Summary of September 12, 2018, BOS Public Meeting

The following is a brief summary of the September 12, 2018, Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting based upon the official minutes of that meeting, which you can find here.

Committee Reports

Joint Historic Commission - Toll House Commemorative Plaque: Mr. Mack reported that he had attended a meeting of the Joint Historic Commission (JHC) at which a Toll House commemorative plaque at Nina's Waffles was discussed. He asked whether the Township or Brixmor would be contributing to the sign. Mr. Lewis said that he believed Brixmor would be amenable to making a contribution. Followup: The JHC's plan has been to sponsor a historic marker at the toll house with its own funding. The sign, which is part of the Newtown Heritage Walk program, credits Brixmor for repairing and maintaining the toll house since purchasing the shopping center site from the previous developer and their recent renovation to reoccupy the structure as a commercial establishment. Brixmor will be installing the sign at no charge.

NOTE: Warren Woldorf, Chairman of the Joint Historic Commission, requested BOS approval for it to use JHC funds ($2,000 estimated) for an historic marker. The BOS voted to approve this expenditure at no cost to the Township at the 27 September 2018, public meeting.

Planning Commission - Arcadia Green: Chairman Allen Fidler reported that the Commission has discussed the plans for Arcadia Green, but as the applicant's engineer and traffic engineer were not available to answer questions, the Commission offered a few suggestions regarding the plans but did not make a formal recommendation.

Ordinances

Consideration of PRD Elimination Zoning Ordinance Amendment: Mr. Sander - Township Solicitor - explained that at the recommendation of the Bucks County Planning Commission, an ordinance is being circulated among the Jointure partners to remove the PRD use from the JMZO. Passage of an ordinance eliminating this use from the JMZO would not impact current applications. Mr. Davis moved to amend the JMZO to remove the PRD use from its permitted uses. Ms. Bobrin seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

For more details, read: "Newtown Township, Upper Makefield, and Wrightstown to Consider Deleting Planned Residential Development from the Newtown Area JMZO".

Noise Ordinance Amendment: Mr. Sander - Township Solicitor - reported that on the advice of former Police Chief Pasqualini and Code Enforcement Officer Martin Vogt, he is recommending that the Board advertise amendments to the noise ordinance. The current ordinance is subjective and difficult to prove or enforce. The proposed changes would delete subjective criteria. Ms. Bobrin moved to authorize advertisement of a noise ordinance amendment. Mr. Fisher seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

NOTE: In a 4 to 1 vote at the Sept 26, 2018, public meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved this ordinance amendment. For more information about that, read "Board of Supervisors Decimate Noise Ordinance".

Parks and Recreation

Veterans Park Flagpole: Township Manager, Mr. Lewis explained that the Board had included the purchase of the 50 foot flagpole and large flag in the 2018 budget. The new flag will be placed in the grassy area between the snack bar and Noah’s Playground. Mr. Calabro moved to authorize purchase of a 50 foot flagpole from Kotate Flags at a cost of $6500 for Veterans Park. Mr. Calabro and Mr. Mack questioned the location of the flagpole. Both would have favored the main entrance area on Durham Road. Mrs. Pawlenko said that the scout who built the entrance sign wall has been nationally recognized for his project. The new flag will be visible from this entrance. The motion passed 5-0.

Public Safety

Newtown Fire Association Extension through 2019: Mr. Lewis asked the Board to approve a one year extension of the Township’s agreement with the Newtown Fire Association for coverage from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM Monday through Friday and on weekends, with a 3% increase. Mr. Mack moved to approve the proposed extension of the Newtown Fire Association Agreement through 2019. Mr. Davis seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

Police Report: Acting Police Chief Jason Harris reported that the department had responded to 1500 calls for service in the past month (August 2018), including 35 disturbances and a few vandalism complaints. The Department, along with fire and EMS, is participating in County wide training for responding to certain mass casualty emergencies. The training will insure that when multiple municipalities respond to the same emergency, the same protocols and procedures are in place so that the departments can easily coordinate and work together.

For more details, read "August 2018 Police Report".

Traffic

PennDOT Swamp Road Update: Gene Blaum, Ashwin Patel, Chuck Davies and Bob Graham of PennDOT were in attendance to review work already completed and some plans for Swamp Road. District Traffic Engineer Patel reported that PennDOT reviewed the crash history and found two clusters, at the intersection with Durham Road and at Twining Bridge Road, where accidents had been occurring. Restriping the center line to straighten curves and adding reflectors has been completed and new signage will be installed shortly. Mr. Sander spoke about the speed limits on roads where no limit has been set; the speed on Swamp Road, with the absence of a study, would be required to be 35 MPH. He asked to see the history of studies setting the current 45 MPH limit. Mr. Patel said that he would research this and would also take into consideration a new study, as requested by the Township or any data provided from a study commissioned using the Township’s own traffic engineers.
 

 

Posted on 05 Oct 2018, 01:07 - Category: Board of Supervisors Minutes