September EVT BoS Meeting

Despite the weather, a slightly larger than usual audience attended last evening’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The meeting went smoothly with no acrimony.  Highlights were:

1.  The Township uses credit cards for conducting day-to-day business and the cards are limited and controlled. Mary Flagg, Township Manager, submitted a formal policy for the Supervisors to review for possible adoption at October’s meeting. This was spurred by the need to formalize a process and the use of the cards historically has been without incident.

2.  An Ordinance was passed providing the Wastewater Authority (we really need an agreed to name for East Vincent’s take over of the Municipal Authority) with the ability to set usage and tapping rates. Rates will remain unchanged for the remainder of 2011.

3.  The recent rainstorms damaged a manhole near the intersection of Brown Drive and Pennhurst Road. Emergency crews were dispatched to pump water to alternate drainage sites and Ms. Flagg and Vice Chairman Mark Dunphy were personally overseeing the handling of this unfortunate situation. We’re reminded that parts of our sewage infrastructure were not preventatively maintained by the former Municipal Authority as well as should have been. This will present a continuing challenge to the Township, and residents should understand the severity of this issue.

4.  Mr. Dunphy raised questions relative to a recent internal audit commenting on East Vincent’s monetary exposure as the lead to the Northern Federation Parks and Recreation study. Mr. Dunphy advised Supervisor Christine McNeil that the Federation must formally accept financial responsibility for cash laid out by East Vincent in the event that any of the participating Townships or Boroughs decline to participate in the final plan, which contractually at this time could limit their payback requirements to less than what East Vincent has provided. Mrs. McNeil was asked by Mr. Dunphy with Chairman John Funk’s agreement to advise the Federation of East Vincent’s need to have any declining participation costs equally shared by the remaining political entities. Mrs. McNeil agreed to do so and she will advise the Supervisors what to expect and when at the October BoS meeting.

5.  Mr. Funk was asked by a resident to speak to the issue of municipal refuse collection, the idea being that on a Township basis individual homeowner costs could be significantly lowered and road abuse by garbage trucks could be reduced.  This is a complicated issue fraught with potential problems for the Township managing such a program. Mr. Funk correctly said that the Township’s primary responsibility is to offer services that are impractical or impossible for individual homeowners to provide such as police and road maintenance. He also pointed out that achieving resident consensus on frequency of collection and types of service would be very difficult. Mr. Dunphy suggested that this issue be examined in detail later this year or early next year, in part because the Township’s staff is handling many tasks that would make such a program very difficult to manage at this time.

6.  Mr. Funk shared the fact that while tax revenue is down about $50,000, expenses so far this year are down well over $200,000, adding to the Township’s projected potential surplus. He also stated that the Township Building is in severe disrepair and thought must be given to the ultimate replacement of or substantial renovation and addition to the existing building. Suffering from shortsighted decisions made many years ago, the building’s HVAC system is problematic, space is at a premium, and there are many other structural problems. This will be discussed at a future BoS meeting.

Pennhurst update: Absent a decision from the Court of Common Pleas relative to the appeal of the EVT Zoning Hearing Board, the Pennhurst Asylum amusement is scheduled to begin on September 23^rd. It will run once again for seven weekends, and adding three Thursdays this year for a total of 24 event days. I’m also advised that the Jones Motor property will not be used for parking and that adequate space has been created on the Pennhurst site to accommodate patrons. One wonders how Church Street in Spring City, Pennhurst Road, Brown Drive and Old Schuylkill Road will handle from 800 to 1000 cars per night on average to support the amusement. Here again, the issue of inadequate roads creates concern and apprehension for neighboring residents. And, neither Richard Chakejian nor his counsel, Michael Murray has responded to my open letter. Considering much, are we surprised?