President Thomas E. Stinnett called the regular meeting of the Riegelsville Borough Council to order at 7:30 p.m.  Following the Pledge of Allegiance roll call was taken.  PRESENT:  Edward Bartosiewicz, Thomas Stinnett, Kathleen Weiss, Rich Strawn and Mayor David Gerstenberg

ABSENT: Steve Lance

            T. Stinnett has asked Bill Dudeck, Borough Solicitor to be at our next Council meeting on June 11, 2008. 

            E. Bartosiewicz motioned to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2008 Council Meeting and K. Weiss seconded.  Unanimous.

 

CORRESPONDENCE:

            Fire Activity Report from March and April 2008 was read from Community Fire Company # 1 Chief Todd R. Myers.

            A letter was read from Brian Monahan, Daniel Cook’s Solicitor, to postpone being on the Agendas for the May 5th Riegelsville Borough Planning Commission and the May 22nd Riegelsville Borough Council Special Meeting.  Brian Monahan stated the Borough does not conform to several provisions of the MPC.  Daniel Cook is unable to attend the May 22, 2008 Public Hearing meeting.  Brian Monahan considers this correspondence as a waiver of any statutory deadlines for review by Riegelsville Borough of the proposed amendments for a time period through June 30, 2008.  Since Dan Cook is here T. Stinnett addressed a few issues with the letter. The letter states that the Borough of Riegelsville failed to submit the proposed amendments to the Bucks County Planning Commission and that is not true. You (Dan Cook) dropped them off to the BCPC yourself.  D. Cook did say yes he did drop them off after he dropped them off to the Borough office.  T. Stinnett also said the letter implies that the Riegelsville Planning Committee needs to wait for the recommendation of the Bucks County Planning Commission.  Both the Riegelsville Planning Commission and the BCPC each have 30 days to make a recommendation to the Borough Council.  Riegelsville Planning Commission is an advisory to Council.  Council is the ultimate decision maker.  D. Cook also stated that one of the parcels was written wrong in the advertisement.  T. Stinnett said yes that was a typo.   

            A letter was read from William Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, does not share Brian Monahan’s opinions in the Borough’s alleged failure to conform to the applicable provisions of the MPC.  William Dudeck stated the hearing on May 22, 2008 will be postponed. William Dudeck asked Brian Monahan to provide some proposed dates for the Public hearing and then the Borough Council will select a date and work backwards from it in terms of notices, etc.

T. Stinnett stated that only one of the three dates that D. Cook gave is actually available for all of his parties, June 23rd. 2008.  T. Stinnett asked Council and they were all OK with this date and B. Dudeck, Borough Solicitor has marked his calendar too.  S. Masteller will set this date with the stenographer.

            A letter was read from William Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, in reference to the Re appeal of Borough of Riegelsville from the Bucks County Board of assessment of taxes for year 2006-2007 Open Space purchased land.

            A letter was read from William Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, to James F. Moll and Daniel E. Matthews in reference to Parcel #38-006-212 & #38-006-211.  On April 1, 2008 the Borough condemned the above-reference pieces of property by filing a Declaration of Taking in the Bucks County Court of Common Plea at No. 08-03215-28-6.

            A letter was read from Carl Dicker, Borough Engineer, listing the Bid Tabulation and his review.  Spotts, Stevens and McCoy have received and reviewed the bids for the Pedestrian Project.  The apparent low bidder is Bi-State Construction Company, Inc.  They have reviewed their qualifications statement and are satisfied that they are qualified to perform the required work.  The bid results will be forwarded to the DRJTB Commission and DCNR.

            A letter was read from Armour & Sons 2007 Signal Maintenance report.

            A letter was received from the Bucks County Planning Commission in reference to the Request for an Amendment to the Zoning Ordinance and Map- Village Commercial District, #38-6-77-1, 38-6-77, 38-6-7 and 38-2-61-1, Owner Daniel K. Cook.  BCPC have listed their review.  The complete copy is available at the Borough Office for review.

                         

REPORTS

            President- No further report

 

            Mayor – D. Gerstenberg reported that he has not been successful in finding funds to purchase state surplus equipment for moveable electronic radar to help control the speed in the Borough.  D. Gerstenberg suggests tabling this for now and looking in the budget for $4 to $7 thousand dollars to purchase the equipment.

CITIZENS COMMENTS:  None Expressed

                Borough Resident, Korie Gaumer, is a Boy Scout in Riegelsville Troop 127 is working on his Eagle Scout community project.  Korie read in the newspaper that the Borough was putting 2 new “Welcome to Riegelsville” signs on either end of town. Korie would like to get permission to take on this project as his Eagle Scout Community Project.  Council all agreed to have the two signs done.  Korie was asked to go to the next Riegelsville Enhancement Committee for further planning.  Bob Rainey gave Council a letter and wanted to know if the Borough would handle the donations that come in for this project.  T. Stinnett stated that an account would just need to be added and T. Macaluso would take care of that.

                T. Stinnett stated that the Riegelsville Planning Commission did have Dan Cook’s rezoning letter and they did discuss it but made no decisions.  They had a few issues with the proposed ordinances.

1. Sewage and water impact study was changed from 5000 gallons to 2000 gallons so a water study will be needed.

2. It stated that an Eating Establishment (E8) would be acceptable and that would describe an eat-in restaurant which Mr. Cook says he has no plans for.  His use would be take out only..

3. All the members of the Planning Commission said the Ordinance needs to be tighter.

D. Cook said thank-you for the information.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Community Affairs – Citizen’s comments: None

            EMS News:  S. Lance reported that they have sent out the EMS yearly fund drive. They are in the process of writing grants.  S. Lance has a grant writer contact Ted Evans.  S. Lance will contact him for grants for the Borough building repairs. 

The Downtown Enhancement Committee- E. Bartosiewicz reported that next week is the meeting.  They are still searching for recycling grants. 

Recreation Board News: Sherry reported that Sunday April 20 will be a Bake Sale Fundraiser and the Basket Bingo Fundraiser will be in Sunday April 27th.

            S. Masteller received a call from a Borough resident in reference to the Open Burn Ban in the Borough.  S. Masteller dug out the information T. Macaluso received from DEP.  It states since we are in an air basin we are not permitted to Open Burn.  K. Weiss suggested we make up flyers to reiterate this.

            Zoning:  Phil Neas, Borough Building Inspector, reported that a few building permits have been issued for re-roofing, Tank removals and new sheds.  At the last Emergency Management meeting E. Bartosiewicz asked if Residents need to go through P. Neas to strap down their oil tanks.  P. Neas stated no, but J& J Spill has been doing a lot of work in the Borough so they could be called to take care of this issue.  A few residents have complained about their neighbors not maintaining their properties~ old cars, junk in the yards.  S. Masteller will give P. Neas the property addresses and he will check on this.  Rich O’Brien, Borough Zoning Officer, reported that the Oxford Diabetic Inc. applied for a building permit, and plot plans information is needed for the parking spaces.

            Borough Mayor Dave Gerstenberg has been approached by Borough business owner about the speeding in the Borough especially Delaware Road.  D. Gerstenberg spoke to Sgt. Murphy from the State Police office and shared the concern of the Borough.  Maybe the Borough could purchase moveable electronic radar to set-up around the Borough.

  

Utilities – Comments from the citizens: None expressed.

T. Macaluso has been corresponding with Bob Walker, Customer Service Specialist from Met-Ed, and he has researched the Well # 3 issue and will be installing a third transformer.   Because of the critical nature of the service, Met-Ed will give this job a high priority and look to have the transformer installed within 2-3 weeks.

            The Borough Tenant called and has an outlet that needs to be repaired, so S. Masteller called the Electrician to repair it.

 Streets and Properties – Comments from the citizens: None

Carl Dicker, Borough Engineer, opened the Delaware Canal Pedestrian Footbridge Project Bids.  Eight were received.

  1. Almeida & Hudeck                   $297,500.00
  2. Bill Ankis Co., Inc.                   $268,986.00
  3. Bi-State Construction Co. Inc  $207,200.00
  4. Coopersmith Brothers Inc.     $220,431.04
  5. Eastern Highway Specialists   $231,726.00
  6. Giovannone Construction, Inc $227,255.00
  7. Grace Industries, Inc                           $242,558.40
  8. Nimaris Construction,LP        $213,845.75

S. Lance asked how long it will take to look over the bids and get back to Council.  C. Dicker said it will take around a week or so.  S. Masteller will fax the Bid Opening list to those that put a bid in.

            The Borough received a letter from the Township of Pohatcong informing us that in conjunction with the DRJTB Commission they will begin construction on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River Bridge and they may need to close the Bridge for an hour or two at some point in the construction.  Gwen Steckel, Pohatcong Township Engineer will keep us posted on the progress.

            S. Masteller attended the Bucks County Recreation Council meeting on April 29th, 2008.  Kris Kern, Bucks County Open Space Coordinator, a New feature is to improve the projects that where purchased through the last Grant round.  That feature could possible help the Borough. 

            Phil Neas, Borough Building Inspector, suggested that the Borough look into parking meters for the Borough parking lot.  Council had mixed feelings about doing this. 

Finance – Comments from the Citizens: None

            K. Weiss asked how the parking issues are with Jeff Ryan, Owner of Riegelsville Inn.  S. Lance stated they have come to an agreement; the next step is to have Bill Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, prepare an easement. 

            Brian Monahan, Dan Cook’s Solicitor, sent a letter stated his client is not available to attend the 5/22/08 Public Hearing.  Bill Dudeck, Borough Solicitor, has responded to the letter and asked them to pick a few dates and those dates will be brought to Council to make a decision.  Council will decide at the 5/14/08 Council meeting if 6/16, 6/19, 6/23, or 6/26 would be better.

            Miss Keys with the Bucks County Renaissance Faire Coordinator will be holding auditions in the Borough meeting room on Mondays except for the first Monday until September 2008.  S. Masteller received their certificate of insurance.  K. Weiss will volunteer to open and close the door on the 3rd.Monday.  Library board is here on the 2nd. Monday and Rec Board is here on the 4th Monday.

 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS-

            Bob Rainey reported that the Riegelsville Enhancement Committee has put together a recycling flyer and distributed to the Borough residents. Borough residents can also drop their recycling at the Durham Township Municipal building the first Saturday of each month.  They received donations of annuals and pots for the Municipal Building.  S. Masteller said she would keep them watered.

                T. Stinnett introduced Steve Simmons from the Poplar Subdivision previously know as the Patrick Johnson Subdivision.  S. Simmons stated that the original subdivision was for four lots and now they would like to make it two lots.  S. Simmons would like a number from Council to wave the improvements like the Water line, cul-de-sac, sidewalks, curbing.  T. Stinnett stated that the water line is a big deal.  About 2 years ago it would cost $80,000.00 to put a water line in.  If you do the water line and a cul-de-sac the cost would be $200,000.00.  S. Simmons doesn’t feel that the lot should be paying for the Borough’s water line.  The improvements for the water line out weighs the lot price.  T. Stinnett stressed that nothing would be done or looked at until the current escrow is paid, approximately $4000.00.  T. Stinnett stated the S. Simmons feels the original $30,000.00 is too high, and $5000.00 would be better.  T. Stinnett said to council why not meet in the middle and say $15,000.00.  K. Weiss and E. Bartosiewicz agreed to $15,000.00 but R. Strawn said $20,000.00 would be better.  S. Simmons said he would be fine with the $15,000.00 for the water line but wave the other improvements and doing only 2 lots with driveways.

 

Approval of check to Express-Times $463.00 ~ Pedestrian Bridge Bid Ad 

K. Weiss motioned to approve E. Bartosiewicz seconded Unanimous

Approval of check to Intelligencer $465.60 ~ Pedestrian Bridge Bid Ad

K. Weiss motioned to approve E. Bartosiewicz seconded Unanimous

            Approval of check to Rick Raab $4,938.20 ~ Well #3 Electrical Problems

K. Weiss motioned to approve E. Bartosiewicz seconded Unanimous

           

NEW BUSINESS-   

            Dave Xander, Borough Resident, sent a letter of intent to be an alternate on the Riegelsville Borough Planning Commission. T. Stinnett stated that they do not have an alternate.

 

 

 

APPROVAL OF BILLS- K. Weiss motioned to approve payment of bills as listed and R. Strawn seconded.  Unanimous

 

           

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.  Next Council Meeting scheduled June 11, 2008 7:30 pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        Sherry L. Masteller,

  Borough Secretary