The Moore Township Board of Supervisors met Tuesday, November 1 to discuss subdivisions, monthly reports, water treatment for the Recreation Center, open space easements, culvert projects, a forestry ordinance amendment, Schiavone Farm appraisal, and the 2023 budget.
During the first order of business, supervisors unanimously granted a waiver request for the Wayne E. Cacciola Sr. minor subdivision plan. The applicant is seeking relief from pins that are placed at every radius and a non-building lot sewage exemption waiver. Cacciola owns both sides of the road and wants to subdivide land for his son.
Supervisors also unanimously approved the Davenport/Meyers lot line adjustment as outlined in the October 12 Keystone Consulting Engineers review letter. Meyers owns an L shaped lot behind the Davenport property, and the applicant plans to straighten the lot line and square the lots off.
During reports, Chief of Police Gary West presented that the Moore Township Police Department had 314 total incidents for the month of October, which includes: one written and verbal warning issued, 42 traffic citations, five arrests for three aggravated assaults, one simple assault, and one misdemeanor charge for failure to confine a dog, one non-traffic citation, two reportable accidents, and five non-reportable accidents.
Fire Police Captain Jason Harhart reported that the Klecknersville Rangers Vol. Fire Co. responded to 36 fire calls and 37 ambulance calls for the month of September, which accounted for: two fires, seven motor vehicle accidents, one fire/police, six automatic fire alarms, four ambulance assists, five mutual aid calls with Bath, Lehigh Township, and East Allen Township, two carbon monoxide alarms, one gas leak, three spills, one wire down, and one smoke investigation.
Public Works Director Craig Hoffman advised residents to get their leaves out during the ongoing leaf collection. Hoffman also presented that the water at the baseball stand and pavilion at the Recreation Center failed two tests for non-harmful bacteria, which he explained is not dangerous to residents. The Public Works Department requested the approval from the board to move forward with treatment of the wells for an estimated cost of $8,663 for two UV lights and a water softener system that will help prolong the life of the UV light and remove all of the iron from the water. Supervisors voted to move forward with getting approval from DEP for the plan and to have it done by the end of the year.
Robert Romano from the Land and Environmental Protection Board presented that the board had five applications for land preservation, totaling 84.12 acres from five different landowners at an average cost of approximately $30,000 for the soft costs of preservation through the Wildlands Conservancy. Supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with the Neff property open space easement, Potts property open space easement, Roland property open space easement, Miller, D property open space easement, and Miller, C property open space easement.
Township Engineer Kevin Horvath recommended that the E. Walker culvert replacement project payment be paid for $93,000, which includes the entire project except for paving and the guiderail. The slopes are stabilized, and the culvert is functioning. The Public Works Department will pave in the next couple weeks and the following week will have the guiderail installed. Supervisors unanimously voted to pay the contractor for the completion of the project.
In other business, the board unanimously approved the Ordinance 2022-4 SALDO amendment for plan submission and road requirements, which would require plans be provided in a portable document format (PDF) in addition to the submissions they have to make for numbers and plans for recording purposes. The standards for roads are also updated in the amendment, which will protect the roads of the township in the future.
During old business, Township Manager Nicholas C. Steiner presented the Schiavone Farm appraisal for approximately $470,000. The board decided to finish up the farm improvements and hold off until the first of the year to put Schiavone Farm out to bid again.
Last, Steiner presented the 2023 budget, which does not include a tax increase. The budget includes $900,000 in reimbursable grants that have been applied for and are awaiting a determination, $497,000 in ARPA funds to be used next year, the carryover balance of $192,700 for the Church Road culvert replacement project, $150,000 to support road infrastructure improvements, and $200,000 of in-house paving coming out of the general fund account on top of liquid fuels funds. Supervisors unanimously approved to advertise the 2023 budget for public inspection, which will be up for adoption at the December meeting.
The next Moore Township Board of Supervisors meeting will be held Tuesday, December 6 at 6 p.m. in the municipal building, located at 2491 Community Dr. Additionally, the next Zoning Hearing Board meeting for the Water’s Edge at Wind Gap appeal will reconvene on Thursday, December 8 at 6 p.m. at the Klecknersville Rangers Volunteer Fire Company, located at 2718 Mountain View Dr.
