For whatever reason I listed the last township meeting as the legislative meeting when it was actually the workshop meeting. The actual legislative meeting this week is available on Youtube here and the agenda is available here. They took the agenda a bit out of order, so I’ll do this in the order the commissioners did. The engineer, ward 3 and ward 6 commissioners were absent and the solicitor showed up most of the way through so some parts were brief.

Opening

The township zoning hearing board has an opening for an alternate. Contact the township or your commissioner if you’re interested.

A representative of B&L was present to discuss the recycling contract. B&L submitted the only bid for the township’s recycling haulage, which will result in a 27% increase or about $2/month/property for residents. Noone bid on the yard waste contract so the commissioners are sending that out again for bid. There was a lengthy discussion of how to improve trash service, but there’s no easy answers as the township layout is not amenable to automation.

Government Relations

PECO still hasn’t scheduled a meeting with the township and elected officials, so no tree work has happened.

The board appointed several members of the comprehensive plan interview committee (forgive the spelling, I’m doing it from hearing): Ward 1 – Heather Sayette, Ward 2 – Poe Leggette, Ward 4 – Jason Glass, Ward 5 – Lisa Jacobs. The other wards have didn’t have recommendations yet so they will be appointed later.

Finance & Administration

The board will start meeting every week for budget meetings for the next several months and showed the schedule for those meetings. If progress allows, some meetings may be cancelled.

There was a discussion of moving ARPA projects forward. The board discussed several projects but voted to move forward for bid the stormwater-related projects on Pine Ridge and Canterbury Dr. as well as alterations to the planned new traffic signal at Rose Valley and Providence to allow emergency pre-emption.

The township received (or will receive) $100k for the fire companies from the state. The amount went up, likely due to the new census numbers. Usually this money is split 50-50 between the two fire companies but the board would like the fire committee to discuss how this should be split in the future.

Public Safety

As previously discussed, a school bus hit the new guard rail on Possum Hollow Rd. The township insurance doesn’t cover it, so the school district insurance will have to. The township is pursuing insurance for guard rails now.

The FOP still hasn’t approved the final version of the drop ordinance (having to do with the retirement of officers). Progress seems to be slow on this.

As previously discussed, the solicitor is drafting new firework regulations for the October meeting.

There was a discussion of the Garden City fire company siren after a letter from a resident. The fire company says the siren alerts nearby company members as well as warning residents of coming emergency vehicles. The board thinks the fire committee might want to look at the issue again as it was last studied about 20 years ago and cell phones have become much more common in that time.

Community, Health and Environment

The board appointed several members to the new waste committee (again, forgive the spellings): Ward 2 – Leo Carey, Ward 4 – Joanna Ortise, Ward 5 – Tracey Beck-Campbell, Ward 7 – Michael Krauss, EAC – Bill Silverstein.

The board is waiting for a response from the EAC on a few issues before moving forward with the single use plastic ban ordinance discussed before.

The board is considering applying for a 902 grant for both leaf machines and recycling containers. The grant isn’t due for a while so the board is waiting until October to vote on it.

Parks and Rec

There is $40k left for further improvements to Hepford after the playground so the township is in discussion with NPAA about improvements to the baseball fields there.

The township was certified as a bird city. The township will be recognized by the organization at a later meeting.

The board voted to apply for $250k for phase 2 of the improvements to Furness Park. Combined with $55k of funding from other sources, that amount would be enough for all the planned phase 2 improvements to link all the trails in the area. There was discussion of a short segment of path in the SEPTA right of way that is needed that SEPTA is slow to do and won’t let the township do.

As part of the RACP grant, the state is asking the township to test the soil at Gouley Park due to the removal of the underground tank there. The township is pushing back, but the board voted to spend the $6k on the study if required. A phase 1 environmental study was done when the property was purchased from the school district but the phase 2 study recommended by the state was never done.

Building and Zoning

The public right of way ordinance awaits further input from experts. I couldn’t hear what else the solicitor said.

The board passed the advertised amendment to the shade tree ordinance removing the exemption for utilities. They will now be required to seek a permit when removing trees.

There was a discussion of the development of 98 S Providence Rd. The property has stormwater issues and several old growth trees will be removed. The owner has agreed to the township’s conditions, but many of the replacement trees will not fit on the property and will be planted on township property elsewhere. The board granted a waiver allowing this.

The board approved a conditional escrow release for the 6-8 Brookhaven subdivision if the grass grows sufficiently.

Manager Report

The LIHWAP program for assistance paying water and sewer bills is ending soon as almost all the money is spent. If you need assistance, apply immediately.

The bi-valent vaccine for Covid is now widely available.

Family fun day is planned for October 15th. It will have games, music and a petting zoo at Strath Haven Middle School from noon-3 pm. Volunteers will be needed.

The CAT club is cleaning up trash on Medbury at 9 am this Saturday.

The township received two grants for Houston Park. One for $122k for trail work and another $140k for watershed restoration. These aren’t the full amounts requested, so the board will have to later approve the reduction of scope. The projects will contribute towards the township’s MS4 sediment reduction requirements. It was noted that Sen. Kane and Rep. Krueger helped with these grants.

The township received a letter from the Lifeworks food pantry based at the Foundry church in Garden City. It is (at least as far as the board is aware) the only food bank in Nether Providence and the letter indicates it has been very busy feeding people throughout the pandemic