September 28, 2000 The meeting of the Supervisors of Franklin Township, held in the Township office, was called to order by Chairman John Sachar at 0808 hours with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were Sachar, Denver Ireland, David Henderson and Joyce Berry representing FTVFD. HEARING ON ORDINANCE #2-00, STOP SIGNS WITHIN THE TOWNSHIP AND SPEED LIMIT/FALLS AND FRANCIS, 0808 HOURS The Chairman asked for any public comment. Ireland asked if the intersection of New and Ivoray should remain a stop sign. Sachar - I halfway agree with Denver. If my field is in corn, the visibility is cut down. I really don't have a preference. It is treated by the motoring public as a yield now. No further comments, the hearing adjourned at 0812 hours. HEARING ON ORDINANCE #3-00, BANK LOAN FOR $68,000 FOR THE PURCHASE OF AN OSHKOSH AND FORD 1-TON, 0812 HOURS The Chairman asked for any public comment. Sachar - how did you arrive at $68,000? Henderson - with the estimated value of the equipment and with the consult of the auditor. He said it all depends on winter. He recommended asking for the maximum, there is no penalty for early payoff. We can put it in the bank and at the end of the year pay off what isn't needed. Ireland - did we vote to advertise the ordinance? Henderson - there was no time. If we set it back another month, we'd be in a cash flow crunch with no money. We're already into November for a closing date. No further comment, hearing was adjourned at 0817 hours. VISITORS/PUBLIC COMMENT None. MINUTES Ireland moved to approve the minutes of 9/12/00 as presented. Sachar seconded. Carried. REPORTS Superintendent - Dave reported that the crew has been grading roads, the Oshkosh is almost together. Grading, the final road work for the year and preparation for winter will be done in the weeks to come. Mager Tree Report - nothing. Agility - Ray will mow one more round for the State. Falls Road Bridge #2 - waiting for the final payments from the State. Dave said that the problem with the stones in the creek bed needs to be addressed. Ordinance #2-00, Speed Limit on Falls and Francis, Stop Signs - Henderson moved to adopt Ordinance #2-00, Ireland seconded. Carried. Ireland commented that he disagreed with the Ordinance but would vote yes. Generator - nothing. Gravel Roads Program - nothing. Girard Township/Gudgeonville Road - no reply yet to our letter. FINANCIAL AND TAXES Bills - discussion on various bills. Dave said that the Falls Bridge C.D. will be used for year-end cash and we will do year-end transfers as usual. Henderson moved to approve the bill list for payment totaling $1,194.49 general fund; $1,532.63 state fund; $2,521.16 equipment fund; $720.98 municipal building fund; $6,395.16 EIT claims fund. Ireland seconded. Carried. Payroll - Henderson moved to approve payrolls #19-00 and #20-00 as presented. Ireland seconded. Carried. PLANNING, ZONING, RECREATION, SAFETY AND HEALTH Planning Commission Minutes - none. Update Comprehensive Plan - nothing. Buren Subdivision - nothing. Industrial Park/KOZ - Dave reported that he had a discussion with Rick Novotny of the Corry Redevelopment Authority. Discussion on the web site listing our KOZ. Dave thinks that DEP wants to try another attempt at getting Washington Township and Edinboro Borough together. Recreation Complex/VFW - Dave and members of the VFW attended a grant- writing seminar in Meadville. There is lots of work to do in a short period of time. There are 5 weeks to submit an application that must be in the first part of November. Rabell Surveying is to have their site work done soon. Dave suggested directing our Solicitor to write a lease agreement between the Township and the VFW and between the VFW and the Township. Dave will write the application and the VFW will do the site plan and development project costs, etc. This is a 50/50 match program. The Township is responsible for making sure the 50% match can be met. This is a big project that will be done in phases. The grant cap is $150,000. It will take several grant rounds and several years to complete all the fields. Today we need to direct the Solicitor to get started on the leases. There will be a meeting each Monday at 4 p.m. with the VFW in the Township office. The fields will supply the needs of 5 local municipalities which is an advantage. We will request letters of support from those municipalities and that will put us higher on the grant list. Ireland moved to ask neighboring municipalities for a letter of support. Sachar seconded. Carried. Attorney Felicia Schroeck arrived at 0832 hours. Recreation Complex at Dave's Pond - letter was sent. Abandoned Gas Wells - waiting for a letter. Storage Trailers - nothing. Supporting Volunteer Fire Departments - Sachar stated that the Board is looking for ways to encourage more volunteerism. Joyce Berry - include information in the Township newsletter each time it is sent. Provisionary members were made active this year. We can start with 10 who are interested and end up with 2 who stay active. Volunteers from the community can help with fundraisers. There is lots of time spent in training. When the department went to a letter for fund drive it cut down on personal contact. Mainly we need to get the word out that we need help. The department pays for training and hepatitis shots. Equipment is supplied. Sachar - are there any retirement pension plans for volunteers? Berry - proposals are being circulated. EMT's and Paramedics are covered as long as you work within your scope of training. The most common insurance problem is a piece of equipment running down someone on the way to a call. Henderson - if behooves us to do what we can. If we had to go to a paid basis, we'd be strangled. Berry - financially we're healthy. Manpower, we're poor. Retired people should be targeted. They can serve, especially in the medical end. Fire departments are going back to both fire and ambulance service, they used to be separate. We need a different approach for getting volunteers, the personal approach is probably the best. We are working with getting juniors involved. Henderson - if the Township were able to give them a lot of money, it would help cut down on their fund raising time thus giving more time for volunteering. Berry - we realize that is not possible for this area, the tax base is too small. It's a big help to us helping us get 2% loans. All decided that each newsletter will stress supporting the fire department and emphasize who can be a volunteer. Joyce Berry left the meeting at 0856 hours. Recycle Day Wrap Up - Denny's Auto Wrecking is done picking up junk cars. We'll haul the tires out within the next two weeks and will hire temps to load Dan Netzler's trailer in the morning and he will haul it out in the afternoon. Walker Subdivision - nothing. SOLICITOR Western Trail/G. Antolik - no word from Attorney Moorhead or George Antolik on the letter sent requesting payment of the determined amount of $5,695.00 of the engineering fees. Oshkosh as Special Mobile Equipment - the State has denied issuing a license to the Oshkosh as special mobile equipment. Schroeck stated that she can't see why snowplow use only wouldn't qualify. Henderson - twice we have applied for a special mobile equipment license and they have denied it. Without it the truck has to be inspected and driven only by CDL drivers. All we're trying to do is transfer the plate from the old Oshkosh to the new one. We'll give it to Karl Boyes' office one more time. If they deny it again, we'll have to press the issue. Schroeck - if this is only meant for plowing and not used for any other issue, it qualifies. It's not used for transporting people. Henderson - we'll get as much information and details together as we can for Boyes' office and try one more time. Impact Fee Ordinance - nothing. OLD BUSINESS Lights on for Safety - nothing. Census - records were destroyed as required. NEW BUSINESS Ordinance #3-00/PNC Bank Loan for $68,000 for Oshkosh, Ford One-Ton - Henderson moved to adopt Ordinance #3-00 and to authorize signing all the necessary paperwork. Ireland seconded. Carried. Senate Bill #1333/Open Records Time Frame - Ireland moved to send a letter of complaint in strong opposition to S.B. #1333. Sachar seconded. Carried. Henderson - I'd like to know what's broken that needs fixing. Essentially, we'd stop everything while the secretary took care of a request. CORRESPONDENCE Sachar reported on the large animal training session he attended. He said that DEP has a checklist of requirements for large animal operations to meet state laws that is very stringent. There is no ordinance on odors. There is expansion of agriculture in northwest Pennsylvania south of us. Henderson - the REA septic system has been approved under the sand mound time frame. It may still have a required amount of soil to qualify. SEO's can now approve them. Who runs them, we need to find out. REA was to have a maintenance outfit that would do it. The big question to ask our SEO is what will they require for soil amounts and outflow. ADJOURN Sachar called the meeting adjourned at 0917 hours. Bonnie J. Bernhardt, Secretary