The Moore Township Board of Supervisors met Tuesday, February 6 to discuss two subdivisions, several open space protection quotes, drafts of the solar decommissioning ordinance and acceptance of a new emergency management coordinator.
First, supervisors welcomed the new township manager, Stephen Nowroski, who previously served as the director of planning and codes, 504 coordinator and director of code enforcement for the City of Easton for the past nine years.
Next, supervisors unanimously granted the Robert Sorge waiver request to limit the definition of natural features on the 37.5-acre two-parcel subdivision based upon the Planning Commission’s recommendation for conditional approval. The condition requires a restrictive conservation easement agreement that there will be no more land development on the property other than as designated on the subdivision plan.
Supervisors also unanimously granted conditional approval of a preliminary plan for the Ashwood Construction/Whitetail Acres major subdivision of 15.1 acres divided into five lots on Hokendauqua Drive based on conditions set forth in the January 17 Keystone Consulting Engineers review letter.
During reports, Police Chief Gary West shared that the police department had 309 total incidents for the month of January, including three written and verbal warnings issued, 18 traffic citations issued, two arrests for driving under the influence, one arrest for simple assault, one arrest for criminal mischief to automobiles, five non-traffic citations for dog violations and soliciting without a permit, four reportable accidents and five non-reportable accidents.
Fire Police Captain Jason Harhart provided the 2023 end of year report for the Klecknersville Rangers Vol. Fire Co. In total, the fire company responded to 881 ambulance calls throughout the year and 392 fire calls, which accounted for 37 fires, 55 motor vehicle accidents, 11 fire police, 32 automatic fire alarms, 90 ambulance assists, two standby, 61 wires/trees down, 12 smoke/odor investigations, nine carbon dioxide alarms, one search/rescue, five spills, two flooding, two gas leaks and 73 mutual aid calls.
Public Works Director Craig Hoffman reported that the three snowstorms in January resulted in a few truck breakdowns due to two of the trucks needing to be retired soon because of their age and wear. However, the trucks are now back up and running and Hoffman is waiting for word on whether the grants for the two vehicle replacements have been accepted.
Richard Gable also announced that the First Regional Compost Authority will begin making mulch in March and begin deliveries in April.
Township Engineer Kevin Horvath reported that he attended the Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grants webinar on eligibility and deadlines. Horvath believes that the Edelman Schoolhouse project would be a good candidate for the grant; however, the requirements state that the facility must be open to the public at least 100 days per year, whereas the facility is currently open on an as-requested basis.
The application for the grant is due March 1, so the board unanimously granted approval for Horvath to proceed with the application pending determination of whether the facility meets the requirement for public access.
Supervisors also granted unanimous approval for the Land and Environmental Protection agenda items, which includes the Bealer wildlands 33.78-acre $48,865 estimated preservation quote, the Miller wildlands 10-acre $38,679 estimated preservation quote, the Gail Carpency 15-acre conservation quote not to exceed $40,000 and the five Schiavone Park pond treatments with Aqua Link Inc. for $3,825 to keep the ponds cleans of algae and other bacteria.
In other news, Township Solicitor David M. Backenstoe divulged that the three final drafts of new stormwater regulations will be advertised and ready for adoption at the March meeting, as well as the draft of the Becker speed limit ordinance, which establishes that the speed limit on the road from Allen Drive to Countryview Lane will be 30 miles per hour and 15 miles per hour from Countryview Lane to the Moore Township line.
Backenstoe also shared that after extensive research on the decommissioning of solar facilities, which is a relatively new concept, he found that many townships and recommendations state that since solar facilities are such large structures and their average lifespan is currently 30 years, once the technology becomes outdated or unusable, there must be regulations for decommissioning the solar facilities as a fail safe for when property owners or solar companies do not decommission them properly.
Backenstoe noted that the structures are highly salvageable and that he put together two draft options for the Planning Commission to consider with one draft accounting for gross value less the salvage value with a percentage being secured by a letter of credit or a bond, and the other being raw gross value and not including salvage value. Both drafts state that the ordinance can be updated every five years to provide for any changes such as costs and salvage values.
Following, supervisors unanimously approved a resolution for agricultural security on East Walker Road and accepted Robert Hindley as emergency management coordinator.
Beginning February 26, the Planning Commission will now meet on the fourth Monday of each month at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
The next Moore Township Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. in the municipal building, located at 2491 Community Dr.
