UPPER MT. BETHEL TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016 @ 7:00 p.m.
1. Call to Order - Chairman Bermingham called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present in addition to Chairman Bermingham were Supervisor De Franco, Supervisor Geake, Supervisor Due, Supervisor Hallett and Solicitor Ronald Karasek. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
2. MOTION by Supervisor Hallett, seconded by Supervisor Due to approve the agenda. No Comments. Vote: 5-0.
3. Township Ordinance #2016-01 General Obligation Note (UPPMTBETGO10) – Attorney Michael Gaul was present as bond counsel. Public Comment by Ron Angle – asked if it is a note or a loan. Mr. Gaul indicated for all intents and purposes, it is called a note, but in fact is really a loan. Mr. Gaul indicated this was on our January 11th meeting for approval of the refinance through BBT bank, that interest rate was 2.35% at that time the Board wanted to shop around for a lower rate, which they got through Merchants Bank at 2.08%. Mr. Gaul noted the ordinance was properly advertised and noted there were a few minor changes to the ordinance. Supervisor De Franco asked if we need to re-advertise with the changes. Attorney Gaul indicated no you can adopt the ordinance with the changes. Solicitor Karasek also commented that the post ad would cover any changes. Supervisor Geake asked for clarification on the amount of the loan is it $1,062,000.00 or $1,065,000.00? Attorney Gaul indicated it will be closer to $1,062,000.00. Chairperson Bermingham read portions of the ordinance. MOTION by Supervisor Due, seconded by Supervisor De Franco to adopt Ordinance #2016-01 General Obligation Note. Public Comment by Ron Angle – asked about the maturity and repayment schedule. Attorney Gaul indicated there is a call feature that the loan can be prepaid anytime with no penalty. Ron Angle thanked Supervisor De Franco for taking his advice by shopping around and getting a lower interest rate and saving the township money. No further comments. Vote: 5-0.
5. Girls Softball request to put up banners (D. Klingle) – There was no representative present from the Softball program. Table to BOS 4-11-16 meeting.
6. Eastern Industries Property- Use of EIT funds to purchase conservation easement – Solicitor Karasek brought everyone up to speed and noted the EIT money could be used for the conservation easement pursuant to the terms and conditions of the easement and Natural Lands Trust could put restrictions on the easement and suggested the Board see what those restrictions are before committing the funds. Supervisor De Franco would like us to see if we could put it on the open market first and see what we could get for it while going through the process, and if we don’t get the proper bid, we could always reject the bid. Supervisor Hallett agreed, we should try and get as much money as we can, why pay another million to get swampland. Solicitor Karasek said you don’t have to put it all up for sale and it’s a process, you can sell private sealed bids or auction. Supervisor Geake mentioned getting our own appraisal and need to get at least what we were offered of $900,000.00. Supervisor De Franco said we don’t need our own appraisal. Solicitor Karasek said we can advertise with a reserve and you can accept sealed bids or public auction. Public Comment by Judy Henckel – the property was purchased to reclaim the property to protect it.
Solicitor Karasek indicated you can’t advertise to put up for sale tonight, but you can make a motion not to use EIT funds for this property, that’s what you advertised for and suggested getting an appraisal for the bids, auction is different. There was discussion about the easement restrictions. Public Comment by Dennis Jones – you should vote to use the EIT money for the property and go into negotiations with Natural Lands Trust. Supervisor Due said there needs to be further discussion about the property, the property is very unique and special, there are fens there and 13 bodies of water. There was discussion about the purchase price and noted the property was bought for about $1,475,000.00 and in 2010 they re-financed and borrowed 2 million dollars. Supervisor Geake indicated the $500,000.00 balance was returned. Attorney Michael Gaul said watch what you use the proceeds for, make sure you have a plan, you could pay down the debt and maybe if a balance use at the park. There was discussion about how much property we would retain, possibly 16 acres including buildings or possibly auction everything or leave 20 acres out. Public Comment by Ray Hartzell – you need a plan. There were comments about the Township having to go through the subdivision process if they want to keep some of the property. Public Comment by Dennis Jones – property has been open space for 40 years, it should stay that way. Public Comment by Ron Angle – The Township could have purchased much less, we paid too much and a lot of interest. Mr. Angle suggested asking Lehigh Valley Planning Commission for their advice, get another appraisal and come up with a fair price based upon the zoning. Mr. Angle noted it would be a lot of work leading up to auction. Mr. Angle mentioned all the trouble at the Eastern Industries property, there are no signs posted for no trespassing, over the weekend there were a dozen people trespassing and firing guns. Mr. Angle asked about the EIT money collected for farmland and asked which farms are being considered? Judy Henckel responded “that information does not need to be disclosed until the deal is settled”. Supervisor Geake responded the 3 farms being considered are Bocko, Jessie and Albert. Public Comment by Ron Angle – the money should be used for what it’s meant for, farmland or don’t collect it all. Mr. Angle noted Supervisor De Franco is on the right track, put the Eastern Industries Property up for sale. Public Comment by Andy Mahan – any excess money either should be spent on the park or rebate back to the taxpayers, also the November ballot should have the question to vote to take off the tax. Public Comment by Judy Henckel – talked about EIT fee simple and doing both. Judy talked about the uniqueness of the property with fens including seeps, marshes and forested wetlands that support rare plant and animal species and all natural areas. Judy talked about people wanting the opportunity to walk and hike. That is why the Township bought the property, to avoid dumping there. Judy said why would the Township take a chance when we have a $900,000.00 deal right now to preserve the property and the Township needs to make a decision to preserve it or not and a lot of people want it preserved. Chairman Bermingham noted he talked to a lot of people in the community and they would like to see it preserved and develop 611, he is here for the people, would like to see the property preserved, but bring in businesses to keep the taxes down and put it back on the tax base. Public Comment by Janet Pearson – 63% of the residents voted to make the EIT program work and was on the ballot for open space, not just farmland, not only that the property has been tax exempt for 10 years, if someone buys it, they have to pay 10 years of roll back taxes, she suggested we preserve the property and take the $900,000.00. There was discussion about the zoning and changing to residential. Public Comment by Ron Angle – there are a handful of tree huggers that wouldn’t want this property sold. Chairman Bermingham said he would like to listen to all the residents of Upper Mount Bethel Township. MOTION by Supervisor De Franco, seconded by Supervisor Hallett that we don’t use the EIT money at this point for purchase of Eastern Industries Property and investigate in putting on the open market or public auction. Public Comment by Dennis Jones – you can’t make a motion to put the property on the open market. Solicitor Karasek agreed it was advertised for that tonight and suggested getting another appraisal for fair value. Public Comment by Ron Angle – asked Supervisor De Franco to check with LVEDC and would like to see what the people want. Supervisor Geake would like the Board to first figure out what they want to sell or keep, and noted it’s a good idea to check with LVEDC to see what the people are looking for in the Valley. After Comments, Vote: 4-1 with Chairman Bermingham voting “no”.
MOTION by Supervisor Geake, seconded by Supervisor Due to give the Board 60 days to come up with a plan for the property and then back on the table for further discussion to see progress. No further comments. Vote: 5-0.
7. NC CDBG Slate ford Storm water Improvement Project (V. Rodite) – Victor was not present. Supervisor Geake updated the Board. Victor wants to apply for CDBG funds, 51% of the people in the serviceable area are low to moderate income, Victor would like to do the survey for that particular section, and some will not meet the criteria. Supervisor Hallett noted there are a lot of friction between the people on Slate ford Road. Table to the Board of Supervisors 4-11-16 meeting.
8. Seasonal Laborers - Road Crew Bill has interviewed and recommends the following be hired as Seasonal Laborers: Sam Bacon (returning), Jon Raso (returning) and Dwayne Labar (current intern)
Supervisor Geake objected, the contract does not permit three Seasonal and should only be used for grass mowing. MOTION by Supervisor Hallett, seconded by Supervisor Geake to Table the Seasonal Laborers to the 4-11-16 so we can check with the union. Supervisor Geake said he would like to see them open up the contract, he wasn’t on the negotiating committee, the contract is poorly written. Public Comment by Dennis Jones – the contract was negotiated by himself and Larry and the contract is fine. No further comments. Vote: 4-1 with Supervisor Geake voting “no”.
9. Township Treasurer change – Supervisor Hallett asked that he be relieved as Township Treasurer, he can’t be here as much as he would like to be. Public Comment by Mark Thatcher – directed towards Chairman “you might be a better Treasurer than Chairman and should consider taking it”. Solicitor Karasek noted you could appoint an Assistant Treasurer, then they could step in when Treasure is not available. MOTION by Supervisor De Franco, seconded by Supervisor Due to Table Larry Hallett’s resignation as Township Treasurer to 4-11-16 to allow Larry to put in a formal letter. Supervisor Geake said Larry shouldn’t have taken the position. Vote: 3-2 with Supervisor Hallett and Geake voting “no”.
10. Township Manager – Table to Executive Session.
11. Public Comment – Ron Angle commented on Chairman Bermingham’s father putting his application in for Township Manager, nullifies the Chairman and he can’t participate. We lost the benefit of a supervisor and Chairman in participating in the choice. Supervisor De Franco said we will be discussing the Township Manager in Executive Session. Public Comment by Ron Angle – Chairman Bermingham should have asked his father take his name out of the applicants, then he could vote on the others. Public Comment by Janet Pearson – asked about Credit Tech and explained they are an outfit that goes after delinquent taxes. Ron Angle asked if the applicants went through a credit check. Supervisor De Franco said some research was done by google and the Manager will be on a 90 day probationary period. Public Comment by Judy Henckel – talked about the 2016 DCNR grant and the priority list. MOTION by Supervisor Geake that we put on next month agenda to approve consultant to go up to $300,000.00. No second. Supervisor Geake indicated we put $50,000.00 in the budget for the Community Park and would like to see us put $50,000.00 in every year.
12. Executive Session – Personnel – The Board recessed for Executive Session at 8:55 p.m. to discuss Township Manager and a Road Department Personnel matter. Chairman Bermingham recused himself from discussion about Township Manager. The Board reconvened the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
MOTION by Supervisor Geake, seconded by Supervisor De Franco to rescind the motion at the last meeting to terminate Steve Ott, that a Loudermill hearing be scheduled before any action is taken based upon legal advice from our Solicitor. Vote: 5-0. MOTION by Supervisor Geake, seconded by Supervisor De Franco that the hearing be completed prior to our next meeting on 4/11/16. No Comments. Vote: 5-0.
MOTION by Supervisor De Franco, seconded by Supervisor Due to appoint Rick Fisher as Township Manager at the salary of $65,000.00 per year for a 90 day probationary period with no benefits with the exception of family medical/dental/prescription package will be effective immediately and will attend the Board of Supervisors Meetings, Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board as needed and will oversee Zoning and Sewage and straighten everything out. Public Comment by Dennis Jones – you made an excellent choice by picking Rick, he worked with him in the summer and he knows Zoning, Sewage, all the roads and the players, and is responsible and always came to work on time. Supervisor Geake noted he has been on the Board for 24 years, a manager does not need to know about Zoning or Sewage and commented on the last Manager being a science experiment and got no god damn grants and this is going to be the same thing, what we need is a manager. Public Comment by Janet Pearson asked if Rick has a college degree. Supervisor Due responded that Rick took accounting courses at Temple and ran his own business for 25 years, so he has the accounting and business experience. Supervisor De Franco said Rick can manage and keeps excellent records. Supervisor De Franco spoke about Mr. Bermingham Sr, he was so educated graduated from Harvard 1st in his class, had a great resume but didn’t know township ways and there would be too many conflicts with John being Chairman. Vote: 3-0-1 with Supervisor Geake voting “no” and John Bermingham Jr. abstaining. Public Comment by Ron Angle – would like to see a meet and greet set up for the residents to meet the new Township Manager. Ron Angle asked the Board to find out the total amount that Len Policelli, Judy Henckel’s son has been paid for consulting fees by the Township for grants and asked for those numbers by the next meeting.