EAST MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MINUTES
Meeting of the Board – December 1, 2014
Public Hearing. Chairman Cuyler H. Walker called the public hearing to order at 7 p.m. in the Township Building. The hearing had been publicly advertised to take comments regarding the application of Roger and Lisa Elvin to place their 12-acre parcel, ID # 61-1-1.1, located on Apple Grove Road, in the Agricultural Security District. There were no comments from the public; by unanimous vote (4-0), the public hearing was closed.
Public Meeting.Chairman Cuyler H. Walker called the public meeting to order by leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members Richard P.S. Hannum, Robert F. Weer, and John Sarro were also present, as was Solicitor Fronefield Crawford.
Public Comments.
Chairman Walker noted that a former member of the Board of Supervisors and Board of Auditors, Earl Freeman, had recently passed away. He asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of Mr. Freeman and his contributions to East Marlborough.
Chairs in the meeting room: Mr. Walker also noted that the new meeting-room chairs were a gift from Longwood Gardens. We appreciate their contribution to East Marlborough.
Minutes of November 5, 2014. Mr. Weer asked whether the Workers’ Compensation premiums for the volunteer fire companies should be deducted from the fire tax transmittal. It was the consensus of the other Board members that the Fire Tax was intended to include all costs/contributions to the respective fire companies. By unanimous vote (4-0), the minutes were approved as prepared.
Hair Salon – 111 West Street Road.Tom Schreier, of Hillcrest Associates, represented the owners, Diane Winslow and Michael Smolenski, who plan to open a hair salon at that address. Mr. Schreier discussed the items in the November 24, 2014 review letter from VanDemark and Lynch, as well as the items which had already been granted a variance from the Zoning Hearing Board. By unanimous vote (4-0), the Supervisors approved the preliminary/final plan, conditioned upon:
Meeting of the Board – December 1, 2014
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a) Satisfaction of all outstanding items in the VD&L review letter of 11/24/14,
b) Notation on the plan regarding installation of sidewalks by any owner of the property, should the Supervisors request them at some point,
c) PennDOT approval of any drive modifications.
Zoning Ordinance Amendment – Modifications to Section 1600 regulating Cluster Development.The Chester County Planning Commission had noted that the formula for determining number of lots and open space was somewhat difficult, and suggested language or examples of how the Clustering would work. Frone Crawford provided some examples of the implementation of the ordinance amendment; those examples will be submitted to Chester County Planning for review, and incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance as an appendix. By unanimous vote (4-0), the Supervisors agreed to schedule a public hearing on the ordinance at the January 5, 2015 Board meeting.
Budgets for 2015.The proposed budgets were presented for adoption.
The General Fund proposed receipts and expenses of $2,055,257, with the real estate tax rate to remain unchanged.
The State Fund proposed receipts and expenses of $410,490.
The Sewer Fund proposed receipts and expenses of $1,385,400, with the sewer user fees to remain unchanged for both sewer districts.
The following resolutions were adopted in accordance with the budget projections:
Resolution 2014-13 – Tax Levy Resolution – Establishing tax rate for 2015 as follows:
For General Purposes – 1.05 mills
For Open Space Preservation – .20 mills
For Library – .183 mills
For Fire Fighting .65 mills
Resolution 2014-14 – Unionville Light Tax – establishing a light tax for properties in Unionville of 50 cents per lineal foot of applicable frontage
Resolution 2014-15 – Hydrant Tax – establishing a tax on all properties within specified distance of a hydrant of $26.73 for 2015.
All Resolutions as well as the Budgets were approved by unanimous (4-0) vote.
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In accordance with budgeted items, the Supervisors request that all emergency service organizations: a) submit a detailed budget to the Township office for the next fiscal year, and b) submit a CPA audit at the end of each fiscal year.
Certificate of Appropriateness. The Unionville HARB recommended a Certificate of Appropriateness for a re-build of the back porch on the historic Town’s End Farm dwelling, currently owned by Mr. and Mrs. Dauphin. By unanimous vote (4-0), the Supervisors voted to approve the Certificate.
Township Auditor.The Township received proposals for the position of CPA for Township accounts, beginning in 2015. The supervisors decided to work with the firm of Barbacane Thornton, who proposed a lower auditing fee of $5500. Formal appointment will be made at the January 5, 2015 Board meeting.
Bills.By unanimous vote (4-0), with each supervisor abstaining on a single vote with a perceived conflict of interest, the Board approved the attached list of invoices, with the following totals:
General Fund $234,035.24
Payroll $ 50,884.60
State Fund $ 14,116.70
Sewer Fund $ 18,776.45
Treasurer’s Report. By unanimous vote (4-0), the Supervisors accepted the attached reports, as prepared.
Agricultural Security District – Elvin Property.By unanimous vote (4-0), the Supervisors adopted the attached Resolution 2014-16, providing for the inclusion of the Elvin Property on
Apple Grove Road, to be included within the Agricultural Security District.
The public meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m., at which point the supervisors went into executive session with Solicitor Frone Crawford, to discuss a pending legal matter and a personnel matter.
EAST MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP
Jane R. Laslo, Secretary/Manager