however have financial statements prepared.

Letter from Pike County Commissioners regarding Pike County’s 200^th Anniversary: Chairman Ewbank read the letter that was received from the Pike County Commissioners regarding their 200^th Anniversary to be held in 2014. The supervisors suggested forwarding this letter to the Matamoras Westfall Historical Society to see if they could prepare something for both municipalities. Mrs. Green will send them a letter making that request.

PEMA-DAP-2 (Designation of Agent Resolution): Chairman Ewbank said this is a form from PEMA designating an agent to act on behalf of Westfall Township for Hurricane Sandy relief. Supervisor Banach moved to approve Resolution 2013–1. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. Chairman Ewbank relayed to the board that all of our information as in and done and we will be receiving approximately $12,000 from the state for relief.

Memo from Chris Wood regarding DEP Regulations: Chairman Ewbank said we have a memo from Chris Wood dated February 12, 2013 regarding some of the requirements of new DEP regulations. Supervisor Banach said that he attended a meeting at the Conservation District on February 28, 2013 and Chris did a wonderful job explaining the new regulations further stating that this is really going to limit people that are trying to build on existing lots. Supervisor Banach further stated that DEP did this by executive order rather than going through the proper channels and that he feels that Mr. Wood should get together with the Mrs. Green to write a letter to DEP signed by the supervisors.

Mashipacong Island: Supervisor Banach said he would like the board to give authorization to Solicitor Bernathy to review the 1992 Agreement to see if there’s any way we can get out of it. Discussion followed. Solicitor Bernathy will review the agreement.

Letter to Matamoras Borough Council & Police Commission: Renegotiation of agreement & Notification of 2014 Budget allocation: Supervisor Banach said at the last meeting a gentleman spoke about the Regionalization Agreement being only good for three years, and he believes it’s time to get the ball rolling on how much money is going to be allocated for 2014 and possibly renegotiate the split to 50-50. Further stating we need to get together with them right now rather than wait until August. Supervisor Banach feels that we should have a meeting with Matamoras and the Police Commission. Supervisor Melvin questioned if we knew right now how much we could afford and 2014. Solicitor Bernathy commented that he thought that was the purpose of getting together in August in order to get a jump on the budget. Supervisor Banach said he feels the time is now to get together and not wait until August further commenting that every time he reads the paper it seems that Matamoras is short $6,000. Further commenting that the roads need to be maintained and we have cut the road department and the office and we seem to be cutting everywhere to fund one department of the township. Chairman Ewbank said following the last meeting Mayor Clark suggested we meet quarterly. Further discussion was held. Supervisor Flansburg asked Solicitor Bernathy if he was in agreement that the 2008 regionalization agreement was only good for three years. Solicitor Bernathy said he would need to look into that. The supervisors decided to send a letter to Matamoras Borough suggesting either April 18^th or the 25^th at 7:00 PM. Mr. Myer said part of the financial problem was due to the Dombrosky settlement so in 2014 will be losing $130,000 in expense.

Heaters Hill: Bill Schneider said he discussed the repair of Heaters Hill Road with a few contractors and he believes it could be done for under $5000 and should be done right away. The Conservation District has been down there but Mr. Schneider is not sure what permitting will be required. Supervisor Banach said he believes we should authorize Mr. Schneider to go ahead and get this fixed as long as the amount does not exceed $5000. This will shore up the wall. Supervisor Flansburg asked Mr. Schneider about the lower spot on Heaters Hill as to whether both projects can be done at the same time. Mr. Schneider said the lower spot is stable but he would get costs on both. Discussion was held on what is needed for each project. Supervisor Melvin moved to authorize $5000 to be spent to fix the problem on Heaters Hill Road and Sign Ware Court. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carried with all in favor.

Public Gatherings – Discussion on Possible Ordinance: Supervisor Banach said this came up because of the people protesting the pipeline. Supervisor Banach stated that we live in America and people have every right to protest and voice their opinion, however we don’t want people parked in the road and standing in the road and he has witnessed people standing in the road and jumping in front of people’s cars with signs; questioning if there’s something the Township can do to save the township from liability. Supervisor Melvin questioned if this was a state road. It is. Chief Stewart said under the vehicle code they are allowed to stand in the road. Further stating that it is dangerous and it’s an awful road to be protesting on but they have every right under the vehicle code. Solicitor Bernathy said you have to be careful regarding the Constitution and peaceable assembly. Also stating that he notices there’s a sample ordinance in the board’s folders, however it notes “…please keep in mind that PSATS cannot guarantee that a model ordinance, job description, or personnel regulation has or will withstand a court challenge.” Solicitor Bernathy said he will look at the ordinance but we have to be careful about the constitutional implications. Supervisor Banach said they’re jumping in front of cars and it is not safe. Debra Banach said just this morning there was a woman standing in the road and you had to drive and opposite lane. Solicitor Bernathy said that she is a witness to the woman violating the law. Mrs. Banach questioned if they should be required to have traffic control. Discussion was held. Supervisor Melvin suggested a permit even if they don’t pay a fee they would be required to follows certain conditions.

Beth Brelje questioned if they step off the road onto the forested area are they then trespassing. Chief Stewart said they would be in the right of way. Supervisor Banach said he just doesn’t want to see the township getting sued for an accident. Chief Stewart said if there is an accident and they are involved they would be charged.  Solicitor Bernathy will review the ordinance.

Letter to Matamoras regarding Leaf Pickup: Supervisor Banach said he and Chairman Ewbank were talking and the time will be coming that people will start burning again. Matamoras Borough had given us a proposal before and what the township will propose is that our truck can pull their leaf machine for equal delegation of rights. If any fees are due to Matamoras Borough the township would like to offer in-kind contributions instead. Chairman Ewbank will reach out to the Borough Council.

Possible Letter to Pipeline Company regarding Road Maintenance Agreement: Supervisor Banach said the person that came before us for this has since passed away so we will need to either send a letter or send Mr. Schneider to the pipeline company to get a bond in place or maintenance agreement prior to the trucks damaging our roads. Mr. Schneider will meet with them personally.

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION:

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Called at 8:06 for Kittatinny and Indian Head Canoe Litigation as well as Open Records Request by the Pocono Record.

Back in session at 8:26 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m. on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

CLEANUP DAY

April 20, 2013

8:00 am to 2:00 pm.

WESTFALL TOWNSHIP BUILDING

DELAWARE DRIVE & LA BARR LANE

$10.00 PER CAR LOAD

$20.00 PER TRUCK LOAD

$30.00 PER LARGE TRUCK LOAD

Cash or Checks Accepted

PROOF OF RESIDENCY REQUIRED

NO HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE

WE WILL NOT ACCEPT

Tires, Refrigerators, Air-Conditioners,

Asbestos, Paint, Propane Tanks

Building Materials or Brush

Any questions can be answered by calling the Township

Office at 491-4065 during normal business hours.

February 5, 2013

The regular meeting of the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors was held Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 7:00 pm. The meeting was held at the TownshipBuilding on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, WestfallTownship.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg, Robert Melvin; and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Treasurer, Scott Myer; Zoning Officer, Michael Rendleman; Bill Schneider, Chad Stewart, Robert Mills, Tom Lamb, Luis Bocaletti, Rob Llewellyn, Beth Brelje, Lisa Mickles, John Dalton, Bill Jamros, Tom Pampelone, Brian Shaub, Louis Troiano, Darren Schwartz and 8 members of the general public. Solicitor, Robert Bernathy was not present.

An executive session was held on Monday, February 4, 2012 at 7:00 PM for the purpose of potential litigation.

AGENDA: The agenda was amended to add the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department letter under New Business as well as the EMA Office. Supervisor Flansburg moved to approve the agenda. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Chairman Ewbank announced that they will be tabling the Transaction Tax discussion tonight and apologized for any inconvenience this may cause anyone from either the cigarette or fireworks stores stating that our Solicitor could not be present tonight.

PUBLIC COMMENT: John Dalton addressed the board making the following statements: In regard to the Dombrosky settlement: I understand that the amount of $175,000 is to be paid in the 2014 budget as well as in the 2013 budget.  Am I correct? Mr. Dalton was told that was not correct, the $175,000 was paid in 2012 and will be paid in 2013 and that there will be annual installments for 7-9 years but they are lesser payments. Mr. Dalton continued by stating “I am not happy about any potential dissolution of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department (EPRPD) on account of their budget situation.  I do understand the intent and purpose of the supervisors’ letter to Matamoras giving them a heads-up with regard to the budget situation.  I do not wish to be face-to-face with a Pennsylvania state trooper who may not know me and my neighbors.  Chances are they will not know that I am deaf while our own EPRPD and fire department do!  I should also mention that my wife whom many have never met is deaf as well. All of us must be aware of the types of crimes that are occurring in nearby towns: Port Jervis, Middletown, Newburgh, and Kingston, NY; East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre, Pa; and who knows where else.  Port Jervis is moving in the direction to have a commercial Whitewater Park.  Port Jervis just recently was given a $49,000 grant for its Whitewater Park by the state of New York, some time period after it received a $50,000 grant from the Orange County government.  This Whitewater Park is certain to attract large numbers of economic participants and followers to our region.  Generally speaking, along with the fire departments, the police are often among the very first responders in many types of emergency situations.  The fire department personnel and the police chief or those in law enforcement can detail the various situations in which the police were first-responders.  I wish to encourage you supervisors (and others) to please keep an open mind.  The same goes for us Westfall taxpayers as well.  I am speaking for some with regard to the EPRPD.” Chairman Ewbank told Mr. Dalton that the supervisors would be addressing the situation with the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department this evening. Mr. Dalton continued by stating “On the front page of The Times Herald Record, Sunday December 9, 2012, was an article: “Port is heroin hotspot”.  This article covered the topic on drugs on the inside pages 4 & 5.  It is not a pretty picture when drugs become the source of income for nearby drug sellers locally. The picture shown on that front page is of the tunnel under Interstate 84.  A few months ago, I commented in jest, to Police Chief Chad Stewart about seeking a PENN-D.O.T. grant.  Well, this is now a more serious proposal.  The purpose of the grant is this:  develop and install a computer-controlled sprinkler system and use it whenever potential drug transactions occur.  Across from this tunnel on Reuben Bell Drive at the intersection of Rose Lane, is a fire hydrant indicating continuous water supply in that area.  By tapping this water supply line under Reuben Bell Drive, a tunnel sprinkler system could be installed and be monitored by any authorized individuals within the Matamoras Borough hall building via the use of computer monitor or the like.  However, there are possible liability issues along with insurance which could prevent any consideration for such a set up or arrangement and without any warning signs as well.

During the January 7^th, 2013 meeting, one supervisor expressed a desire to have the split of 53% & 47% be more of a 50-50 split for Westfall township share of EPRPD costs.  In the first place, any such division of police costs should have been and are apparently based upon the results of supporting mathematical or statistical proportions.  I do not believe that a 50-50 split is achievable given the number of homes and the corresponding number of bathrooms, bedrooms, and garages; businesses of varying sizes; large and small ranches; vacant lots; the total of township and borough road mileage; and what-not can be ignored. You squirmed and struggled with this issue.  Even Mr. Bernathy encouraged you to consider taking action on implementing an earned income tax.  I suspect that at least one of you is opposed, but I ask that you step back and see how it would benefit the township and its residents regardless of whether they are owners or renters.  We need an open workshop devoted to just this one subject:  earned income tax.  I will make every effort to be there and discuss my view points. When I made my presentation on the Earned Income Tax in January 2010, I was at that time being extremely careful while addressing this topic to the then sitting supervisors, of whom three of you are here.  Not long afterwards did I become aware that Westfall was collecting local services tax aka LST.  Upon learning of this, I sought some answers yet knowing some Westfall resident owners would be reluctant to answer any of my direct questions until I “hit upon” one party.  The wife was unsure if LST was deducted from her paycheck, but her husband knew the answer immediately.  You see, they own their home; they live in it; and they both work for different employer’s right here in Westfall.  I then asked if there were any adjustments or credits for LST deducted from their paychecks or through adjustments in their property tax.  Their reply was negative.  In my opinion, this by itself amounts to double taxation.  Think about it.  While LST does not have a hit-’em in the pocket impact, it does provide some income to the township.  I believe LST ought to be replaced by the earned income tax for all of those employed in Westfall along with a corresponding offset in property tax for Westfall residents who work in Westfall.

I note that Matamoras minimizes street plowing especially during some of the more recent very light snow falls.  This is understandable.  We in Westfall ought to revisit how we can save monies by doing the same but limiting the spreading activities to the more difficult sections of the many roadways within the township.  An example is the stretch of Pond Drive from to slightly past the middle of the ponds before the upgrade begins.  Discretion ought to be given to various sections of Westfall township roads to conserve the remaining amounts of road treatments thus better management of our road expenditures for now. Thank you!  The board thanked Mr. Dalton for his comments and stated that they would take them under advisement.

Brian Shaub owner of Keystone Fireworks addressed the board stating that he spoke to Solicitor Bernathy yesterday regarding the transaction tax. Mr. Shaub said he would welcome the opportunity to get together with the Supervisors and the representatives of Phantom Fireworks and discuss options other than the transaction tax or ways the Township can benefit financially. Supervisor Flansburg said they certainly do not want to put Mr. Shaub off and would be willing to talk with him.

Thomas Pampelone asked the Supervisors if they will have public comment after they discuss the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department. The Supervisors told Mr. Pampelone that he could speak now. Mr. Pampelone said he spoke to a representative of the State Police and questioned if the board did the same. Vice-chairman Fischer said he spoke to the Commander and was told it would be business as usual meaning that the coverage would be the same. Mr. Pampelone said he was told by the liaison from Harrisburg that the State Police are trying to pass a cost of $55 per head for full coverage which would be just over $140,000 for Westfall Township.  Further stating he had the budget from 2010 showing the police budget at $340,000 with actual figures of $360,000 which is $20,000 over budget. Mr. Pampelone said they are already in the red and we know from the past that they go over budget. Adding that the code enforcement line item is also over budget by $30,000 questioning how that could be. Mr. Pampelone used himself as an example saying if he priced a job for a certain amount of money and went over budget continuously he would be out of business. Supervisor Melvin said in that situation for code enforcement there’s increased revenue that comes in to offset the increased expenditures. Mr. Myer said that Eastern Pike Regional Police Department in 2010 showed an overage because there was back payroll due to Mr. Dombrosky. Discussion followed regarding the budget documents. Supervisor Flansburg told Mr. Pampelone that the Supervisors are working very hard to get things under control. Mr. Pampelone said the contract that he read for the Eastern Pike Regional Police Commission from 2008 is now void because it was a three-year contract and we did not re-sign another contract. Supervisor Flansburg said he would rather wait until Solicitor Bernathy was present to address that. Mr. Pampelone questioned the calls to Wal-Mart. Chief Stewart said 3% of all calls are retail and the majority of those go to Wal-Mart. Both Supervisor Melvin and Vice-chairman Fischer explained that Wal-Mart is the largest employer and probably one of the largest taxpayers in the Township. Mr. Pampelone feels they should be covered by the state police. Supervisor Flansburg said this is being worked on. Mr. Pampelone also commented on the number of police officers on duty at any one time claiming we on the have 3 mi.² to cover, stating that the budget could be cut in an amount to pay for the Dombrosky settlement for one year. He also questioned the suit to the EPRPD and was told that the judge found in favor of the Commission. Mr. Pampelone questioned why the insurance company didn’t cover the Dombrosky settlement stating he heard there was a misrepresentation on the application to the insurance company. He was told this is considered pending litigation and could not be discussed although the statement he had heard was untrue. Supervisor Banach said we are working diligently in trying to fund the Police Department and Road Department and have make cuts even with our staff, further stating we have tried to come up with ways of increasing revenue and reduce costs. Discussion followed regarding the state police. Chairman Ewbank said in the past the state police have tried the same thing but it was an escalating cost starting at $55 per resident and worked its way up. Supervisor Flansburg said that Chief Stewart said no one attends the police commission meetings and although the board appreciates his comments Mr. Pampelone should attend the commission meetings. Further discussion followed regarding the Police Department.

Bill Jamros said he read the Regionalization Agreement saying that it clearly states that all Matamoras and Westfall Township police officers will become part of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department and asked how our solicitor misinterpreted that. Chairman Ewbank said it was up to the police commission to hire the officers. Vice-chairman Fischer said there was also a question of active duty. Chairman Ewbank said when that EPRPD was formed there was no Westfall Township Police Department to give him a job and suggested Mr. Jamros come back next month when our solicitor is present because he is the one that wrote the agreement. Mr. Jamros was told that Solicitor Bernathy was not our solicitor at the time the agreement was drafted. Gregory Chelak was. Supervisor Melvin said we cannot speak on this issue because there is pending litigation. Supervisor Banach commented that the Township never had their day in court. The attorneys we had were insurance company attorneys and the judge made a decision against us and we were never allowed to give our side of the story. Discussion followed.

Darren Schwartz, owner of Smokers Choice said they have two stores in the township and employ seventeen people. They have plans to make a major renovation to the store across from the Welcome Center by tearing down four existing structures and constructing a 6000 ft.² building. They have a problem with the cigarette tax for several reasons. If the board decides to adopt a local cigarette tax they may have to reconsider their idea to renovate and expand that location. A new cigarette tax will cause customers to make the short drive to a tobacco retailer (approximately 10) from the bridge to 10th St. which is outside of Westfall Township. When that happens they will lose business and as a result the employees could see hours reduced or even see their jobs eliminated. Mr. Schwartz continued by stating Pennsylvania is a fair trade state which means the cigarette taxes are uniform State wide. Fair trade cigarette laws started in the mid-20^th century in order to prevent large retailers from coming into communities and using cigarettes as a loss leader. Cigarettes are very price sensitive items. There are about 25 states right now that have fair trade laws which dictate that the price of cigarettes can’t go below a certain amount. The Westfall proposal will change the market dynamics and cause tobacco consumers to make purchases where tobacco is cheaper. As best he can tell there are no other local cigarette taxes in the state of Pennsylvania. Mr. Schwartz said if this tax is passed it will give other municipalities an advantage over Westfall Township and stated that it is discriminatory and asked the board not to impose the tax and remain a business friendly environment that encourages residents to patronize their business. Mr. Schwartz said people come from New York and New Jersey to purchase cigarettes and feel said the tax goes up they would literally lose customers and their business would be destroyed. If the tax was being proposed from the bridge to 10th Street also Mr. Swartz would not have a problem because he does not feel he competes with Wilkes-Barre.

Supervisor Flansburg said when we proposed the amusement tax and transaction tax people felt that was unfair also, however they said they were never invited to come before the board which is why the board and invited the cigarette store owners to come in at this time and stated it would not be a cigarette tax but a transaction tax.

Supervisor Banach said our goal is for the County to place a countywide sales tax which would benefit the whole County. Chairman Ewbank said we welcome Mr. Schwartz’s input so they can make a wise decision.

Supervisor Flansburg questioned whether the other supervisors read the e-mail from Bob Bostinto regarding the Katz property, stating that it was a brilliant suggestion. Supervisor Melvin said there may be zoning issues that we need to look at. This item will be put on the agenda next month. Lisa Mickles asked if the board was going to re-zone the Katz property as commercial. Supervisor Banach said not at all, there was a suggestion from a resident looking at the dynamics of our municipality stating a corporate park would benefit the municipality and the Katz property could be available. Discussion followed.

MINUTES: Minutes of the January 7, 2013 public hearing were approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Minutes of the January 7, 2013 regular meeting were approved on a motion by Supervisor Flansburg. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Minutes of the January 23, 2013 workshop meeting were approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg. Supervisor Melvin abstained. Motion carried with four in favor and one abstention.

Minutes of the December 4, 2012 meeting were corrected on page seven (7) to say that Vice-chairman Fischer cannot speak for the Commission. In the original minutes it said “can.” Supervisor Banach moved to approve the minutes. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

TREASURER’s REPORT: Scott Myer gave the treasurer’s report stating that January is a slow month as far as income. Expenses for the month were $101,000.  Supervisor Melvin moved to approve report. Motion seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

POLICE REPORT: Police Chief, Chad Stewart gave the report for January. There have been 176 calls for service and 5,360 miles patrolled for the month. Chief Stewart said they are still have burglaries in homes and in cars and cautioned people to keep doors locked and not leave purses or GPS devices in vehicles. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if the public drunkenness was from a side street in the Township or Borough or is that tied to an establishment. Chief Stewart said this month it is not from an establishment, this probably someone staggering on the street. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the police report. Motion seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Robert Mills gave the Mill Rift Fire Department report for January stating they had their monthly meeting on 1/09, a work day on 1/17, mutual aid structure fire on 1/18, 1/23 cleaned main fire house and went over equipment at the station, 1/30 installed new shelves at the substation.  They took their 1982 American LaFrance out of service and replaced it with a 1994 KME Pumper. Supervisor Flansburg asked if that is something new. Mr. Mills said it was something they have been working on, further stating that they bought Huguenot’s engine (1994 Pumper) so Huguenot does not have an engine now. They would like to take the 1982 that Mill Rift took out of service and borrow it until they get their new truck. Mr. Mills continued by saying he was not sure it was going to happen because they had to check with the insurance company as to the liability. Supervisor Banach said the vehicle is owned by the Fire Department so any arrangements they make would be strictly a fire department issue and not a township concern as the liability would lie with the fire department because they are a separate entity. Supervisor Flansburg suggested selling it for one dollar and buying it back for a dollar so that it would be their truck for the time they wish to use it. Supervisor Melvin suggested checking the legalities with an attorney to make sure they are covered.

Luis Bocaletti gave the Westfall Township Fire Department Report for January reporting 1 Motor Vehicle Accident, 10 Commercial Alarms, 1 Residential Alarm, 1 Outside Investigation, 1 Carbon Monoxide Alarm, 1 Brush Fire, 1 Structure Fire, and 4 Mutual Aid Structure Fires. They also had 12 members participate in CPR refresher course, 10 members receive their first aid certification, and 14 members receive training on blood-borne pathogens. Total man-hours for the month 218.4. For EMS there were 29 calls in Westfall Township, 17 in Milford Township and 3 in Port Jervis. Total calls for EMS were 49. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if Atlantic ambulance is now covering Westfall Township. Rob Llewellyn said a letter went to Comm. Center and they are trying to decipher the ALS lines. Supervisor Melvin questioned if there were any fundraisers either fire department was having right now. Mr. Bocaletti said they will begin in March. Supervisor Flansburg said he was at Home Depot today and was asked why the Westfall Fire Department did not participate in the fire field day for the kids. Mr. Llewellyn said Home Depot was approached two months before the date of the Fire prevention week requesting a date from them and the fire department was not contacted until one week prior which caused a scheduling conflict. Discussion followed. Motion to accept both reports made by Supervisor Melvin. Motion seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

HIGHWAY REPORT: Bill Schneider gave the report for January stating that they continue with equipment maintenance which is important due to the amount of storms they’ve had. Mr. Schneider attended the Road Task Force meeting. The crew worked on drainage on Heaters Hill and they’ve been removing brush and widening Bluestone Boulevard and Cummins Hill Road. They replaced the stop sign on Rose Lane, did some repairs on the sander and ordered 100 ton of anti-skid and 100 ton of salt. Mr. Schneider said he does not wait until the salt gets too low because sometimes there could be a 30 day delivery time. They cleared pipes and ditches due to heavy rain and Mr. Schneider met with Tim Balch from the DCNR concerning issues on Cummins Hill road and Bluestone Boulevard. Mr. Schneider also has a call into the conservation District to have them come down and discuss our road projects. He received a bid from one contractor for the base of Heaters Hill and will receive a few more. Mr. Schneider said the cost should be kept down if the work is done now. There were six snowstorms that required treating of roads and stated that if he did what Mr. Dalton suggested it could pose a problem having part of a road treated and part untreated. Supervisor Flansburg said he would like to tell Mr. Schneider and the crew that they are doing a great job and that it is apparent that he lives and works here and wants it to be the best they could make it. Stating it is not said enough. Supervisor Banach moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carried with all in favor.

BUILDING/ZONING REPORT: Michael Rendleman gave the report for January stating there were five building permits issued. In addition to that there were escrow fees received for a land development project. Total fees of $2356 were collected with fees of $1606 for building. Supervisor Flansburg moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carried with all favor. Supervisor Flansburg told Mr. Rendleman he also does a good job.

CORRESPONDENCE: On dais for review.

OLD BUSINESS:

Transaction Tax: Tabled.

Louis Troiano – Green Recycling: Louis Troiano addressed the board saying he lives in Milford Landing and understands the financial situation the board is facing. Mr. Troiano is in the recycling business and has been for the past 17 years and feels there is an opportunity with regard to the site the Township has behind the municipal building. Originally they were interested in wood recycling which could be very profitable but the pitfall of it is there would be the need for product, which would mean traffic and trucks. However Mr. Troiano also works with green recycling, (paper and plastics etc.) and said as the township knows the county shut down their recycling program last year but they did not do so according to DEP regulations. Now they need to revise their plan and must go to each municipality and have it signed off on. Mr. Troiano feels if Westfall wanted to be a catalyst in putting up a County Wide recycling project there could be revenue for that. Including DEP grants. Supervisor Flansburg asked if we were talking about a structure or building. Mr. Troiano said there would be no need for a building just the land. Supervisor Flansburg said if he’s not missing what Mr. Troiano is saying he sees an opportunity for himself as well. Mr. Troiano said that is untrue he would just give his help to the Township, explaining that the residents are already paying for recycling through their waste bills and now have to pay for curbside recycling. Mr. Troiano said there is revenue out there and it is a shame that was lost because residents are paying twice for recycling now. Supervisor Flansburg said if we took the number that Mr. Troiano threw out how much of that would come back to the township. Mr. Troiano said what they would do is put redesigned containers out there which would not be single stream recycling where everything is co-mingled together, saying that is what undermined the County plan because everything has to be torn apart at a single streamed recycling center. What other County’s do is separate the materials. Single stream was really meant for curbside pickup. If they offer a site they would have the residents sort the material and they would be doing it for free. Mr. Troiano said all they would do is set up a plan to condense it and market it and they don’t need a plant for that.

Mrs. Green asked about residents who use plastic bags which are not acceptable. Mr. Troiano said there will be some things that are still unacceptable but it would not be intolerable, explaining the recycling process and stating if we start this process we may be able to pay back municipalities for some of their material. Supervisor Banach questioned if we would have tractor-trailer loads of material coming in and dumping. Mr. Troiano said it would be condensed here and trucked out. Discussion followed about the condensing process. Mr. Troiano said they can also take in wood recycling. Further stating the detriment to the town would be truck traffic and if the board does not want that traffic than this is not for them. Supervisor Melvin questioned Mr. Rendleman if there would be a zoning issue. Mr. Rendleman said the area is zoned R-1 but he believes there may be an exemption for municipal land. Supervisor Flansburg said he thinks it’s a brilliant idea, doesn’t know if it will work but it’s something to look at. Mr. Troiano said no one in the County is doing this. Supervisor Flansburg asked why it’s not in the County if it is a lucrative thing. Mr. Troiano said because they were taking in $200,000 but they were spending $600,000. Supervisor Banach questioned who his County contact was. Mr. Troiano said we would have to go to the DEP because they are the ruling entity. Mr. Schneider said the traffic may be an issue because it already is a problem in Matamoras and if we have trucks coming up Delaware Drive it could be a problem. Further discussion followed. Chairman Ewbank said the board is definitely interested in this. Mr. Troiano will get in touch with Supervisor Banach.

Sale of Municipal Authority: Supervisor Banach said he saw an article in the paper which said that the County and Milford Township would like to get involved with the Municipal Authority and thinks we should send a letter to the County expressing our interest in negotiating a sale of the Municipal Authority. This would then offer inter-governmental control of the facility. Vice-chairman Fischer said he spoke to Commissioner Osterberg today who is a member of the Economic Development Authority and he said there is a potential funding stream for central sewage throughout the County. Supervisor Melvin said it is in the developmental stages. Discussion followed about getting the County involved in negotiations at the early planning stages of the central sewage issue. Supervisor Melvin said he spoke with Charles Miller who is against selling the Authority to a private entity. Supervisor Flansburg asked if the County would be able to increase the gallonage. Supervisor Melvin suggested they have the larger muscle to get that done. Vice-chairman Fischer said Commissioner Osterberg said there are grants available.

Robert Bostinto also a member of the EDA said he and Commissioner Osterberg spoke about this and there is funding available for about half the project. Mr. Bostinto said the total cost will be about $18 million and there is immediate funding for about $9 million. The catch is that Milford is out of compliance with the DEP and everybody is knee-deep in their septic systems. Supervisor Banach said his feeling is that this is a Westfall Township owned entity and that the Westfall Township residents should reap the benefit of the sale. Mr. Bostinto said he lives here and agrees that Westfall should reap the benefits, further stating that they are putting together a task force to pursue it. Supervisor Melvin said we need to make sure that we get our input into it. Expansion was discussed as well as capacity. Supervisor Banach said years ago it was made large enough for other communities to tie in and we lost capacity because they wanted no part of it. It is not fair for Westfall Township to now have to go back and make it larger again. Mr. Schneider explained once again what happened back in 2008 when neighboring municipalities wanted to join in and decided against it. Further stating the more capacity the plant holds the more expensive it is to treat. Supervisor Flansburg moved to send a letter to the County expressing our desire to be part of the planning and that we are open to discussing options with our Municipal Authority. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor. Mr. Bostinto suggested appointing a few supervisors to a task force to discuss this. Supervisors Melvin and Banach volunteered.

Lisa Mickles asked for clarification of sewage and water in Westfall Township. Supervisor Melvin said there is a private water company, Pennsylvania American Water Company which services a portion of the township and then there is the Westfall Municipal Authority which services certain areas for sewage. Mr. Bostinto said part of the plan is to expand municipal water into the Township by the trailer park on the three lane from the Milford Water Authority.

Home Depot Signs: Supervisor Flansburg said he received a map via e-mail showing three proposed sign locations however they did not say what size they wanted. Supervisor Flansburg continued by stating he requested the size of the sign from Home Depot. Discussion followed regarding the trimming of trees by their current sign.

NEW BUSINESS:

Revise Employee Policy Manual: Supervisor Banach moved to adopt the amendments to the employee Policy manual. The first one being the addition of Martin Luther King Day as a Township holiday; and the second to change the language under benefit from “all regular full time and regularly employed employees” to “all regular full-time employees.” Supervisor Melvin questioned the definition of full-time employee. Mrs. Green said she did not change the definition of full-time employee she only took out the words regularly employed employees. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carried with all favor.

Letter to O & R about Poles in Rights-of-way: Supervisor Banach said Mr. Schneider supplied the board with a list of poles that are in the Township right-of-way and feels we should send a letter to Orange and Rockland, the phone company, and the cable company stating the poles are interfering with our operations and that they are in the town right-or-way. Supervisor Melvin asked if there were five poles explaining that each poll has 10 numbers. Supervisor Flansburg moved to send the letters. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carried with all favor.

Correspondence regarding Billboard: Chairman Ewbank said we have two letters of correspondence regarding the Billboard down by Wal-Mart for liposuction stating that the parties are upset with the content of the Billboard. They believe it is sexual in content and not fit for their children to view. Supervisor Melvin said he believes that’s protected by the First Amendment. Chairman Ewbank said the Township has no control over it and that they need to deal with Milford M.D. if they do not like it. Supervisor Flansburg confirmed with Mr. Rendleman that the sign had to border on obscene to disallow it. Supervisor Flansburg moved to send a letter to both parties stating as much as we would like to help them our hands are tied, we will offer to have them come and view our zoning ordinance. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor. The secretary will send the letters.

FEMA- Hurricane Sandy Reimbursement 2/10/13 Deadline: Supervisor Melvin said we should look into it and make sure we submit prior to the deadline. Chairman Ewbank said all we need to do is apply by that time and the Hwy., Department is working on it. Discussion was held as far as what the fire Department may have expended. Motion was made by Supervisor Banach to move forward and have this submitted prior to the deadline. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all favor.

Mill Rift Fire Department Audit: This item is tabled until the solicitor is back.

Cleanup Day: Mrs. Green asked if we are having a cleanup day this year stating it is in the budget.  The date of April 20, 2013 was chosen. Times will be from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Eastern Pike Regional Police Department: Supervisor Flansburg said an executive session was held last night with the entire Police Commission, Borough Council and Supervisors and that without getting into the details the meeting went well. Supervisor Flansburg then moved to rescind the letter regarding withdrawal from the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department and said he would like Solicitor Bernathy to draft the letter for the Supervisors and give them the opportunity to review it prior to sending it in the event they would like to see something changed. Motion seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. Beth Brelje asked for confirmation that the letter was not to withdraw from the department rather to rescind the letter that was sent with that regard.

EMA: Chairman Ewbank said the Westfall Township Fire Department requested to have the Township EMA office moved from the Matamoras EMA office to the fire Department and requested the township send a letter of request, which was done. In turn the Fire Department voted unanimously to have the office moved.  The rent is $200 per month as opposed to a quarterly payment of $912. There will be a savings of approximately $1200 per year. Supervisor Flansburg said the board sees this as a way of giving money to the fire Department. Discussion followed regarding making contact with the Borough of Matamoras to thank them for the use of the facility and relating that this is strictly a financial matter. Supervisor Banach moved in favor of the relocating the office. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION:

Municipal Authority Land Development: Mrs. Green said the board has a letter from the Westfall Township Planning Commission recommending approval of the plan with conditions, as well as a letter from the Township’s Alternate Engineer Al Handy. Mrs. Green stated this item was also discussed at the January 23, 2013 workshop meeting. Two of the conditions have been met and the existing condition to “address the details for the building as it relates to the gas” will be covered with the building permit application. There will be a need for separate motions for the land development approval and the Stormwater waiver request. Supervisor Melvin questioned whether or not Solicitor Bernathy has reviewed this. Solicitor Bernathy reviewed this at the January 23, 2013 workshop meeting. Supervisor Flansburg moved to accept the municipal authorities land development conditioned upon addressing the details for the building as it relates to gas. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the storm water waiver. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM on a motion by Supervisor Flansburg. Motion seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

The Westfall Township Board of Supervisors held a workshop meeting on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:00 pm at the Township Building on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, Westfall Township.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-Chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach and Larry Flansburg; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Roadmaster, William Schneider; Zoning Officer, Michael Rendleman; Rob Llewellyn, Beth Brelje, John Dalton and Debra Banach. Supervisor, Robert Melvin was not present.

AGENDA: The agenda was approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carried with all in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None. 

NEW BUSINESS:

Review Zoning as per Signage: Supervisor Banach mentioned that Home Depot would like an off premise sign and he was under the impression it was not allowed, although it looks like the zoning ordinance says in one place that it is not allowed and in another it is. Mike Rendleman said Home Depot did not ask for an off premise sign. They asked for a 50 foot sign on their lot and there is already a 65 foot sign on their lot, stating that off premise signs are not allowed. However there is no reason they cannot advertise on an existing Billboard. Supervisor Flansburg said he’s been in touch with Cindy from Home Depot and with Debbie from their legal department and their problem is the trees block the sign that they have already and that once someone turns onto Reuben Bell Drive they miss Home Depot and have to turn around on residential property. They would like a sign that tells people where to turn in and they are going to send information but it has not been received yet. Mr. Rendleman said they have a directional sign on their property that says “Home Depot Turn Here” at the entrance to their driveway. Supervisor Flansburg said what they would like is a sign close to Reuben Bell Drive or the intersection. Solicitor Bernathy questioned Mr. Rendleman if he agreed that people were missing the sign and going past Home Depot. Mr. Rendleman said he hasn’t had a complaint since they installed the directional sign. Further stating that he does not know why they can’t go before PennDOT and get a directional sign such as the Riverview Inn has on Route 6 & 209. Mr. Rendleman said if the supervisors change the zoning ordinance that applies to everybody in the Township. Solicitor Bernathy said he has to advise the supervisors that it would be a fundamental change to the zoning ordinance and that most municipalities prohibit off premise signs. Supervisor Flansburg questioned what was easier a variance or an amendment to the zoning ordinance. Solicitor Bernathy said a variance is based on hardship and that’s not easy to get. Solicitor Bernathy advised that you have to consider the impact a zoning change will have. Mr. Rendleman said the sign ordinance has issues in several different areas. For example there is a matrix of signs that are allowed and yet two pages later it says it is not allowed. Mr. Rendleman said this creates a mechanism that is not easy to control. Discussion was held about Phantom Fireworks. Mr. Rendleman said they did not come in to put the purple logo on the building. Supervisor Flansburg suggested tabling this item until he receives the information from Home Depot; however he wanted to mention that he has received phone calls from a church group about the billboard sign by the elementary school that has the woman in the bikini advertising for Dr. Buckley. Some people are finding it offensive. Solicitor Bernathy questioned if it was obscene. It is not. Solicitor Bernathy said we have to be careful about regulating content. Further discussion followed regarding the sign section of the zoning ordinance. Solicitor Bernathy suggested reaching out to Charlie Schmehl the draftsman of the ordinance.

Martin Luther King Day: Supervisor Banach said he doesn’t understand why the Township doesn’t give this holiday to the employees because banks and post office are closed. Mrs. Green said the township employees get 12 vacation days per year. Mr. Schneider said the highway department would probably still work. Supervisor Flansburg questioned how the day was on the holiday. Mrs. Green said it was quiet but she found work to do, stating that half the municipalities take the holiday off and half do not. Chairman Ewbank said he knows Matamoras takes it as a holiday because their street department was not out collecting garbage. The board decided to make it a township holiday and amend the employee policy manual. This item will be added to the February 5, 2013 meeting agenda.

OLD BUSINESS:

Transaction Tax: Solicitor Bernathy said going back to September 4, 2012 we had on the agenda a proposed tax. He did legal research and confirmed that research with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors for purposes of considering a tax which would provide for the issuance of a transaction tax on fireworks specifically, that would also apply to perhaps cigarettes, which could be discussed. Specifically this transaction tax would be on fireworks to include the purchase, sale, loan, pledge, gifts, transfer, delivery, or other disposition of any fireworks within the Township and that would apply to anyone engaged in that activity. This has been provided for us through the Local Tax Enabling Act which specifically describes a transaction tax. At that time Solicitor Bernathy prepared a hybrid ordinance which was an Amusement/ Transaction Tax Ordinance and the Amusement Tax was enacted and the Transaction Tax was tabled. At this time the supervisors have asked to revisit the transaction tax. Fireworks would include any combustible or explosive composition or any substance or combination of substances or any article prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion or detonation. That is a definition that will be part of the ordinance. The supervisors had discussed the actual transaction and the tax that would be proposed would be a .05% on each transaction. There are provisions in the ordinance for penalties as there would be for any other ordinance, there are provisions for enforcement of the ordinance and provisions for the responsibilities of the owners and operators of these establishments. The ordinance provides for civil penalties and he finds that type of conduct as unlawful. Solicitor Bernathy said those are at times boilerplate to all ordinances and added that this has been confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. Solicitor Bernathy continued by stating that with the amusement tax there was case law found in Pennsylvania where other jurisdictions and municipalities passed amusement taxes. With this situation there is no law on point however PSATS has made it clear that there is nothing prohibiting the Township from doing this. Solicitor Bernathy had a meeting with a representative from Phantom fireworks who wanted to discuss this proposed ordinance which was tabled back in October, and in the end they are recognizing the Township’s authority to enact such a transaction tax, understanding that it would be .05%. They want to work with the Township and made it clear that they also wanted to explore a number of other options in addition to that, which would include having property of which they would supervise personnel in the detonation of fireworks. They have also suggested as they have done and other municipalities that off-duty police officers would be hired as security. Solicitor Bernathy said again they are coming in good faith and he cannot say it is not going to be opposed because there was opposition to the amusement tax. Solicitor Bernathy thinks the number could be well over $100,000 if cigarettes are taxed as well.

Supervisor Flansburg questioned if what Solicitor Bernathy saying is that they would like to work with us and we would work with them. Solicitor Bernathy said yes that is what he’s saying and this is now the next step. This ordinance will be added to the next meeting agenda for purposes of advertising for public hearing. Solicitor Bernathy questioned what the board wanted to do regarding the cigarettes, stating this is not a sales tax this is a transaction tax that is allowable under the Local Tax Enabling Act however most municipalities have not used it. Supervisor Banach questioned if this transaction tax is unique to businesses in Westfall Township wondering if we placed a transaction tax on cigarettes would we also have the tax on lumber or tattoos. Supervisor Flansburg said what he believes Supervisor Banach is asking is can it be a transaction tax based on all businesses in Westfall Township so that we are not picking on one business. Discussion followed regarding the definition of the transaction tax and who it would apply to. Supervisor Banach suggested doing a separate ordinance for fireworks and cigarettes.

Supervisor Flansburg suggested inviting the cigarettes stores to a meeting to get their input. Solicitor Bernathy said as the record would indicate there was opposition by Phantom Fireworks and they have now reconsidered and said they wanted to be a good neighbor. Chairman Ewbank asked if there was a definition of fireworks and if it would apply to somebody selling sparklers down the street. Solicitor Bernathy said there is it would be any combustible or explosive composition or any substance or combination of substances or any article for the purposes of producing a visible or audible affects by combustion explosion or detonation. Further stating this is not applicable to sparklers.

Beth Brelje questioned if there was a law that said you could not tax cigarettes. Solicitor Bernathy said he is not aware of that but he will research it. Supervisor Banach questioned if this would apply only to cigarettes or to all tobacco products. Solicitor Bernathy said it would apply to all tobacco products.

Supervisor Flansburg said people that are going to hold quilting convention at the Best Western questioned how they go about paying the Amusement tax. Solicitor Bernathy said the ordinance provides a reporting requirement for those that were holding the quilting show. Vice-chairman Fischer said that Best Western just had a gun show and the ordinance went into effect on January 4, 2013 said that was applicable to them. Supervisor Banach suggested giving the registration forms to the businesses. Mrs. Green will take care of that. The transaction tax will be added to the February 5, 2013 meeting agenda.

2013 TAN: Solicitor Bernathy said that our Treasurer, Scott Myer had requested that Solicitor Bernathy have a Tax Anticipation Note ready in the event the Township needed it, however in Mr. Myer’s opinion he does not feel we need that at this time. Solicitor Bernathy said Mr. Myer thought the TAN would be like a line of credit in that we would not have to pay interest unless we drew on the money but that is not the way this loan was set up. Supervisor Flansburg said that Mr. Myer contacted him today and that he thought that since we would be paying interest on the money until April and paying a cost of $1000 to close the loan that was highway robbery. Mr. Myer said Milford Borough received a TAN for $150 from Wayne Bank. Supervisor Flansburg said Mr. Myer thought we had gone too far in the loan process and that we had to take it now. Solicitor Bernathy said absolutely not the Township does not have to take it and that when he first contacted the Dime Banks attorney he told him he was not sure it was even needed that we were just doing it on a precautionary basis. Adding that if Mr. Myer says it is not necessary then we will not take. Supervisor Banach suggested shopping around next year. Further discussion was held.

PSATS Convention April 21 – 24, 2013: Mrs. Green said the deadline for early registration is this Friday, January 25, 2013 and that she checked with Supervisor Melvin who is not able to go. Solicitor Bernathy suggested one of the board members attending. Supervisor Flansburg said Mrs. Green could put his name down on the registration form. Someone will attend.

Mr. Rendleman said after a cursory review of the zoning ordinance he does not see any reason why Home Depot cannot put up an off premise sign in the C-2 zone and it meets the other requirements of the ordinance. Solicitor Bernathy said that’s how he read it too. Mr. Rendleman said however there is another sign on the Zitone’s Property.

HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT:

Township Roads: Bill Schneider said he has taken a tour of the Township roads with Supervisor Banach and Supervisor Melvin and showed them some of the areas of concern, stating that we have to prioritize some of the issues. One of the worst is the wall on Heaters Hill Road. It will be a problem if that collapses. He has pictures of the different areas, some of which were fixed such as the wash outs at the bottom of Heaters Hill and Bluestone Blvd., and some areas will need a lot more work. Possibly DEP and the Conservation District will need to get involved. Al Handy our former engineer had done a report several years ago and a lot of the work estimated was for the township to do themselves. The turnaround at the end of River Road in Mill Rift is starting to collapse. Mr. Schneider said if they can get the okay they could take the barriers back and fill that area with pipe and stone. Discussion was held regarding plow blades that were used in one area of Mill Rift. The one project for the Heaters Hill culvert pipe was fixed already and funded by FEMA along with the Decker Lane project. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if Mr. Schneider had a rough idea on the cost to fix the bottom of Heaters Hill. Mr. Schneider did not, however he said they could fix what’s there in place. However the DEP and the Conservation District need to get involved to find out the permitting requirements because there is a stream involved. Supervisor Flansburg said he felt they should prioritize the things they can do as opposed to those projects they need to hire someone for. Chairman Ewbank said the report from Al handy was done five years ago and the cost was $300,000 then, questioning what it would be today. Supervisor Banach suggested Mr. Schneider complete an action plan and pick the worst projects that need to get fixed first and get a legal opinion and the proper permitting and possibly get a grant through the Conservation District. Discussion was held on the projects that Mr. Handy reported on back in 2007. One project has been completed and the other is in process. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if you would increase the size of the pipes in fixing the projects. Mr. Schneider said if you increase the size of the pipes you need engineering therefore they will stay with the same size. Supervisor Banach questioned making the gravel part of Pond Drive seasonal. Mr. Schneider said if the property there ever gets developed the whole road would need to be brought up to Township specifications. Supervisor Banach is going to speak with the Conservation District on Monday and commented that we really need to start fixing the areas of concern because it is a liability issue.

Chairman Ewbank said for anyone interested they should take a ride around Cummins Hill Road to see the work that the road crew has been doing.

Mr. Schneider said the board should note that there are about seven telephone poles that need to be moved by Orange & Rockland that are too close to the road. He believes the township needs to send a letter to O & R. However the electric company will probably move the poles but the cable company takes forever.

Discussion was held regarding guide rails in town. Mr. Schneider said they have some guide rail at the shop.

Complaint re: Lot 40 Keystone Park: Mr. Schneider said he went down to take a look at the property and the homeowner showed him where the problem was, but this really isn’t a road issue. This is the low lying property and the road belongs to Milford Township. Discussion followed. Solicitor Bernathy stated that this is a preexisting condition and there is no liability on the part of the township. That needs to be relayed to them kindly.

MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY:

Docket Review: Mr. Schneider said this came up during his road tour with Supervisor Melvin. The information provided by Mr. Schneider explains why the docket approval was reduced from 825,000 gpd to 375,000 gpd. Mr. Schneider said the gallonage was increased to 825,000 gpd for the Katz development and because Milford and Matamoras wanted to hook up. However the Project was reduced and Milford and Matamoras decided not to hook up therefore the gallonage was lost. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if they could get back to the 825,000 gpd. Discussion followed as to whether there was enough for the senior housing project and whether or not there would be enough if Milford decided to hook up. Mr. Schneider said if the authority was sold and it went bankrupt the sewer plant would fall back to the Township. Solicitor Bernathy confirmed that. Vice-chairman Fischer questioned if there was enough for the entire borough of Milford. Discussion followed. Supervisor Banach questioned what benefit Westfall Township residents would have it the sewer authority expanded. Solicitor Bernathy said it would add value to the municipality. Mr. Schneider said the tax payers do not have for the Authority it’s paid for by user fees. Further discussion followed.

BUILDING / ZONING: None

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION:

Municipal Authority Land Development: Solicitor Bernathy said the Supervisors have a recommendation from Planning to approve the land development subject to the following conditions: 1) Review comments from Pike County Planning Commission 2) Address the details for the building as it relates to gas 3) Comments from the fire department regarding the gravel driveway and access regarding the structures. Solicitor Bernathy stated that the NPDES permit has been approved. The supervisors agreed that the Municipal Authority’s engineer did not need to be in attendance at the meeting. This item will be added to the February 5, 2013 meeting agenda.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Called at 8:27 pm for personnel and possible litigation.

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:12 pm on a motion by Supervisor Banach, seconded by Supervisor Flansburg. Motion carried with all in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

January 7, 2013

The regular meeting of the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors was held Monday, January 7, 2013 at 7:32 pm. The meeting was held at the TownshipBuilding on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, WestfallTownship.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg and Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Treasurer, Scott Myer; Zoning Officer, Michael Rendleman; Bill Schneider, Bill Koferl, Rob Llewellyn, Ed Isaacson, Beth Brelje, Chuck Pranski, and 14 members of the general public.

AGENDA: The agenda was amended to add Eastern Pike Regional Police Department under Old Business. Motion to add the transaction tax under new business made by Supervisor Flansburg. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. Motion to adopt the agenda made by Vice-chairman Fischer. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

MINUTES: Minutes of the December 4, 2012 and December 19, 2012 meetings were approved on a motion by Supervisor Melvin. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer. Supervisor Flansburg abstained. Motion carried with four in favor and one abstention. Mrs. Green asked Solicitor Bernathy if he reviewed the minutes of December 19, 2012 with regard to Smokers Choice. Solicitor Bernathy has not had the opportunity to review them yet. Motion to approve the December 19, 2012 minutes subject to review of Solicitor Bernathy made by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin. Supervisor Flansburg abstained. Motion carries with four in favor and one abstention.

TREASURER’s REPORT: Scott Myer gave the treasurer’s report stating that 2012 was a solid year aside from the Dombrosky settlement. Income was $143,000 over budget partially from the PEMA grant but if you back that out we were still $80,000 over budget from an operational standpoint which is very good.  We were $152,000 over budget and expenses which wasn’t good but if you backed out the $175,000 settlement we were actually $25,000 under budget. All things considered it was a solid year. Supervisor Banach moved to approve report. Motion seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

POLICE REPORT: Police Chief, Chad Stewart gave the report for December. There have been 170 calls for service and 5,543 miles patrolled for the month. Chief Stewart said also in the supervisors packets is the annual report for the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the police report. Motion seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Ed Isaacson gave the Mill Rift Fire Department report for December stating they had a Drill night on 12/5, the Monthly meeting on 12/11, a second Drill night on 12/19 and a medical emergency on 12/27. Total man hours for the month were 49.

Bill Koferl gave the Westfall Township Fire Department Report for December reporting 1 Landing zone, 1 Motor Vehicle Accidents, 2 Auto Alarm – Commercial false, 1 Standby, 2 Mutual Aid, 1 Controlled burn, 1 Hazmat, 1 Chimney fire,  1 Assist EMS with lifting, 1 Commercial structure fire, 1 Wires burning and 2 Residential Alarms. Total man-hours for the month 90.58. For EMS there were 40 calls in Westfall Township, 4 in Milford Township and 4 in Port Jervis. Total calls for EMS were 927 for the year. Mr. Koferl said this will be his last report as Rob Llewellyn will be the new chief. The board thanked Mr. Koferl. Motion to accept both reports made by Supervisor Flansburg. Motion seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

HIGHWAY REPORT: Bill Schneider gave the report for December stating that they are continuing cleanup from Hurricane Sandy and have been doing shoulder and right-of-way clearing on Doug Miller Rd., Bluestone Boulevard, and Cummins Hill Road. There trying to widen the roads that have narrowed over the years. They had two storms in December that required plowing and product. Equipment was maintained. Mr. Schneider said he attended the road task force meeting and he took Supervisor Banach on a tour of the Township roads. Supervisor Melvin questioned whether or not the issue that came up with the Delaware Valley School District last month was resolved. Mr. Schneider said that has been taken care of. The school district will no longer be getting material from the Township. Supervisor Banach moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carried with all in favor. Supervisor Banach suggested to the board that each of them take the road tour with Mr. Schneider and then schedule a workshop to discuss the work that needs to be done. Supervisor Banach said over the years the street department has given up a lot of money to other areas in the Township and the crew is doing an outstanding job, however there are things that they will not be able to handle on their own and we need to get an action plan together. We may need to get the conservation district involved with things and have legal counsel. Supervisor Banach said it is eye-opening taking that tour and this is one legal requirement that we have is to maintain the roads which our citizens drive on. Supervisor Melvin suggested each supervisor take the tour with Mr. Schneider prior to the next monthly meeting at which time a workshop can be scheduled.

BUILDING/ZONING REPORT: Michael Rendleman gave the report for December stating there were three electrical permits, one building permit, one mechanical and one zoning permit issued. Total fees of $510.25 were collected. Vice-Chairman Fischer moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. Mrs. Green explained that Mr. Rendleman used to attend all planning board meetings, however since BIU was hired for zoning Mr. Rendleman has only been attending the supervisors meeting. Mrs. Tonkin who was Chairman of the planning commission recommended that Mr. Rendleman continue to attend the planning commission meetings. Mrs. Green said there are situations where Mr. Rendleman’s attendance would be beneficial. However he would not have to attend all meetings. Supervisor Banach asked Mr. Rendleman for his thoughts. Mr. Rendleman said he doesn’t have a problem with that, the only reason he wasn’t attending is because it was not part of the agreement that was made with BIU. Solicitor Bernathy said this should be handled on an as needed basis as there are situations in the beginning of the project where it is necessary for the zoning officer to be in attendance. Supervisor Flansburg will call Carl Fregoni the Regional Manager for BIU on Wednesday.

CORRESPONDENCE: On dais for review.

OLD BUSINESS:

Act 47 Monthly Report: Solicitor Bernathy stated the time has come to request review of the townships status with the state. That could be done by motion to consider removal from the Act 47 Plan. Mrs. Green said that Matt Domines is no longer with DCED. Supervisor Flansburg moved to request the Township’s review of the Act 47 Plan. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor. Solicitor Bernathy said otherwise the Township continues to operate within the confines of its budget and continues to meet its financial obligations. The Township continues to provide essential services.  Supervisor Melvin moved to approve report. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Review Zoning as per Signage: Supervisor Banach moved to schedule a workshop for January 23, 2013 at 7:00 PM. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. Supervisor Banach asked Mr. Rendleman if he will be available for that meeting. Mr. Rendleman said he would be available.

Berkheimer Agreement – Amusement Tax: Solicitor Bernathy said he has reviewed the agreement and he has a comment letter dated December 20, 2012. The agreement can be signed subject to those four changes. Motion is made by Supervisor Flansburg to approve the agreement with the four changes suggested by Solicitor Bernathy. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Eastern Pike Regional Police Department: Supervisor Melvin said he wanted to have the discussion because we did send a letter to the commission regarding the 12 month notice and they’ve had two other officers resign. They have to start discussing filling some of the vacancies. They are down three officers to date and are looking to replace two. The problem they are having is the letter is going to hinder an officer joining the Police Department and giving up a full-time job to come work at the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department. Vice-chairman Fischer said we are down part-time officers as well and on behalf of the community at large he feels the letter should be rescinded for the welfare of the department, the officers, and their families. Supervisor Flansburg said he feels before that could happen, the board has to have an intelligent conversation on why the letter was written in the first place and get an answer to those problems. Supervisor Flansburg said he does not know if the conversation should happen now or at a workshop meeting in the future. Solicitor Bernathy cautioned the board that some of this is regarding personnel which should be accomplished in executive session.

Supervisor Banach said we have to get the counsel of Matamoras Borough here to sit down and go over some of the issues. Solicitor Bernathy said he has already made that request via correspondence on behalf of the Supervisors but has not heard back. Supervisor Banach said the financial end of it needs to be worked out before we continue to dig deeper and deeper. Solicitor Bernathy said that they have agreed to work on the budgetary issues together commenting that it should have never gotten this far. Vice-chairman Fischer said the letter has made its point and all parties are coming together to try to keep any problems from coming up. Supervisor Flansburg questioned if the letter is retracted that all of the issues will be met. Supervisor Melvin said he felt the issues were budgetary. Supervisor Flansburg said there are a few other issues out there that need to be discussed and that he will gladly say publicly that he would retract the letter if all of the issues will be met.

Supervisor Banach felt we should go ahead and set the workshop meeting to get things ironed out. Solicitor Bernathy said he felt the main issue has been resolved by agreeing to include the supervisors in the budget process, further stating for whatever reason that hasn’t happened this past year. Vice-chairman Fischer said personally he believes the sooner we resend the letter the better off we are going to be. Supervisor Banach said until we look at our finances and come to the realization of what we can spend we cannot move forward, further stating there have been deals made that the supervisors had no knowledge of and we are expected to pay for it. Solicitor Bernathy said these are issues involving personnel and potential litigation and must be handled in executive session. Discussion followed. Vice-chairman Fischer moved to rescind the letter that was sent to Matamoras Borough Council regarding the intent to withdraw. Motion was seconded by Supervisor Melvin. Chairman Ewbank said we need to have guarantees that the issues will be met. Solicitor Bernathy said they have to recognize that this Township is one of the funding entities. Solicitor Bernathy said we have received a letter from counsel for Matamoras Borough that he immediately responded to and we have not heard back from them yet. We have in good faith asked for them to meet with us. Supervisor Banach said he’s been on the board since 2008 and has continually asked if the Police Department was union or not and the answer he’s been given is that it’s complicated questioning what’s complicated. Further stating that we have employees here who have not been given raises in years and we have supervisors who don’t take their salary yet the Police Department is given guaranteed raises, take-home cars, and insurance for their families. Vice-chairmen Fischer said that’s a benefit package they receive because their pay is not up to par for their job duties and there has to be a carrot to entice officers to come and work for the department. Vice-chairman Fischer further stated a motion has been made and seconded. Supervisor Melvin said from a budgetary standpoint he feels it’s incumbent upon the commission to see that Westfall pays no more than what we’ve paid this year or last year except for possibly $1,000 and clampdown on the spending. Supervisor Banach said the contract says it is based on the census and Matamoras has more residents and he feels the split should be 50-50. Further questioning why Westfall Township is taking the brunt of all the money. Further stating he is not against the Police Department, he feels they are doing a good job but we need to know if we can afford the department both now and in the future. The meeting needs to be done to get the issues resolved or were just kicking the can down the road. Solicitor Bernathy said he will follow-up with Matamoras Borough Council solicitor. Chairman Ewbank questioned if the letter is rescinded and three months later we find that we can’t work things out what happens with the letter. Solicitor Bernathy said you will lose a year and further stated that he never believed it was Supervisors intention to dissolve the Police Department the intention was that it was the only vehicle to put them on notice that the supervisors wanted to be made part of the budget process and for whatever reason they weren’t involved in 2012. The Supervisors want to make sure that doesn’t happen in 2013 and beyond. And we need to discuss specifically the effect the Regionalization Agreement has on this as well as the Collective Bargaining Agreement. That is what Solicitor Bernathy’s letter addressed and the sooner that meeting happens the better. Further stating that if they rescind the letter they have to go another year. Chairman Ewbank said our obligation is to the taxpayers of Westfall Township not to the Police Commission the Department or Matamoras Borough. Vice-chairman Fischer said he wants to remind the board that the Westfall Township share is only $15,000 more than the Westfall Township Police Department budget was in 2007 further stating that this only an approximate $2000 more per year.

Beth Brelje questioned Supervisor Flansburg on what his thoughts are. Supervisor Flansburg said he believed this has to be discussed in executive session. Solicitor Bernathy said he is advising that because this has to do with personnel, which is protected and privileged as well as potential litigation. Ms. Brelje said it sounds like a budgetary issue. Solicitor Bernathy said he keeps referring to two separate agreements which are the Regionalization Agreement in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and there may be breaches to those agreements and it is for that very reason why this needs to be discussed in executive session.

Ed Isaacson said he believes the letter is why we are losing officers because they are not sure about their futures and as far as the population goes Mr. Isaacson questioned how many hours per week the big box stores use of the police department. Further stating he knows officers that left the department because of the letter.

Chuck Pranski said this is going to become like Milford Borough which is known as the training ground for the Police Officers. Stating they will not stay with the department.

Supervisor Flansburg said if Vice-chairman Fischer can guarantee that his issues will be met he would rescind the letter. Vice-Chairman Fischer said he cannot guarantee that because other people are involved and he doesn’t know what the issues are. Further stating he does not have that kind of power. The only guarantee he could make is that they will address the issues. Supervisor Flansburg said he would like to go on record as stating he does not have a problem with the Police Department or the personnel. Chairman Ewbank agreed with Supervisor Flansburg’s comment. Supervisor Banach said eventually our employees with the Township are going to retire and we need to buy out their sick days and we need to figure out now how to do that by making cuts, making adjustments and running everything as a business, a money making business otherwise we are going to be at this point every year. Supervisor Flansburg said Matamoras Borough is at their max and they have no more money. They need to find ways to cut their budget as well.

Mr. Pranski suggested that the remaining three supervisors attend the police commission meetings, noting that Chairman Ewbank was at the last meeting. Supervisor Flansburg said that he and Supervisor Banach were at the meeting prior to that and at the last joint meeting between Westfall and Matamoras that we initiated we brought coffee and doughnuts and they publicly humiliated our Chairman at that meeting. Mr. Pranski questioned how things are not getting communicated or lost. Stating an accusation was made that things were being done behind our backs. Solicitor Bernathy stated that is a matter of compliance with an agreement. Stating this Township is a funding entity for that department very specifically pursuant to an agreement that may have been breached and that is something that needs to be discussed in executive session. Further stating we should move on. Mr. Pranski said everything needs to be discussed in executive session. Questioning the matter with Mr. Dombrosky saying the word around town is the supervisors of this Township made an offer to him that the insurance company advised against. And that there was no written agreement that he would get his job back. Solicitor Bernathy said we are not here to speak on that and that the matter has been settled. Solicitor Bernathy said that negotiations that led up to the settlement are not part of public record.

Beth Brelje said a few meetings ago when discussing the Dombrosky issue she was told the insurance was the subject of potential litigation, commenting that in fact it is not settled. Solicitor Bernathy said the Dombrosky lawsuit which is represented in court has been settled, however there may be further litigation. Ms. Brelje questioned if the Supervisors could discuss those issues about the Police Commission which are not matters of executive session. Solicitor Bernathy said yes they could discuss what issues are not executive session, and further stating that the Dombrosky litigation has been settled, the settlement agreement is a matter of public record. As a result of that settlement there may be further litigation that will be instituted by the Township against possibly the insurance carrier and those attorneys that represented the Township and that cannot be discussed. Ms. Brelje questioned Supervisor Flansburg on what those issues are that he can’t discuss. Supervisor Flansburg said they are matters of executive session. Discussion followed. Supervisor Flansburg then addressed Mr. Pranski stating it was he and Chairman Ewbank that were at the settlement hearing and they shared information with the board as they were supposed to do stating any information Mr. Pranski has is frankly bull and that he has no idea where he’s getting his information. Solicitor Bernathy said he is so factually incorrect and he has no idea where he’s getting his information. Mr. Pranski questioned if there was a written agreement that Mr. Dombrosky would get his job back. Chairman Ewbank said no. Solicitor Bernathy said that was a matter that was accomplished way back when in executive session. Mr. Pranski questioned why the township hasn’t fought this and left the meeting irate. Ms. Brelje said the supervisors have the option of discussing things outside of executive session. Solicitor Bernathy said he is advising against that because they would be circumventing the law.

Chairman Ewbank said it is time to move on. There is a motion on the floor to rescind the letter and Chairman Ewbank asked for a vote. Vice-chairman Fischer and Supervisor Melvin vote in favor. Supervisor Banach, Supervisor Flansburg, and Chairman Ewbank vote nay. Motion to rescind the letter does not carry. Chairman Ewbank said we need to move forward with the meeting that Solicitor Bernathy is talking about and then we can move on. Supervisor Banach said everyone on the board supports the Police Department but it comes down to money and it’s going to take the Police Commission, Matamoras Borough and the Township to get a plan for the future. Stating this is nothing personal and that everyone on the Police Department is doing a good job. Chairman Ewbank said everyone is construing that the supervisors want to get rid of the Police Department and that is not true. Discussion followed. Solicitor Bernathy said they’ve already submitted a letter in December requesting a meeting and we haven’t heard back. Further stating that nobody wants this, they want to move past this, however there have been issues regarding compliance with agreements that are in writing that have to do with budgetary issues and this Township participates in funding that department. For the collective bargaining agreement to give raises of 3% which has not been run by the funding entity, which are probably warranted, but that wasn’t run by the Township. Solicitor Bernathy went on to say there are other people in the Township including himself who have not received raises. Chief Stewart said if there are two people on the board part of the commission that were a part of that. Solicitor Bernathy said the decision needs to be made by the board in whole not by two members only and the board was not a part of this agreement. Chief Stewart questioned what would happen if Matamoras doesn’t want to meet. Solicitor Bernathy said he is going to contact them again.

Chief Stewart said it seems to be a fight between Matamoras and Westfall. Solicitor Bernathy said he is absolutely correct. Ed Isaacson questioned what would happen if Matamoras won’t meet. Supervisor Flansburg suggested going to Matamoras to discuss that.  The board decided to move on.

NEW BUSINESS:

Ordinance # 159: Solicitor Bernathy said the record should reflect there was no comment at the public hearing. Supervisor Banach moved to adopt Ordinance # 159. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Atlantic Ambulance – Starr Grolimund: Ms. Grolimund said she was here over a year ago requesting that Atlantic Ambulance be dispatched as closest unit. She is here today to ask that Atlantic Ambulance be dispatched as primary ALS service for all of Westfall Township. If they are not available it would then go to the closest unit. Supervisor Melvin questioned if this is just for ALS not BLS. Ms. Grolimund said that is correct. Supervisor Flansburg asked for input from the fire chiefs. Mr. Koferl said Care One has been in and out of the service area and the last two years they were nonexistent. Atlantic Ambulance is here all the time. Mr. Koferl said if Care One is not in Port Jervis when they are dispatched and they are in Greenville 5 minutes goes by before the second ambulance will be called out. Further stating that for a heart attack patient five-minutes is too long. Supervisor Banach questioned if they go to every call. They will only go to ALS calls. Supervisor Flansburg questioned what needed to be done. Ms. Grolimund said the supervisors need to send a letter to the communication center requesting that Atlantic Ambulance be the primary responder for Westfall Township for ALS service. Supervisor Flansburg moved to send the letter. Motion was seconded by Supervisor Banach and carried with all in favor. Solicitor Bernathy asked the chief if he is recommending this and whether this will affect a positive response time. Mr. Koferl said yes this is on his recommendation.

PA Route 6 Alliance: Mrs. Green said a letter was received today from the PA Route 6 Alliance who wishes to designate Route 6 as a Scenic Byway. This involves 110 municipalities and 14 counties. However this would involve a 660 foot right-of-way in which no new signs or billboards would be able to be erected. Supervisor Banach said it’s just another level of government asking us to do something where we will not be compensated.

Chairman Ewbank said this would go against the help we are trying to give to Home Depot. The supervisors decided not to take action.

Transaction Tax: Solicitor Bernathy said a workshop has been scheduled for January 23, 2013 and this item should be added to the agenda. Motion to add this to the agenda made by Supervisor Melvin. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION: None

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 8:32 PM on a motion by supervisor Flansburg. Motion seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

January 7, 2013

A public hearing was held on Monday, January 7, 2013 for the purpose of taking public comment on the proposed Ordinance # 159 which amends Westfall Township Ordinance # 31. The meeting was held at the Westfall Township office on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, Matamoras, PA 18336 at 7:30 p.m.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank, Vice-Chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg, and Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Treasurer, Scott Myer; Zoning Officer, Mike Rendleman; Police Chief, Chad Stewart; Bill Schneider, Bill Koferl, Ed Isaacson, Chuck Pranski and approximately 15 members of the general public.

Solicitor Bernathy stated that Ordinance # 159 amends Ordinance # 31 which has to do specifically with traffic and parking regulations which was originally adopted November 25, 1974. This has to do with the time provision in section two and the penalty provision in section seven. The time provision will now reflect that parking is prohibited on all streets of the township at any and all times between the hours of 11:00 pm and 6:00 am November 1 each year thru April 1 of the following year and during any snowstorm.  Section seven; the penalty section will be changed to reflect that violation of the provision of the ordinance shall on conviction be sentenced to a fine of $15.00 in addition to the cost of prosecution.

Solicitor Bernathy stated that this ordinance was advertised in the Pike County Dispatch. Proof of publication will be made available to the public and made part of the record.

Solicitor Bernathy asked for public comment.

With no public comment being offered Supervisor Banach moved to close the public hearing 7:31 pm. Motion was seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

December 19, 2012

The Westfall Township Board of Supervisors held a Special meeting on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 7:00 PM. The meeting was held at the Township Building on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, Westfall Township.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors Raymond Banach and Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Scott Myer, Bill Jamros, John Stieh, John & Tina Hess, Thomas Mincer, Scott Quinn, Beth Brelje, and seven members of the general public. Supervisor Larry Flansburg was not present.

AGENDA:  Motion to approve the agenda was made by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Bill Jamros said he is in favor of the amusement tax however in his research he found that most municipalities were charging upwards of 5% and that 1% is very low. Solicitor Bernathy said that was noted during the hearing.

NEW BUSINESS:

Adopt 2013 Budget: Chairman Ewbank said we have resolution 2012-5 and 2012-6 for the purpose of adopting the 2013 budget.

Resolution 2012-5: Solicitor Bernathy read resolution 2012-5 fixing the millage rate for the 2013 budget year. Supervisor Melvin moved to adopt resolution 2012-5. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Resolution 2012-6: Solicitor Bernathy stated resolution 2012-6 is for the revenues and expenditures of the fiscal year 2013, the amounts shown on the attached 2013 Budget are hereby appropriated from the funds, equities, revenues, and other financing sources available for the year 2013 for the specific purposes set forth.

Supervisor Melvin moved to adopt resolution 2012-6. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor.

Set Pay Rate for Robert Howard $15.60 Per Hour: Supervisor Banach moved to approve the increase in salary for Robert Howard to $15.60 per hour. Vice-chairman Fischer asked what Mr. Howard is currently making. He is making $15 per hour. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor. This pay increase will be effective January 1, 2013.

Hiring of full-time Highway Employee: Supervisor Melvin moved to hire Dick Mai from part time to full time effective January 1, 2013. This will include all full-time benefits as set forth in Westfall Township employee policy manual. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor.

Berkheimer Associates Resolutions: Chairman Ewbank said we have four resolutions from Berkheimer Associates for the collection of the Amusement Tax. These have all been reviewed by our solicitor and found to be acceptable. Supervisor Banach questioned if the two-year term is standard, and asked if we found the Amusement Tax was not beneficial for us and we backed out would we be penalized by Berkheimer. Solicitor Bernathy said there are provisions in there for placing either party on notice; however this is a two-year contract unless there’s cause. Solicitor Bernathy further stated part of the resolution is the contract which is on the agenda and he is going task that the contract be subject to his review as there are a few things in the contract that he would like to bring to the supervisors attention. Supervisor Melvin moved to approve the four following resolutions. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Resolution 2012-7 Approved

Resolution 2012-8 Approved

Resolution 2012-9 Approved

Resolution 2012-10 Approved

Berkheimer Associates Agreement: Chairman Ewbank said that we have an agreement from Berkheimer for the collection of the Amusement Tax. Solicitor Bernathy asked to make that subject to his review. Vice-chairman Fischer said he is not clear on the answer to the question raised by Supervisor Banach regarding the two-year term. Solicitor Bernathy said there are a number of things in the agreement that need to be addressed. One being parent authority by execution of the agreement, meaning they have settlement authority to resolve accounts in court. There is also jurisdictional concern and concern of the two-year term. Lastly they referred to approving their rules and regulations and Solicitor Bernathy does not know what they are.  Solicitor Bernathy said with those four changes the board can approve the agreement. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the agreement subject to solicitor Bernathy’s review and with the stated changes. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

Review Zoning as per Signage – Off Site Signs – Size Limits: Mrs. Green said Supervisor Flansburg had asked to place this on the agenda and the board members each have a copy of the sign section of the zoning ordinance. Supervisor Melvin questioned if it would make sense for the board to review the information because there is concern from some of the businesses in town. Supervisor Banach said we need to review the sign information and hold a workshop to discuss the changes so they can be done all at one time. For example the Home Depot needs a sign and our sign ordinance is very restrictive. Supervisor Melvin said one thing that he has heard from Home Depot is that they have the signage from Interstate 84 but no one knows where they’re located off the Interstate. Supervisor Melvin said the last thing that anyone wants is for Home Depot to lose money and go out of business and the Township to have a big box store that sitting vacant. Further stating that he wants to make sure that those businesses can advertise and thrive. Supervisor Banach said we need to have a workshop in order to talk about that and get with the zoning officer. Further commenting that Phantom Fireworks just had a zoning hearing to get signs approved and they had to pay several hundred dollars for an exception. This item will be tabled until January 7, 2013 when we can schedule a workshop meeting to discuss it.

DVSD – Salt / Antiskid: Supervisor Banach said that this came about when he spoke to Bill Schneider. Further stating that he just signed the bills for the month and we are losing money. Supervisor Banach said a previous supervisor made a deal with the school district to allow them to get winter material from us and their maintenance workers come to the township garage use our backhoe and load their truck’s with our antiskid for the school. Supervisor Banach said if he falls it could be a lawsuit. Mrs. Green asked what is the difference between a yard and a ton because we are billing them per yard but we get billed per ton. Discussion followed. Supervisor Banach feels this is a practice that we should disband. Supervisor Melvin asked if this is because the school district does not have their own facility to store it. Vice-chairman Fischer suggested our road crew load it for them. Solicitor Bernathy said a non-township employee should not be operating our equipment and we need to take action on that. There’s also the disparity between what we are paying and what we are charging. Further discussion followed. Mrs. Green will call Marvin Eversdyke, Director of Support Services for the school district in the morning. Mr. Jamros said as a taxpayer he pays school tax and Township tax and questioned why is the school district taking anything from the Township. Solicitor Bernathy said sometimes there are inter-governmental cooperative agreements. In this case a stop will be put to it immediately.

Letter for Sales Tax: Supervisor Banach said he feels we should get the ball rolling again on the County sales tax. Thomas Mincer said that issue has been raised at the Supervisors convention a few years ago and as long as it was directed on the municipal level to reduce property taxes everyone seemed to be in favor of that but it died. Mr. Mincer said the county was supposed to get half and the municipality would get half and he feels if we send a letter to every Township and Borough in the County that a lot of municipalities would get behind us. Mr. Mincer said he is on the board at Dingman Township and if we send them a letter he will make sure we get their support.

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION:

Smokers Choice: Representatives – Attorney, Thomas Mincer

Engineer, Scott Quinn – McGoey, Hauser and Edsall

Owner, Doug Nolan

Solicitor Bernathy acknowledged that we have counsel here for Smokers Choice and gave the Supervisors some background by stating that the record should reflect that the application for land development as well as for the lot improvement has been reviewed first by the Office of Community Planning and they have no adverse comments and find that the plan as submitted is consistent with the Pike County Comprehensive Plan update and municipal ordinances. The record should also reflect that the application has been reviewed by the Pike County Conservation District. They have determined that the plan is adequate and valid for two years from the date of issuance to address erosion and sediment pollution control. It meets compliance with DEP rules and regulations. The record should also reflect that the application has been reviewed by the Township Engineer, Kiley Associates and the comments as contained in the October 22, 2012 letter have been addressed in the plan that is pending before the Supervisors. Finally and most importantly the board has a letter before them from the Westfall Township Planning Commission that indicates a motion was made with two members in favor and two abstentions with one member absent on October 23, 2012 to recommend approval of the application with the conditions that there is adequate water and sewer, that a Lot Combination Deed be submitted, the Township Engineers comments of October 22, 2012 be addressed and finally approval from the Pike County Conservation District.  Solicitor Bernathy said sitting in with Planning on this review that Planning did its best under the circumstances to ask for alternatives for purposes of ingress and egress as far as the adjacent streets are concerned. They did ask and did receive through the applicant from PennDOT their note that they would not consider one of the existing accesses on Route 6 and 209 as anything other than an exit. Planning did consider that, hoping that maybe that would be an entrance and exit however PennDOT representative Kevin Miluszusky said PennDOT was not interested in allowing an entrance to that property off of Route 6 & 209. Again that review came from planning’s concerns about the impact that that would have on adjacent residential areas. The plan that’s presented to the board now has an exit onto US Route 6 and James St. and away from Elizabeth Street. Other than that it is up for the boards review and consideration.

Attorney Mincer said he is here on behalf of the applicant and he has two witnesses to call. Attorney Stieh asked to be granted standing on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Hess. Solicitor Bernathy replied that as the Hess’s are adjacent property owners they have standing. Attorney Mincer called Scott Quinn as his first witness. Mr. Quinn brought plans to the Supervisors for their review, stating that the first sheet shows the existing conditions and that this is a lot combination. Four existing lots will be consolidated and the applicant owns all four properties. Supervisor Melvin questioned if this is where the brown house is located and if it will remain. Solicitor Bernathy said that is where the brown house is located but it will not remain and the supervisors will be shown from the plans what to expect. Mr. Quinn said the future plan shows there will be one entrance going in across from the Hess residence and they will be maintaining the existing exit off of Route 6. Solicitor Bernathy said currently the exit is coming out onto Elizabeth Street and lights are shining into the Hess’s house and planning did not want there to be an exit onto Elizabeth Street. Attorney Stieh said there are no headlights shining into their house and disputed where the exit was. For purposes of order Attorney Mincer requested to continue questioning his witness and then allowing Attorney Stieh to do the same. Mr. Quinn and Attorney Mincer reviewed the plans with the supervisors showing the current conditions and the proposed plan. Mr. Quinn spoke of the two drive thru windows that they are proposing and stated the furthest car from Elizabeth Street is about 190 feet. Vice-chairman Fischer questioned if there is a simple way to prevent cars from exiting onto Elizabeth Street. Mr. Quinn answered that they have limited the width of the entrance for the purpose of restricting it to an entrance only and will place curbing & signage off Elizabeth Street. Attorney Mincer said this is one of the agreements the applicant made was to restrict that drive to entrance only. Attorney Mincer asked that the map and everything that has been recorded be made part of the record. Attorney Mincer asked Mr. Quinn if he received technical comments from the Township engineer and whether he has met or exceeded all of those comments. Mr. Quinn said he did receive technical comments and they have been addressed. Attorney Mincer asked if the plans that have been provided for tonight are the final plans. Mr. Quinn said that is correct. Attorney Mincer asked if these plans meet all of the zoning and planning ordinances. Mr. Quinn said yes. Attorney Mincer asked if the applicant has met or exceeded all of the screening requirements. Mr. Quinn answered yes they do. Attorney Mincer asked if there will be better handicap access to the building and handicap parking. Mr. Quinn answered yes that is correct. Attorney Mincer questioned if parking and traffic flows with the new plan will be safer and superior than the traffic flows that currently exist. Mr. Quinn answered yes. Attorney Mincer questioned if PennDOT has made it very clear that there would be no entrance off of Route 6. Mr. Quinn answered that is correct. Attorney Mincer asked if there has to be an alternate entrance. Mr. Quinn answered yes. Attorney Mincer asked if the current entrance onto Elizabeth Street is an entrance and an exit. Mr. Quinn answered yes. Attorney Mincer questioned if that will be restricted to only an entrance now and there will be no headlights coming the other way. Mr. Quinn answered that is correct. Attorney Mincer questioned if James Street is currently an exit and an entrance. Mr. Quinn answered James Street is not a part of the existing plan. Attorney Mincer questioned who owns the properties on the other side of James Street. Mr. Quinn answered the fireworks store. Attorney mincer asked if there were only commercial properties there. Mr. Quinn said that is correct. Attorney Mincer questioned if the zone is appropriate for the use. Mr. Quinn answered yes. Attorney Mincer asked if there were any objections from the Township Planning Commission or the Township Engineer as to any portion of the project. Mr. Quinn answered not to his knowledge. Attorney Mincer said he has no further questions of Mr. Quinn.

Attorney Stieh asked Mr. Quinn if there was anything in the Township ordinance that required an entrance off of Elizabeth Street. Mr. Quinn answered not to his knowledge no. Attorney Stieh questioned if the Township chose not to approve this plan you could still acquire access off of James Street and have both an access and an exit off of James Street and not interfere with the Hess’s property. Mr. Quinn said they looked at just that and it just doesn’t work with this building with the drive thru windows. Attorney Stieh said if you change the configuration of the building you could have access off of James Street isn’t that correct. Mr. Quinn said not with this building. Attorney Stieh questioned if there is a problem with the building or a problem with the parking as it is laid out. Mr. Quinn said he doesn’t understand the question. Attorney Stieh said suppose you move the entrance off of James Street to the south you could still have your drive-in going into the drive-in window couldn’t you. And you can have an exit on Route 6 couldn’t you? Mr. Quinn said possibly. Attorney Stieh said you could have traffic circulation for an exit off of James Street. Mr. Quinn said you couldn’t still have two way traffic off of James Street. Attorney Stieh questioned what Mr. Quinn had up in the front. Mr. Quinn said there is a 30 foot setback to the property line. Attorney Stieh questioned if there is any prohibition to having a driveway there. Mr. Quinn said not to his knowledge. Attorney Stieh stated they could have a driveway across the front of the property have traffic circulate in and out of James Street go through the drive in and not interfere with the use of the Hess’ property on Elizabeth Street. Chairman Ewbank said the only problem he sees with that is the traffic would be going backwards from the way the building is designed. Attorney Stieh said he would have to circulate around. Supervisor Banach said you probably could not have a driveway in the state right-of-way. Attorney Stieh questioned how close a certain parking spot was to the property line. Mr. Quinn answered approximately four to five feet. Attorney Stieh questioned the side yard setback. Mr. Quinn said the back yard setback is 20 feet and each of the three sides must be considered a front yard setback. Attorney Stieh asked if Mr. Quinn looked that section 505.202 of the SALDO which says ‘the total lot area shall be sufficient to provide adequate space for required yards, proposed buildings, off street parking and loading, landscaping, sewer and water systems, and other facilities. And a. Each lot or area plotted for industrial and/or commercial use shall provide, inside of the required yards, an area at least equal to the projected horizontal area of the proposed building, plus such additional area as is required for parking.’ Attorney Stieh said this parking is in fact in the setback. Supervisor Melvin questioned the equation. Attorney Stieh said there was no equation. And reread section 505.202 a. of the SALDO. Plans were reviewed. Solicitor Bernathy said additionally the board needs to note that this is an pre-existing business that has been there for some time and as far as setbacks are concerned you can tell by the pre-existing drawings those setbacks as far as applicability is concerned are superseded by the fact that this is a pre-existing business. So as far as setbacks are concerned you need to take into consideration that this is not an undeveloped parcel and rather this is a parcel that is pre-existing and we have close proximity to US Route 6 and Elizabeth St. so you need to take that into consideration. And of course that business is going to be demolished. Attorney Stieh said this is not a prior nonconforming use. Solicitor Bernathy said it is a pre-existing use and that is exactly what it is and as far as Attorney Stieh’s position is concerned it is a pre-existing use and the setbacks as applicable are already, using your argument, being violated by the conditions of the property. And that is the whole idea behind an existing pre-existing use. Attorney Stieh said this is a new development proposal. Solicitor Bernathy said you have a pre-existing business with the pre-existing footprint and pre-existing parking. Attorney Stieh said that this building is not being built on the same footprint. Solicitor Bernathy said it does not matter it is the parking as it exists now, just so the supervisors are aware. Further stating the attorneys have both made their points. Attorney Stieh questioned if there has been a traffic study done to review the impact of this proposal on the neighborhood. Solicitor Bernathy said there has not been a formal traffic study done. Attorney Stieh questioned if there has been any determination made by anybody other than the applicant’s engineer that this does not constitute a hazard to traffic. Solicitor Bernathy said yes by the Township engineer and he referred to his letter which is the October 22, 2012 letter from Kiley Associates. And if there were they would bring it to the Supervisors attention so therefore it is not an issue. Attorney Stieh questioned how Solicitor Bernathy knows it is not an issue. Solicitor Bernathy answered if it were an issue it would be in his letter. Attorney Stieh questioned what has been done to ensure that there will be no conflicts with homes. Mr. Quinn said he believes they will be making a better situation than what is existing there now by making the building setback further from the home, making the window further from the home, by providing additional stacking that is provided by this plan, and they are taking measures to prevent people from exiting onto Elizabeth Street. Attorney Stieh questioned if he is correct in that the traffic will now pass their clients home and then turn into the store which does not do that now. Mr. Quinn said they can come from Elizabeth Street and also from James Street. Attorney Stieh said that amplifies his point that there is no need for an entrance off of Elizabeth St. Mr. Quinn said that is not correct. Attorney Stieh said his clients’ home is directly across the street from the entrance to the store and questioned if Mr. Quinn knew how long the Hess’s have owned their home. Mr. Quinn said he didn’t know. Supervisor Banach questioned if all of these lots that are being incorporated are in the commercial zone not residential. Mr. Quinn answered yes they are all commercial. Supervisor Banach asked the Hess’s is if their property was in a commercial zone. Mrs. Hess answered neighborhood commercial. Attorney Stieh asked if the lots are nonconforming lots. Mr. Quinn answered it is an existing nonconforming lot combining four lots to make it closer to the requirement it will be just over an acre. Attorney Stieh said that correspondence reflects that is a nonconforming lot. Mr. Quinn answered it is an existing nonconforming use and building but the proposed building was laid out to be conforming with all setbacks. Attorney Stieh questioned what the applicant is going to do to prevent traffic from exiting onto Elizabeth Street. Mr. Quinn said they’ve taken a number of measures to try to prevent people from exiting. They’re installing curbing and signage showing one way and have narrowed the entrance. Attorney Stieh said they have done nothing to create traffic devices to preclude cars from going through there such as tire deflating devices. Mr. Quinn said no they have not. Attorney Stieh said then cars will be able to pull out there if they choose to do so. Mr. Quinn said that is possible. Attorney Stieh questioned if there is anything in connection with this application where the Township is passing an ordinance dealing with traffic signage and enforcement of it. Mr. Quinn said no. Attorney Stieh questioned what the enforcement is. Mr. Quinn answered it would be up to the applicant. Attorney Stieh questioned if Mr. Quinn was the applicant and he saw somebody going out of the entrance onto Elizabeth Street what would he do. Attorney Mincer said he is not the applicant he’s the engineer and he believes that everybody understands Attorney Stieh’s point. Supervisor Banach questioned if these matters were before the planning board. Solicitor Bernathy answered yes over a period of several meetings that were well attended where the Hess’s were present and participated actively and planning tried to answer all of their questions and work with them. Further stating these are not new issues these are issues that were kicked around and discussed somewhat at length. Supervisor Banach asked if there were any concessions made. Mr. Quinn answered there were many concessions. Moving the building as far away as they could within the setback line, the signage, the curbing, the screening, fencing. Solicitor Bernathy said he does not believe the type of fencing that is on the plan was required however the applicant agreed as part of the approval process to install that to create a buffer from the adjacent parcel and the house that is existing there. Supervisor Banach questioned the landscaping plan to create a buffer between the store and the Hess’s. Further questioning the lighting which Mr. Quinn answered was addressed. Solicitor Bernathy said that was asked of planning, and the question is whether the plan as presented is going to cut down on traffic that’s going to appear on the adjacent street. Mr. Quinn answered yes because now it will be entrance only. Mr. Quinn showed the board the landscaping and lighting plans. Solicitor Bernathy said the woman that lives adjacent to the parcel on lot 17 attended the planning board meetings and requested fencing and she was satisfied with that. Supervisor Banach suggested sidewalks down the side of the property for future planning and questioned the storm water basins. Supervisor Melvin questioned if a drive thru entrance sign could be placed along with the main entrance sign to cut back on the traffic flow on Elizabeth Street. Attorney Mincer questioned Mr. Quinn if the Township has any authority to close down an existing access. Mr. Quinn said not that he is aware of. Attorney Mincer said they’ve voluntarily agreed to an entrance only to cut down on the traffic flow and will voluntarily place the signs. Attorney Mincer said there was a question regarding a sidewalk on the side of the property and the applicant has agreed to it as long as the Township engineer agrees that it is safe. Bonding was proposed. Attorney Stieh asked about section 505.301 which states ‘traffic movements in and out of commercial and industrial areas should not interfere with external traffic, nor should it create hazards for adjacent residential areas.’ Questioning what traffic study has been done to determine whether or not there would be any hazard. Attorney Mincer said it has already been noted that no traffic study was done. Attorney Stieh said he believes it is up to the supervisors to determine whether a traffic study is required. Solicitor Bernathy said it is not necessary under these conditions. Attorney Mincer asked if the Township engineer required a traffic study. Mr. Quinn said he did not. Attorney Mincer asked if the Township engineer had any questions regarding the SALDO and their reviews. Mr. Quinn said no there were no further questions as Mr. Stieh has raised. Attorney Mincer asked if the Township engineer made any recommendations as to the existing blacktop as regards to setback on the property. Mr. Quinn stated he had no concerns. Attorney Mincer said he noticed there was no technical review or comment where this has violated any zoning ordinance and in fact they are hoping by this plan to alleviate potential traffic issues. Mr. Quinn answered yes. Attorney Mincer asked if with the money available they have done everything possible to try to make this a safe to the community as possible. Further questioning if the fencing was planned to put the non-permeable light fence in to keep light away from the other side. Attorney Mincer said the Supervisors have now requested a sidewalk along the side of the property as long as the Township engineer says it can be done for safety purposes and questioned Mr. Quinn if he would assist the applicant in doing so. Mr. Quinn answered yes.

Attorney Mincer asked if there were any other concerns that anybody brought up from the Township or the Township zoning officer or other property owners regarding the project. Mr. Quinn answered not to his knowledge. Attorney Mincer had no further questions. Attorney Stieh asked if Mr. Quinn has ever been involved with a situation where the engineer has overlooked something. Mr. Quinn said he does not disagree with that. Attorney Stieh said just because the Township engineer did not raise the issue of the traffic study… Mr. Quinn said it was talked about and determined that it was not warranted. Attorney Mincer asked to make a brief statement to the board stating the plans as presented have been studied and reviewed by all Township officials including the Township Engineer and the Solicitor and the applicant has done everything the Township has asked him to do. The Township does not have the authority to tell them you have to shut the entrance down, further stating it is an existing access way and he could’ve left it both ways however in an attempt to try to accommodate one of the neighbors he has limited that to one-way traffic. It is possible that people are going to violate the signage but the applicant has done everything humanly possible and it will be a much better situation than is there currently. They created a second in and out off of James Street to alleviate some of the traffic. PennDOT will not let them do anything else on Route 6. Attorney Mincer said the applicant has gone above and beyond on a permitted use to be a good neighbor as possible, pointing out that there is a fireworks store right next to the building and the gas station is two buildings down. The majority of property straight up-and-down is commercial in a neighborhood commercial District. They are trying to be at good neighbor and that there will be a more aesthetically pleasing building for the neighborhood. It will be better from the standpoint of lighting and they have met or exceeded every single requirement. Attorney Mincer said Attorney Stieh wants to bring these issues up now and the time for that would’ve been long before when it was in the planning process. The applicant has done everything possible with the exception of closing down the access. Attorney Mincer asked the board to approve this tonight so that they could move forward with the project.

Attorney Stieh said this has been the Hess’s home for 40 years it was a residential neighborhood when they moved in there. The zone was created as a C-1 neighborhood commercial zone, not a C-2 or C-3. The idea the neighborhood commercial District was to create a reasonable interface between the commercial use and residential use. In the zoning ordinance it says the objective of that zone is to avoid intensive commercial uses that are most likely to conflict with the scenic rural character and most likely to cause conflicts with homes and to provide for smaller scale uses that will not be intrusive; to carefully locate commercial areas and commercial driveways and minimize traffic safety congestion problems along the roads. Mr. and Mrs. Hess do not have a traffic congestion problem by their property now. This project Attorney Stieh submits will create that and that will be contrary to the intent of the zoning ordinance. Attorney Stieh further states that the SALDO speaks in several places about the need to look to and be careful about traffic hazards. Attorney Stieh states there is nothing in the world that says they have to have the access off of Elizabeth Street. There is nothing that requires that. It is a matter of their choice and desire and they have to prove that it does not cause a traffic hazard as the SALDO talks about in section 505. The ordinance also speaks to when a traffic impact study is required. Attorney Stieh said that is exactly what they’re asking the board to do is to look at a traffic impact study. Because the applicant has not done so does not mean it’s correct or follows the black letter of the law. Attorney Stieh said this also comes forward without the support of the planning commission because it only had a two member out of five member vote in favor and if he remembers the law correctly that would be a no vote. Attorney Stieh asked that the board would please give consideration to the Hess’s home which has been there for 40 years.

Attorney Mincer said Attorney Stieh made an incorrect statement that out of a five member board the planning commission had two that voted affirmatively and two that abstained and one member was absent. That is not a no vote. Solicitor Bernathy said both attorneys know that the planning commission is a recommending body and asked to move on. Further discussion was held.

Mr. Hess said everybody that comes before the board promises the world and they are saying that they will be better off however he does not feel he’s going to have less traffic down there. Attorney Mincer said now was not the time for this the time for this would’ve been three months ago when I was up planning stage.

Mrs. Hess said she brought this up several times during the planning stage.

Attorney Stieh said this is the first time this public hearing has been before the supervisors and more importantly it is the time for the supervisors to hear the applicant and to hear his clients’ position. Attorney Mincer said that is why they have the planning commission and asked that the board takes action tonight to move this project along this evening.

Solicitor Bernathy said he notes the general extensions granted by the applicant and as far as the traffic study is concerned that is only if required. It is discretionary and you have the opinion of the Township engineer stating it is not required. It is a pre-existing and arguably nonconforming use as it relates to setbacks. There is no record of an existing traffic problem and as far as this creating additional problems you would be engaged in speculation. The record should reflect this being less impactful on Elizabeth Street currently proposed rather than more impactful. If the board desires they could request a traffic study however it was not recommended by the planning commission, the Township engineer, or at Pike County Planning Commission. However the board has options. It could be approved with conditions, it could be denied and those are some of the options the board has at this time.

Supervisor Banach said he believes this to be an asset and with the driveway being all the way down there will be less people backing up onto Route 6 and 209. Mrs. Hess said there’s not going to be any signs or curbing that’s going to stop them. Supervisor Banach asked if there would be a maintenance agreement going along with this project. Solicitor Bernathy said the applicant would be required to have all the signs as stated on the plan and if they do not they would not be in compliance and would get a violation notice from the Township. Mrs. Hess asked who would enforce the traffic. The board answered the Township would enforce the signage but not the traffic. Chairman Ewbank said everything is designed to keep people from exiting onto Elizabeth Street. Further discussion followed. Mrs. Hess questioned where they were going to put the snow. Supervisor Banach questioned Mr. Quinn if the whole area in the right-of-way will be put back to grass and they can use that for snow removal. Further stating the sidewalk there would alleviate parking on the road.

Supervisor Banach moved to approve the Smokers Choice land development and Lot Combination with the following conditions: 1) Water and sewer adequacy 2) Lot Combination Recorded Deed 3)  Comments from October 22, 2012 Township Engineer letter 4)  Approval from Pike County Conservation District 5) Shrubbery added and 6) Sidewalks as agreed with Township engineer. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

ADJOURNMENT: The special meeting adjourned at 8:26 pm on a motion by Supervisor Banach.  Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

December 4, 2012

The regular meeting of the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors was held Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 7:00 pm. The meeting was held at the TownshipBuilding on Delaware Drive and LaBarr Lane, WestfallTownship.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors, Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg and Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Treasurer, Scott Myer; Zoning Officer, Michael Rendleman; Bill Schneider, Bill Koferl, Tom Lamb, Lisa Mickles, Beth Brelje, John Bell, Janice Boyd, Bill Jamros, Tom Pampelone, Chuck Pranski, Lisa Babcock, Twila Decker, Michelle Wilkins, Jacqueline & Rollin Cook, Robert Lewis, Bob Bostinto, Elaine Shewchuk and approximately 22 members of the general public.

AGENDA: Chairman Ewbank added audit proposal and a letter from the CAAC under new business as well as tabling Smokers Choice to December 19, 2012. The amended agenda was approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

Chairman Ewbank said we were going to change things around a little bit and start with items one and two of new business.

John Bell – Superintendent Delaware Valley School District: Mr. Bell said the purpose of his visit is going around to all of the municipalities in Pike County and putting names to faces. Mr. Bell said he is coming around to say we are all neighbors and we all pay taxes here and if there’s anything the school district can do to help the Township they are willing to do it. Further commenting that they have already met with the commissioners and are looking at what they can do to refrain from duplicating services. Mr. Bell updated the board on the progress of the new elementary school saying they are still working on the process. There were 45 conditions that Milford Township laid out for them and they have met 44 of their conditions. The final one is an emergency egress off the property in the event that there was an accident on the three lane. Mr. Bell explained that although attendance is down the current elementary school is a money pit and this is why there is the necessity of building the new school. Further commenting that the elementary school used to be a high school several years ago and it is time to get a new building, promising to keep the supervisors posted on the progress. Mr. Bell said there’s been a lot of talk about the gas pipe line. This pipeline is on the southern end of the property and that will be updated to a Class III pipe by Tennessee Gas. The school will be built on the northern end. Mr. Bell said the pipeline will be approximately 700 feet away from the school on opposite ends of a 40 acre parcel.  Mr. Bell also said boys soccer, girls volleyball and boys football teams have all won district titles this fall. Financially the taxes have been the same for the last six years and they’re trying to see if they could have a seventh year of a flat rate. Mr. Bell said the school was in Newsweek, the US News and the Washington Post for top high schools the fourth year in a row and it looks like they may climb 400 spots. The school was number 1492 out of 25,000 schools and they may be within the top 1000 this year which is good news for everyone. This would encourage people to move here. Mr. Bell said we’re heading into winter sports now and last year wrestling and basketball were both district champs so they’re really excited about what’s going to happen this winter. Mr. Bell said he just wanted to come and say hello and update us on what was going on. If the Township ever needs anything we just have to call.

Janice Boyd – Pike County LINK Coordinator: Janice Boyd introduced herself to the board and the public stating that she is the link to aging and disability resources for anybody over the age of 60 and between 18 and 59. This will also change to encompass all ages and all incomes in the near future. Ms. Boyd said she is a federal grant that came down to the state that is implemented in every County now. She works for the office of aging, the office of long-term living and they are in charge of the link program. Ms. Boyd said she also works for the Northeast Center for Independent Living. She is a link to long-term services and support for people with disabilities that are aging. Ms. Boyd said as you age you can develop disabilities and she would be the person to go to to link up with different services and support. Ms. Boyd said the reason she is doing outreach now is because people may know someone who needs resources and is not aware of what is out there. This is a trusted source for someone to reach out to who may need assistance. The link would enable them to be connected to several different support agencies rather than having to contact them on your own. Ms. Boyd gave everyone handouts and asked if anybody had any questions to contact her.

Chairman Ewbank said we’re going to go back to approval of the agenda and we need to add the decision on the Amusement Tax under old business.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Tom Pampalone said he read in the paper that the insurance company was not going to pick up the tab for the Dombrosky settlement and questioned if that would fall to the residents; commenting that residents were told for the past few years that they should not worry about the lawsuit. Mr. Pampalone said the residents should be indemnified against lawsuits. Solicitor Bernathy said it is the Township’s responsibility if the insurance does not cover it. Mr. Pampalone questioned when the Township will know if the insurance company was going to cover it. Solicitor Bernathy said up to this point the insurance company has not covered it and that will be the subject of potential litigation under executive session this evening. We are currently exploring options as to whether there may or may not have been bad faith on the part of the insurance company and we are also considering other actions among which other things are entry of a summary judgment against the Township. Solicitor Bernathy explains that it is the insurance company that retains counsel and that the Supervisors are considering options at this point. Mr. Pampalone also questioned if Eastern Pike is a separate corporation or do we hire them because they are also being sued by the same gentleman. Solicitor Bernathy said the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department is ran by a Commission which is under and pursuant to the regionalization agreement. Mr. Pampalone said the Township is going to have to pay the money if they lose. Vice-chairman Fischer said the Commission has its own insurance company and other than that the judge made the decision in favor of the Commission but it is under appeal. Chuck Pranski asked what the specific reason was that the insurance would not cover the settlement. Solicitor Bernathy said that is the subject of potential litigation. Mr. Pranski said they are the taxpayers and they have a right to know. Solicitor Bernathy said they will know however the laws are specific with regard to discussing litigation in public session. Mr. Pranski said the newspaper requested the insurance policy and it was denied questioning why that was. Solicitor Bernathy said he is not aware of that request that was made however if it was denied it was because certain things are exempt under the right to know law. Mr. Pampalone asked if Solicitor Bernathy was the one who reviewed the insurance policy that is denying coverage. Mrs. Green said he did not review the policy.

Mr. Pranski questioned why the Supervisors were taking away their Police Department. Chairman Ewbank said nobody is taking away the Police Department. Notice was given because according to the agreement one year’s notice needed to be given in the event they decide that they cannot meet the financial obligations and need to opt out. Supervisor Banach said this is giving us an option that if we cannot keep the finances of this town where they need to be we will find other options for the Police Department, because right now if we don’t give notice next year we would not be able to find other options. Discussion followed about the budget process this year and the census figures. Mr. Pranski said we should find the money and commented that at the joint meeting he suggested hiring two part-timers for the Highway Department and a full timer was already hired. Supervisor Banach said that he is not hired until the first of the year. John Dalton said he read discrepancies between the Times Herald record article and the Pike County dispatch article regarding the Dombrosky settlement and questioned what was correct. Chairman Ewbank said it is two years of $175,000 and $35,000 per year plus interest for the next nine years. Robert Lewis said he doesn’t believe it’s even an option to do away with the Police Department because he feels we’re setting ourselves up for another lawsuit. Further discussion followed. Mr. Pampalone said Newark New Jersey cut their Police Department and half and there was all sorts of talk and concern that crime was going to go up and it didn’t happen Mr. Pampalone said he is in favor of cutting the Police Department is not in favor of increasing taxes.

Mr. Dalton questioned the value of a mil in the township. Scott Myer said just over $40,000. Mr. Dalton suggested reevaluating the 7.6 Mills on the Katz tax. Mr. Myer said it is only an estimate on what we’re going to bring in and we cannot fall short of that $300,000 payment per year. Supervisor Melvin said that may be a good idea in a few years once we see how much income it is generating but it can’t be done right now. Chairman Ewbank said if we miss a payment we are in default and we will be back in court with Mr. Katz. Discussion followed. Ms. Boyd asked what type of cash flow can go into the general fund. Mr. Myer answered real estate taxes, local service taxes, transfer taxes, fines, building permits and such all go into the general fund. Chairman Ewbank said out of 31.2 mils only 16.7 mils go into the general fund. Discussion followed. Supervisor Banach said it’s been talked about before that he has gone to Lisa Baker requesting a countywide sales tax but we have to get the whole County in on that. Supervisor Melvin said we are limited on what we can do and one of them is the earned income tax which is not very popular among the residents or Supervisors. Ms. Boyd questioned if the only way we generate revenue was through taxes. Further discussion was held. Bob Bostinto asked if the Katz Tax was up for renegotiation. The board said absolutely not, that is the settlement that we have and we just have to pay it and be done with it. Mr. Pranski asked for clarification of the earned income tax. Supervisor Melvin said if you live in Westfall or work in Westfall the tax will apply. Supervisor Banach said if we add the 1% earned income tax school has the ability to do the same. Solicitor Bernathy said it is a total of 2% that are allowed to be collected. Further discussion was held. Bill Jamros asked what is the projected income for the amusement tax. Supervisor Melvin said it is hard to be determined because we don’t have the figures. He estimates between $18,000 to $22,000. Further stating if we had that money that would have helped close the gap for the Police Department. Supervisor Melvin said we are trying to come up with other avenues before going to an earned income tax. Supervisor Banach said in looking at the amusement tax the liveries were upset with us because they said we were picking on transients however we are looking at people that use our services and the Westfall Township people are paying for it. Further commenting on the fact that the school district has their own school police yet the Eastern Pike Regional Police are at the school all the time. So we are trying to find a way to relieve the residents. Mr. Pampalone said there is a significant number of police officers at the football games. Supervisor Melvin said the school reimburses the Police Department for the officers to be at the game. Chairman Ewbank said they are reimbursed for the football games however when we are called to the school on other issues we are not reimbursed for that. Lisa Babcock said there are a lot of people suffering and they may not be able to handle paying more money such as the EIT, however she said if people want a street light by their road there would be a special assessment tax and questioned if a special assessment can be placed on the residents to help pay for the Police Department. Solicitor Bernathy said he is not aware of the ability to do that. Ms. Babcock said she believes everyone in Westfall and Matamoras will be happy to pay five dollars per household to keep the department where they need to be. Supervisor Melvin said you really can’t do that because all of a sudden really going to become part of the tax structure. The mechanism to do that would be to raise taxes and our hands are really tied with a lot of these things. Ms. Babcock questioned grants. Supervisor Melvin said there are not many grants available to second class Townships. Vice-chairman Fischer said even the grants for the Police Department are beginning to dry up. Mr. Pampalone said on his tax bill it shows state police and questioned why we can’t have the state police cover Walmart. Questioning who would care it someone who just robbed the store had to wait an hour for the police to show up. Mr. Pampalone said we need to make cuts the Police Department and allow the state police to fill in. Further stating we can’t have officers taking cars home because we are paying the gas and insurance.

Rollin Cook asked if we could mandate Walmart to get their own security, because this would aid the police department. Chairman Ewbank said Walmart has their own security. Supervisor Banach said that this has been discussed for over a year and we need to look at why we’re sending our police to any box store for retail theft when they should have their own security. Further stating it is up to the Chief and the Commission to look into it. Supervisor Banach has talked to the District Attorney about this and retail theft can be handled by their own security or mandate that an officer goes there once a week to process them instead of running down all the time. This could possibly save money. Supervisor Banach said we are pinching pennies because every penny helps.

John Dalton questioned if the 2013 budget will be available to the public because what was advertised in the Pike County Dispatch has a collapsed view. Mrs. Green said the budget is open for review to the public.

MINUTES: Minutes of the following meetings were approved on a motion by Supervisor Banach: November 8, 2012 Public Hearing, November 8, 2012 Regular Meeting, November 13, 2012 Joint Meeting, and November 19, 2012 Special Meeting. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

TREASURER’s REPORT: Scott Myer gave the treasurer’s report for January – November stating that income is in line with where we expect to be which is 100% of budget and expenses were in line until we made the first settlement payment. Otherwise we are in good shape. Supervisor Melvin moved to approve report. Motion seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

POLICE REPORT: Police Chief, Chad Stewart gave the report for November. There have been 189 calls for service and 5,559 miles patrolled for the month. Arrests have been made for five of the burglaries that were held around town. Chief Stewart reminded motorists that the overnight parking ordinance has gone into effect. Supervisor Melvin questioned the time for the off street parking. Mrs. Green stated it is 6 PM to 6 AM, however that will be amended. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the police report. Motion seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Tom Lamb gave the Mill Rift Fire Department report for November stating they had the fire department open on November 1^st and 2^nd for those who were without power. They had wires down on 11/2, checked all equipment after the storm on the 11/4, had a monthly meeting on 11/13, maintenance on engine one and tanker one on 11/21, and ran engine to and brush truck and checked Scott packs on 11/28, mutual aid structure fire in Sparrowbush on 11/30. Total man-hours for the month were 60 total equipment hours for the year or 127.

Bill Koferl gave the Westfall Township Fire Department Report for November with an update on Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Koferl then reported 1 Landing zone, 2 Motor Vehicle Accidents, 1 Auto Alarm – Commercial false, 4 Mutual Aid, 1 CO2 alarm, 1 Fuel spill, 1 Smoke investigation, 1 Assist EMS with lifting, 1 Brush fire, 1 Vehicle Fire, and 1 Residential Alarm. Total man-hours for the month 128.81. Chief Stewart said the Fire Departments did a phenomenal job during Hurricane Sandy. Motion to accept both reports made by Supervisor Melvin. Motion seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor.

HIGHWAY REPORT: Bill Schneider gave the report for November stating that they performed maintenance on equipment. There were two small storms which they put material down for. Mr. Schneider attended the road task force meeting. The crew did some cold patching and spent most of the month cleaning up from the Hurricane Sandy. They were on site during the inspection of Orange and Rockland’s gas line. The crew worked on Fire Tower Road and cleaned ditches and rights of way on Heaters Hill, Doug Miller Road and Sandpit Road. They also performed maintenance at the landfill. Vice-chairman Fischer moved to approve the report. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

BUILDING/ZONING REPORT: Michael Rendleman gave the report for November stating there were two building permits, three electrical permits, one sign and two zoning permits issued. There were fees of $5872 with $368 outstanding. Supervisor Banach moved to accept the report. Motion is seconded by Vice-Chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

CORRESPONDENCE: On dais for review.

OLD BUSINESS:

Act 47 Monthly Report: Solicitor Bernathy stated the Township anticipates being removed from the plan by January of 2013. The Township continues to operate within the confines of its budget and continues to meet its financial obligations. The Township continues to provide essential services.  Supervisor Banach moved to approve report. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

ATV (Mule) Title to Fire Departments: Mrs. Green said the title needs to be given to the fire departments which she has been holding. It has been made out to both departments. Bill Koferl asked if there was a safe box in the Township that it could be kept in. Chairman Ewbank explained they needed to register the vehicle in their names and then the Township could keep it for them. Mr. Koferl came forward to pick up the title.

Ordinance # 158 –Amusement Tax: Chairman Ewbank said a decision needs to be made on the Amusement Tax. Supervisor Banach said he felt we should move forward with it stating if it doesn’t work out they could always rescind it. Solicitor Bernathy said there is no prohibition against rescinding it. Supervisor Banach moved to adopt Ordinance Number 158. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairman Fischer and carries with all in favor.

NEW BUSINESS:

Ordinance Amending Ordinance #31: Chairman Ewbank said this is an amendment to Ordinance #31 changing the time of overnight parking in Section two from 6 PM – 6 AM to 11 PM – 6 AM and during any snowstorm. Also changing section seven from a fine of not less than $2 nor more than $10 plus costs of prosecution; and in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment in the County jail for not more than five days. Shall be changed to a fine of $15 plus cost of prosecution. Solicitor Bernathy said a motion needs to be made to advertise a summation of the ordinance and schedule a public hearing. Vice-chairman Fischer move to advertise Ordinance # 159 as an amendment to Ordinance # 31 and schedule a public hearing for January 7, 2013 at 7:30 PM. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Banach and carries with all in favor.

Resolution for Tax Collector Salary: Chairman Ewbank read resolution 2012-4 amending the tax collectors salary from 5% to 4% beginning with the new term in 2014. Supervisor Banach said it is nothing against the tax collector she does a great job, it’s just something that happened due to the Katz tax and we need to correct it. Supervisor Banach moved to approve the resolution. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

Building Permits re: 1000 Square-Foot Exemption: Tabled.

Municipal Authority-Land Development Exemptions: Solicitor Bernathy said we have a letter dated November 19, 2012 regarding whether the Township had the power to regulate a PUC authority under the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance. Solicitor Bernathy said he found a case where the Commonwealth Court found the Township did not have the right to regulate a public utility. However Bill Schneider pointed out that the Municipal Authority is not regulated by the PUC. Solicitor Bernathy said that if they are not regulated by the PUC they are back to square one. Supervisor Banach said they would still need to get a building permit and BIU would look at that. Solicitor Bernathy said it is still a land development so you either need to consider a waiver from the ordinance or not. Further stating there are criteria to consider in order to grant a waiver. Discussion followed. Solicitor Bernathy said this is one of the main functions of the Township is to review subdivision and land development. Supervisor Melvin said he is very concerned about setting a precedent. Chairman Ewbank said as Supervisor Banach mentioned the Sewer Authority has bailed the Township out many times and this would be helping the Authority. Mr. Schneider said it might be best for them to move ahead as regulated without the waiver. This item will be tabled and put on the special meeting agenda for December 19, 2012.

Resignation of Marge Tonkin/Planning Commission: Chairman Ewbank read a letter from Marge Tonkin resigning her position from the Planning Commission effective January 1, 2013. Chairman Ewbank said we also received a phone call from Peter Kenny who will not be accepting a reappointment in January for the Planning Commission and asked if there were any volunteers for their positions. Supervisor Melvin questioned how many members are on the planning commission. Mrs. Green said it is a five member board and as of January 1, 2013 there will be three members. Chairman Ewbank told the public that it is a paid position earning $30 per meeting. Supervisor Banach said we need to send a letter to Mrs. Tonkin signed by the board and moved to accept the letter of resignation with regret. Motion is seconded by Vice-chairmen Fischer and carries with all in favor. Jacqueline Cook and Michelle Wilkins volunteered for the open positions. Solicitor Bernathy told them it is a layman’s position. They will be reviewing plans for subdivision and land development. However they have access to Solicitor Bernathy and the Township engineer for advice and assistance. The recommendations of the planning commission are sent to the supervisors for approval. Ms. Wilkins asked the schedule of the Commission. Mrs. Green asked the volunteers for their contact information and explained that the meetings are held the second Thursday and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 PM with the first meeting being held Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 7 PM.

River’s Edge Property-John Stieh: Attorney Stieh addressed the board and thanked them for allowing him to be here tonight. Stating he is here on behalf of Rivers Edge. Mr. Stieh’s client has decided because of the lack of vibrance for the project they’re going to pare it back and eliminate 20 units between Rivers Edge Drive and the property that’s owned by Home Depot. They will be vacating their land development approvals on that thereby cutting back on their bonding requirement. They’ve had a letter of credit posted for the past several years in the amount of $1.1 million and most of it pertains to the lack of infrastructure. However with the economy and the banking costs what they are today they wish to reduce the size of the requirement. Instead of the letter of credit they would like to post a bond and Mr. Stieh questioned how the Township wants to handle that administratively. Supervisor Melvin asked if this is the townhome section. Mr. Stieh said yes it is the townhomes. Supervisor Banach asked if we would need a new map showing that the section is vacated. Solicitor Bernathy said we would need representation from their attorney stating that they are foregoing the approval for the sections and they would make a request for the release the money and a substitution for a bond in lieu of the letter of credit. Discussion followed regarding the interest rate on the bond. Supervisor Banach questioned what would happen in future years if they wanted to develop that portion. Mr. Stieh said they would have to come back to the Township and go through the approval process as if they had never had it done initially.

Audit Proposal: Mrs. Green said we received the annual audit proposal from Kirk, Summa & Co. to perform the annual audit for 2012. They have completed the audit for the past several years. The cost is going up $100. Fee will not exceed $4900. Supervisor Banach moved to accept the proposal. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carries with all in favor.

Letter from CAAC: Vice-chairman Fischer stated as the board came in this evening they were handed a letter from the CAAC which stands for Community Action against Crime. The letter was addressed to the members of the Pike County Police Commission. Vice-chairman Fischer read the letter in public. The letter said in response to the recent increase in criminal activity the residents of Matamoras and Westfall Township formed a group called Community Action Against Crime. This group is informative only and their meetings are held bimonthly with open invitation to all residents. Their mission is to inspire community residents to be aware of activity in their own individual neighborhoods and to report suspicious individuals, incidents, or vehicles to the Police Department. The group does not promote any violence are vigilante type activities. They do promote awareness and proper reporting to enable officers to do their job without interference. Also they are not affiliated with any other clubs or organizations. The CAAC would like to extend an invitation to the Police Department and the board to attendance their meeting and if at all possible speak to their community members. They request support of the Commission. Vice-chairman Fischer said he cannot speak for the Commission at this time. Supervisor Melvin said this letter will go to the Commission. Discussion followed. The members present thanked the board.

Chairman Ewbank said on December 15, 2012 the Vietnam Veterans of America will lead a Wreathes across America ceremony at Veterans Park at 12:00 PM if anyone is interested in going.

Beth Brelje questioned if the tax that was passed tonight was from the ordinance that was proposed at the last meeting. Solicitor Bernathy said it was the ordinance in which a second public hearing was held on November 8, 2012.

SUBDIVISION REVIEW AND ACTION:

Smokers Choice: Tabled.

Executive Session: Called and 8:47 PM for possible litigation for Eshelman.

Back in session: 9:02 PM.

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 9:02 PM on a motion by Vice-chairman Fischer. Motion seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

November 19, 2012

TheWestfall Township Board of Supervisors held a Special meeting on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 7:00 PM. The meeting was held at the TownshipBuilding on Delaware Drive and La Barr Lane, WestfallTownship.

Those present were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg, and Robert Melvin; Solicitor, Robert Bernathy and Secretary, Lisa Green. Also present were Bill Schneider, Scott Myer, John Schneider, Dave Jones, Tony Brunovsky, Pete Lovelace, Rick Lander, Bill Hessling, Luis Bocaletti, Rob Llewellyn, Debra Banach, Laurie Mai, Lisa Mickles and Beth Brelje.

AGENDA:  Motion to approve the agenda was made by Supervisor Banach. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENT: None

NEW BUSINESS:

Introduce 2013 Proposed Budget: Chairman Ewbank said the proposed budget for 2013 is calling for a general fund millage of 16.7 and because we are above the 14 mil maximum we need to go to court for the other 2.7 mils. This has been done for the last several years. The total general fund budget is $1,091,833. The bottom line is the total millage is 31.2 mils which is the same as 2012. There will be no tax increase, millage will be moved around. Supervisor Banach asked to talk about the joint meeting because since the police department didn’t cut their budget we have to go back to the 2012 budget number which is a shortfall of $10,655. Supervisor Banach said he feels as a resident, tax payer, and supervisor he’s being held hostage by the Police Department, being that there are all different issues with litigation, one of them being Dombrosky; which some of that came from the Police Commission. Vice-chairman Fischer said the Commission was found not liable; it was the Supervisors that were found liable. Supervisor Banach said if the Commission gave Mr. Dombrosky his job back there would be no Dombrosky problem. Vice-chairman Fischer asked for it not to be placed on the Commission. Supervisor Banach said there are Supervisors wearing dual hats and sitting on the Commission and with that said we have something on our plate which we shouldn’t have and coming up with $10,655 is a burden to our taxpayers. Chairman Ewbank said we were also misled by the Borough of Matamoras because we were under the impression that they had approved the 2013 police budget and we found out last week that they were actually using the 2012 figures. Had we known that we probably could have made changes while we did our budget but we were looking at a big increase that now is probably not going to happen. Supervisor Melvin said when Matamoras started their budget process in September it was before the Police Department presented their budget. Discussion followed about the budgeting process between the Police Department, Matamoras Borough and Westfall Township. Supervisor Banach said since 2008 when he began being a Supervisor he’s been told that there was a contract between the officers and yet he has never seen that although he’s asked for it. Questioning how we were supposed to prepare our budget and come up with the cash when they keep getting increases.

Supervisor Melvin said he agrees that things should have been communicated better. Chairman Ewbank read a portion of the letter received from Attorney Tom Mincer which spoke of a four-year contract beginning January 1, 2012 and ending on December 31, 2015 where a 3% raise was given each year. Chairman Ewbank asked if anyone on the board has ever seen the contract stated he would like to see it. Further commenting how are we supposed to abide by the agreement what we have never seen it. No one has ever been given a copy of the contract. Supervisor Flansburg said if we are giving out raises we need to be a part of that agreement. Supervisor Melvin said it’s a little weird because you have a Police Commission that’s a semi-independent body constructed to figure out how to run the Police Department then you have the same people on their town Board and the Borough Council. He believes the salary increases were done in good faith and when you compare salaries to other police departments it was considered to be fair and reasonable. Further discussion followed. Supervisor Flansburg said his problem is there’s going to be new cars and new things however you can’t be promising people things that you don’t have. It needs to come to the Supervisors too and the board needs to become part of the process. Supervisor Banach questioned who the Supervisors were that signed the first and second agreements. Chairman Ewbank said he did not want to single out Vice-chairman Fischer however since he’s been on the Police Commission the longest he asked him if he was aware of the agreement and did he not feel the supervisors have a right to know about it. Vice-chairman Fischer said he was not aware that the supervisors did not have a copy of the agreement. Supervisor Flansburg said we asked for it and were told today that we could not have it. Solicitor Bernathy said this is a public record and that the negotiations leading up to the contracts are privileged however once the contract is finalized it is his understanding it becomes a matter of public record and can’t be disseminated. Supervisor Flansburg said he believes that raises are important and have a place however we need to be a part of the process. Solicitor Bernathy said he spoke to Attorney Mincer today and he was prepared to release the agreement however James Baron the Attorney for the collective bargaining unit said that we could not have. Supervisor Banach said that we in turn have contacted PSATS and they asked us to fill out a Right to Know request form because it is public record. Supervisor Banach handed Vice-chairman Fischer the Right to Know form requesting the collective bargaining agreement. Chairman Ewbank said it is public record and we need to be provided with it. Supervisor Melvin said he does not believe there was any cloak and dagger scheme he believes it was done in good faith. Supervisor Banach said if we don’t have the money now were not going to have it next year. Supervisor Flansburg said Matamoros had said that they were maxed out on their mils. Supervisor Melvin said the writing on the wall is where the state wants us to go which is that EIT, not saying that that’s what we’re deciding to do. Supervisor Banach said that goes against everything he believes in as a public official we have strived to either maintain or lower taxes, or only spend what is necessary to provide the services that we require. Further stating that the Police Officers work for the residents of Westfall Township and Matamoras Borough and the taxpayers pay their salaries, and it is the Supervisors job to maintain the budget and work within those constraints. Because if we don’t we’re done, we cannot afford to keep increasing the budget. Supervisor Banach said it would be fine if we didn’t have the lawsuits to pay for. Chairman Ewbank said it’s going to come down to if we cannot meet the budget were going to have to notify the Eastern Pike Regional Police Commission that we’re going to pull out. Stating that it could be an open ended letter that we don’t have to do it but if we can’t find the money we will. Solicitor Bernathy confirmed that the letter needs to be sent one year in advance. Supervisor Melvin said when this settlement goes down next year things will look better. Supervisor Banach said that the question on board is how we come up with the $10,655 so we don’t break the contract. Mr. Myer said at the risk of sounding obvious you either need to generate more income or cut expenses. What the board can do is add to the transfer from prior year surplus which were already taking. Supervisor Melvin questioned the assessment from Taco Bell and Monroe Optical and wondered how much the revenue stream would be from those buildings. Mr. Myer said real estate tax revenue is not an exact science and generally in the past it has been our policy to use that as a cushion. Supervisor Melvin said he realizes we don’t want to raise taxes however as different projects come in to town we will have the increase real estate taxes. However he understands that we can’t count on that. Supervisor Banach said everyone has given in and we have cut people, the highway department takes a hit as well as the fire department and yet the police department is getting an increase. Supervisor Banach questioned if they can do without another patrolman. Supervisor Melvin said there are contractual issues. Discussion followed as to what might possibly be cut. Bill Schneider spoke about the highway department budget stating if we have a good winter we could save money on salt and anti-skid. Further discussion followed.

Bob Bostinto said the board has tried cutting the budget and we are past bare-bones minimum. He’s suggesting a cigarette tax quoting different average prices for the tri-state area. Mr. Bostinto said in canvasing the stores in Westfall Township and adding a $.25 tax on each pack of cigarettes it would raise approximately $2000 a week times 52 weeks would be $104,000. Supervisor Melvin said he just wished we could do that because that is a state tax. Solicitor Bernathy said that is a state tax and he has given the Supervisors over the year’s different tax options and he we are down to the amusement tax. He has recommended the Earned Income Tax. He feels with the EIT there would be no challenges to it and 90% of the municipalities in the Commonwealth impose that tax. Supervisor Banach thanked Mr. Bostinto for looking into that stating the more people that search things out the better. Mr. Bostinto said we have an asset in sewer system and Milford needs to hook up to the sewer. He needs to speak to Commissioner Osterberg about this because there are is about $18 million in funding available. Mr. Bostinto said he doesn’t believe the amusement tax is the way to go. Supervisor Melvin said our immediate problem right now is how to come up with $10,655. Discussion followed regarding the amount of undeveloped property in Westfall Township. Supervisor Banach said the more commercial property we have more services we have to provide. Mr. Bostinto suggested offering a tax abatement to draw commercial developers. Supervisor Melvin said he is not sure the tax abatement is the way to go because he does not feel that we’ve ever had a problem with drawing commercial businesses to Westfall Township. Mr. Bostino asked for a laundry list or wish list of items the Supervisors needed to take back to Mr. Sullivan and his board to discuss. The board said right now they need $10,655.

Chairman Ewbank questioned what we were going to do about the budget. Supervisor Banach said he felt we should roll the dice and pray. Mr. Myer said what the board would be doing is taking an additional $10,655 from the $137,000 transfer from reserves. Supervisor Banach moved to add $10,655.55 to the transfer of from reserves. Motion is seconded by Supervisor Melvin and carried with all a favor.

Regional Police: Chairman Ewbank moved to notify the Police Commission that if we can resolve our budget issues by this time next year that we are going to have to back out of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department. Solicitor Bernathy said we need to give them one year’s notice. Supervisor Banach said it would be from today’s date to November 19, 2013. Chairman Ewbank said it would be an open ended letter. Vice Chairman Fischer asked what the alternative would be. Chairman Ewbank said we will go back to having our own Police Department. Supervisor Banach said that we would be back to having a few full-timers and part-timers with a backup by the State Police saying we can’t keep going forward like this. The Matamoras Council wants us to go 60-40 and he believes we should go back to 50-50 because according to the census numbers Westfall Township is down and Matamoras is up. Supervisor Melvin agreed that it should be 50-50. Discussion followed about negotiating with Matamoras on the Police Commission in order to make it 50-50. Supervisor Banach said he agrees with Chairman Ewbank and we need to give notice to the commission and Matamoras Borough that if we cannot get our finances in order that we will not be a part of them, we will figure a way to do it differently and the more we delay it as we did in the second lawsuit we just prolong the pain. We need to find a way to save the taxpayers money. Supervisor Flansburg said he is inclined to second the motion with the stipulation that all of the entities involved should get together and try to figure it out and if we can’t figure it out by next year this time or do something different. Vice-Chairman Fischer said what this does for morale would be damaging. Supervisor Flansburg said we have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. Discussion followed. Motion carries with three and favor and to opposed. Chairman Ewbank and Supervisors Flansburg and Banach vote in favor of sending the letter. Vice-chairman Fischer and Supervisor Melvin are opposed. Motion carries with three in favor.

Mike Bowe owner of The Grill located in Westfall Township questioned what financial responsibility stores such as Wal-Mart have when the police have to go multiple times for shoplifting, fights and disagreements. Supervisor Melvin said they pay their Township tax. Supervisor Flansburg said this is been the subject of great debate. Mr. Bowe asked if the Township can figure out a way to impose a fee. Solicitor Bernathy said they can prosecute their own retail theft and that would solve the problem. Any other criminal offenses would be covered by the Eastern Pike regional Police Department. The most of the responses to Wal-Mart and Kmart and such are retail theft. Supervisor Melvin said this will be on the docket at the December Police Commission meeting to discuss. Chairman Ewbank said also the subject of discussion has been the school police where you’re paying for two Police Department’s because school has police and EPRPD has to respond as well. Mr. Bowe said he doesn’t know how you can impose a sales tax but if there was a corporate tax that might be the answer as opposed to the amusement tax. Solicitor Bernathy said legally we cannot do that and that are only certain taxes can impose according to the Local Tax Enabling Act. Supervisor Melvin suggested Mr. Bowe speak to the County Commissioners because Supervisor Banach has been trying to get a countywide sales tax imposed.

Beth Brelje asked for clarification from the Supervisors on whether they will be pulling out of the Eastern Pike Regional Police Department one year from now if the budget is not agreed upon. Solicitor Bernathy said pursuant to the terms of the regionalization agreement in order to dissolve or breakup the Police Department the terms of the agreement require us to give one year advance notice. That is what the supervisors have agreed to do. That doesn’t mean that they will pull out or dissolve the department they are just giving notice. Vice-Chairman Fischer asked solicitor Bernathy if at the end of the year they have to do the same thing over again. Solicitor Bernathy said he would follow-up with a letter stating it is not our intention to dissolve the department and do that on a year-to-year basis. Supervisor Banach said with any luck they will find money.

Attorney John Schneider suggested having properties reassessed to get the tax base raised. Chairman Ewbank said that we will take that under advisement.

Municipal Authority – Land Development: Bill Schneider said the board has information in their packets regarding development the Municipal Authority needs to have constructed and questions if land development approval is needed. Solicitor Bernathy said to his knowledge they do need land development approval he does not believe that can be waived under the municipalities planning code. Therefore they would need to submit land development plans. Mr. Schneider questioned if being a utility makes the difference. Solicitor Bernathy said he will definitely check it out and give him an answer first thing tomorrow morning. Further stating if their Solicitor Anthony Waldron has any information he is welcome to submit it.

Agenda / Visitors: Supervisor Flansburg said he did not feel we treated our visitors fairly such as the Delaware Valley School District who was here are at the November 8, 2012 meeting and had to sit through 2 1/2 hour meeting until they made their three minute presentation. Supervisor Flansburg said he knows that John Bell from the school district will be attending our meeting in December and he feels we should recognize him at the start of the meeting. Solicitor Bernathy said the board can always amend the agenda at the beginning of the meeting to move the visitors up.

OLD BUSINESS:

Meet with Business owners re – Amusement Tax: Chairman Ewbank said we are at that portion of the meeting where we will be meeting with the business owners with ideas for the amusement tax or another way to raise funding. Attorney Schneider said he was not here at the last meeting; he sent a letter and called the secretary to make sure the Board knew that they would not be attending. As a practical matter the business owners fully appreciate what the board is trying to do, the reality is that the original ordinance targeted the canoe liveries and they waited for the new ordinance which they now have and understand that it is targeting all amusements in the Township. Solicitor Bernathy corrected Mr. Schneider by stating that was not true and that was the amusement and transaction tax that he was referring to. Mr. Schneider said he provided a memorandum of law as to what their legal position is regarding the tax and they still believe they are exempt under Federal law. Supervisor Flansburg asked who Mr. Schneider was representing. He is representing Dave Jones, of Kittatinny Canoes; Tony Brunovsky, of Indianhead Canoes; Pete Lovelace, Three River Canoe Corporation; and Rick Lander, Landers River Trips. Mr. Schneider said they start out with the position that they feel they are exempt. Solicitor Bernathy respectfully disagrees. Having said that Mr. Schneider said he does not want to rehash what was said before such as the issues that the administrative costs and compliance and how they have to report it. Stating it will cost more to the business owners to file this tax than the amount of money the Township would receive. Mr. Schneider said he doesn’t believe the tax would generate more than $7-$12,000 per year. One of the livery owners is not making any money. Mr. Schneider said they will be happy to do fundraisers and discussed ways to get money without generating a tax. Solicitor Bernathy asked what the alternative was other than fundraising. Mr. Schneider said the only other way other than fundraising would be to come up with some kind of donation. Supervisor Banach said speaking for himself the fire Department asked a few years ago for $.10 per canoe and that was shot down. Further stating that he had mentioned when he went out West to go hunting he had to pay $.25 and he was told by a resident that was voluntary, however he looked that up and it was mandatory and they have now added $.75 for education. Now it is an additional one dollar ($1.00) to get your license. Supervisor Melvin said the board has not talked about alternatives amongst themselves yet he has thought about the administrative costs. Solicitor Bernathy said perhaps they would offer something in lieu of a tax. Mr. Schneider said they are prepared to sit down and discuss that. Chairman Ewbank said there have been two other meetings that the business owners have been here and said they were looking to discuss alternatives to the tax and he thought that’s what we were going to do tonight. Supervisor Flansburg said that was the impression he got the last meeting also. Supervisor Banach said he rented a canoe and kayak from Kittatinny canoes in his receipt shows four people went down the River, he feels it would be simple to track because they know exactly how many people go down the River. Supervisor Banach said he does not know about the other liveries however Kittatinny canoes has it right on the receipt.

Beth Brelje asked why it is the canoe liveries responsibility to make an offer to the supervisors to not have the tax. Supervisor Melvin said otherwise we just impose the tax. Chairman Ewbank said they volunteered to come to us and discuss other ways to raise revenue. It is nobody’s job; the Supervisors are interested in what they have to say. Further stating if they have an idea of how to raise $10,000 we would love to hear it. Ms. Brelje asked if they don’t come up with some idea we would impose the tax. Chairman Ewbank said not necessarily. Supervisor Banach said the Secretary and our staff invited every business owner to come to the meeting tonight. Malibu Dude Ranch said they would do anything they could to help the Township. Solicitor Bernathy told Mr. Bowe that if he doesn’t charge an admission his business would not be affected. Mr. Bowe asked why the Supervisors were allowed to impose the amusement tax. Solicitor Bernathy said because this is one of the taxes under the Local Tax Enabling Act that the supervisors are permitted to impose. Supervisor Flansburg said this is one thing under the Local Tax Enabling Act that we can do, the other is the earned income tax and we do not want to impose that because in the first year residents would be paying property taxes and the earned income tax and may be getting a double hit. Bob Bostinto questioned if there was a difference between the tax and surcharge. Solicitor Bernathy said we have exhausted what we can do to raise revenue and that includes asking the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors for suggestions that they could make and a surcharge was not one of them. Supervisor Flansburg said that the last meeting we showed a newspaper article from the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau stating they had their best year in 75 years collecting over $4 million. So we listened to her at the public hearing stating that we couldn’t do this or that and in reality she wasn’t telling us the truth. Mr. Bostinto questioned where the liability gets covered for somebody acting stupid on the River or having an accident on the River. Supervisor Flansburg asked if they sign a waiver. Mr. Jones said they do sign a waiver of liability. Solicitor Bernathy said it’s an assumption of risk when you go out on the River. Supervisor Banach said he wanted to stress this is not for EMS. Chairman Ewbank asked Mr. Hessling from the school district if he had any input on this. Mr. Hessling said they are taxing body also and they understand that were hurting for revenue but 50% of the gate receipts is probably students money. He questioned the relay for life for the cancer society. Chairman Ewbank said did not charge an admission for the relay for life. Mr. Hessling said there are four sports they charge for, football, girls’ and boys’ basketball and wrestling, and the total receipts are approximately $18,000 so 1% would be $180. Solicitor Bernathy said possibly they could do something in lieu of the tax to alleviate some of the internal costs that the school district and liveries would have. Mr. Hessling said a reasonable estimate is $150 – $180. Chairman Ewbank said when this is all said and done we might find that it’s not worth it. We are just trying to determine that. Supervisor Melvin said maybe we could do something based on last year’s numbers. Mr. Schneider said we are at a public meeting and they said everything that they’re going to say and he would like to keep the dialogue open. Vice-chairman Fischer suggested meeting with two members of the board. Solicitor Bernathy said if there’s a proposal that they have he could understand why they didn’t want to discuss them in public, however it was going to be pretty easy for people to figure out the numbers. Mr. Schneider said with all due respect that’s assuming the Township is going to win. Supervisor Melvin questioned if we want to have two Supervisors meet with the livery owners.

Beth Brelje said it makes it tricky and it sounds like the Supervisors are taking something that really needs to be in the public eye and circumventing the sunshine law. Solicitor Bernathy said the Supervisors can meet with anybody that they like at any time. That is not a violation of the sunshine law. Further stating that the Supervisors can speak to constituents on an individual basis. Supervisor Melvin said no decision will be made. Further discussion followed. Ms. Brelje said it is a curious habit. Solicitor Bernathy said this is not a habit at all.

ADJOURNMENT: The special meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm on a motion by Supervisor Banach.  Motion is seconded by Supervisor Flansburg and carries with all in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary

A joint workshop meeting was held on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 for the purpose of discussing joint services between Matamoras Borough and Westfall Township. The meeting was held at the Borough Annex on Avenue I and 1^st Street in Matamoras, PA.

Present for Westfall Township were Chairman, Robert Ewbank; Vice-Chairman, Paul Fischer; Supervisors Raymond Banach, Larry Flansburg and Robert Melvin; and Secretary, Lisa Green.

Present for Matamoras Borough were Council President, Dayne Losee, JoAnn Featherman, Peter Sigreto, Dave Clark, Joe Sain, Mayor Janet Clark, Solicitor Eric Hamill and Secretary, Nancy Buchanan.

Also present were Gary Babb, Chuck Pranski, Eric Stewart and approximately 12 members of the general public.

Mr. Losee opened the meeting at 7 PM with introductions.

Compost Facility: Mr. Losee asked what the board wanted to talk about. Supervisor Banach asked how things were working out at far as leaf pickup and questioned if there were any concerns out there between the boards and the public. Councilman Dave Clark explained that we stopped allowing commercial businesses to use the compost facility because we were running out of space. It is now only open to residents. There are keys at the Westfall Municipal Office and a key at the Borough Hall and residents who wish to use the facility stop and get the key and go. On Saturday Gary Babb is watching the gate and his salary is split between the two muni-cipalities. Mr. Clark said he believes it’s a fair thing to do and the right thing to do to share the costs and the work. What he would like to do is make it more accessible to residents to take stuff out of there, and figure out a way to harvest compost and make it available to residents. Mr. Clark continued by saying he believes that would extend the use of the compost facility. Chairman Ewbank said there are big piles of wood chips there and they are available to anyone who wants to take them. Supervisor Banach said there are only two municipalities in the county that can get grants and Matamoras is one of them. He would like to see us work together to obtain them. Supervisor Banach said maybe we could talk about obtaining grants to get a commercial transfer station. Discussion followed regarding the original agreement for the compost facility to see if it is allowable to sell material. Chairman Ewbank said the agreement addresses marketing but does not say whether or not it can be sold.

Chuck Pranski asked about setting aside space for the commercial users and charging them to dump yet make their area a restricted area so it can be monitored, and use that money to try and offset whatever equipment is needed. Mr. Losee said they used to charge for commercial users but have since stopped because they were running out of space. Further commenting that if the Township was interested in giving Matamoras half of what is sold they want half of what was sold in the past. Supervisor Banach said they haven’t sold any space. Chairman Ewbank questioned Mr. Clark as to whether they found in the agreement the prohibition of commercial users. Mr. Clark and Mrs. Featherman both remembered that to be true. Further discussion followed. Mr. Babb suggested if you’re going to start offering compost the pile should be separated out because right now people are dumping everything into one pile, however this would need to be monitored.

Leaf Collection: Chairman Ewbank said the Township is trying to figure out a way to eliminate burning in the section of Westfall Township that borders the Borough of Matamoras. This will basically be a triangle that will run along I 84 to the Westfall Firehouse then up Mountain Avenue extension to the mountain coming back along Mountain Avenue to 10th Street and back down to the Airport. Chairman Ewbank said in order to do something about the burning we need a way to collect the leaves. In order to do this Westfall would either need to borrow the leaf machine or help Matamoras pick up the leaves for a fee. He doesn’t know if the township can afford that. Mr. Clark said he is reluctant to lend out the leaf machine because it is a temperamental machine and he wants his guys to operate it. The proposal that he prepared averaged out to 2 1/2 men however if Westfall Township wanted to donate a man to reduce the cost he is in favor of that but it has to be a Council decision. Supervisor Melvin said that is only a 10 or $12 an hour reduction and that there are several issues to work out. Supervisor Banach said then you would have people from Pond Eddy paying to have leaves picked up in Bell Manor and he felt the residents would be upset with that, suggesting that we could possibly tax the residents whose leaves were being picked up such as we do for street lighting a fire hydrant. Mrs. Green said she did not believe you could tax for leaf collection. Mr. Losee said people were going to be upset when they are told they could not burn their leaves. Discussion followed. Chairman Ewbank said the ordinance would be to cover the congested area of Westfall Township. Mr. Losee said inter-municipality agreements will need to be drafted. Supervisor Banach suggested have being Mr. Clark meet with a few members of Westfall Township to iron this out. Supervisor Melvin said we have the issue with compensating for the leaves to be picked up as well as an enforcement issue and those are two big hurdles. Mr. Losee said Westfall would either be with Matamoras forever or they would need to buy their own leaf machine. Their machine cost $26,000. Discussion ended on this matter.

Police Department: Mr. Losee said the Matamoras budget is almost complete and they have given the Police Department what they asked for. Mrs. Featherman said the police gave them the 2012 budget originally which Matamoras agreed with and then they gave them the 2013 proposed budget, of which Matamoras did not approve. Supervisor Melvin confirmed that Matamoras was at the 2012 budget and that Westfall budget for 2012 was $386,655 and right now our budget is $375,182 which is approximately $10,000 less than 2012. Supervisor Banach said we need to cut the budget $10,000 in ordered to deliver what they need to for our residents. Vice-Chairman Fisher said at the Police Commission meeting they were told by their solicitor that if Matamoras and Westfall did not agree on the budget they would need to fall back to the prior year’s budget. Solicitor Hamill said that is his understanding of the agreement. Solicitor Hamill read language from the agreement that stated that the Police Commission will prepare a budget no later than October 1^st and if approvals by the participating municipalities have not been consummated prior year’s budget shall be operative until approvals are given. So if there is no approval of the new budget than the prior budget would stand. Supervisor Banach said if Westfall reduced it by $10,000 then Matamoras would need to reduce theirs by a certain percentage. Pete Sigreto said he was shot down by the attorney for the commission last night saying he was wrong in reading the contract. The split is 53/47 where Westfall is paying more. Supervisor Flansburg said

it is about the agreement part of it stating that if Westfall needed to reduce their budget and Matamoras held the line then we would have to go to the prior year’s budget but if Matamoras agreed to reduce their budget then Westfall’s budget would stand. Mr. Losee said he is not going to vote to change his numbers, because Westfall Township is not going to dictate to him on how he votes. Mr. Sigreto said both municipalities need to do our budgets at the same time next year stating that Matamoras started early because they needed to go to court for a tax increase. Discussion followed regarding being maxed out on their budgets. Mr. Losee suggested discussing the percentage saying he believes it should be more like 60/40 or 55/45 range. Supervisor Melvin said the contract states it is based upon census. Solicitor Hamill said it would be apportioned on an equitable basis in accordance with determination by the bodies. It seems that there’s three different ways to read the agreement. Supervisor Banach said that we’re struggling to meet the budget as it is, and we have 17 or 18 years to pay for Katz and 10 years to pay for Dombrosky, further stating our backs are to the wall. Mr. Sigreto did not understand why the Police Department is down one man and not able to put him on after one officer left to become a state trooper. Discussion followed.

Beth Brelje asked if Westfall is allowed to offer less than the 2012 budget. Solicitor Hamill said that anything is allowed if everyone agrees on it.

Both Mr. Clark and Mrs. Featherman said they are with Mr. Losee and that they do not want to reduce the police budget. Mr. Clark said the whole Borough Council agreed on keeping with the 2012 police budget and that is their answer. Further discussion followed about the budget process.

Chuck Pranski said he is tired of being taxed and he does not want to see the taxes go up. The Supervisor’s explained that taxes are not going up, the total millage will remain at 31.2 mills however they do need to go to court to ask for a tax increase over the general millage rate which they’ve had to do nearly every year for the past several years. Mr. Pranski questioned why the Township is cutting the police budget yet hiring a full-time man for the highway department saying it doesn’t make any sense to him. Mr. Pranski said he’s afraid to walk down the street at night to go for a walk so he’s had to join a gym. Chairman Ewbank said we had three budget meetings that Mr. Pranski did not attend. Mr. Losee told Mr. Pranski to attend the Westfall Township Budget meeting next Monday. Further discussion followed regarding the total budget process. Supervisor Banach said that you have to have the money to afford the services and at the present time we don’t have it. Mr. Pranski questioned if Westfall Township would be breaching the agreement by cutting the budget $10,000 less. Chairman Ewbank said they have to go back into the budget and see if they can cut more money, but right now yes. Supervisor Banach said that we have asked for a County Sales Tax from Lisa Baker but the Commissioners don’t want to do it and yet Westfall would benefit a great deal because we have the majority of the businesses. Vice-Chairman Fisher said we cannot impose an impact fee commenting that there are many things that we’ve been trying to do and we are limited to what we are allowed, stating our hands are tied. Supervisor Banach said there’s been discussion in the past about abolishing either Westfall Township or Matamoras to become one entity and that it sounds crazy but there’s all sorts of money out there for shared services, commenting it may benefit the community to do something like that. Supervisor Banach said that both municipalities pay taxes for the police department and yet we have school police that we’re paying taxes for also. This is a duplication of services. Discussion followed. Mr. Losee said he does not want to belabor the point.

Beth Brelje questioned if Westfall does not meet the 2012 budget thereby breaking the contract if Matamoras would respond to them legally. Mr. Losee said he doubts it.

Emergency Management Office: Mr. Losee said we share the facility and Mr. Babb has a beautiful facility. Mr. Sigreto said he has a letter from Chairman Ewbank dated September 20, 2012 and he is very offended by it. Chairman Ewbank said he admits he sent the letter but doesn’t believe things were handled the correctly. Mr. Sigreto was very upset and asked if he should read the letter publically further stating that is why they sent a negative response. Discussion followed regarding the emergency management office, how it operated and what they were able to do during Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Sigreto spoke on the NIMS requirements. Chairman Ewbank said the classes are hard to come by, however he just signed up for a class for December 10-14. Mr. Sigreto said Chairman Ewbank needs to contact George Boedecker to get classes scheduled. Chairman Ewbank was going directly through Roger Maltby the County Emergency Management Coordinator. Mr. Losee commented on how well the men work together. Mr. Babb said ever since the emergency management office started and Westfall joined with them that the guys have always worked very well together. Supervisor Banach questioned if we can share people for the emergency management office. Mr. Babb and Chairman Ewbank both said they already do that. Mr. Sigreto asked Mr. Babb to explain the equipment in the emergency management office.

Beth Brelje said during hurricane Sandy she made numerous calls to Westfall Township and calls to Matamoras Borough stating it was easy to get through to Matamoras Borough however she could not get through to Westfall Township and questioned what the secret was. Chairman Ewbank said there was no secret you couldn’t call the municipal office because we had no power thereby not having a phone and offered to give out his cell phone number. Mr. Babb said if Chairman Ewbank and not be reached that he or Mr. Oliver have ways of getting in touch with him.

Other Shared Services: Supervisor Banach questioned if there were other areas that we are duplicating that we may be able to consolidate and save money. Supervisor Flansburg said for instance when Nelson could dump and not use their dump truck it saved Matamoras money. Chairman Ewbank said there was a study done in 2007 about merging the street departments together however it fell through the cracks, commenting that this is one area that we could discuss where we might possibly be able to save money.

Mr. Pranski questioned if we purchase fuel together stating we may be able to save money there for the road department and the fire department. Supervisor Banach stated he understands that could be a good idea negotiating for larger amount of fuel. Mr. Clark said there could be a lot of environmental concerns with that.

Other points were brought up regarding salt and health insurance. Mr. Clark said regarding the highway department there may be a lot of things we could share but we have to take baby steps and learn to get along.

Further stating that there are many of the same families in both Matamoras and Westfall Township and that you’re really talking about the same people. Mr. Losee said the guys work very well together from both municipalities but when you put the politician’s in the mix things get all screwed up.

Janet Clark said as Mayor of Matamoras it is time that the politicians got together to know what’s going on commenting that we need each other to get along.

Mr. Pranski offered a suggestion for the leaf pickup saying we should use and one man from the Borough with their leaf machine and a piece of equipment and one man from Westfall Township. Chairman Ewbank said that is what they are talking about.

Supervisor Banach said this is the first step and he thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and said that this is about money and it’s going to get harder and harder every year for everybody to afford what’s going on and if we don’t brainstorm and come up with ideas we’re going to be stuck. Further discussion followed about the leaf pickup. Mr. Losee said if Westfall Township wants to ban burning then ban burning but don’t put the onus on Matamoras Borough. Discussion followed.

A Matamoras resident asked to go back to the police department discussion commenting that he’s from New York City and had less locks there than he does in Matamoras Borough. He’s sleeping on the couch with a shotgun for fear that somebody’s going to break into his house and harm his family. This resident said the priority should be the police department and we shouldn’t be worried about a burning ban, leaf pickup or the highway department. He stated we have to meet the budget and we should come up with whatever amount of money they ask for. Mr. Pranski said there is a lot of things he does for the police department because he owns his own business in town and if not for him and a few others police department budget may be higher. Mr. Losee thanked the gentleman for their comments.

Beth Brelje questioned when Westfall Township would be ratifying their budget. Mrs. Green said they are introducing the budget Monday, November 19, 2012 and they will be adopting the budget on December 19, 2012.

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:32 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa A. Green, Secretary