October 31, 2002 The meeting of the Supervisors of Franklin Township, held in the Township office, was called to order by Chairman John Sachar at 0800 hours with the Pledge of Allegiance. Present were Sachar, David Henderson and Mary Holt/Erie Times. Jarrett Miller was out of town and unable to attend. VISITORS/PUBLIC COMMENT No visitors. MINUTES Sachar moved to approve the minutes of 10/8/02 as presented. Henderson seconded. Carried. REPORTS Superintendent – Dave reported that the crew is preparing for winter. The plows will be loaded in a week or so. If there is snow, the Oshkosh and grader will be used. The sign inventory is done and some signs are being replaced. We are now using high intensity stop signs that should last twice as long. There were a few sign thefts this year. Fall equipment maintenance work is being done. Lay-off will begin at Thanksgiving. Roads were graded twice and we would like to do one more grading before winter if the weather allows. Agility – will finish State mowing today. Will do some brush cutting on our roads. Diesel Engine – will take it to Keystone Diesel to see if they can sell it for us. Eureka Road #4 Paving Project – road will be oiled if the weather warms up to 60 degrees, otherwise it will be graded and rolled. Russell Standard suggested bidding for asphalt and trucking this year in case oil prices go up. This will lock in the price. Jim Cooper, our PennDOT municipal services representative, didn't have a problem with that. The Township will have to absorb any price difference over what was quoted to the residents. We can rebid if things change in our favor. Sachar said to do it and get it out in the next couple of weeks. Henderson moved to advertise for bids for the Eureka Road #4 project, the Francis Cemetery project and general trucking for 2003. Sachar seconded. Carried. Intersection Light at Crane and Route 98 – nothing. Falls Road Bridge #1 – design work will not be completed this year. Will carry it over into the 2003 budget. Capital Projects/Budget – budget meetings are November 11th and 13th. A meeting will be held at Washington Township with PennDOT on electronic filing at 8:30 a.m. on the 13th. Henderson moved to remove Richard J. Gould from and add Robert J. Schonthaler to the Road Laborer list. Sachar seconded. Carried. FINANCIAL AND TAXES Bills – discussion on various bills. Sachar moved to pay the bills as listed totaling $10,459.51 general fund, $2,500.00 Silverthorn Road Assessment fund and $135 fire department fund. Henderson seconded. Carried. Payroll – Sachar moved to approve payroll #22-02 as presented. Henderson seconded. Carried. PLANNING ZONING, RECREATION, SAFETY, SANITATION/RECYCLING, HEALTH AND THE COMMON GOOD Review Planning Commission Minutes, Update Comprehensive Plan, Industrial Park/KOZ, Storage Trailers, Census Undercount, OTM Bulk Sewer, SFTF, Junk Cars, Ordinance #2-02, Edinboro Lake Watershed Association, Mathewson Mylar – nothing on any item. History Grant – contract is expected soon. When it is received we will purchase a video camera. The census key-in is ongoing. A list of questions to be asked and people to be interviewed will be compiled. The start date will probably be the first of December. We will apply for another grant by December 3rd if EUP can accomplish the compilation next year. OTM – a letter was received from DEP on the remediation of ground contamination at the OTM property on Koman Road. Francis Cemetery Grant – a grant was awarded for $22,276 for improvements to the cemetery driveway. It is too late in the season to do any of the work this year. The project must be bid. The Township will take out and replace the driveway pipes and change the radius of the entrance. The successful bidder will put down a limestone subbase and asphalt on the driveway. Recycle Survey – will compile the information for the budget. Shooting Range/ESTA – a letter will be sent to the County Emergency Management Agency requesting that baffles and any other possible sound suppression improvements be made to the range before the season opens in 2003. Bizzarro/Quick Mylar – the Quicks are buying 10.175 acres from the Bizzarros. The parcel has 303.52 ft. of frontage on West Stancliff and will be conveyed to and become an integral part of index #22-3-12-2.01. County Planning signed the Mylar ahead of the Township Planning Commission. Sachar moved to approve the Bizzarro/Quick Mylar as presented subject to the Planning Commission's approval. Henderson seconded. Carried. SOLICITOR Animal Density, Verizon – nothing new to report. Western Trail – Township Engineer Mark Corey was instructed to do his inspection of the cul-de-sac. Henderson moved to advertise and hold a public hearing on December 10, 2002 on the ordinance accepting Western Trail as a Township road. Sachar seconded. Carried. Henderson – we will need Corey's acceptance of the cul-de-sac, certification of the paving and will need to create the ordinance. We need to check the Municipalities Planning Code and with our Attorney on whether the bond release is tied to the ordinance. If not we can release it at the first meeting held after we receive the engineer's report. We have meetings on Nov. 11, 12, 13 and 21. Sachar – keep Atttorney Agresti informed. OLD BUSINESS Guide Rail Falls and Francis – work was completed. Political Signs – other municipalities are having their attorneys checking on this issue. There is no problem with signs on front lawns, the problem is signs in the public right-of-way. If they are not removed, we hit them with our mower and scattered bits and pieces everywhere. The wire wraps around the spindle on the mower creating a real mess. Sachar – can you litter on your own property? Can you be charged with littering under those circumstances? Henderson – all signs have to be 5 feet beyond the road right-of-way; that is in our sign ordinance. It seems like the loser in an election is the one that leaves their signs up. They block sluices and then we have to remove them. The Supreme Court decision was on political signs posted in yards, not in the road right-of-way. The decision was too broad and it's been interpreted to include all signs anywhere. The only signs going up within a road right-of-way should be placed there by a municipality. They need to have break-away brackets, be regulation size, etc. First Amendment rights is not the issue in our ordinance. Our residents are paying for cleaning them up, that is the problem. Littering is a criminal statute; you would need to prove who put up the sign without a doubt to charge someone with littering. Open Records Policy – PSATS will supply a model within a week or so. Meeting with Dave Skellie, Erie County Planning – discussion on the County's comprehensive plan. Public hearing will be coming up soon. Nothing in the plan impacts Franklin Township enough to be of concern. NEW BUSINESS None. CORRESPONDENCE Terrorism Seminar – November 19th. Discussion on a report received from Homeland Security. ADJOURN Sachar called the meeting adjourned at 0900 hours. Bonnie J. Bernhardt, Secretary