TOWNSHIP OF SALISBURY
LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MEETING – 7:30 PM
January 28, 2010

The Public Meeting of the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners was held on the above date in the Township Municipal Building located at 2900 South Pike Avenue, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

Members attending:
Joanne Ackerman
James Brown, President
Norma Cusick, President Pro-Tempore
Robert Martucci, Jr. Vice President
James Seagreaves

Staff attending:
Randy Soriano, Township Manager
Cathy Bonaskiewich, Assistant Township Manager/Finance Director
John Andreas, Director of Public Works
Allen Stiles, Chief of Police-

EXCUSED
Cynthia Sopka, Director of Planning & Zoning
John Ashley, Esq., Township Solicitor
David Tettemer, P.E., Township Engineer

CALL TO ORDER
Commissioner Brown called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE FOLLOWED.

NOTIFICATION
Mr. Soriano informed the attendees that all sessions of the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners regular meetings are electronically recorded for the purpose of taking the Minutes. All public comments on agenda items would be taken at the time of the vote. All public comments related to non-agenda items will be taken after the agenda has been satisfied.

Mr. Soriano announced that the Township does archive its tapes and are available pursuant the Right-to-Know Law.

Mr. Soriano reminded everyone of the 3-minute rule and asked that everyone should sign in and announce themselves and speak in the microphones.

APPROVAL OF FINANCIAL REPORT AND BILLS PAYABLE
Commissioner Cusick noted that she had conferred with the Director of Finance about several items in the Financial Report and these were addressed satisfactorily.

On motion by Commissioner Cusick, seconded by Commissioner Martucci, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the unaudited Financial Report for the period ending December 31, 2009 and Bills Payable for the period 1/09/2010 through 1/22/2010. Roll Call vote:

COMMISSIONER ACKERMAN -YES
COMMISSIONER SEAGREAVES-YES
COMMISSIONER MARTUCCI-YES
COMMISSIONER CUSICK-YES
COMMISSIONER BROWN-YES

The Motion passed by unanimous vote.

MINUTES
Special Meeting-January 11, 2010
Commissioner Brown declared the January 11, 2010 Board of Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes approved as presented.

January 14, 2010
Commissioner Brown declared the January 14, 2010 Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes approved as presented.

OLD BUSINESS
None.

NEW BUSINESS

ORDINANCE
Consideration of an Ordinance amending Ch. 26 Water, Sections 102 and 105 of the Code of Ordinances as amended, establishing water rates, rents and charges for furnishing water services to consumers located in the Township of Salisbury (Water Rate Change to $5.16 per 1,000 gallons of water)

Mr. Soriano introduced Ordinance 01-2010-554 which the Board will need to pass in order to be able to meet the 2010 Budget revenue allocation in the Water Fund.

Mr. Soriano stated that this was necessary when the City of Allentown announced that their rates would increase by 10% and therefore, the Township needs to pass through the increase to the customers. Mr. Soriano noted that the increase to our residents will be $0.24, which is a 4.8% increase over the current water rate of $4.92. Based on an “average” annual consumption of 100,000 gallons for a family of four, that would be equivalent to an increase of approximately $24 per year. The Ordinance was duly advertised and the Board can take action on its passage.
Commissioner Martucci inquired about both the old rate and the new rate. Mr. Soriano noted that the old rate was $4.92 per 1,000 gallons of water consumed. The new rate will be set at $5.16 per 1,000 gallons consumed and increase of $.24.

Motion by Commissioner Cusick to adopt Ordinance 01-2010-554 to establish new water rates for 2010. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Ackerman. Roll call:

COMMISSIONER ACKERMAN-YES
COMMISSIONER SEAGREAVES-YES
COMMISSIONER MARTUCCI-YES
COMMISSIONER CUSICK-YES
COMMISSIONER BROWN-YES

By a vote of 5 yeas and 0 nays, Ordinance 01-2010-554 was adopted.

Mr. Soriano noted that the agenda had been revised to include the upcoming motions.

MOTIONS
Consideration of a Motion to accept the time extension of the review period for the Lehigh County Correctional/Treatment Center expansion land development plan.

Mr. Soriano reviewed the timeline associated with this development and plan approval. Mr. Soriano noted that the BOC must act by February 8, 2010 on the Plan. However, the County has not submitted a clean copy showing the revisions and conditions imposed by the Conditional Use Hearing and Township Engineer review letter. Mr. Soriano explained that the matter was therefore not placed on tonight’s agenda which would have been necessary to act on the Plan in order to meet the February 8, 2010 deadline. Therefore, the County has granted an extension of time for the BOC to make a decision. The County has agreed to extend the time to February 11, 2010 which is the next BOC meeting. Mr. Tettemer confirmed that he is awaiting the revised submittal from the County and would be able to finish his review by the February 11, 2010 meeting. Ms. Sopka acknowledged that the County had sent an email through their Engineer granting the extension, as follows:

“Hi Cynthia,
Pursuant to our telecom yesterday and your email from earlier today, I am writing this email – on behalf of the Applicant – to grant a time extension to Salisbury Township in accordance with the applicable requirements – through 2/11/2010 – as it pertains to the land development application for the County Treatment Center Expansion project. It is my understanding that the land development application could possibly be included in the BOC’s 2/11/2010 meeting agenda.

As we discussed, we will add a note to the Record Plan to reflect the Board’s written approval decision (of 1/28/2010) with regard to the conditional use and submit the appropriate number of copies to you and Dave – for review. I believe that the forthcoming revisions will be minor and editorial in nature and therefore the review should be fairly easy.

Please contact me if you have any questions. After my return to the office, I read your email and left a message in your voicemail stating that I would write this revised extension letter. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Amit.

Amit Mukherjee, P.E.
Vice President/ Principal Engineer
Base Engineering Inc.
1010 North Quebec Street
Allentown, PA 18109
(P) 610.437.0978
(F)610.432.3800
AMukherjee@BaseEng.com
Fellow-ASCE
www.baseeng.com”

Motion was made by Commissioner Cusick and seconded by Commissioner Seagreaves to accept the time extension of the review period to February 11, 2010 for the Lehigh County Correctional/Treatment Center expansion land development plan.

COMMISSIONER ACKERMAN-YES
COMMISSIONER SEAGREAVES-YES
COMMISSIONER MARTUCCI-YES
COMMISSIONER CUSICK-YES
COMMISSIONER BROWN-YES

By a vote of 5 yeas and 0 nays, the Motion was approved.

Consideration of a Motion to approve the Letter of Engagement/Proposal in the amount of $5,000 from the LCCD to conduct a Natural Resources Inventory in conjunction with the Salisbury Township Environmental Council.

Mr. Soriano noted that the Agenda was revised to include a Proposal just received from the Lehigh County Conservation District to work with the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council (STEAC) in carrying out a Natural Resources Inventory in the Township. Commissioner Brown acknowledged that this was a proposal requested by the STEAC and the engagement is not to exceed the amount of $5,000 and considered the amount to be a real bargain.

Motion was made by Commissioner Cusick and seconded by Commissioner Martucci to accept the Letter of Engagement/Proposal in the amount of $5,000 from the LCCD to conduct a Natural Resources Inventory in conjunction with the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council.

COMMISSIONER ACKERMAN-YES
COMMISSIONER SEAGREAVES-YES
COMMISSIONER MARTUCCI-YES
COMMISSIONER CUSICK-YES
COMMISSIONER BROWN-YES

By a vote of 5 yeas and 0 nays, the Motion was approved.

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR
Ron Moyer of 2024 Church Road acknowledged that he was present last week and wanted to introduce a group of individuals present in the audience whom the ATV ordinance affects. He explained that many of them live on South Mountain and enjoy riding ATVs.

Robert Barron of 2406 S. Dauphin Street inquired about why he was not informed of the change in the law. Mr. Soriano explained that when the ordinance was being proposed, it had been advertised in the newspapers. Mr. Barron inquired about whether he has the right to plow his snow on his property within 300 feet of a roadway. Mr. Barron read aloud a portion of the ordinance regarding the setback. Mr. Soriano noted that he should not be cited for snow removal. He also asked whether he would be violating the law if he drives the ATV onto his truck in his driveway. Mr. Soriano responded that the way he reads the Ordinance this would not be a cause to be cited.

Commissioner Brown informed Mr. Barron that this matter was discussed at the last meeting and the consensus was to revisit the ordinance at a future date.

Mike Scott of 1512 Maumee Ave. asked if there are statistics on the number of ATV owners in Salisbury. He stated that he was not aware of the ordinance until they read a recent newspaper article. He commented that laws should not be created just to address a small number of violators. He disagreed with the setback requirements and that the ordinance infringes on the rights of ATV owners. He explained that he would be willing to obtain and provide information from other bike shop owners of the number of ATVs sold to Salisbury residents and property sizes. He requested that the BOC considers repealing or reconsiders the ordinance along with a group of ATV owners. Commissioner Cusick inquired about the ATV registration process. Commissioner Martucci read aloud a portion to clarify that snow removal use of an ATV is not a violation as well as other exempted uses. Commissioner Ackerman inquired about the age restrictions of ATV users and whether they would have to obtain licensing. Mr. Scott noted that there are age restrictions and the State provides free ATV driving classes.

Richard Hassick II of 2305 Church Road expressed his displeasure of the ordinance and noted that his son uses the ATV and with the adjacent property. He stated that the setback requirement is too far. He suggested that the ordinance be revisited and be less restrictive.

Kevin Watto of 1345 South Fairview Road stated that he has been riding at his house for 15 years without a complaint from his neighbors. He noted that his family has extensively used ATVs and motorcycles. He stated that he would consider moving if they would be unable to use their ATVs as they currently have been. He requested that the BOC consider changes.

Shawn Roblyer of 2710 South Pike Avenue asked about the average size of a Salisbury residents’ property. He noted that he has a four acre family plot that they ride on and have never had a problem. He stated that he purposely tries to make his ATV quieter. Mr. Soriano explained that the Board had engaged in trying to create a happy medium between neighbors. He noted that there are neighbors who are also property owners, but we choose what we own in accordance with what our needs are. He noted that if there are no complaints from neighbors, then you are not violating the law.

Commissioner Martucci suggested that if you do not have a problem or complaints from neighbors and can obtain permission from neighbors, then the ATV owner is able to ride their ATV. Mr. Roblear asked about having to obtain notarized permission. Commissioner Martucci stated that they would like to receive public comments that would help them in looking at the ordinance.

Atty. Ashley commented that a notarized statement protects both the ATV rider and the neighbor. For example if the neighbor has a dispute with the ATV rider, the statement could serve as proof.

Mark Gannett of 2415 South Bradford Street inquired about the possibility of having the Township provide land designated for ATV use. He commented that the mountain bikers have trails. He stated that the ATV riders would like a smaller parcel that they would take stewardship of. He noted that this activity could be more popular. Commissioner Martucci asked whether there were any places already designated for ATVs. There were comments from the audience that the parks are out towards Harrisburg.

Joe Tomanik of 3220 Douglas Road had questions about revisiting the ordinance. He commented that the 300 feet setback is too excessive. He noted that many of the ATV owners already owned their ATVs before the ordinance was passed. He asked about the advertising of ordinances and where the ads are located in the newspaper.

Steven Galbraith of East Rock Road commented about using common sense and loading an ATV on a truck shouldn’t be a problem. He noted that when someone raises an issue, that is usually how ordinances come about.

Brett Wagner 1340 Maumee Avenue commented that he has a lot of friends who are involved in racing and recreational use of ATVs. Mr. Wagner noted that they need to have the ability to test and tune the vehicles. Commissioner Cusick inquired about how the Township could be able to get in touch with ATV owners in Salisbury when they decide to revisit this issue or at least have a point of contact to get the word out.

Richard Hassick commented that he feels that the requirement to obtain a neighbor’s permission is inappropriate; particularly in an instance where you may have a conflict of interest and are not getting along with a neighbor.

Robert Barron of 2406 S. Dauphin St. commented that according to the ATV ordinance, he would be unable to plow his snow until after 9 a.m. Commissioner Seagreaves clarified the ordinance, noting that using an ATV for snow removal is allowed and is not restricted by the time frames imposed for ATV used in other respects, such as recreational. On a separate matter, he informed the Board that Waste Management had been picking up the garbage in his area prior to 6 a.m. Mr. Soriano asked Mr. Barron to call him at the Township if there are issues with the garbage collection so that they can be addressed promptly.

Tim Roblyer stated that a year ago they had a problem with a neighboring restaurant’s garbage dumpsters that are picked up very early in the morning and cause a nuisance. He commented that the ATV ordinance should be changed.

Anthony Messenlehner of 2929 Windy Hill Road addressed the commissioners about vandalism at his house around Halloween and the lack of police work. He explained that he spoke to the Chief of Police and three months have passed. He noted that his insurance agency does not want to settle the claim since it appears that the investigation is still open even though there was a license plate number obtained. He commented that he sees the vehicle at the high school.

There was a brief additional discussion from some of the audience members and commissioners about revisiting the ATV ordinance and trying to come up with some form of regulation to benefit both residents who are ATV users as well as those who are not.

Commissioner Brown noted that they will put out a notice when they are going to revisit this matter.

ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Brown noted that following the Work Session, the Board would convene in an Executive Session to discuss a legal matter associated with land acquisition.

Commissioner Cusick made a Motion to adjourn the Meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Ackerman. The time was 9:05 p.m.