President Thomas E. Stinnett called the regular meeting of
the Riegelsville Borough Council to order at 7:33 p.m. Following the
Pledge of Allegiance roll call was taken. PRESENT: Edward
Bartosiewicz, Thomas Stinnett, Kathleen Weiss, Steve Lance, Rich Strawn, Mayor
David Gerstenberg and Borough Solicitor William Dudeck
R. Strawn motioned to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2008 Council Meeting
and E. Bartosiewicz seconded. Unanimous.
CORRESPONDENCE:
A summary
of a letter was read from Borough Resident and Member of Riegelsville Planning
Commission Pete Ryan in reference to the Cook Development Proposal. Entire letter will be submitted into the
Council Minute Book.
A letter
was read from James G. Sweeney Attorney representing the interest of Borough
Residents Mr. and Mrs. Woerner in reference to the Cook Re-zoning. The entire letter will be submitted into the
Council Minute Book.
A letter
was read from Jennifer Heisey Mid-Atlantic Recreation Planner for the
Appalachian Mountain Club who asked to be added to the agenda August 13th
Council meeting. She will be discussing
the possibility of Riegelsville hosting a “Welcome to PA” Highlands Trail
Celebration.
A letter
was read from William Dudeck, Borough Solicitor in Re Appeal of Borough of
Riegelsville from the Bucks County Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes to
parcels #38-004-001, 38-002-072-003 and 38-002-072-004 (Open Space Land).
A letter
was read from Carl Dicker, Borough Engineer, to Borough Council stating that
Based on his review Bi-State Construction Company, Inc is the lowest
responsible bidder for the Pedestrian Bridge Project. Notice to Award Bid was sent to Bi-State on
7/2/08.
A letter
was read from William Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, to James F. Moll #38-006-211 and
Daniel E. Matthews #38-006-212 in reference to the Borough’s just compensation
for the taking of the condemned properties.
REPORTS
President- No report
Mayor – D. Gerstenberg asked S. Masteller if a Borough resident had
called the office with a concern with the bright street lights. S. Masteller said no. T. Stinnett said that Met- Ed is changing the
current 400-Watt, Mercury vapor lights to 250-Watt, High pressure sodium vapor
luminaire one at a time. These are in
fact brighter than the Mercury vapor ones.
CITIZENS COMMENTS:
Borough Resident Tammy
Macaluso read a letter from Borough Resident and Owner of Mueller’s Country
Store and Restaurant, Mary Adams, in reference to the proposed Cook Development. Entire letter will be submitted into the
Council Minute Book.
Danae Bigley, Borough Resident,
stated that she would hate to see Mary sell her business, which would be
awful. I think a lot of other people in
town would be upset also if Mary sold her business.
Pete Ryan, Borough Resident, stated
that Mary’s comments illustrate the risk of unknown depreciation and problems
to be caused by the Cook development.
Entire letter will be submitted into the Council Minute Book.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Community Affairs – Citizen’s
comments: None Expressed
Carl Dicker, Borough
Engineer, opened the Delaware Canal Pedestrian Footbridge Project Re-Bids. Six were received.
1.
Bi-State Construction Co. $159,200.00
2.
Coppersmith Brothers Inc. $176,988.00
3.
Eastern Highway Specialists $194,965.00
4.
Hale Built $165,132.08
5. NIMARIS Construction $182,282.70
The
Riegelsville Enhancement Committee- There has been no contact with Korie
Gaumer, Boy Scout in Troop 127 of Riegelsville, who is working towards his
Eagle Scout Project by redoing the Borough signs. Remark:
Ed has now received the rough draft of the donation letter from Korie.
Recreation Board News: Sherry reported that
Riegelsville Rec Board is hosting the Upper Bucks Softball League’s All-Star
games Thursday night at 6pm is the A-Team game and Saturday at 10am is B-Team
game.
Library News: S. Masteller spoke to Terri
Randolph about the growing pile of donated books. On several occasions the upstairs light has
been left on. Council suggested they put
the light on a timer.
Zoning: Phil Neas, Borough Building Code
Official, reported that he issued 4 permits.
He also attended a Zoning Hearing on June 3, 2008. Phil went to visit the Oxford Diabetics
building (
K.
Weiss asked if the Borough has a maximum height of shrubs. The Borough’s zoning does not have a maximum
height for shrubs.
Utilities- Comments from the
citizens: None expressed.
S. Masteller asked Phil Neas if he knew
anyone that could tear down the Moll property and said Ed Litzenberger
Excavating. Phil will get Sherry the
contact information.
S.
Masteller called Lisa Orphaniles, resident, near Well #2 to ask if she has seen
anyone using our brush pile. Lisa
returned the call and said she has not seen anyone but it really is an eye
sore. S. Masteller replied that the
brush will be taken care of. Lisa
proceeded to ask if the light could be put on a timer since it shines in her
windows when the foliage is off the trees.
S. Lance said we will look into this situation again in the fall when
the leaves have fallen.
Dick
Meade, Borough Water Operator, feels the Well #3 Electrical problems should be
looked at by an Electrical Engineer. T.
Stinnett asked
T.
Macaluso prepared the CCR (Consumer Confidence Reports) to be mailed out to the
Borough residents. S. Lance asked if
they can be mailed with the water bills.
S. Masteller will check with T. Macaluso. T. Stinnett said the CCR should be put on the
website. Remarks: T. Macaluso told Sherry
that the CCR reports needed to be mailed by July 1, 2008.
S.
Masteller did some research on the Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce and reported
that it is not really helping this borough and feels we should not pay this
years membership. T. Stinnett said just
void the check.
Streets and Properties –
Comments
from the citizens: None expressed.
The grant for the “Welcome to
Riegelsville” has been completed and will be mailed out July 3, 2008. The letter for solicitation has been stopped
by Ed Bartosiewicz because he was not given a copy to read and approve. As of this date Ed has still not seen the
letter.
Mr. Moll phoned the Borough office
and inquired when the next Council meeting was.
Sherry told him of the date; Bill Dudeck, Borough Solicitor will be at
the Council meeting for the Dan Cook proposal, so if Mr. Moll has questions
Bill can address them then. Ed
Litzenberger, a local excavator, has been contacted regarding the demolition of
the Moll property. Mr. Litzenberger
stated he would be interested in the job.
Steve Lance spoke to the insurance company about coverage for volunteers
doing the demo on the Moll property. The
volunteers would be covered either by waiver or under the general
liability. Tammy suggested to Steve that
DCNR be contacted because of the property being on the canal bank, Steve thinks
that maybe DEP should be contacted as well.
Remarks: A message was left with
Mr. Litzenberger.
The bills and the pictures for the
tree that was struck by lightening located on the Borough’s Open Space have all
been received and submitted to the insurance company for reimbursement. Remarks: The insurance reimbursement was
received.
Ed attended a meeting held by
Congressman Patrick J. Murphy. The
purpose of this meeting was to introduce the Best Practices Manual for Main stream
flooding along the Delaware River to the
Kathie noticed that the spigot in
the cemetery by the tree is leaking and thought that the Water Co. should
know. This, however, is the cemetery’s
responsibility to fix.
Finance- Comments from the Citizens: None
Council has agreed unanimously that
the re-bid for the Footbridge Grant will be awarded to Bi-State Construction. The letter will be sent from Carl Dicker,
Borough Engineer to Bi-State tomorrow.
Tammy drafted a letter requesting an additional $50,000 from the DRJTBC
to cover the lighting, trees, and add additional monies to the
design/permitting category. Steve
suggests that Tammy scan the letter in and email it to Julio Guridy so he may
begin the review of the request and let him know that the hard copy with the
original signature will follow in the mail.
Tammy spoke to the Prothonotary
office at the Court house in regards to filing a municipal lien. She was told to have the Borough solicitor
write the lien with the ordinance included, descriptions, and all supporting
documentation of monies owed. Tammy will
call Bill tomorrow and start the process to record the lien on
Tom stated that Dan Cook stopped him
on the street inquiring about the decision on his recent proposals. Tom informed him to come to the Council
meeting next week.
Steve has received the insurance
premium renewal. All in all, the premium
went down about $600, but will probably be more once the worker’s compensation
audit is performed. The renewal does not
include the employee practices policy which will be approximately $1,200. The recently acquired Moll property will be
sent in a separate endorsement as well.
Tom stated that the easement for the
hotel parking lot includes a swap of 4 permanent parking spaces for the
Riegelsville Inn in the Borough’s small lot on
Tammy told the committee that an
auditor for PA DOT audited the Highway Aid Fund for last year and commented on
the amount of savings accounts opened.
Tom stated that they were started to keep the allowed money for
equipment and road maintenance separate.
Rich said that he would like to get
a load of asphalt for the west side of
Tammy told the committee that the
valve repairs should be put off until mid to end August to better see what
financial situation the Water Co. is in.
Tom asked if anyone from Spotts,
Stevens and McCoy has contacted the office about well #3 yet. Not as of yet Tammy said.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS-
Dave
Gerstenberg asked how soon the Pedestrian Project will begin. T. Stinnett the construction of the bridge itself
takes 9-12 weeks. C. Dicker has said
that the project will be done by 12/31/08. D. Gerstenberg also asked if the
Borough Engineer will be overseeing the construction. T. Stinnett stated yes SSM will oversee the
Project. D. Gerstenberg asked what would
happen if the bridge was not completed by that date. T. Stinnett stated that theoretically the
Bridge would need to send the money back since it is a bond.
T. Stinnett stated that Dan Cook
rezoning proposal is next on the agenda is there any further discussion that
hasn’t been stated yet. S. Lance stated
that he would like to make a motion based on the majority of opinions that have
been expressed at the public hearing and directly to Council by members of the
community, I would like to make a motion to deny this change. Seconded E.
Bartosiewicz, Unanimous
Approval of check to Advance
Tree Care (Crane) $1102.00 S. Lance
motioned to approve E. Bartosiewicz seconded Unanimous
Approval of check to Modern
Arborist Inc. (Tree) $1,850.00 S.
Lance motioned to approve E. Bartosiewicz seconded Unanimous
Approval of check to Express- Times $1189.00 ($447.00 Pedestrian ReBid,
$615.00 D. Cook Public Hearing, $127.00 Zoning Hearing Board (Xander)
E.
Bartosiewicz motioned to approve S. Lance seconded Unanimous
Approval
of check to Harmony Press $876.00 (Wellhead Protection Grant Placemats) K.
Weiss motioned to approve
NEW
BUSINESS-
Adoption of Resolution #R-03-08 for Met-Ed
to update the Street Light at
S. Lance made a motion for conditional
acceptance of the #38-006-217 easement pending Jeff Ryan’s signature. This is an exchange of 4 parking spaces of
Property (Borough
APPROVAL OF BILLS-
E. Bartosiewicz motioned to approve bills as listed R.
Strawn seconded Unanimous
T. Stinnett stated that Council was going to have an
executive session after the Council meeting to discuss the Johnson Subdivision
and the Moll Property
D. Cook spoke up and asked what was discussed at the last
Executive Session after the Public Hearing?
T. Stinnett stated Council discussed with W. Dudeck, Borough Solicitor what
the procedure should be. No
deliberations were had. D. Cook said
thank-you for civil discussion with his proposed project but just saying NO is
not a vision. D. Cook asked what the
Borough is going to do to help the septic issue. T. Stinnett stated we do need to do something
with the whole Borough not just the business district.
Dirk
Odhner, Borough Resident, stated that we don’t have enough people in the
Borough to support the local businesses that we do have.
Sarah
Dieterichs, Guitar Parlor Owner, stated that the businesses do take care of
there own septic issues by getting them pumped more often.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm. Next Council Meeting
scheduled August 13, 2008 7:30 pm.
Sherry L. Masteller,
Borough Secretary