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West Vincent Township
Board of Supervisors Meeting
July 14, 2008 7:30 PM
Attendance: Chairman
Kenneth Miller, Vice Chairperson Zoë Perkins , Barry DiLibero, Township Manager
Jim Wendelgass, Allan Greenwood of Siana, Bellwoar & McAndrew, LLP Township
Solicitor, Alberto Vennettilli, P.E. representative of Township Engineer,
Carroll Engineering, and Township Secretary Tammy
Swavely.
The first item of business was a Conditional Use Hearing for Saint
Andrews Church,
7 St. Andrews Lane,
Tax Parcels 25-6-25 and 6-27. A
Court Reporter was present to take a transcript.
Chairman Miller called the hearing to order at 7:33 PM and
turned it over to Township Solicitor Greenwood.
The following exhibits were entered into evidence: B-1:
Proof of Publication; B-2: Copy
of the notice that was advertised; B-3:
A list of the persons within 500’ of the property; B-4: A copy of the form of notice that went out to
those persons; B-5: A copy of the
Township Engineer’s report dated 4/16/08; B-6:
A copy of the Application for a
Conditional Use along with a set of plans.
Greenwood
asked if anyone would like to be a party to the proceedings. Debra Montgomery a Church member and a
resident of Uwchlan
Township, came
forward. Ken Werner, Attorney for the
Applicant objected to her since she is not a resident and does not live near
the property. Deborah Reed, a member and
resident of South Coventry came forward. Werner objected to her since she is not a
resident and does not live near the property.
Diane Phillips, 547 Black
Horse Road, Tax Parcel 25-7-11.1 came
forward. Werner objected to her since
she does not live near the property. The
Board went into Executive Session with counsel.
After a brief Executive Session, Miller announced that the Board would
accept Diane Phillips as a Party, but deny both Debra Montgomery and Deborah
Reed party status since they are not residents of the Township. Werner
began by stating that the Conditional Use Hearing was for expansion of the
existing use as a church. The Applicant
is seeking to expand the sanctuary which is an expansion of the use. Elsa Mintz, Rector of St.
Andrews was called to testify. The
following exhibits were submitted:
A-2: A copy of the Chester County
Tax map with the parcels of the church on it; A-3: An aerial photograph of the church property;
A-4: A copy of the property with the
proposed new expansion shown; A-5: Set
of plans; A-6: Shared Parking
Agreement. Dan Salameda, P.E. with Geo
Service and engineer on the project was sworn in to testify. He testified that the church parcels are in
both the R-2 and PC/LI Zoning Districts and that churches are permitted in
both. With regards to parking, there is
sufficient parking without the Shared Parking Agreement with Ludwigs Village
L.P. There is a well on site and will
provide adequate water for the expansion, however, the long range goals of the
Applicant are to use public water when it is available in the area. The septic system will be updated and there
are two (2) areas that have passed the perc tests. They are in the process of determining which
site will be used. Diane Phillips
questioned Salameda with regards to his expertise, and he stated that he has
been practicing 21 years and is a licensed civil engineer in PA. Phillips asked if he knew that St. Andrews
Lane was a scenic road, and he did not. Salameda stated that he feels that the
expansion would not degrade the view and he would not consider it a
detriment. Exhibit A-1 was entered, a
letter sent to Salameda by the Township directing the Applicant to file for a
Conditional Use. Phillips called Debbie
Reed as a witness. The Board determined
that the questions that Phillips asked her should be considered comments from
the general public and that they would be allowed before the Hearing closed. The following people offered their comments
on the proposed expansion of St.
Andrews Church
to the Board: Debbie Reed, Estelle
Cremers, Julie Greer, Mary Kane, Rob Butch, Debra Montgomery, Martha Thomae and
Sally Orago. Miller closed the
evidentiary portion of the hearing at 9:10 PM.
Chairman Miller opened the regular Township Meeting at 9:17
PM.
The first item of business was to open the bids for the 2008 Road Repair, Maintenance and Labor. Six (6) bids were received along with an
e-mail to the Board dated 7/14/08 from Dave Monteith, Birchrun Excavating
thanking the Board for the opportunity to bid, but declining to bid at this
time. The bids and their amounts are
attached to these minutes. DiLibero
stated that he was looking for information on whether the winning bidder needed
a performance bond. He called PSATS and
someone there told him that there needed to be a bond. Greenwood
stated that this is a gray area in a maintenance contract. Greenwood
said that even if a bond is required, failure to provide such does not void the
contract if the job is done within 20 days.
Greenwood
added that there are a lot of separate jobs and it would be difficult to
establish the amount of the bond. He
will look at this more closely and report back to the Board. Miller stated that the bids will be reviewed
by the Township Solicitor, Township Manager, and the Road Master and be awarded
next week.
The minutes of June
16, 2008 were unanimously approved as amended on a motion by Perkins and a
second by DiLibero.
Reports:
Township Building: Two
(2) quotes were received on the repair of the Township Building
roof. Perkins made the motion to approve
the estimate from C.D. Wagner, Contractor in the total amount of $3970.00 per
the bid dated 6/30/08. DiLibero seconded
the motion which carried unanimously.
Township Manager Report: The Township Manager Report for the week
ending 7/12/08 was acknowledged as submitted.
Road Master Report:
Kenneth Miller gave his report for the last three (3) weeks ending 7/11/08
which was acknowledged as received.
Active Subdivision List: There are currently no pending deadlines.
Bills List: The Bills
List was reviewed. Perkins made the
motion to approve the Bills List dated 7/11/08 in the total amount $44,832.70. DiLibero seconded the motion and it carried
unanimously.
Correspondence:
A letter was received from West Pikeland
Township dated 7/11/08 informing West Vincent
Township that they are
proposing an Amendment to their Comprehensive Plan and its Open Space, Recreation
and Environmental Resource Plan.
Subdivision/Land
Development:
Oxford Rise:
An Escrow Release Request was received from Oxford Properties for the
Land Development. Perkins made the
motion that the Escrow Release request be forwarded to the Township Engineer
for review. DiLibero seconded the motion
which carried unanimously.
Old Business:
A Final Draft has been received of the Federation of Northern
Chester Counties
Regional Park
and Recreation Plan. Chris McNeil, East Vincent
Township is planning to
discuss this at the Planning Commission Meeting scheduled for July 17,
2008. Both Miller and DiLibero plan to
attend.
New Business:
An Escrow Release Request has been received from Joseph Purcell, 124 Nantmeal Road, Tax Parcel 25-2-5.1. Purcell was required by the Township to repair
Nantmeal Road
since he damaged it by moving heavy equipment on the road. Perkins made the motion to forward this to
the Township Engineer for review.
DiLibero seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
Business from the
floor:
Jim Hall, Weatherstone
HOA President asked when the No
Parking signs were to be installed.
Miller stated that the signs have been delivered to the Township and the
Road Crew is getting ready to install them.
A PA One Call is necessary to be made and there will be paint lines on
the street after that is submitted.
Miller stated that once the lines are sprayed and a resident has a
problem with a location to contact him as soon as possible to see if an
alternative location can be found. The
Speed Limit and Stop signs will be installed at the same time.
DiLibero asked if
the Township has been in contact with Jordan Perry, Chester County
Conservation District regarding the
Ewell property. Arthur Ewell, 972 Fellowship Road, Tax Parcel
25-7-31 is trying to determine whether he needs a permit to replace a swale
with a pipe to a creek and has not been able to do so. Wendelgass stated that he has tried several
times to get someone and has had not been successful.
DiLibero wanted to know if Dewees Lane was going to be oiled all the way to the end this
year. Miller informed him that this was
the plan and that it may be as soon as the end of this week that it gets
soybean oil applied.
Perkins made a motion to adjourn, DiLibero seconded, and the
motion passed unanimously.
Meeting Adjourned 10:00 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Tammy Swavely
Township Secretary