The Moore Township Board of Supervisors met Tuesday, March 5 to swear in fire and fire police officers, consider waivers, discuss reports and vote on various ordinances.
First, the following Klecknersville Rangers Volunteer Fire Company fire officers took their loyalty oath when swearing in: Fire Chief John Hofacker; Assistant Fire Chief Lenny Salines; Assistant Fire Chief Austin Kocher; Captain Erik Resch and Lieutenant Ryan Andrukaitis.
The Klecknersville Rangers fire police officers that also took their loyalty oath when swearing in included: Fire Police Captain Jason Harhart; Fire Police Lieutenant Ray Reeder; Brian Radcliffe; Charles Green; Dave Tashner and Rafael Shkembi.
During regular business, the following waivers and conditional approvals were voted on: James and Frances Miller’s waiver request and minor lot line adjustment conditional approval were unanimously approved to add six-tenths of an acre to one of the parcels of land on the property; the Jeff, Nancy and Laura Deloglos’ minor subdivision’s two waivers and conditional final approval were approved based on an indemnification hold harmless agreement that would absolve the township of liability for a proposed well being 100 feet from the property due to the proximity of active agricultural fields on all sides; and the Arthofer solar panel land development was granted approval for the waiver request to review the plan as a final plan instead of a preliminary plan, but supervisors denied the deferral request for street improvements to Grouse Drive based on the Public Works director’s recommendation to provide an overlay on the road when the project is complete since the solar panels will require significant equipment brought in by heavy tractor trailer traffic during construction.
During reports, Patrolman Michael Hunt stated that the police department had 256 total incidents for the month of February, including three written/verbal traffic warnings issued, 15 traffic citations issued, two arrests for DUI, one arrest for assault, one non-traffic citation issued and three reportable accidents.
Fire Police Captain Jason Harhart reported that the Klecknersville Rangers Vol. Fire Co. responded to 104 ambulance calls during the month of January and 50 fire calls, which included three fires, five motor vehicle accidents, two fire police, 15 ambulance assists, six trees down, four smoke/odor investigations, one carbon dioxide alarm, eight mutual aid calls with Bath for four fires, one wire down, one motor vehicle accident, one gas leak and one fire alarm, three mutual aid calls with Bushkill Township for one wire down, one odor investigation, one fire and three mutual aid calls with Lehigh Township for three fires.
Public Works Director Craig Hoffman announced that street sweeping will occur March 25 to 29 and April 22 to 24.
Additionally, Hoffman presented the board with the three quotes obtained for the Recreation Center field treatments with rates comparable to the previous year. Supervisors unanimously chose to go with Hahn’s Lawns for the four treatments totaling $10,000, which is the same business that won the bid in 2023.
Hoffman also presented the board with the 2024 road projects. The board unanimously approved moving forward with putting Copella Road, Terry Road, Yost Road and Eagle View Drive out to bid for double oil and chip, which are estimated to cost approximately $247,000 in total, whereas the road projects on Jefferson Avenue, Michael Road, Amlisa Road, Orchard Court, Meadow Lane, Woodland Drive, Oak Road and Rose Lane will be done in-house by the Public Works Department due to the joint grant obtained with East Allen Township for a paver.
In other business, supervisors unanimously approved an electronic recycling event, which will be held on Saturday, October 26 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Recreation Center.
Next, the board approved the adoption of the three updated stormwater ordinances that were advertised last month, as well as the speed limit changes on Becker Road.
After reviewing the two solar facility decommissioning ordinance draft options that Solicitor David M. Backenstoe prepared, the Planning Commission recommended the board move forward with the ordinance that requires facility owners to remove any above- and belowground mechanical equipment such as wiring and structural components both, and that the disturbed earth shall be restored and graded.
Additionally, the ordinance will require facility owners to submit an estimate for the total cost of decommissioning without regard to salvage value of equipment one year prior to permits being issued and then every five years as well in order to ensure that the facility owner provides an updated letter of credit aligned with current decommissioning costs. Supervisors unanimously approved direction to advertise the ordinance.
In other news, Judge John M. Morganelli from the Court of Common Pleas upheld the Zoning Hearing Board’s decisions to deny the Water’s Edge at Wind Gap warehouse project requests concerning the classification and interpretation of natural and man-made steep slopes, placement of the berm in relation to woodland protection, and that Jones Road would require improvements for the proposed emergency exit. However, Morganelli ruled in favor of the applicant regarding the information that needs to be submitted pertaining to the actual user under permitted use and found that there wasn’t a sufficient Nexus between a warehouse and recreation area that would require the applicant to pay a fee to the township for open space preservation.
Backenstoe explained that Water’s Edge could file an appeal with the Commonwealth Court to challenge Morganelli’s decision or they could choose to revise the plan and resubmit it in compliance with the township’s zoning conditions.
The next Moore Township Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 2 at 6 p.m. in the municipal building, located at 2491 Community Dr.
