The board of commissioners held their regular workshop meeting on August 11th. The video is available online, as is the agenda.

Public Comments

The board discussed the Ridley Dr. subdivision project (at Ridley and Chestnut), and approved a variety of waivers regarding curbs, sidewalks, street widening, street lights and sewers.

Government Relations

PECO is now planning 3 projects in the township: in South Media/Moylan, another along Copples and a third along Baltimore Pike between Turner and Beatty. A meeting with PECO, Rep. Krueger and Sen. Kane is planned to discuss the projects.

The board approved a CBDG grant agreement to pave Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Denver, Raleigh and Salem Cts. in Garden City Manor next year.

The board is identifying stakeholders for the upcoming comprehensive plan such as the schools, athletic associations, HoAs, faith groups, and township commissions. If you have suggestions for others to include, let your commissioner know.

Parks and Open Space

Sapovitts movie night was August 13th.

The board approved the RACP grant agreement so it can be reimbursed for phase 1 expenses at Gouley Park (demolishing Summit School). Once it is reimbursed, the township will know how much it has for phase 2 improvements (expected to be around $180k).

The board looked at a possible playground design for Martha Burton Park. The $64k playground would include stumps, slides, a carousel and swing. The design was proposed by nearby residents and is funded by a combination of the township and a contribution from Progressive New Homes, which is building the Wallingford Ave. subdivision.

Public Safety

The board approved the new stop signs at Hastings and Beech. According to the commissioners there were at least three yadas in the stop sign ordinance.

Finance and Administration

There was a discussion of changes to the contract with Portnoff, who collects overdue township taxes. State changes have required additional notifications for those with overdue taxes. The cost of these additional notices will be paid by the owners of the overdue taxes.

There was a lengthy discussion of what to do with the loan money the township acquired for roads. The township won’t start to spend it until next year’s road paving, so the board is trying to find something to do with the money in the meantime. But its complicated to figure out what the township is allowed to do.

Community Health and Environment

The township will be issuing a request for bids for waste-related contracts for recycling and an option for yard waste collection. There was a discussion of whether or not to include an option for a fuel adjustor clause, the board decided to make that one of the options.

Bulk trash dropoff was August 13th.

The EAC noted the Media plastic bag ban passed and will go into effect next year.

Commissioner Molloy started a discussion about a committee looking at waste. He’s still tweaking the goals, duration and composition of the committee (based on the structure of the Summit School committee), but I think the board ended by suggesting a committee made up of:

• one resident per ward
• two commissioners
• one member of the EAC
• one representative of WSSD

Nothing was finalized yet, discussions are ongoing. There was discussion of a youth member or adhoc members, but I didn’t hear anything concrete about that. If you have suggestions or would like to serve on the committee, let your commissioner know.

Public Works

The board passed a required stormwater ordinance based on a model provided by the county.

There is a bridge investment grant program open. The board considered a bridge on Wallingford Ave. and the bridge over the SEPTA line on Providence. The township passed on the opportunity as the match would have been substantial.

The board considered some numbers for repairs to Brent Dr., but the quote they received seemed implausible.

PENNDOT wants a bridge and culvert replaced as part of the next part of the Providence Rd. sidewalk project (between E Rose Valley and Mother of Providence school). PENNDOT will supply $2 million for the additional work, but would require the township to pay $300k for design costs. The board decided to wait until they spoke to Rep. Krueger about possible funding sources for that extra cost.

The speed humps and raised crosswalks are arriving on Putnam and Commissioner O’Connor received a note in appreciation of them.

Building and Zoning

The board discussed changes to the fencing ordinance to provide clarity for chain-link fences but decided to consider it further as they can’t possibly legislate for every possible variety of fencing.

The board discussed an ordinance for solar panel ground arrays, looking at Swarthmore’s ordinance as a model. They asked the planning commission to review it.

The township can adopt small wireless facility standards as part of a state statute passed recently. The township is looking at nearby examples.

The township manager and solicitor had a discussion with a utilities lawyer who made three suggestions for changes to ordinances to slow PECO’s work in the township and hopefully improve communication. The first is to require storm water management permits, but the solicitor noted that this is problematic because any storm water management work would have to be done by PECO in the right of way – so in people’s front yards. The second was to remove the utility exemption to permit requirements from the Shade Tree ordinance. The board approved this and authorized advertising an ordinance to do so. The third was to require an environmental study before work, but the board and solicitor lacked the necessary expertise to move forward on this and will consider it later.

The board approved three escrow releases for developments in the township and it noted there were three cases before the zoning hearing board this month.

Manager Report

PENNDOT is planning work on Baltimore Pike between Turner and Beatty which will result in lane closures. The township hasn’t gotten dates yet.

The blood drive on August 3rd moved to Garden City fire at the last minute. The Red Cross has a new policy that blood drives cannot be done anywhere with more than 14 steps and the township building has 15 steps.

There was a DelCo veterans event on August 13th in Newtown Square.

Sen. Kane is hosting a Kids Fair on Aug 28th at Suburu Park (Philly Union stadium in Chester).

There is help for low-income residents with delinquent taxes through the PA Homeowner Assistance Program.