TOWNSHIP OF SALISBURY
LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

MINUTES FROM THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
REGULAR MEETING – 7:30 PM
May 10, 2007

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:
Larry Unger, President
James Brown
Robert Martucci, Jr.

Staff attending:
Gabriel Khalife, Township Manager
Carl Best, Director of Planning & Zoning
Cathy Bonaskiewich, Finance Director
John Andreas, Director of Public Works
Allen Stiles, Chief of Police
John Ashley, Township Solicitor
David Tettemer, representative of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Township Engineer

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

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

NOTIFICATION
Mr. Khalife informed the attendees that all sessions of the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners regular meetings are being electronically recorded for the purpose of taking the Minutes. All public comments on agenda items will 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.

PAYMENT OF THE BILLS
On motion of Commissioner Martucci, seconded by Commissioner Brown, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize payment of the bills.

MINUTES
April 26, 2007
Commissioner Unger declared the April 26, 2007 Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes approved as submitted.

ORDINANCES
None.

RESOLUTIONS
None.

MOTIONS
Consideration of a street tree removal request for 834 Flexer Avenue.

Mr. Best explained that he visited the property and the tree appeared healthy. He commented that based on economics, the property owner is looking to have the tree removed instead of having it trimmed. He noted that although the tree is lifting the sidewalk, it appears to have been in that condition for a number of years. He explained that he informed the homeowner that he would recommend to the Board to not allow the tree to be removed.

Commissioner Martucci commented that he agreed with Mr. Best’s assessment and that a precedent should not be set by allowing trees to be removed except if they are dead, dying or diseased.

On motion of Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Martucci, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to deny the street removal request for 834 Flexer Avenue.

Additional Items
Consideration of a motion to approve a change order related to the project to upgrade communications and programming beyond original specs to operate the Flexer Avenue pumping station.

Mr. Tettemer explained the need to add to the original design when the plans were prepared there was some erroneous information. It was initially thought that the existing signal could be used, but an additional signal is required to be dedicated to the new starter control panel.

Mr. Andreas explained that there is a 4 – 20 milliamp signal that is sent from the tower to the pump station that represents the pressure in the tank which controls the pump’s tank level. A separate 4 – 20 milliamp signal along with programming improvements will have the ability to build in the redundancy and run off of the pumping station itself rather than the tank pressure.

Mr. Khalife noted that if the information had been provided when the project was put out for bid, it would have been included in the bid. Unfortunately, the item was not included in the specifications because it was thought that the existing signal equipment would be sufficient.

There was a brief discussion about the existing signal system and the need for the improvements. Mr. Tettemer explained that the additional cost would be $1,937.

On motion of Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Martucci, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the change order for the power improvements project at the Flexer Avenue Pumping Station.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Ed Hoffman of 1725 Lehigh Avenue informed the Board that to date he had not observed any work to elevate a manhole cover, to bring a swale back to its original condition, and to seed five (5) new homes that was to be performed by City Line Construction for a development.

Mr. Tettemer explained that he had been in touch with the developer and had encouraged them to complete the work as soon as possible. He noted that his office is aware of what is going on out there and they do want the developer to complete the work. He stated that his office is in the process of generating a punch list for outstanding items that remain to be completed. He stated that a timeline will be requested from the developer. He stated that he will notify the developer that the Commissioners have concerns that the project is not being completed in a timely manner and that if it is not completed, the Township will proceed to use the developer’s funds to complete the work.

The consensus of the Board was to notify the developer to complete the outstanding items immediately or to appear at the next Board meeting to explain the delay.

ADJOURNMENT
As no other business was presented, the meeting was adjourned. The Board of Commissioners went into Workshop, followed by Executive Session on legal and personnel matters.